‘You don’t just win an All-Ireland, it has to happen gradually’ – McGee

Former Donegal player Eamon McGee said that while Donegal is moving in a positive upward trajectory, he believes it will be a big ask for his former team to go from the point of where they were last year to an All-Ireland in one year, and that it will take time, but stresses that the belief to win needs to be there. 

Speaking on the Irish Examiner’s Gaelic football podcast, the 2012 Donegal All-Ireland winner also questioned if all of the other teams left in the 2024 football championship truly believe they can win an All-Ireland title or is it just between Dublin and Kerry to take the glory. 

“I just think a lot of counties have good structures, but there is an element, this is my opinion now, that we buy the narrative,” he said. 

“I totally disagreed with Jim McGuinness when he gave an interview saying we have to save the provincials. He more or less said the All-Irelands belong to Kerry and Dublin. They are going to win the majority of All-Irelands. 

“If you continually tell someone from Cavan or Roscommon or us in Donegal, that you are not going to win an All-Ireland. You won’t compete. Leave that to Kerry or Dublin. You’ll believe it.” 

McGee has been involved in underage structures within the county including with Donegal’s U-20s for a number of seasons, saying that his job as a management team was to prepare teams and young players physically and psychologically for the big games, but he stressed that it can’t happen in the short-term. 

“We are bringing young fellas through the system. What I want for a young fella coming through the system, club or academy in Donegal, is that they go into senior believing they are a potential All-Ireland winner. It is not just to compete.” 

When asked if Donegal are capable of winning the All-Ireland this season, he compared it to their evolution in 2011. 

“I’m going to contradict myself here, I believe where Donegal are coming from last year, you don’t just go to that point. It has to be gradual. The curve has been moving rapidly but I don’t think you just land at an All-Ireland. 

“It was the same in 2011. We could’ve beat Dublin but from a coaching and development perspective, it made no sense for us to able to win an All-Ireland. The same logic applies to Donegal this year.  

“Going forward, that group will start to believe the message Jim is talking about. We are as good as anybody. We deserve to be in the conversation.”