John Maughan is feeling the tingle again. For the past eight weeks the Mayo man has been acquainting himself with the back roads that border the Curlews, twice, three times a week journeying from Castlebar to train the Fermanagh team.

All those years of heading to Enniskillen for National League games as a Mayo player and, later, as a manager, and it never really crossed his mind that he'd find himself directing the heartbeat of this small Ulster county. Maughan has accomplished so much that we forget his relative youth but this is a new slate, and the thought of a few crisp October matches warms him.

"I have to say I've been totally delighted with the reception over the past few months. The players have been enthusiastic, we have been making small demands, such as they turn out for training sharp, on time, small things that point to attitude and all have been met. And people here are friendly - I was told that I'd find that about Fermanagh football and it is important. The travelling will take time to get used to but I'm very happy to be back in management again, I love the buzz and it hasn't left me."

Fermanagh and Maughan seem like a perfect match. Time was that the lakelands county was the residual poor man of Ulster football, championship whipping boys with a bare cupboard. Pat King spearheaded a renaissance founded on B championship wins and culminating in last summer's championship unseating of Monaghan and Donegal. They could, maybe should, have beaten eventual provincial kingpins Armagh. When King retired, exhausted by his efforts, Maughan was invited to step in and found the lure too strong to resist.

"I think the job that Pat King had done with this team has to be acknowledged," says Maughan now.

"Through my involvement with RTE I saw practically every Fermanagh game last summer and yes, I did sit up and take notice. They have a nice spread of footballers, are very keen and to be frank, to expand beyond where Pat King has brought this team is a hard task. Our ultimate aim here is to win an Ulster championship, that has to be the goal and it will involve a lot of work from all sides."

That no one bats an eyelid at the announcement of such an ambition is a measure of how dramatically the power base has shifted in Ulster over the past few years. Several traditional powerhouses have cleared the store rooms and are building from scratch, others have a timeworn look about them. With the new championship format offering a second life, there is every reason for optimism within Fermanagh.

"I'm wholeheartedly behind the new championship structure, absolutely, and it does offer emerging teams an added incentive. But for now in Fermanagh, we have to concentrate on the league, a competition that is particularly important for sides under new management."

On Sunday, Fermanagh cross the border for a tricky opening assignment against Sligo, under the new stewardship of Maughan's former Mayo colleagues Peter Forde and TJ Kilgallon. Two weeks later, Mayo visit Enniskillen for a match that will have to hold special resonance for Maughan.

"I suppose it will, definitely. I mean the slagging has already started over the last few weeks and it will give the games an extra spice. I remember when I was managing Clare coming up to Castlebar for a league quarter-final in '93 in front of around 15,000 people and it was a terrific occasion. And it is times like that that make all the work worth while. The first two games will be testy, but in a god way, they will give us a chance to find out about ourselves."

No matter what summits Maughan might well yet scale in his managerial career, he will always be indelibly associated with some great years in Mayo. His decision to end his involvement left him with more free time than he had known in years but with an undimmed passion for management.

"I don't think I could have continued to manage within the province against Mayo, it's just the way I am. Of course I will always have strong associations there but as regards Fermanagh, I have nailed my colours to the mast and this is where my loyalties are. It has been very easy to warm to what is going on in Fermanagh football and, hopefully, we have a few exciting days ahead."