DOWN are expected to announce their new senior football manager.
The Down county board will meet on Thursday to ratify the appointment of who will succeed Jim McCorry in the hotseat after the former Kilcoo boss resigned from the role at the end of August following less than 12 months in charge.
A host of names have been linked with the post in recent weeks, with speculation mounting that 1991 All-Ireland winning captain Paddy O’Rourke will be handed the job for what would be his second stint in charge of his home county following his tenure from 2003-06.
However, sources have indicated O’Rourke, currently head of the Down development squads, will stay in that position and that the new man will come out of left field. Two other Sam Maguire winners for Down in the 1990s, Conor Deegan and Mickey Linden, have also been mooted as possibilities, but it’s believed Deegan, the current manager of Aughlisnafin, will take up a role in the backroom staff of the new manager.
Former Antrim manager and Down U21 boss Frank Dawson, who stepped down from his role at the helm of Bryansford recently, has also been heavily linked with the post, but a move to fellow Down club side Mayobridge seems to be on the cards for the man who led Burren to two Down Club Championships and an Ulster Club final.
James McCartan, who led Down to the 2010 All-Ireland final and 2012 Ulster final, is also expected to be ratified as the new minor manager at Thursday’s meeting following the departure of Shane Mulholland from the role in the summer. Former Down captain Ambrose Rogers will be on board as one of McCartan’s selectors for the Mourne minor side.
