Football

Speculation rife on McGuinness successor

SPECULATION is rife regarding who will succeed Jim McGuinness as Donegal manager, but most of those named are either saying no comment or quietly ruling themselves out.

Damien Diver, Declan Bonner and Rory Gallagher have already been installed as the early front-runners by the bookies.

McGuinness's former assistant Rory Gallagher knows the Jim McGuinness system intimately and his coaching nous has certainly impressed the Donegal players.

Gallagher was McGuinness's right hand man when Tir Chonaill took their second All-Ireland title in 2012. The Fermanagh native's sole focus at present, however, is managing Kilcar, the home club of another possible successor, Martin McHugh.

McHugh and Gallagher (inset, left) are closely connected and some sources have suggested that they would be a "dream team of sorts".

Martin McHugh is back in management after a lapse of almost 12 years. He was recently appointed boss at Sligo IT where his sons Mark and Ryan are students.

The Kilcar native took Sligo IT to a Sigerson Cup title in 2002 with a

team on which Rory Gallagher was a key player. But McHugh declined to comment when asked if he was interested in taking over the role, while Gallagher slipped on to the team bus immediately after Kilcar's Donegal SFC match on Saturday.

Minor manager Declan Bonner is another with good credentials.

Bonner (inset, right) guided the county to an Ulster final in 1998 when they were narrowly defeated by a late Joe Brolly goal.

Meanwhile, Glenswilly boss Gary McDaid has also ruled himself out, for the present at any rate.

When asked about the position at the match between Glenswilly and Bundoran, if he was interested he replied: "My sole focus will be the match against St Michael's next Sunday".

And that is probably the key to all the speculation.

For few prospective candidates from within the county are likely to let their name go forward until the Donegal championship is complete or at least until the draw for the Ulster Championship has been made. And the Tir Chonaill county board will be in no hurry to install anyone until the club championship is over.

However, there is some limited support in the county for an outside manager with Peter Canavan and Tony McEntee and Gareth O'Neill possible contenders.