PETE McGrath will reveal on Monday the reasons behind his sensational u-turn that saw him step down as Fermanagh manager after four years in charge.
The news was particularly surprising as the Down native was ratified for another season just last Wednesday night after indicating his desire to remain in the position, but he informed Erne county chairman Greg Kelly yesterday that he would be resigning with immediate effect.
Speaking to the Irish News last night, McGrath said that he would not be commenting publically on the specifics until after the weekend – heightening speculation that he felt his position had become untenable.
The two-time All-Ireland winning manager had also been linked with the Antrim job, which is currently still occupied by Gearoid Adams and Frank Fitzsimmons, but that is not believed to have played any part in McGrath’s decision,
“A number of media outlets have been contacting me and I’ve told them all the same thing - that I’ll not be speaking publically about the reasons for my resignation until Monday.
“I’ll certainly be going into quite a bit of detail on those reasons on Monday.”
The decision comes on the back of a disappointing year for the county. They were relegated from Division Two before they suffered nine-point Championship defeats against Monaghan and Armagh,
Last week McGrath told the Irish News that he was prepared to stay on board to make amends for those poor results.
“The decision is taken and it’s a good one for everyone. Hopefully we can put this season behind us and look forward to something more productive next year,” he said.
“I met with the chairman and the secretary and then the county executive met.
“They knew that I was very keen to go again and that the management team were keen to go ahead.”
The undoubted highlight of McGrath’s Fermanagh tenure was the county’s run to the All-Ireland quarter-final in 2015.
Victories over Antrim, Roscommon and Westmeath set up a Croke Park date with Dublin and they performed admirably in a 2-23 to 2-15 loss, but they have been unable to hit those heights since.
