The fact that he brought the county its first ever National League title in a season that also saw Donegal rubber stamp Armagh's exit from the Ulster championship won't count. That was last season.

The only thing that will count for Brian McIver this time around is that he can resurrect Donegal's championship aspirations to credible levels. In the process he has to restore the credibility that he has lost with a significant section of the Donegal support.

To be described as the man who "jumped ship" and who "hadn't the heart for the job" is harsh and would test the resolve of the toughest individual. Brian McIver is a man who doesn't give the impression of being unable to cope.

But he is the man who left Donegal football in disarray by his sudden departure from the county managerial post within 20 minutes of the end of a miserable defeat to Monaghan two months ago. He is the man that had vowed that he would never manage either Donegal or another county or club again.

As a statement of rejection of all things managerial there seemed absolutely no room to manoeuvre an alternative return clause. But the thing about football is never to be surprised at the unexpected and the bizarre becoming accepted as the template for normality.

At the time of his leaving McIver explained that he could have exercised the option of simply putting the gutless second-half Donegal performance against Monaghan in Healy Park down to the inconsistency factor that has riddled the county's football fortunes for so long.

Given the face value accuracy of that analysis it would have been an acceptable enough line of logic. Others have survived on less credible excuses. Instead he shocked the football world by declaring his intention to make an abrupt exit. At the time McIver said he found it impossible to come to terms with the abject surrender of his football principles. He added that he found the performance unacceptable. The term "disgusting" was also used as a description.

"It would have been easier to have stayed. But I felt I had to make a stand. It was something that I would not have accepted from a schoolboy team and definitely not from a county team. The people of Donegal deserved a lot more than that, " he said.

There were hopes in some levels of the Donegal Board and across the supporter spectrum that the vacancy left by Brian McIver would clear the way for the appointment of Martin McHugh as the new Donegal boss. But once the former Cavan manager made it abundantly clear that a return to county management wasn't on his personal radar screen, all options were reassessed. It included the inevitable reevaluation of Brian McIver's talents and technique. Before his reappointment there were meetings held with his backroom staff and a follow-up discussion with many of the players. The constant theme of those meetings was the need for all connected with McIver's vision of the future for Donegal football to buy into the commitment factor.

At times in terms of Donegal football the feel-good factor, rather than that of hard grind commitment, has been one of intoxicating proportions. Discipline, both on a personal basis and collectively has suffered.

The reversal of his resignation has been formally underpinned by Donegal club delegates by an overwhelming majority.

However in return for a new three-year contract McIver has had to accept the imposition of a redesigned backroom structure. But it has still not cleared away the sense of bewilderment and utter bafflement that still exists in most quarters of the county regarding the real reasons for the change of heart.

There are plenty of cynics in Donegal football circles. They live on a diet of intrigue and survive within a complex web of controversy. There are those that would subscribe, very eagerly, to the theory that at the time of his resignation McIver was in fact positioning himself as a possible replacement for Derry's Paddy Crozier.

But an unexpected change in Derry fortunes saw the back door open to an eventual All Ireland semi-final appearance in Croke Park and Crozier has been allowed to see out the last leg of his three-year stint.

Now McIver's priority is learning of the opposition Donegal will encounter once they are pulled from tonight's televised showpiece. He admitted that he was, like every other football follower, "looking forward to the Ulster draw, and in particular the Donegal draw".

But he still declines to elaborate, other than in the broadest of terms, for his about-turn to the Donegal hot-seat.

Fuelling the embers of the controversy into life is something that he is reluctant to get into. "Look, I would prefer not to say too much on the issue. It's done and dusted. I did speak to both the Donegal County Board and the players. I was impressed by the level of commitment that was promised to me. As a management team we have made certain recommendations that we hope will be acted upon. The job as far as I am concerned is to get on with what is best for Donegal football. That's what we all want."

It takes roughly an hour-and-a-half to travel from Brian McIver's home in County Derry to his training sessions with the Donegal squad. The weekly grind of those regular coaching missions, coupled with match commitments at weekends, were cited by the Donegal manager as one of the contributory factors in his decision to quit the job last August. It was, he pointed out, a very long road to travel. It was one that continually asked questions regarding being able to deliver the type of 100 per cent commitment so important to the McIver football ethos.

But, like the road to Damascus, it also provides plenty of opportunity to change direction.