GAELIC GAMES CHAMPIONSHIP 2008 NEWS:JOE KERNAN has ruled himself out of the running to succeed Paul Caffrey, as Dublin begin the search for new football management.

The former Armagh and Crossmaglen All-Ireland winning manager said his connections with his own county - with whom four of his sons are panellists - were too strong to consider taking over another county.

"It sets off a fire alarm all right," he said when asked if he was interested, "but I'm too close to Armagh and the players. It would be very hard to take on another team to go out and meet your own. But it's one of the very biggest jobs in the game and I think anyone would be interested."

After the team's big defeat on Saturday by Tyrone, Caffrey stood down and triggered a flood-tide of speculation about who his successor might be.

Already Mick Deegan and his management team that recently took Dublin to an All-Ireland junior title have been installed as favourites. Deegan and one of his selectors, Mick Galvin, were All-Ireland medallists when the county last won the senior title, in 1995. The other selector is Jack Sheedy, a former All Star and player on the team of the early 1990s.

Brian Mullins of the 1970s and 80s teams has also been suggested, although the county board were unwilling to meet some of the conditions he set when discussing the possibility of taking over when the position was last vacant in 2004.

A number of other names have also been mentioned, including outsiders such as Kernan and Kerry All-Ireland winning manager Jack O'Connor, who was unavailable when approached yesterday. It is, however, strongly believed the county board would not look favourably on a candidate from outside the county when local candidates remain interested, as the indications are Deegan is.

Another Dublin manager with experience of the position is 1963 All-Ireland winner Mickey Whelan, who took over the job in the aftermath of the 1995 success but who stepped down in his third season in charge. Earlier this year he took his club, St Vincent's, to the All-Ireland football title with a win over Nemo Rangers.

Whereas he remains interested in an involvement with county teams, Whelan believes he wouldn't be part of the plans at senior level.

"I don't think that's going to happen," he said, "and anyway the county board might want to appoint from the former management so I'm not going to speculate on it but I'm happy to take over a development team like the under-15s."

Whelan, who has a formidable coaching pedigree, wasn't expecting Dublin's defeat but feels it doesn't mean the end of the team. "I was very surprised because Dublin were in such good form but I wasn't surprised that Tyrone made such a great fight of it. The match was an aberration in that Dublin never played as badly. I know a team only plays as well as it's let but they seemed to get upset at the early setbacks. Alan Brogan's injury was a huge blow to confidence."

Asked about developmental criticism that Dublin are prioritising the production of athletes rather than footballers, Whelan says that that is just a trend.

"Trends go from one extreme to another. In the 1950s, great Dublin teams were out-muscled by Kerry and that's why Kevin Heffernan prioritised big men on his team but they played a cerebral brand of football - there was intelligence there as well as power. You can do that. Small gaps in a team's amount of skill can be made up even if a chasm in skill can't.

"There's no point in jumping over the moon if you can't put the ball over the bar. Almost every team is doing strength work but you have to peak maybe two or three times a season."

He believes strongly that skills and decision-making on the field are best learned in match situations rather than by intensive coaching. "It's my particular hobby horse. There are parts of the game that can only be learned by playing and can't be acquired simply through drills. Smart mentors are using small-sided games as a way of prioritising tactical appreciation.

"I don't think Kerry coach any more than we do but I think they play more and learn more from playing. We're getting young footballers to play to win; Kerry make sure they're picking up the skill sets and decision-making ability necessary to win matches later on.

"The difference is you know the next move in a drill. You don't know the next move in a game or what an opponent is going to do next.

"At senior level, the player is mostly a finished product and you can only make them tactically aware of the challenge that opponents will bring. You should be working with senior players to give them the freedom to think."