Manager saga to end tonight as McStay set to be named
The Roscommon senior football management saga looks like it will finally be resolved at a meeting of the Roscommon County Board tonight (Thursday), when it is expected that Kevin McStay will be ratified as the manager of the team after a protracted and controversial process that has lasted two months.
Last week, Nigel Dineen, the other candidate in the race, withdrew his name and issued a statement alleging that there were question marks over the selection process and also that the same forces that Fergal O’Donnell had mentioned in his statement when he stepped down, were also undermining his own attempt to become manager.
Part of Dineen’s statement read: ‘I have strong reservations about the integrity of the selection and recruitment process and I have raised these concerns directly with the County Board who refused to address them.
I would have no issue whatsoever with taking on any manager in the country with my expert management team, in a fair, open and transparent recruitment process, but if the playing field is not level during the process itself what hope is there for a fair/successful outcome?
It appears that similar influences are at play behind the scenes in Roscommon County football, which were clearly prevalent at the time of the demise of the previous O’Donnell/McStay joint management structure. This is unfortunate and extremely damaging.’
It had been planned to hold interviews with both candidates on Monday night this week but Kevin McStay is now the only candidate remaining.
A report in the Irish Independent on Monday has alleged that the Roscommon players held a meeting in recent weeks and were split as to whether they support Kevin McStay or not, but no confirmation of that has been forthcoming from any players’ spokesperson.
In the event that Kevin McStay is ratified by the clubs this week, he will be expected to announce his new backroom team shortly as preparations will have to begin soon for the 2017 National Football League campaign.
However, the draw for the Connacht Championship could not have been more favourable to Roscommon who will have to beat either London or Leitrim (a home game) to reach the Connacht Final in 2017 and gain a chance for redemption after the events of this year’s championship.
