Kieran McGeeney the man to lead Armagh to coveted Ulster title - James Morgan

Kieran McGeeney is now the longest serving inter-county GAA manager and will lead his native Armagh into a tenth football championship next season.

But a few eyebrows were raised when the man whose side were only denied an Ulster title and an All-Ireland semi-final spot in penalty shootouts faced some opposition to staying on, before eventually winning an August ratification vote 46-16 (74%-26%).

All-Ireland winning captain 'Geezer' claimed six Ulster titles as a player but the Orchard men have won just one since he retired, and that was back in 2008.

Veteran Armagh defender James Morgan waited 11 years to get his first experience of a provincial decider last May and despite that defeat to Derry he is convinced McGeeney is the man to end their silverware drought.

"Geezer got the majority of votes from the clubs and he got all the backing from the players," Morgan told RTÉ Sport at the launch of this year’s AIB All-Ireland Club Championships.

"So there’s a want for McGeeney to manage Armagh and there’s a belief from the players, that he instilled in us, that we can achieve something.

"We’re on that journey, we started it with Geezer and we want to finish it.

"We’ve been nowhere near it at times as well so we know that what that’s like but I think it just goes to show how we’ve developed as a team under Geezer. The best thing he has done is bring the players closer together and instil that belief in us that we can maybe compete with some of the top opposition. Hopefully we’ll get an opportunity for that this season.

"An Ulster title would be fantastic. In 2012, I came onto that panel and I’ve played in one Ulster final so I’d love to get a bit of silverware."

The draw certainly appears to give Armagh a great chance of a second