Why Jim McGuinness’s impact in soccer was underrated
Paul Fennessy
IT MAY not have been an unqualified success, but Jim McGuinness left a big impression on many of those he worked with in the world of soccer.
After ending a four-year stint in charge of his native county’s GAA footballers in 2014 that included a 2012 All-Ireland triumph, McGuinness decided to devote more of his time to another passion.
His association with Celtic began when a mutual friend and renowned golf star, Paul McGinley, mentioned McGuinness to Dermot Desmond, the club’s largest individual shareholder.
After accompanying Desmond to a couple of Champions League games, McGuinness was offered a job.
He was consequently appointed as performance consultant for the Scottish club on a part-time basis in 2012, balancing this role with his GAA duties.
After the Donegal departure, he became a youth coach at Celtic in 2015, subsequently graduating to assistant manager of the club’s U20 team.
McGuinness continued to move up the ranks. In 2017, he was named assistant coach of Chinese Super League side Beijing Sinobo Guoan, working alongside Roger Schmidt, who has since gone on to manage PSV and Benfica.
He left the role after just over six months, citing “personal reasons” and a desire to work in Europe.
But McGuinness’s next job turned out to be Stateside, as he agreed to a three-year contract with Charlotte Independence, making ex-Athletic Bilbao manager Félix Sarriugarte his number two.
However, the coach’s only spell as a manager in soccer turned out to be a disappointment — he was dismissed after one win in 14 games in the 2019 USL Championship season.
Had things worked out differently, McGuinness might also have had a crack at the League of Ireland.
According to a 2021 RTÉ Sport report, he was offered a short-term coaching role with Dundalk after Shane Keegan and Filippo Giovagnoli’s departures, but was not keen on the temporary stint.
It was around this time that McGuinness began working as part of the backroom team for Derry City’s U19s side, a spell that was memorable for the Candystripes’ 2021 Enda McGuill Cup triumph.
This period coincided with Ruaidhrí Higgins becoming the senior manager of the Premier Division outfit.
Higgins and McGuinness subsequently got to know each other better as they were part of the same FAI pro licence coaching course.
Well-known names such as current Ireland assistant boss John O’Shea and ex-Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini were also part of the graduating class of 2022.
“I wouldn’t say we’re best mates, but we get on quite well,” Higgins tells The 42 when asked about McGuinness.
Higgins, who spent three and a half years in charge at Derry and is now manager of NIFL Premiership club Coleraine, was immediately impressed by the former and future Donegal boss.
“When he walks into the room, he grips you, doesn’t he? And he’s a very, very smart man, is what it would say.
“I just admire what he’s done. I suppose, when you look at what he inherited when he first took over, when he won his first All-Ireland, Donegal were in a really poor state. And within a few years, [what he achieved] is just incredible.
“How can you get such buy-in so quickly and then deliver? And it’s kind of the same again, when he took over [for the second time in 2023], they weren’t in great nick, and he saw real potential, and he’s just an unbelievably driven individual. Again, he has back-to-back Ulsters, now with the potential of winning another All-Ireland. So you have to say that he’s one of the greats in the game.”
Ian Ryan, who currently manages Athlone Town, was also on that pro licence coaching course.
“He’s a big man in stature; he has a presence and an aura about him,” says Ryan of McGuinness. “But a really nice person. And then when he spoke about football, dressing rooms or culture, he made a lot of sense.
“Other people on the course, particularly the Irish lads, would know each other through the League of Ireland circles. Jim’s not in that circle. But he mixed really well and was very popular with us.”
Despite McGuinness being a relative outsider, Ryan says there was no sense of suspicion or resentment within the group of a man known primarily for his GAA feats.
“It wasn’t mentioned at all, really. If anything, we would probe him and ask about the differences with the dressing room or driving training.
“There’s similarity, as in, Jim would be big on setting the culture, setting the tone early, and making demands of people, and everybody is clearly defining the boundaries that it’s black and white — what’s acceptable, and what’s not acceptable. He would apply that to the GAA dressing room as well as his work coaching in football.
“And there was never really a falling out with anyone, because either you played to those demands, or if you didn’t, you fell outside that.”
Higgins would travel to Dublin and back with McGuinness, and found him compelling company on those trips.
“His presentation skills are very good,” he says. “He’s his own man. It’s obvious that he’s got a high work ethic, and he spent hours and hours cutting videos, and he’s always upskilling and developing himself, no matter what it is that he goes into and puts his heart and soul into.
“And no matter who you were on that course — there were a few big names — but whenever Jim spoke, I think everyone listened. He’s just an articulate man and captures the room.”
Ryan was similarly impressed with McGuinness’s ability to engage those around him.
“He gave a talk one day to our group, presenting on the topic of psychology — it was superb. You’d feel like running through a brick wall for him there in the hotel room, you can see how he captures people and has a hold of them.
“Even listening to him in the [recent] interviews, it brings back memories of hearing him talk. But his motivation to galvanise a group, I would say, is a massive skill.
“And then, he would know his football inside out. He’d be big on the numbers game, as in, if we press with four, then we’ve six behind. And the overloads that you can gain. And he would break the game down into numbers.”
Former Bray Wanderers boss Ryan cites McGuinness’ focus on repetition and simplicity as another reason for his success.
“The one thing that stands out to me is he used to say that: ‘There’s a need for the sexy drills.’ But the bit for him was to do the simple things quicker and faster for a longer time.
“I saw a clip there recently. It might have been the [All-Ireland] semi-final of them warming up when it looked like they were there on a basic hand pass drill. But the speed and intensity of that was off the charts.
“And I remember him saying that at the start, in his first night with Donegal, they did the drills for whatever, 30 seconds flat out, and they’re on their hands and knees, and he’s like: ‘Now we’re going to do that for 70 odd minutes.’
“And just the fact that I saw that video recently just reminded me that that’s the only thing that increases: ‘Can you do it quicker? Can you do it faster, more and more and more intentionally and then execute the skill at the same time?’ And that’s exactly what they were doing in that warm-up.”
McGuinness even helped Higgins during some of the more difficult periods when he was managing Derry.
In 2023, when the Candystripes were on a bad run domestically, Higgins invited McGuinness into camp to present a psychology workshop for the players.
“He had the room in the palm of his hand,” Higgins recalls. “And I’m not saying it was that alone, but there was an upturn in our form very soon after it. And people would [regularly] reference that meeting. But not only is he brilliant from a psychology point of view, as a coach, he is phenomenal as well, because he can see [the strengths and weakneesses] with every opposition, he comes up with a plan, very methodical, and you would have to say, in Gaelic terms, he is a bit of a genius.”
Higgins continues: “He’s so into the collective. If anybody steps outside of the group, then it’s all about the group and the team.
“No matter how talented you are as an individual, if you’re not going in the direction of everyone else, then forget about it. The team will be successful.
“So, just the togetherness that he tries to create, and the culture and the work ethic are phenomenal.”
It also says a lot that in one of his most difficult moments as Derry manager, it was McGuinness that Higgins turned to.
“I’ll be honest with you. We were bottom of the league [at Derry] when I took over, and we ended up in Europe. But there was a pivotal game that year at home to St Pat’s. I’ll never forget it.
“I couldn’t settle all day. Obviously, I was new to the job and a new manager. It was all new to me, and I was very anxious and worrying about everything.
“And I actually rang Jim, and I said: ‘Jim, I’m on edge here. I’m really worried.’ And then he started asking me questions: ‘Have you covered this? Have you covered this? Have you covered this?’ And basically, simplified it for me, just to reassure me that: ‘No, you’ll be alright. You’ve covered all the bases, all the angles.’
“And I felt a lot more settled after that conversation. He gave me 15-20 minutes of his time, and I was really settled. And after that, we ended up getting a great 1-0 win at home. He definitely had a part to play.”
Despite all his coaching talents, the overriding perception from the outside, at least, is that McGuinness failed in the world of soccer.
Was Ryan surprised that he did not make a greater impact?
“Yeah, and no. I’m surprised that he hasn’t got a job, but there are so few jobs here in this country. And you know, he has a large family, a few kids, they’re growing up. So that would be a factor in him travelling again, I suppose.
“I would think at some point he will go back to it, or he’ll have a go. But obviously, he’s having a successful time there with the GAA at the moment.”
Higgins also wouldn’t be surprised to see McGuinness return to the world of soccer eventually.
“I wouldn’t rule it out. I know he’s very passionate about it. I definitely wouldn’t say that he’s failed. I don’t think he’s had the opportunity that he would have liked.
“And there’s no doubt, a lot of the stuff, so much of the stuff is transferable.
“I spoke to him one time about potentially helping me out at Derry as well. At one point, I met him, but he had a lot of other stuff going on. But I’ve absolutely no doubt that he could be a success, that he would make a really good manager. He’s just a huge figure in Irish sport. And any sport would love to have him.”
Ryan agrees: “He has everything in the game from doing the [pro licence] course, and you can apply some of the principles to the GAA pitch. I would say he does. And there are certain aspects there — people going into a low block defensively or breaking. That probably originated from football, and it developed into the GAA, and the rules changed, because people went more tactical. So I’d say there are definitely [soccer] aspects he brings into it.”
The 42
