Ian O'Riordantalks to Kieran McGeeney who got off to an impressive start as Kildare manager with a draw in Omagh.

A feature of the National League is for teams that win their first game to hype the thing up, and for teams that don't to play it down. For Kieran McGeeney, in his debut season as Kildare football manager, Saturday night's draw away to Tyrone was probably as good as a win, and definitely better than a loss, although he's certainly not reading too deeply into the result - no matter what the spin put on it.

"I wouldn't say I was happy," says McGeeney. "Maybe some other people treated it like that, a draw as good as a win, but I'd always be greedy for the win. I was more impressed by the performance of the boys. They really dug in, after being down at half-time.

"I think we were very nervous the first 15 or 20 minutes, and gave away a lot of possession. But they played very well after that, just couldn't get the scores we needed to win. But I was very happy with the performance, more than the actual result."

It took a late goal from Padraig Mullarkey to secure Kildare the 1-4 to 0-7 draw, yet given Omagh's reputation as a merciless venue for league points, it was an impressive start for Armagh's former All-Ireland winning captain. Not that McGeeney is gloating about his early influence on Kildare - nor is he likely to ever do so.

There certainly weren't any flowers waiting for him in the dressing room at Omagh, and McGeeney was always likely to be under the early spotlight given his sudden switch from Armagh county footballer to Kildare county manager. Yet the pressure, he says, was nothing compared to his playing days: "No, personally, I didn't feel too much pressure. I'd say you get far more nervous as a player.

"I've always maintained it's the players that win matches. Over the past couple of years managers do seem to get a lot of the praise, but at the end of the day, it's my belief anyway, that the only people who can actually win matches are those across the white line, on the field.

"I know we're the ones picking the teams, and those decisions have consequences and repercussions, and you hope to make the right decisions. But you can pick the finest team in the country, but if they don't do their job on the pitch, there's very little you can do about it. That's the same with any other game in the world.

"It's a bit like me telling you how to write this article. I could tell you it has to make sense, and you have to keep it factual and interesting, but at the end of the day you're the one writing, and you need to use your talent to get it right."

Kildare's league campaign continues on Sunday week against Galway, who secured a winning start with a three-point victory over Laois. The revised league format has squeezed out the potential for any easy game, particularly in Division One, and yet McGeeney won't be getting too hung up on results over the coming weeks.

"It's always hard to know what people really think of the league. Some people think it's the most important thing, and others don't. I think one of the main perceptions we get about it is from the media, who like to play it up as very important. But then come the first weekend in May it's different.

"Take Donegal last year, for example. After winning the league, they got beaten in the championship, and everyone then was saying the league is worth nothing. So I think everyone's perception does change during the year.

"I just don't think any manager or team goes out to lose at any time during the year. You hear some of these comments, that teams aren't concentrating on the league. But I think every team is concentrating on winning whatever game they're playing. Okay, their training programme might reflect differently, and you keep training on hard regardless of the game at hand, and what way you're going, but every team goes out in every round to win.

"No one likes getting relegated either, so I suppose there would be some pressure at that time of the year. But to me it's more about the winning habit. That's what you look for as a player, and I assume managers are the same."

Clearly it's still early days in the season and McGeeney's new role as Kildare manager, but at this stage one thing is certain; he has no regrets about taking the job. "Na, I don't think you can have regrets about anything, once you feel right about it at the time. Sometimes it doesn't turn out to be the best decision in the world, but you learn, you move on. I think the biggest regrets most people have are over the things they haven't tried.

"You learn from these things. If you're not willing to try it, then you can always sit in the stand and tell everyone else you could do it better. I think you'd find a lot of people that want to manage a football team, but aren't willing to put on their own name on the line."