OISIN McConville and John McEntee were last night ratified as the Crossmaglen senior management team for the 2014 season after Joe Kernan stepped aside after one year in charge.
The former Armagh boss led Crossmaglen to their fourth successive Armagh Senior Football Championship crown earlier in the year, but they were unable to capture their fourth consecutive provincial title after a string of injuries severely depleted the panel.
When Kernan was appointed, he had made it clear to Crossmaglen officials he could only commit for one year.
"It is definitely an honour to manage Crossmaglen," said McConville.
"I think the best thing you can do is play for your club and county but I suppose second best to that would be to manage Crossmaglen. Myself and John are picking up the reins and we are looking forward to it. We know it is not going to be an easy task. We are coming off a year where the club won another armagh county title so I think the same expectation will be there.
"In years gone by, I suppose Cross have been the standard-bearers in club football and we would like to think we can carry that on. It is a challenge we will meet head on."
McConville represented Crossmaglen for 19 seasons, winning six all-Ireland club titles, while McEntee picked up five Andy Merrigan Cups between 1995 and 2011. The duo also played an integral part in Armagh's 2002 all-Ireland triumph and McConville is hopeful their managerial venture can be as rewarding as their on-field partnership.
"I think we sort of decided a while ago that we would like to work together and when this opportunity came our way we said we'd go for it. We have a good understanding and we are good friends - which is definitely a good start. We played together for 20-odd years and we have a good grasp of where each other is coming from in terms of playing style. The quality is still there to achieve great things.
"I think I played under Joe for 11 years of my playing career so a lot of things definitely will come from him. I think he has done an excellent job in the years he has been there. We have played some attractive football this year and hopefully John and I can compliment that style rather than trying something totally different."