McGuinness has earned right to do things his way - McGee

Donegal picked up only a second-ever NFL Division 1 title this season and the early signs looked extremely good as they shot to the top of the bookmakers’ odds when it came to All-Ireland contenders.

However, a shock relinquishing of their Ulster title when Down dumped them out of the provincial running left them vulnerable.

They seemed to bounce back against rivals Kerry, in Killarney, in the All-Ireland series. However, subsequent losses to Cork in Ballybofey and Dublin in the preliminary quarter-final drew a disappointing line under their campaign.

Donegal GAA bigwigs are yet to confirm it, but Glenties native McGuinness is staying put for a fourth season in charge.

Pundits and critics have since picked the bones of the 2026 season and various suggestions regarding style of play and even backroom personnel have been raised.

However, one of his most trusted on-field generals from his first spell in charge, 2012 All-Ireland winner Eamon McGee, insists McGuinness is someone who won’t be swayed by those types of opinions.

“This year had so much promise,” said McGee, who was one of the special guest speakers at the county’s bumper €250,000 fundraising draw in Ballybofey last Sunday evening.

“After the league final I booked the hotel for Dublin for the All-Ireland weekend. But I still firmly believe the potential is there.

“Donegal didn’t become a bad team overnight. People outside the county are knocking Jim and saying he needs to do this or he needs to do that.

“Jim McGuinness has built up enough credit within this county that he has earned the right to do it whatever way he wants.

“He’ll already have an idea where he feels it went wrong in 2026. He’ll look at all of that, he’ll bunker up, go to ground and look at what needs to be sorted before they go again.

“We just have to back him and have faith in him. There are young lads coming through that will be wanting a bigger shout this season, lads that will feel they’re now ready.

“There is the question over Michael Murphy and will he come back again. So hopefully we get that sorted soon enough and then we can all row in behind it again.”

McGee himself is also back on board with Sligo next term and, pressed on what he expects to see from Donegal in 2027, he explained: “Only Jim McGuinness will decide on that.

“Personally, I’d like to see Donegal kick a wee bit more ball. If they added that to that sort of outside of the arc cutting in that they do.

“If they could, at times, be a little bit more direct, it might complement all of that. But if Jim is looking at the percentages and feels a certain way is still best for Donegal, we should all be backing him.”

McGee says 2026, perhaps, finally put paid to the importance of the provincial championships and he believes that any side with serious Sam Maguire aspirations simply has to now put all its eggs in that one basket.

“I think this year was just another nail in the coffin of the prestige of the provincial title. Jim is on record saying he wants to win Ulster and still believes it’s the right route to go.

“But if you look around, and maybe it’s the nature of the split season, but you wonder now when is the time to roll, when do you press that button?

“You had brilliant scenes in Westmeath and Roscommon in the provincials but when it came to the All-Ireland series, they were nowhere near it.

“Armagh were maybe a different case in Ulster as they probably felt they needed a provincial title to back up an All-Ireland.

“So for teams looking to be there in the shake-up or latter stages of the All-Ireland, then maybe a provincial title is down the list when teams are doing up their targets for the season.”

Finally, McGee says any further additions or indeed tinkering with the playing rules should be put on the long finger for now.

“I was one of the few that wanted us to just leave the rules just as they are. But I have to hold my hands up, I was so, so wrong.

“The product now is totally different. What was happening in the old game, there was a disconnect between the crowd and the teams.

“Because nothing was happening, it was just a possession game. But most games now are end-to-end, and it’s a vastly superior product to what it was.”

He added: “We are in a great spot right now with the way the game is, the way the competition format is. So I don’t understand why we’re looking to add more rules.

“We have had a brilliant season; let the rule changes that are in place continue to bed in. And then in a few years, if further tweaks are needed, we can look at it all again.

“But just give players and management who are putting in so much time and effort, let them continue to get to grips with it.”

Meanwhile, the Gaoth Dobhair native admits it was impossible not to get caught up in the drama of Mayo’s historic All-Ireland final win over Kerry.

And, when the dust did finally settle at Croke Park, he couldn’t help but feel happy for one of his oldest foes.

“I was trying to be neutral but the last 15 minutes, the emotion of the entire thing was just contagious. I just said to myself, ‘if you are going to do it Mayo, go do it now’.

“I’m not superstitious but we’ve seen so many times with Mayo, there was just something there, some kind of block in terms of getting so close to getting over the line.

“The last 15 minutes…. to see them go on and finally win it, I was just delighted for the likes of Andy Moran. I know him from college; he’s a great lad.

“But big Aidan O’Shea, he’s the one that crossed my mind first at the final whistle, just sprung out.

“Even though he didn’t play a single minute of that All-Ireland final, that medal is as much his as it is the likes of Kobe McDonald.

“He will know that as he’s contributed as much as anyone, kept the show on the road when things weren’t going so good. I was just delighted for him.”