Keith Duggan on how coach Séamus McEnaney has returned to his old underage charges to take care of some unfinished business

Before last year's league Monaghan were long odds to gain promotion from Division Two - 33 to 1 to be precise - which even reflected poorly on the county's ranking as number 28 in the overall football rankings.

On a radio show at the time, the former Donegal player Martin McHugh reckoned that the odds were a gift because Monaghan would go up. "Martin would know me going back a long time," chuckled Monaghan coach Séamus McEnaney. "He would have known the kind of effort we would have been prepared to put in."

McEnaney remembers those odds because they flabbergasted him as much as they did the Kilcar legend. It was typical of the kind of notion the young manager was determined to break. In a province of robustly healthy football counties, Kavanagh Country was something of an afterthought.

Although they rose against then All-Ireland champions Armagh on a thunderous May afternoon in Clones on the opening day of the 2003 championship, that was just a chimera. When McEnaney was appointed, he wasn't sure just what his team were capable of, only that Monaghan football was worth more than Grand National day odds. A year on, fresh from their eye-opening win against Dublin in Parnell Park a fortnight ago he has definitely proven that much.

"I am not going to pretend that going into a place like Parnell Park and discovering that we could mix it with Dublin wasn't satisfying, particularly to manage to win by seven points. Of course that is going to give you a big boost in confidence. But we won't lose sight of the reality of it either. It was a league game in which Dublin were short several players. And they had the distraction of the Tyrone game hanging over them. So it was just another step along the road for us, part of the learning process.

"Like, that's over and now it's Mayo this weekend, another huge football county and the kind of game from which we can learn."

During the year of the foot-and-mouth, 2001, McEnaney was manager of the Monaghan under-21 team who went down to Tyrone by two points. He knew in his heart they were a good underage team who had been defeated by an exceptional opponent. Eleven of them are on his senior squad this year.

"That was why it was important for me to get back with them now, when they are about 23 or 24 years of age. A few years more and I think it would have been too late. But we were able to pick up where we left off and the discipline these boys have shown in getting every part of their lifestyle right has been a key to this. Like, I would never have gone into this job if I didn't think that we had players who were capable of doing something.

"And I felt that Monaghan should be aiming to be in the top 12 teams in the country. I am not saying we are that but coming in, I would have felt it was what we should have been aspiring to."

Smooth and impressive in the league, Monaghan were also one of the joys of last summer, taking a bold and open approach in a memorable game against Tyrone in Croke Park before the heavyweights reeled them in. The manager reckons his team went about as far as they were capable of then. "It would be unrealistic to say we might have gone on. Given our experience and talent, we probably took it as far as we could."

They played pleasing, open football, which drew compliments from Dublin manager Paul Caffrey a fortnight ago. McEnaney saw it as his mandate to restore something of the dash and ambition to Monaghan's playing style, similar to the league and Ulster championship winning side of 1985. He is happy to acknowledge that Armagh, Tyrone and even some of the other Ulster counties operate on a higher plane to Monaghan now but still reckons his team would be capable of capturing a provincial title "this side of 2008."

That is why all of these league games matter. McEnaney has, by choice, signed just a one-year contract. He insists on reviewing himself after each season. "If I am not doing the job and getting everything out of these boys, there is no point in me being there."

However, he has no plans on vacating just now. McEnaney says he is enjoying the job immensely at the moment. Along with his brother Pat, one of the most respected referees in the game, Séamus and three other brothers continued playing football until they won a junior championship together in 2002. Then, with immaculate timing, they bowed out. Management has replaced those playing days.

It may take some time but under McEnaney, Monaghan are determined to catch up with their neighbours. And one thing is for sure: you can't get them at such nice odds any more.