Arena

WHEN nominations closed last Monday week (11th August) for clubs for the election of a new Cavan senior team manager to replace Donal Keogan, there were five candidates, former Tyrone player and Antrim manager Jody Gormley; Tony Brady, (Castlerahan); Terry Hyland (Lacken); former Fermanagh team manager Dominic Corrigan and Sean Kelly (Meath) who previously managed Kingscourt. Kelly is a native of Dunderry, Co Meath, and played for the Royal county for a number of years including the famous 4-game championship clash with Dublin in 1991. He is a schoolteacher by profession and works in Drogheda. He has been involved with a number of teams over the years including Meath minors. The process by which the new manager is chosen is being decided by a group chosen from outside the county by a consultancy firm SportsTrack, headed by former GAA president Peter Quinn; former Down manager Pete McGrath, a full-time technical director with a support team including Tyrone manager Mickey Harte and Brian Cody (Kilkenny). There has been a lot of speculation about who the nominees are likely to be but now that they are out in the open, there are no real surprises. Applications However while all the applications will be vetted by the SportsTrack company, it doesn"t rule out those who don"t wish to formally apply to the website as Cavan clubs were given until Monday night week last to make nominations. Some Cavan clubs are of the opinion that it should be someone from inside the county like former Cavan and Killeshandra star Stephen King along with former Mullahoran player Damien O"Reilly who could manage the team. King who has experienced in club management will obviously need to be surrounded by a number of experienced advisers. However it seems inevitable that the special group set up to assess the situation will plump for an "outside manager".