Meath are likely to set a brisk deadline for nominations to replace Colm O’Rourke as football manager.
It emerged on Sunday night that the All-Ireland-winning footballer was stepping down and the county board issued a statement confirming the details early on Monday morning.
He had served two years with a third agreed subject to review. That review had been focusing on the outgoing manager’s backroom team for 2025 and in the absence of confirmation, the deadline for disclosure of names was not going to be met.
The county operates a hybrid nomination process for the appointment, according to county secretary, Ciarán Flynn.
“It’s a combination of old and new. Under the old rules, you had to be nominated by a club and the new way is that you can headhunt who you want and people can come into consideration either way.
“We’ll give the guts of seven days to candidates to apply or declare an interest if approached.”
O’Rourke’s two years have been difficult. The high point was winning the Tier 2 Tailteann Cup last year but Meath were only eligible for that competition because of a low finish in Division Two of the league.
Championship performances were poor with just one win in six matches, this year’s Leinster contest with Longford, but the final defeat, against Monaghan in the team’s most competitive outing of the All-Ireland championship, appeared to leave grounds for some optimism.
The young players called into the senor team played well and O’Rourke declared himself ready to continue to develop the talent.
“We’re really in the building process,” he said after the Monaghan defeat, “but I think another year will make a huge difference to this group of players.”
The review group clearly expected the manager to have his selectors and coaching staff ready for consideration by the time of the meeting on 15th August when a recommendation was due to go forward to this Tuesday’s county committee meeting.
There was goodwill for the manager as a major former player but the committee had moved from informal engagement to more robust protocols and assurances that the backroom team would be revealed were deemed insufficient to progress the matter.
The team had already lost S&C coach Eugene Eivers and football coach, Paul Garrigan at the end of the 2023 season whereas selectors Stephen Bray and Barry Callaghan were known to be stepping away once this championship ended.
A number of names have been speculated on, including Kilmacud manager Robbie Brennan, but Flynn wouldn’t be drawn on the matter.
“There are good people in the county and good people outside but there’s no silver bullet that will magically fix it.”
Meanwhile Westmeath must plan without captain Kevin Maguire, who has announced his retirement from intercounty football but who will continue to play with his club Caulry, who he has accompanied on a winding journey from junior all the way to last year’s senior semi-finalists.
“I’ve had a long career,” he told The Irish Times, “and the past two years injuries have become more of a problem. At some stage you have to step away and accept that the body might be finding it a bit tougher and more difficult to recover from training sessions. That was a big factor.
“I’ve had 14 years of it, although I took a year out along the way, and wanted to spend time doing other things with my life. I’m at that stage of my life when I’m newly married. It felt like the time was right.
“I started at the end of my first year in college. It’s what I’ve known since then and you’ll be aware the amount of time that inter-county football takes. You have to shape your life around it. It’s been a big commitment over the past 14 years.”
One of the best defenders in the game, often at full back, Maguire captained Westmeath to the 2022 Tailteann Cup, against Cavan – they have retained Sam Maguire status since – and earlier this year to the Division Three title, beating Down in the final.
He was named on the Tailteann team of the year two years ago.
During the course of his career, he says the “professionalism” of the game has made a big impact.
“When I started you were probably more likely to get injured from over-working yourself than now. Conditioning is better understood but there’s more time required of players – and managers – outside of actual training sessions. It’s definitely more time-consuming but that’s not my reason for going. My body was telling me to go out on my own terms while it was still my decision.”
Westmeath have also lost manager Des Dolan and long-serving defender James Dolan has retired. Maguire remains confident about the county’s future prospects
“What’s been built in the culture of the Westmeath dressing-room is very professional. People have had time to learn and to improve. As a result, those lads stepping up will be well prepared to take things on a little bit further.”
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