Blows for Donegal and Monaghan in manager hunts

The hunt for new senior football management teams for Monaghan and Donegal is set to continue with both counties not yet in a position to unveil new backroom teams.

It has emerged that former Dublin player Ger Brennan is no longer in contention for the position of Monaghan senior football manager.

Instead, it is understood that Brennan will remain with Kildare side Moorefield where he, despite losing to Sarsfields and exiting the local championship last weekend, has developed a number of young players this season.

Until this week it appeared that Brennan was the choice of the county's management committee to take the job, but they were informed at the weekend that he is not in contention.

Other names to be discussed for the role were former minor manager Mark Counihan, who guided the Monaghan minors to the 2019 Ulster Championship title with a two-point victory over Tyrone. His team again reached the Ulster decider in 2020.

Jason Sherlock had also been heavily linked with the position, but it’s understood that the search for a manager to replace Seamus McEnaney will continue.

With the club season pushing on it would be advantageous for McEnaney’s successor to be in place soon.

Meanwhile, another former Monaghan manager, Malachy O’Rourke, will not be involved in the contest to take the Donegal senior football job,.

Applications for that position closed two weeks ago but it is believed that O'Rourke is now out of the frame, preferring instead to remain in charge of Derry champions Glen, despite being strongly linked with the vacant role.

Donegal suffered a disappointing 2022 Championship season. They beat both Armagh and Cavan to reach the Ulster final but lost out to Derry in the decider and lost to Armagh in the qualifiers. Soon