O'Mahony does not have that now, just as John Maughan never had it either. What O'Mahony can guarantee is that he will give Mayo every chance to win an All Ireland.

Success, a man has said, is peace of mind of knowing you gave something your best shot. By that count, Mayo finally can have some success, because until O'Mahony got another stint, they could never have that peace of mind.

His selection of selectors as well as words has been also impeccable. Tommy Lyons will secure the trust and availability of the Ballina contingent, including David Brady.

Even more significant is the retention of Kieran Gallagher to offer some continuity; the atrocities and lessons of September 17 simply must be revisited and learned. John Maughan's biggest mistake was to pretend September 2004 never happened, and in doing so, wave the services of the sports psychologist Dr Aidan Moran away with it. He needed Moran more in '05 than he ever needed in '04, and Mickey Moran needed someone like his namesake to sift through that wreckage too. Instead Mickey made the crucial and arrogant mistake of deciding '04 was not his affair, and as another wise man once said, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. O'Mahony is a historian as well as a politician. Mayo's famine might continue during and after his term but the days of humiliation are over.

That will mean a greater pragmatism. While O'Mahony's Galway will always be remembered fondly by the purists, they could also adopt a blue-collar, hard-nosed ethos in Croke Park that Mayo have lacked since '97. Kieran Donaghy may go one-on-one with a Mayo basketballer again but never with a Mayo footballer.

James Nallen will never be assigned to Declan O'Sullivan again either.

Every player will have a specific role going onto a pitch, something too many Mayo players did not last September. O'Mahony is all for allowing players to express and reinvent themselves, as Frankie Dolan's rebirth as a playmaking centre-forward with St Brigid's this year underlines, but he will not allow it cross into overindulgence. While Michael Donnellan and Padraic Joyce did trespass across it, that was at a point when they were getting tired of O'Mahony and tired of winning. No Mayo player is at that juncture. Ciaran McDonald won't be told how to play but he will be advised how to play and will then be held to play that way. The days of him and anyone else wearing different match-day gear to the group is gone too. There is an individualistic, flamboyant streak to the Mayo character that when honed properly, is healthy, but when ignored or overindulged, is lethal and selfdestructive. O'Mahony knows that and will address that.

O'Mahony does not have all the answers. The last time he coached a Mayo-Galway game, he gave up a six-point lead to lose by six points;

Maughan and McHale looked the gurus on the line that day.

Mayo's current age-profile isn't that dissimilar to that Galway had in '03 and '04 (a bunch of veterans joined by an All Ireland-winning under-21 team), and Galway exited the championship tamely both years. He has a dismal bigmatch record against Kerry and a mediocre one against northern teams, sides Galway or Ballina never had to go through to win All Irelands but Mayo must.

He has the humility to go looking for answers though.

Martin Carney isn't giving up the Sunday Game gig, but he'll be free to advise O'Mahony the way he helped Maughan break down Tyrone's blanket defence in '04. O'Mahony won't fall out or retire players either, something the admirable but more confrontational, dogmatic Maughan was prone to do; instead, like the wonderful but aging Shane Curran, who couldn't get back into the Brigid's side this spring and summer just gone, they'll simply drift away.

Today, in Dr Hyde Park, his light but considerable touch will be at play in the Connacht club final. O'Mahony has had a long association with Brigid's since coaching them to the Roscommon county title in '98. Last year he was an advisor to manager Ger O'Dowd, and this year he has been one to team trainer Anthony Cunningham, the former Galway hurler. Today they encounter Corofin, a side backboned by Kieran Fitzgerald who he blooded with Galway. Brigid's have already overcome Connacht's outstanding team of the decade, Crossmolina, in this campaign, playing with intensity and, then, intelligence. You never saw two wing backs attacking simultaneously, or two midfielders jumping for the same ball. When they built up a fivepoint lead, their wing forwards took turns to play in their own backline. Today they might become the first Roscommon team to win a Connacht club title in 16 years.

But it's a much bigger and longer wait that will soon consume and define him.