PAT GILROY is due to be returned as the Dublin football manager on November 7th. The St Vincent’s club man finished his three-year tenure in September after guiding the county to their first All-Ireland title since 1995.

Gilroy needed to firm up a workable timetable with Dalkia – the company where he is managing director – before confirming his availability for another campaign.

Having recently met Dalkia’s French owners, this appears to have been achieved. It is now up to the Dublin County Board executive to decide upon the length of his new term and for the club delegates to rubber stamp it on the first Monday of next month.

A discussion between Dublin chairman Andy Kettle, secretary John Costello and Gilroy is imminent. “There is a county board meeting on November 7th and we will have met Pat by then,” Costello confirmed yesterday. “We won’t have a position on this matter until then.”

Gilroy has already met the players to assess their desire to defend their Leinster and All-Ireland crowns, but there appears to be overwhelming support within the group for him to return.

Gilroy’s public utterances have ceased since September 22nd when he spoke about weighing up issues: “The next couple of weeks we just have to sit down and there is a lot of things to be thought through. When I have done that I’ll decide, but obviously I’ll have to talk to the county board. They have to want me to stay on.”

There doesn’t appear to be any internal barriers to Gilroy continuing. When Costello was asked directly about him continuing he replied: “Absolutely.”

The most pressing issue, it seems, is the return of selector Mickey Whelan. A former Dublin manager himself, from 1996 to 1999, Whelan won an All-Ireland as a player in 1958 and 1963 while he also managed St Vincent’s to an All-Ireland club title, with the assistance of Gilroy, in 2008.

Whelan is on record stating he will not be part of the management in 2012. “I’ve only read that in the media,” Costello continued. “That is a position for Pat Gilroy and his management team to sort out amongst themselves.”

David Hickey is expected to continue as a selector while Gilroy may yet convince Whelan to return, as he has done in the past, presuming he is satisfied with his own extension as Dublin manager.

There are also a number of players within the panel that may be waiting for Gilroy’s official decision before deciding on their own futures. Corner back Paul Conlon has left the country and it is unclear when he intends to return.

The group have been rewarded for this year’s achievement with a holiday to the Cayman Islands and San Diego, leaving in the last week of November. Gilroy and Sam Maguire are expected to join them on their last adventure of 2011.