THE ROSCOMMON SENIOR football management saga took another twist last night when it emerged that joint manager Kevin McStay will have to reapply if he wants to take charge on his own in 2017.
Fergal O’Donnell, joint manager with McStay in 2016, resigned from his post on Tuesday night along with fellow selectors David Casey and Stephen Bohan.
Last night the Roscommon county board announced that the position of manager will be made open to competition, meaning McStay will have to reapply.
The Mayo native came on board this year along with his fellow county man Liam McHale. They had previously worked together in guiding Roscommon club St Brigid’s to the All-Ireland senior title on St Patrick’s Day in 2013.
An official statement released by the Roscommon county board last night outlined the next move.
“Following on from the resignation of Fergal O’Donnell from the position of joint manager of the Roscommon senior football team, the Roscommon GAA county management committee has agreed to open the position of county team manager to an open competition.”
O’Donnell had spoken out strongly in the wake of his departure.
“Recently, a concerted effort has been made (outside of management and players) to undermine and disparage us and it is especially disappointing and damaging that those involved purport to be concerned about the promotion of GAA within the county.”
The whole situation puts a cloud over a Roscommon football year which promised much but delivered little. They enjoyed an excellent start to the year, retaining their Division 1 league status, while claiming away victories over teams like Kerry, Cork and Donegal.
In April, Roscommon booked a league semi-final place but they were soundly defeated by Kerry and then were survived a huge scare in their Connacht opener in New York.
From there they saw off Sligo in the Connacht semi-final, drew in the final against Galway before in the space of six days in late July, they were thrashed in the replay by Galway and lost out in a Round 4 qualifier against Clare.
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