Martin Carney has disputed the speculation linking him in a management team with John O'Mahony to the vacant position with the Mayo footballers. Just back from a trip to Barcelona, the former county player and under-21 manager said he was surprised at the reports suggesting that he, O'Mahony and Pat Holmes had formed a dream team.

"There's no basis to that that I know of," he said last night. "Certainly no one has approached me about it, so unless John O'Mahony has been talking to people publicly - which I very much doubt - I can't see where it has come from.

"I'd say that the rumours spread from us being seen together because we were both involved with the Railway Cup team, and I would have been in Boston at the weekend but I couldn't go because of the trip to Barcelona, which had been planned for a long time."

O'Mahony's name is still at the centre of all speculation, as Mayo attempt to replace Mickey Moran after the messy end to his management tenure after just one season. Carney feels that, should O'Mahony be appointed, he would have his own names in mind for appointment.

"If John does get it I would imagine he'd look at someone he's worked with on the club scene. There's no basis in reality or even in informed speculation that I've been lined up. Pat Holmes is over the under-21s again, and whereas I'm sure he'd work closely with John or whoever takes the job, I'd be surprised if he accepts a position of selector.

"But we've been through this so often recently (this will be Mayo's third manager in three years) that it's become like Casablanca - round up the usual suspects. We've all been paraded around before at this stage."

O'Mahony's situation has been well thrashed out by this stage. His candidacy in the imminent general election has squeezed the amount of time he has available to give to as demanding a position as that of an intercounty manager, but there is a parallel feeling in the county that his political prospects might be damaged by refusing the Mayo job for the second year running.

"If John takes it," according to Carney, "it'll be because he wants to see Mayo succeed as a football force, not because he thinks it will benefit his campaign."

Carney, who is also an analyst with The Sunday Game, believes the Mayo job is a daunting one at present. "The collective battering the psyche has got, particularly after the most recent All-Ireland defeats, is going to leave its mark. It's strengthened the perception of the county as being incapable of surmounting the final hurdle.

"There's nothing new in this. Johnny Mulvey, who died recently, was an authority on Mayo football going back to the 1930s. I remember him telling me that even in the Thirties, the county grossly under-achieved despite winning a first All-Ireland and several National Leagues. They should have won more but didn't have quite the psyche. It's not a recent phenomenon.

"But I remember from my own playing days that, although some defeats created a sense of despair, we always felt that a new year would come around. You'd never throw your hat at it."

Former Down star Ross Carr has been appointed as the county's senior football manager. The Down County Board ratified his appointment last night.

Carr, who managed the Down minors for two years (2003 and 2004), leading them to an Ulster final in which they were beaten by eventual All-Ireland winners Tyrone, will be assisted by DJ Kane, Declan Mussen and Michael Doyle.