THE QUALIFIERS GIVE YOUNG TEAMS A BIG CHANCE TO DEVELOP

I CERTAINLY think the qualifiers still have their place in the GAA. I think it’s important for teams that are trying to develop that there is that second opportunity in place. I suppose, from where I was with Fermanagh in 2003 and ’04, when we had those great runs, the qualifiers were a marvellous thing for us.

However, I do look at some teams, particularly from Division 4, and you just wonder the value of it for them. In many ways, the qualifiers just allow the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The good teams will generally benefit hugely from it, and the weaker teams can often get a drubbing in the province, only to get a tough draw in the qualifiers and end up receiving another hiding. I suppose that is the difficult part of it, and it’s what gives ammunition to the detractors of the back-door system.

Still, you are definitely talking to the converted, and I know the real meaning of the qualifiers. I think any team with ambition will embrace the back-door. Especially in 2003, we had a lot of very young players coming through and they got to an All-Ireland quarterfinal, who then took a step further in 2004 and reached a semi-final.

There was real progress, and that gives a wonderful lift to football in the county. If Fermanagh hadn’t had the back door, then the county wouldn’t have had those heady days. Even last year, they reached a quarter-final, and Fermanagh are still basking in the success of that run and it’s whetted the appetite for another run this season.

Looking at Saturday, I think Wexford are going to be very difficult. I always have a great admiration for Wexford football.

I know they are renowned for their hurlers, but I have memories of them beating me in 1999 when I had a great MacRory Cup team, and Good Counsel beat us in a cracking semifinal.

Anybody who tells me there is no football in Wexford, that’s wrong, and I found that out to my cost.

I think Fermanagh need to improve if they are to progress. I would like them to be a little more streetwise. I thought they were a wee bit naive, both on and off the pitch, against Donegal. They allowed Donegal to dominate and, in many ways, bully them in Ballybofey (above). I certainly would like to think that won’t happen again and that those lessons have been learned.

Any side that has ambition will embrace the back-door system