Latest: Trio tight-lipped on potential backroom teams
GAA news
The three candidates for the vacant Cavan senior team manager’s position are all keeping tight-lipped about their potential backroom teams as they prepare for interviews in three weeks' time.
Raymond Galligan, Micheál McDermott and Jason O’Reilly have all thrown their names into the hat for the role, following Mickey Graham's resignation on July 10. It is also understood there may be a fourth as yet unnamed candidate for interview.
The Anglo-Celt contacted all three this morning (Tuesday). Galligan and O’Reilly indicated that they are finalising their backroom teams ahead of the interviews, which take place on the third week in August.
“I will be keeping the names tight to my chest for now,” said O’Reilly, who is currently managing Cavan Gaels.
McDermott, meanwhile, stated that he is concentrating on the upcoming Kildare Senior Championship match at present between his Celbridge side and Raheens.
“Shercock have put in the nomination but my sole focus is on the championship match this weekend and I haven’t fully decided if I am going to go forward for the Cavan job or not,” McDermott said.
While McDermott and O’Reilly had been widely mentioned since Graham stepped down, Galligan, captain of the Cavan senior team since 2019, was the big surprise on the list.
The deadline for nominations from the clubs was last Sunday night and the trio were nominated by their home clubs Lacken, Shercock and Belturbet respectively.
McDermott previously enjoyed Senior Championship success in several counties, including Cavan (Ramor United in 2016) and Meath, and managed the Clare senior footballers as well as leading Kilmurry-Ibrickane from Clare to a Munster Club SFC title.
O’Reilly, one of Cavan’s greatest goalscorers who hit the net 48 times in competitive matches during a 15-year county playing career, managed Cavan Gaels to a Senior Championship title and Lacken to an Intermediate and was part of the Leitrim senior management under Terry Hyland.
Galligan captained Cavan to the Ulster Championship win in 2020 and has played over 100 games for the county, firstly as a forward and, since 2015, as goalkeeper, winning an All-Star award in 2020.
“We will now appoint a sub-committee to advance the process of appointing a new senior team manager,” stated county chairman Kieran Callaghan.
The county board executive will meet to ratify the sub-committee, which will be a mixture of officers of the board and one or more other individuals.
While the sub-committee will be empowered to look further afield, it is believed the new manager is likely to come from the trio short-listed, although the Celt understands there is at least one as yet unnamed candidate for the position, thought to be from outside of the county.
Interviews will take place on the week of August 21.