Monaghan senior football boss Seamus McEnaney enjoyed a glorious 2005. Surely it can't get any better? Kevin Carney investigates. For the second successive year, Monaghan football boss Seamus McEnaney fingers the hurly-burly of the national league has his main focus for the season. Last year in his maiden voyage at the helm, he identifed promotion from division two as the priority. A place in the last 12 of the All-Ireland SFC would have been a bonus. As luck, or destiny, would have it, McEnaney and co. hit the jackpot on both counts and as the 2006 merry-go-round looms large on the horizon, he's absolutely clear on where he wants to take Monaghan this time around. "It has to be retaining our place in division one, no question about it. Anything else we achieve in the championship will be a bonus. "It would be great if we reached the last 12 again but it's the challenge of keeping our place in the top division that'll be the really big movitation this year," McEnaney says. "Let's face it. We'll be mixing with some of the top teams in the country over the next few months in the league and that's enough to get any supporter or player excited. "Monaghan has waited something like twenty years to be in the same company as the best six or seven teams from around the country and the prospect of meeting those sides every Sunday is a major reason why you're involved in the game. "Players shouldn't need any motivation to play in the league when you've matches against the likes of the Leinster champions (Dublin), the Munster champions (Kerry), Connacht champions Mayo and the All-Ireland champions (Tyrone) ahead of you." The Corduff man's vision for his team sees his charges competing against football's creme de la creme on an annual basis in the league so that they are battle-hardened for that most internecine of wars, i.e. the battle for the Anglo Celt Cup. "We need to be playing in division one, playing the top teams on a consistent basis so that by the time we're in the championship and facing Armagh on the 16th of May we'll have a fair idea of what sort of standard we have to be at. "But the league comes first and there's no question but that our number one objective for the coming year is to retain our division one status." It must help footballers to have a man whose clarity of vision and conciseness of plan guiding them on yet another long and arduous road. Keeping things simple isn't a GAA manager's stock-in-trade but for McEnaney, it seems, narrowing the target makes achieving one's goal that bit more achievable. "Let's be honest, look where we've come from over the last twelve months and you can see why we have to remind ourselves about learning to walk before we can run. "Where we were ranked, 29th or 30th in the country? "What we achieved in 2005 exceeded our expectations in a big way. "We played twice in Croke Park and it took the All-Ireland champions to put us out of the championship," Seamus explains. And where does the credit like for what the county team has achieved over the last year? "I'd say there's a couple of different groups of people, a combination that has pulled the county up the rankings. "We have had 30 players who really wanted to play for Monaghan, that's number one. "They showed they'd do anything for the county, play the shirt off their back for the cause and that's great to see in any player. "And then you had the support given them by the county board who put everything in place that was needed and then we hadn't a bad management team in place either." Reflecting on the achievements of Monaghan's seniors in 2005, Seamus says winning the NFL Division Two title was one to savour and being in Croker that day was a joy. He maintains nicking the silverware out of Meath's hands was "brillant, great" and a bonus following the team's fulfillment of its objective of gaining promotion. "The performance was just as pleasing as the win itself because I thought we played fantastically well. "I think we scored 3-12 in the final which is a score that would win you a league title most years. "It was funny the way the game ended up with what was a freakish kind of a goal. "In a way we ended up beating Meath at their own game because they've snatched so many victories themselves over the years. "Aside from the victory itself, one of the most pleasing aspects of the final was that we had 14 lads out there who had never played in Croke Park before and yet there wasn't one single instance of a player getting stage fright which is a good sign for the future. "I remember the first 15 minutes and thinking the worst but fair play to the lads, they stuck with it and didn't ever look like folding. "The lads did everything we asked of them all year, including in that final when we urged them to play away 'till the bitter end." It's clear the man who served his apprenticeship in more recent times as county under 21 boss has the utmost respect for his players but the feeling is obviously mutual. He's been called 'a players' manager' but he hasn't been afraid to remind those who step out of line that trust and loyalty is a two-way street. During 2005 he jettisoned two players from the county squad for disciplinary reasons and says he would do the same again if he deemed it necessary. "Any decision I have made as manager has been for the betterment of Monaghan football," he says in his typical, matter-of-fact manner. "Overall the squad behaved 100% and if we get the same commitment and attitude in the coming year, I'll be happy." And yet some players who were impeccably behaved and showed commitment beyond reproach last year may find themselves out in the cold in the New Year. McEnaney says he's prepared to drop some of the players who helped Monaghan win the NFL Division Two title and reach the last 12 in the 2004 championship. "Training has been going really well since we got back following the summer break and there's a great buzz about the squad. "There's more competition for places than ever and that's the way we want it because the more pressure there is on a player to keep his place, the better for the team. "But the reality is that some of the fellas who helped us get into division one might not be in the panel by the time the national league comes around. "We've a few young fellas coming through from minor ranks and they're mad to get a taste of the action." Seamus's nephew Gary McEnaney is being touted as one likely to be given a run out in the McKenna Cup as is Clontibret starlet Paul McGuigan while last year's minor captain Eoin Duffy and Monaghan Harps leading scorer Shane Smyth have also been mentioned in dispatches. And anyone young fella who graduates onto the senior county team can expect the best of treatment and no little reward either. The players who shook up the championship wannabees last year and scooped the NFL Division Two title- were treated to a trip to New York in mid-November. "It was an absolutely brillant holiday. "We got tremendous goodwill and financial backing from a lot of very good Monaghan people and their generosity won't be forgotten by anyone who was on the trip. "Players realise that there's a lot to be gained from doing well in Gaelic games nowadays and that's not even talking about the higher profile that comes with winning." The sort of trust and loyalty shown the Monaghan squad by the patrons of the trip praised by McEnaney are something the Corduff man obviously places great stock in. "I put a lot of faith in the squad last year and they repaid that faith ten times over. "I played 20 lads in every game, including the league final match with Meath. "It's not all about having the best 15 you have on the pitch at the start of the match. These days it's all about having a squad with fellas who can come in and be every bit as effective as the fellas who started." A manager who places a lot of truck on having a disciplined panel at hand, he insists "there's no room for messers on the panel" but reckons that "most players know at this stage what we expect from them and what's required." And Seamus knows only too well what will be required of the entire Monaghan camp if the south Ulstermen are to beat Armagh in the forthcoming Ulster SFC first round. The Monaghan manager maintains the Orchard Countymen are "on a par with Tyrone" and no-one in Monaghan will be underestimating the task before them. "We'll not be worrying about Armagh for another while yet. "We first need to make sure that we hold onto our place in division one of the league. "The Armagh game will look after itself once the league campaign is done and dusted." Tweet

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