Colm Coyle won three All-Ireland medals with Meath

For a man who had a pretty fearsome reputation on the football field, Colm Coyle is a very affable interviewee.

Coyle acted as Sean Boylan's most loyal enforcer during Meath's reign of success from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s.

Most memorably, Coyle was sent off in the 1996 All-Ireland Final against Mayo after been picked out along with Liam McHale for censure by Monaghan referee Pat McEneaney after the mass brawl at Croke Park.

No doubt now that Coyle is managing the Farney County, he will bump into McEneaney regularly.

But if Coyle's demeanour on this late Spring evening is anything to go by, his conversations with McEneaney will be relaxed affairs.

Not that Coyle the manager is a soft touch.

When he was appointed Monaghan boss, he met with the county's best players and demanded their commitment.

The response was impressive with over 70 players, including the county's U21s who went on to narrowly lose the provincial final, turning up.

Armagh remind me a bit of the Meath team of the 1987-91 era Colm Coyle

There is the small matter of three All-Ireland titles but it's hard to ignore the certain attributes which Coyle, the manager, appears to share with Boylan.

The Meath boss' public face is the affable herbalist who seems to have time for every pesky reporter.

Yet, the rugged teams which Boylan has sent out over the past 20 years indicates that more than the odd harsh word has been uttered in the dressing-room.

Coyle acknowledges that "90 per cent" of his managerial style is probably lifted from the maestro.

"I consider him probably the best manager around and I'm very lucky to have worked with him," says the Monaghan boss.

"If I can bring some of that stuff to Monaghan, it'll be good".

Perhaps surprisingly, Coyle was delighted when his charges were drawn to face Armagh in their first Championship game.

"There is certainly no need to motivate the players with Armagh being neighbours".

Coyle will attempt to outwit Joe Kernan

In many ways, this Armagh squad is the benchmark of what Coyle wants to achieve with this bunch of Monaghan players.

"I'm a big admirer of the Armagh team and the way they go about their football.

"They remind me a bit of the Meath team of the 1987-91 era.

"They don't panic when the games are tight and they seem to come out on the right side of the result which shows the faith that they have in each other".

Coyle acknowledges that he thought this Armagh team's chance of All-Ireland glory had gone when they lost their 2000 semi-final replay against Kerry.

"But Joe then came in and what they did was amazing.

"To get those players to go through the mill again was tremendous and when they deservedly won the All-Ireland title, I was absolutely delighted".

I don't know my players' strengths and weaknesses yet Colm Coyle

Armagh will go into Sunday's match having lost their last four competitive games but Coyle laughs at suggestions that the All-Ireland Champions may be suffering a crisis of confidence.

"I saw them against Laois in the league semi-final and they looked like a team that had done a lot of training and weren't really interested in the league".

Coyle claims he isn't sure as to the strengths and weakness of his team even though he saw them win the McKenna Cup and perform respectably in the league.

"Until, I see them in Championship football I won't know that.

"They are a good bunch of characters, I know that, and I was pleased with the way they held themselves together in the closing stages of the McKenna Cup final against Tyrone.

"But the Championship is a different animal so we've just got to wait and see".