RYAN McMenamin is relishing his new position for the past year as Cavan coach and is relieved that he is no longer “in the firing line” in his new role.
For, after club managerial stints in his own Tyrone and managing Fermanagh senior footballers - he has been coaching in neighbouring Cavan for the past year.
“It is always better to be in the back seat watching out, but I am finding the coaching very enjoyable.
“There is pressure, but you want to do it right and of course you are not in the firing line as a manager, and you are not in the media all the time”.
And, it was a pretty busy year for 'Ricey' as the Breffni Blues reached the Tailteann Cup final in Croke Park, only to lose out to Westmeath after a narrow semi-final win over battling Sligo.
“This was the first time a Cavan team won games in Croke Park in 70 years”, he revealed at the launch of the Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup in Cookstown.
“So that was a pretty good psychological boost for the county and the goal this year now is to get out of Division Three.”
But that could be a real dog fight as Derry, Down and Fermanagh are also in this division.
McMenamin had been planning to take a break from football after stepping down as Fermanagh team boss last year.
“I had no intention of doing anything, but I got chatting to Mickey Graham one evening and the two of us sat down.
“We kind of clicked and I decided to give it a go”.
McMenamin is pleased that Cavan have achieved their goal of getting out of Division Four with a bit to spare.
“We did that, and we got to the final of the Tailteann Cup, but we lost to Louth.
“We beat Tipperary in the League final which was a big boost and then we had a great game with Sligo in the Tailteann Cup All-Ireland semi-final in Croke Park.
“We were unlucky against Westmeath in the final with Thomas Galligan being sent off and that was a huge blow to us.
“But fair play to Westmeath, they were the best team on the day, and we will just have to roll with it, but it was a good year overall as we really wanted to get out of Division Four.”
A feature of Cavan last season was their ability to kick points from long range - something Cavan have been working on.
“We have been trying to get the best out of our forwards and we are happy with the way they have been kicking long range points and especially against Sligo and there is a lot more kicking in football these days anyway”.
Cavan are paired with Antrim and Armagh in the Dr McKenna Cup.
“It will be tough enough on us as we have only been back training a week or two and the snow lies heavily in Cavan.
“We have a lot of injuries, but I think the McKenna Cup gives a focus to the boys that instead of training all the time, they have something to aim towards.
“And it saves organizing challenge matches, and it is a chance for young players to come in and play without the much greater pressure of playing in the NFL and the championship.
“We don’t have a squad as yet, but we will take it as it comes”.
