Ciarán Whelan: Jim McGuinness can bring Donegal on by 40%

Jim McGuinness can bring the absolute best out of Donegal again, just like he did a decade ago, according to RTÉ GAA analyst Ciarán Whelan.

The Tír Chonaill men won their last All-Ireland in 2012 before reaching the final again two years later in what would prove to be the last year of McGuinness's first stint with his native county.

Since then Donegal haven't reached the last four of the Sam Maguire Cup competition, getting as far as quarter-finals and Super 8 groups, but never managing to go further.

Speaking on the RTÉ GAA Podcast two-time All-Star Whelan suggested that the quality has been there in the last decade, but that McGuinness can bring the squad on to the next level.

"They've always had quality players and they've always had a bit of depth," he said.

"In the last five or six years you could never look at a Donegal team on paper and say it's a weak team. That quality has always been there.

"It's a new team since the [first] Jim McGuinness era but they brought in quality players through the Declan Bonner era.

"He's going into a scenario where he's going to improve these guys by 20%, 30%, 40%. You can see the traits in the early games. It's similar to Derry, they're trying to find different ways to play the game.

"One of them is going to be that really high, aggressive press. You can see it's not just aggressive, it's frantic. It's a very high energy game to play.

"It's a very difficult game to play and I'd say if you're not willing to play it, you're out, and he has everybody bought into that process."

Donegal are competing in Division 2 of the Allianz League this spring, picking up wins over Cork and Cavan, with Fermanagh set to visit Letterkenny on Saturday.

Last year's All-Ireland champions Dublin also competed in the