Fergal O'Donnell and Kevin McStay were last night ratified as Roscommon co-managers but the former says he knows just how fickle supporters can be.

Both men have already spearheaded All-Ireland success for Roscommon - O'Donnell with the county minors in 2006 and McStay with St Brigid's in 2013 - but O'Donnell knows there are no guarantees of success in football.

"People put these terms on you. And after you see what's happening in Mayo at the minute... it's very fickle in management and people's perceptions," he told Shannonside FM.

"This time last year, Eamon Fitzmaurice was a guru and a genius and the top tactical man in the county, and this year they are querying the team he picked in the final.

"And equally now, Jim Gavin because he employed Cian O'Sullivan as a sweeper, is the top man. So it changes very much and we'll know where we are when we get into the league."

O'Donnell - who led the Rossies to a Connacht SFC in 2010 - also says he feels a lot of sympathy for his predecesor John Evans: "I would be a personal friend of John Evans and I would feel sorry for him and the way it happened. He did great work. When he took the job if you'd known they'd be in Division One now, at the time they'd have taken that.

"He was probably unfortunate that the game against Fermanagh on the back of the Sligo game, people felt it was time for a change.

"I would say that John Evans wasn't on the pitch in the last 15 minutes. We'll be asking players as well - people judge management - but players have to be accountable as well. I have huge sympathy and I would feel that maybe he was entitled to another year. But unfortunately that's the way it worked out; we're there now and we just have to work on."

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