Marc Ó Sé expecting some Jim McGuinness 'magic dust' for decider

RTÉ News​

25-07-2025

Marc Ó Sé expects Jim McGuinness to have "something up his sleeve" when Donegal take on Kerry in Sunday's All-Ireland SFC final.
Ó Sé was on the winning side in the counties' most recent final meeting 11 years ago, and knows that the desire for revenge can be a powerful motivating factor.
"I'd imagine Jim was fairly hurt after the 2014 All-Ireland, having done so well in the semi-final against Dublin upsetting the odds," the five-time All-Ireland winner tells RTÉ Sport.
"The Jimmy Guinness factor, and I suppose the Michael Murphy and Patrick McBrearty factor, it's huge because we've all been involved in games before in the past where a team has beaten you and you want to get one back on them.
"I see [Colm] McFadden on the sideline with Donegal. He was a player that I was marking that day. He gave me a right roasting in 2012 [in the quarter-final], two years previous. So I was trying to get a bit of revenge in 2014
"I always think that with Jim there will be something up his sleeve that he will come up with.
"He'll probably look at the semi-final and see the way Malachy [O'Rourke, Tyrone manager] went about his business. Malachy spoke about it afterwards in terms of keeping close tabs on Seán O'Shea and Paudie Clifford but then obviously David still runs riot inside so trying to keep tabs on all three is a huge thing. Is he going to lay off a player like Mark O'Shea or a Sean O'Brien or a Graham O'Sullivan and get those players who are marking them back covering David Clifford?"
Ó Sé has been hugely impressed by the Ulster champions' rejuvenation since McGuinness returned as manager for last season.
"He has been so innovative in the way he goes about it. He's got a complete buy-in from these players. These fellas are just eating out of the palm of his hand.
"Just look at where Donegal were two years ago under Paddy Carr. It was as though Donegal were going to go into the doldrums.
"All of a sudden, they get to an All-Ireland semi-final last year, you've Michael Murphy back in the fold, they're in an All-Ireland final now this year. It's been incredible what he's achieved in this short space of time.
"You would have to say with an incredible bunch of players. But he has also brought players through, the likes of [Finbarr] Roarty. Look what he has done. Man of the match in the last game, he's had an incredible season. They're all playing outstanding stuff and he has fellas really playing at the peak of their powers at the moment.
"He has the magic dust up there I think, there is no doubt about that. From a Kerry point of view, we know he's a serious manager. So we'll have to have our homework done in terms of like the different threats that they pose."
Their man on the line is no slouch himself: Jack O'Connor is leading them into an eighth final, having won four of the previous seven.
And another wizard is Kerry's championship top-scorer David Clifford. Does Ó Sé agree with McGuinness that the Fossa forward is potentially the best ever Gaelic footballer?
"He's certainly going in the right direction. It's an incredible season yes, but probably you can't form those opinions until a player has finished their career.
"He's an old head on mature shoulders at this stage. He was a young lad winning Player of the Year [in 2022] but he replicated that then winning another one [in '23] and and he's going for a third if Kerry get over the line.
"One thing we have to get right is to track those Donegal runners from defence and not let them build momentum. From our own point of view, move the ball quickly into the inside line, get our kick outs off, move the ball quickly into our danger-man David."
For a team that is often accused of struggling against Ulster counties, Kerry have beaten a lot of them in the knockout stages this year. Cavan, Armagh, Tyrone all fell and now only Donegal, for just the fourth time in championship, stand in their way.
"We just hit the ground running in terms of the quarter-final [ against Armagh ] and the momentum that Kerry have had has been huge," says Ó Sé. "I think that has lent itself to the performances that we've given and players having that confidence.
"I still think Donegal have been the best team in Ulster, they're the Ulster champions, so this game has the ingredients to be a fantastic battle.
"Monaghan did put it up to them in the first half, but they would have preferred maybe stronger opposition. Kerry probably did get stronger opposition although they still blitzed both Armagh and Tyrone."
He believes that the key to victory for the Kingdom will be "Winning the midfield battle again, like we've done in the last two games. That said, it's going to be a lot tougher this time with the likes of Michael Langan and Ciarán Thompson.
"We will again have to be on top of the opposition's kick out, like we were in the last two games. And if we can do that again, I think we have a great chance."
Regardless, Ó Sé doesn't expecting returning midfielder Diarmuid O'Connor to start - "How can we expect a fellow to go from zero to 80 or 90 in the space of a couple of weeks when he's been out injured?" - but is hoping for an impact off the bench from him or one of the other walking wounded.
"Not sure what way Tom O'Sullivan or Paul Geaney are, but if you could get two of those three players fighting for maybe 25 minutes on Sunday that would be incredible."