He brought Kildare to an All-Ireland quarter-final five times and now that he has also steered Armagh to that stage of the competition, Kieran McGeeney must be considered one of the top six managers in the country, even if his CV still has no silverware on it. The fact is that he has achieved consistent championship performances with counties that have underperformed either before his appointment or after his departure proves McGeeney’s worth. Jim Gavin, Mickey Harte, Eamonn Fitzmaurice, Malachy O’Rourke and Kevin McStay have done more and won more, but the Armagh manager is next in the pecking order. On Keegan’s shoulders, Mayo’s hopes lieLee Keegan is probably Mayo’s best defender, but yesterday he looked like their best midfielder and forward too.

Source: The Times July 31, 2017 00:00 UTC