THE PUSH FOR PROMOTION: HOW TEAMS ARE LIKELY TO DO THIS YEAR

ARMAGH

MANAGER: Kieran McGeeney (tenth season) LAST SEASON: Relegated out of Division 1 (W2 D1 L4) ODDS: Promotion: 5/6; Relegation: 25/1 FIXTURES: (H) Louth, (H) Meath, (A) Kildare, (H) Donegal, (A) Fermanagh, (H) Cavan, (A) Cork PREDICTION: A top-eight team knocking hard on the door of becoming a top-four side. They are punching seriously below their weight at this level. Promotion.

CAVAN

MANAGER: Raymond Galligan (first season) LAST SEASON: promoted from Division 3 (W5L2) ODDS: Promotion: 13/2; Relegation: 9/4 FIXTURES: (A) Kildare, (H) Donegal, (A) Cork, (A) Louth, (H) Meath, (A) Armagh, (H) Fermanagh

PREDICTION: Raymond Galligan offers continuity but the suspicion remains this group may have maxed out under Mickey Graham. Their battle for survival may come down to a final-round clash with Fermanagh. 6th.

CORK

MANAGER: John Cleary (second season) LAST SEASON: 4th (W3 D1 L3) ODDS: Promotion: 11/8; Relegation: 14/1 FIXTURES: (A) Donegal, (A) Louth, (H) Cavan, (A) Fermanagh, (H) Kildare, (A) Meath, (H) Armagh PREDICTION: Will be in the thick of a three-way chase along with Armagh and Donegal which may even come down to scoring difference. However, their lack of firepower will continue to cost them — 3rd.

DONEGAL

MANAGER: Jim McGuinness (first season) LAST SEASON: Relegated out of Division 1 (W1 D1 L5) ODDS: Promotion; Relegation: 20/1 FIXTURES: (H) Cork, (A) Cavan, (H) Fermanagh, (A) Armagh, (H) Louth, (A) Kildare, (H) Meath PREDICTION: They are likely to be ahead of everyone else in terms of fitness over the earlier rounds, which allied to their considerable quality should be more than enough for a speedy return to the top flight — promotion.

FERMANAGH

MANAGER: Kieran Donnelly (third season) LAST SEASON: Promoted from Division 3 (W6 L1) ODDS: Promotion: 12/1; Relegation: 1/3 FIXTURES: (A) Meath, (H)

Kildare, (A) Donegal, (H) Cork, (H) Armagh, (A) Louth, (A) Cavan PREDICTION: What Kieran Donnelly has squeezed out of a county with such limited resources has gone under the radar, but the departure of some high-quality leaders is likely to have fatal consequences — relegation.

KILDARE

MANAGER: Glenn Ryan (third season) LAST SEASON: 5th (W3 L4) ODDS: Promotion: 10/3; Relegation: 7/1 FIXTURES: (H) Cavan, (A) Fermanagh, (H) Armagh, (A) Meath, (A) Cork, (H) Donegal, (H) Louth PREDICTION: Amid high expectations, they lost their way last spring and it is that inability to deliver on their potential which makes them so hard to trust. There is no reason to believe it will be any different this time — fifth.

LOUTH

MANAGER: Ger Brennan (first season) LAST SEASON: 3rd (W4 L3) ODDS: Promotion: 20/1; Relegation: 3/10 FIXTURES: (A) Armagh, (H) Cork, (A) Meath, (H) Cavan, (A) Donegal, (H) Fermanagh, (A) Kildare PREDICTION: The retirement of James Califf only serves to accentuate the sense that this group is fast approaching a cliff edge. All that remains to be seen is how far they will fall — relegation.

MEATH

MANAGER: Colm O’Rourke (below) (second season) LAST SEASON: 6th ((W2 D1 L4) ODDS: PROMOTION: 3/1; Relegation: 6/1 FIXTURES: (H) Fermanagh, (A) Armagh, (H) Louth, (H) Kildare, (A) Cavan, (H) Cork, (A) Donegal PREDICTION: They should get some momentum from last summer’s Tailteann Cup success but the flip side is that they may have less to play for than others, in that they are guaranteed Sam Maguire football while they simply are not good enough to challenge the big three — fourth.