NEW ROLE…The former Down boss has joined his native Armagh

NEW Armagh coach Jim McCorry has said that he hopes to add a winning mentality to the side after joining Kieran McGeeney’s backroom team.

The Lurgan native, who helped the county to the Ulster Minor title 12 years ago, was sounded out last year but had to turn down the opportunity due to health reasons. McCorry’s situation has since improved and he gladly accepted the invitation when McGeeney approached him a second time.

“I have 28 years of coaching experience and from talking to Kieran I know he wanted someone who had that experience,” McCorry told Gaelic Life.

“I’m coming in to help develop the team and identify areas that need improvement on.

“One of the things we talked about was the winning mentality, and I suppose I have been lucky enough to win quite a bit as a manager, particularly at club level.

“Maybe Armagh have lost out in games they should have won recently, they’ve tended to self destruct a bit.

“I want to try and help them break through that barrier and get that winning mentality installed into the team. That’s certainly one of the things I’ll be looking to do.”

The Orchard county reached the All-Ireland quarter-final last year, where they were hammered by Tyrone, and McCorry is confident that they can continue to move in the right direction in 2018.

“I would never see a glass as half empty, I see it as a half full. The aim would be to fill that glass further this year.

“No team has immediate success, the mentality has to come into it.

“Kilcoo and Mayobridge both won a lot after I left them because there was a strong bunch of players who had developed that mentality.

“’Geezer’ came in without Armagh being in that position and he has built it up to the point it is at now.

“It is up to us to continue that work, and from what I have seen at the few meetings and sessions I have been at, there has been a tremendous amount of work done.”

McCorry managed McGeeney and coach Denis Holywood when he took Armagh in the early 90s, while Paul McGrane is another player he has worked with.

“I’m coming into a really strong management team,” he said.

“Kieran is a tremendous manager and he has really moved the whole thing forward over the last few years.

“The work Denis Holywood has done as coaching officer has been immense, then you have John Toal, Paddy McKeever and others like, Paul McGrane, help out too.

“There are a few of the players there from ’05 too so there’s real continuity there.”
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