Mike Frank Russell knows Eamonn Fitzmaurice and Jim McGuinness better than most and he's not surprised that both men have proven to be hits in intercounty management.

The former Kerry star shared many great days with Fitzmaurice in the famed green and gold jersey while he lined out alongside McGuinness on a star-studded IT Tralee team in his college days.

Of Fitzmaurice, Russell told the Irish Independent: "At the start of the year you were thinking he's run into fierce hard luck with the injuries and retirements but I think it's helped them.

"Against Cork, Kerry were written off, so I think Kerry have been able to work away quietly in the background with the younger players. Even the semi-final against Mayo, Kerry were expected to be beaten and all of a sudden they're in the final.

"I think there was no pressure on them this year and it's helped them, and you have to credit Eamonn Fitzmaurice for that as well.

"It gave other fellas a chance to step up to the plate, the likes of David Moran, who had been out injured. Paul Geaney and these lads, Michael Geaney too."

The Laune Rangers clubman savoured Sigerson Cup success with McGuinness back in 1998 and revealed: "He was a good man to train. You hear about these stories about the hard training sessions they have in Donegal so I'm not surprised.

"He commanded respect and was a good speaker. He came across to me as a man who thought a lot about the game.

"Donegal remind me a lot of Tyrone, I suppose, in 2003. People were maybe saying it wasn't good football but they did enough to get over the line.

"But the finals they won in '05 and '08. Tyrone added an attacking dimension to it and Donegal look the same, they've brought an attacking style that maybe people weren't used to.

"So they're not, as some people might say, a 'one-trick pony'."

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