Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney has said that the vote on his position as manager before the 2024 season only emboldened his belief that he was supported in the role.
Last August, McGeeney was ratified for a 10th season after winning a 46-16 vote, although a number of clubs called for his removal and the votes in favour included a block from the Orchard County's management committee.
While the overall outcome provided a strong backing, it was a topic of hot debate throughout the county with strong opinions voiced on both sides of the argument.
Ultimately, McGeeney remained in charge and any dissenting voices would have been silenced by events since as Armagh defeated Kerry on Saturday to reach their first All-Ireland final since 2003.
At their pre-final press conference in the Carrickdale Hotel on Monday, McGeeney provided a strong response when asked by RTÉ Sport whether or not it had been a difficult start to the season given his future was so publicly up for discussion.
"I wouldn’t call it difficult. It was actually probably one of those moments that the vote reinforced. Whatever it was, 70 to 80% of the clubs, voted for me. So, if anything, it was a good start to the year. As the year went on, I think that percentage went down!
"I’ve been around football a long, long time. Seen all of those things come and go.
"In terms of this year, I think I’m right in saying we have lost one game by a point, that was the league final. So to me, it’s been a fantastic year."
McGeeney also again pointed to the fine margins that have worked mostly against them, but more recently for them.
Penalty shootout losses to Galway and Monaghan in All-Ireland quarter-finals in 2022 and ’23 and Ulster final shoot-out losses to Derry and Donegal in 2023 and ’24 demonstrate how close they were to having a different narrative to their journey.
Likewise, if took a goalmouth scramble clearance to prevent Kerry dumping them out on Saturday at the end of extra-time – and if the Kingdom had managed that, Armagh - and McGeeney in particular - again would have been in the firing line.
"Yes, we got beaten on penalties in the Ulster final," McGeeney continued. "But it’s perspective. Everybody says you can’t close out tight games but Donegal and Monaghan end up in a penalty shoot-outs and they can close out tight games? They can’t. They were just better at penalties than we were. So I don’t buy into that narrative.
"For me, these fellas have been phenomenal. In 2005, we lost our first league game and went on – we had draws that year too. In 2005, Tyrone in the Ulster, they actually played better than us in both games and we ended up winning the replay and the All-Ireland semi-final we played better than them and lost it.
"For these fellas to go through this year and have one single point defeat by a single point is phenomenal."
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