Passion, pride and panache. Monaghan's senior footballers will be under a new management team in 2005. Kevin Carney caught up with its public face Seamus McEnaney. The interview doesn't initially get off the ground. Too many people wanting a bit of Seamus McEnaney's time . . .and it's only November! The Lord only knows how the new Monaghan senior football boss will get the time to sleep when the firm ground kicks in, when the goalkeeper curses the fact that he's left his peaked cap behind him and when tickets is the operative word. Switching from the mobile to the landline helps in this instance. Later a bevy of text messages await. The interview thus continues apace and the loyal son of Corduff and Monaghan proceeds to be the proverbial journalist's delight. He shoots from the hip, tells it as he finds it and carefully skirts around the crystal ball that is placed before him in the hope of catching a scoop. The successful businessman, farmer and family man must be afflicted by the same madness that inveigles his better known brother Pat to run the gauntlet of crowds of up to 80,000 hot-blooded partisan fans. Seamus's decision last October to step into the breach following the resignation of Colm Coyle as Monaghan supremo may have been viewed by some onlookers as bordering on the insane given the man's already busy schedule. But those privvy to the McEnaney psyche know better. The man's burning passion for football, for his county and for taking on a challenge is growing more legendary by the season. Why take on the job? "Football has been a way of life for me for as long as I remember and this is the best job in the county. " If you were living in the middle of England, you'd want to manage Manchester United. "I'm a Monaghan man and managing Monaghan is what I want to do." So how's he finding the challenge so far? "Going well. We've a panel of 35 put together. " Our first training session was on Tuesday the 23rd November and I've been impressed by the players' attitude and willingness to get involved and the appetite they showed in the challenge games against Cavan, Meath and Kildare." It's a no-holes barred interview and the Corduff Gael is quite clear where he's heading, where he wants the county seniors to go and what the short-term targets are. "We'll be putting a much greater emphasis on getting results in the national league. "We need to get out of division two so as we're in a positive frame of mind going into the championship," Seamus explains. An approachable man, self-confident with it; McEnaney appears to have at least some of the credentials needed to cut it at the highest level of management in GAA circles. But does he not know that at the very best he's peering up Sliabh Beagh with slippers on, looking to find a thistle-free field down Raferagh-way? Does Seamus - on board for at least the next 12 months - recognise the fact that he has a mountain to climb to get the better of the man mountains that adorn the Armagh and Tyrone landscapes? "Definitely there's a gap there between us and the major counties in Ulster right now and we've quite a bit of work to do to close that gap. "That's one reason why we have to try and get out of division two so that we can experience regular football against the top counties. "We want to play against the best teams every Sunday and getting promotion from division two will get us there and put us in good stead for the game with Derry. "Any team that's been successful in the last fifteen years or so have operated out of division one." Interestingly, while delighted to see fellow Ulster side Fermanagh finally shrugging off the yoke under which they've always laboured, Seamus fingers the impressive recent record of similarly up-and-coming Westmeath as one which Monaghan should strive to emulate. "You only have to look at what Westmeath and Fermanagh have done after playing in division one. "It's important to remember too that before Westmeath went onto win the Leinster championship, we were the last team to beat them. "We have to take some inspiration from that and look to follow the same path." So what do the players need to show in order to repeat the Westmeath model? "They need to show passion, a pride in the jersey and be willing to work and work for the team," adds Seamus who showed plenty of everything over the course of winning two IFC medals and two JFL with Corduff. Needless to say, just as he demanded 100% of his Corduff colleagues when he guided the club, as player-manager, to the IFC in 1998, Seamus will expect and demand nothing less than 100% from his charges. Take it as read that he will get 100% commitment from his backroom of Gerry McCarville, Bernie Murray and Gerry Hoey. The new county boss has handed the burden of taking the physical training over to the Inniskeen native. With all the enthusiasm and hunger of a man about to embark on a maiden voyage, the part-owner of Monaghan town's Westenra Hotel and Fiddlers Bar and Restaurant in Carrickmacross believes he has the material to work. But, come Summer time, he'll be surprised if he hasn't found "four or five new players who we'll be fit to add to the squad from last year." There's no doubt but that his enthusiasm for the job is infectious and his sincerity in talking up the players in the county brooks no debate. Meanwhile on the question of the standard of club football in Monaghan, Colm Coyle's successor reckons that four or five clubs are that bit better than the rest in the county but there is no one outstanding club around right now. He doesn't think such a state of affairs is either good or bad as regards the business of raising the county up the pegging order nationally. "Right now we're deemed to be in the bottom four in the country and that's generally been the way of things for the last three or four years. "We have to lift ourselves up and change the attitude of everyone in terms of ambition and self-belief." After losing out to Colm Coyle in the selection process last time around, one wonders was his own self-belief dented by the angst arising from his rejection? "Colm Coyle beat me to the job alright and I was genuinely disappointed. "But I think at that time the feeling in the county was that an outsider was what was wanted. "This time around the feeling in GAA circles in the county was that getting a Monaghan man back in was right. "I'm glad to get the opportunity and glad to have passionate fellas as part of my backroom team too." Pointedly, Seamus doesn't lack in self-belief - a 'must have' for any inter-county manager these days. "I managed the county under 21s for two years and in 2001 we only lost to Tyrone by two points in Ballybay. "Eleven of that Tyrone team went onto win a senior All-Ireland medal. " There's no doubt in my mind that I'm up to the job. I've a proven record of man management in football and at work. "I know how to delegate, organise and motivate and I'm very strong on discipline. "Football has gone so professional nowadays that it's not that far removed from running a business and I know a fair bit about running a business at this stage." Married to Rosemarie, a native of Inniskeen, and the father of four kids ranging from six to thirteen, Seamus says that he hopes and expects to make progress in the twelve months that he's certain to be at the helm. Progress in that period will be the attainment of promotion from division two of the national league. As for the championship, well, sin sceal eile. "Derry played in the All-Ireland semi-final in 2004 and gave Kerry a real fright so they'll be strong favourites when the Summer comes around. " We haven't managed to get the better of them in the championship since the early eighties so you can't say we haven't got an incentive. "But that game is a fair way off." After a 17 year stint playing with Corduff and stints with his beloved Gaels and Monaghan Harps (winning a JFC title) and with the county under 21s, it appears that Seamus McEnaney is ready, willing and able to step up to a higher plate. The gaels of Monaghan await with bated breath. Tweet

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