Derry wanted another Ulster title, not excuses for failure - Shane McGuigan

Shane McGuigan says that the Derry footballers didn't want to use their abrupt change of management as an excuse if they had failed to retain the Ulster title.

The Oak Leafers followed up last year's first provincial crown in 24 years by beating Armagh on penalties in last month's final, in between then-manager Rory Gallagher stepping back and subsequently resigning from the position.

"The excuses were there," McGuigan told RTÉ Sport as he was named PWC GAA/GPA Player of the Month for May.

"We lost our manager, if we needed an excuse to use.

"But we wanted to hold onto that Ulster crown. We knew how good it felt to win last year against Donegal and the way it panned out, going to extra time and penalties made it even more special.

"We regrouped as players. Selfish as it sounds, it has always been about us.

"We talked about how we want to manage this team ourselves, coach each other on the pitch and off it. It was us that needed to drive it as players.

"Thankfully, we have some leaders there: the likes of Chrissy [McKaigue], Brendan [Rogers], Conor Glass drove it on from there. We had an Ulster final to win and we weren't letting anything or anyone stop us from achieving that."

It also helped that Ciaran Meenagh, assistant to both Gallagher and his predecessor Damian McErlain, has taken over and ensured continuity of approach.

"Ciaran has stepped into the role seamlessly now," said McGuigan. "He has been there for the last four or five years.

"He taught in Ballinascreen/Draperstown and he managed their club team. He has a really good relationship with the boys and he's a top-class trainer. We wanted to keep hold of him.

"We have massive massive respect for him, as a person, not only as a trainer and a manager. He’ll always have that