THE Down footballers met with county officials last night as question marks hang over the future of manager James McCartan.
The Mourne boss is understood to have informed officials in recent days of his intention to quit his post.
The situation arose from a training camp in Dublin over the weekend, where it’s believed that after an apparent breach of discipline by a large number of players on Saturday, several other members of the party headed back home early.
The Down manager is understood to have subsequently told officials that he was leaving his post, after which he left the team WhatsApp group.
That has led to intensive discussions to try and bring him around.
The Irish News understands that following the outcome of last night’s meeting, McCartan is likely to remain in charge but Down officials could not be contacted last night for comment.
It’s understood McCartan wasn’t present at the meeting or the training session the players conducted themselves afterwards.
The turmoil comes less than three weeks ahead of their Ulster SFC opener against Monaghan, which takes place in Clones on April 30.
The Mournemen suffered relegation from Division Two of the Allianz League, picking up just a single point in their seven games in a draw away to Meath.
It has been a difficult season since before it even began.
A management team of Conor Laverty, Jim McGuinness and Marty Clarke was pursued but the former Donegal All-Ireland winning manager backed away, while Laverty and Clarke decided to stay with the U20s.
McCartan was only subsequently appointed on November 24, by which stage most counties had been back in training for weeks.
After losing McKenna Cup games to Donegal and Antrim, their sluggish start to the league was unsurprising in the circumstances, but their form never picked up.
Besieged by injuries and absenteeism from the beginning of the year, they hopeful of a significant Kilcoo influx after their All-Ireland winning campaign.
However, of the four that did join up they've lost Jerome Johnston and Ceilum Doherty again, both of whom have opted out.
They followed on the heels of Liam Kerr and Finn McElroy, who both opted out having been arguably their best two players through the league.
Down's relegation in the league means they will play in the inaugural Tailteann Cup unless they find a way to the Ulster final.
That will mean having to get past Monaghan before whoever emerges out of Tyrone, Derry and Fermanagh.
An All-Ireland winner himself as a player in 1991 and '94, James McCartan’s first spell in charge brought them to what appeared an unthinkable high of reaching the All-Ireland final in 2010, where they lost by a single point to Cork.
They qualified for an Ulster final in 2012 but were well beaten in the end by eventual All-Ireland champions Donegal.
McCartan stayed five years in total, stepping down at the end of the 2014 season. He returned to coach the county’s minor teams in recent seasons and had continually been linked with a return to the senior post.
When it arrived however, it was out of loyalty to the county rather than out of any designs he had on the job.
The pursuit of McGuinness and Laverty left Down with very few options very late in the year, and McCartan reluctantly stepped up to pull them out of the hole.
Yet after another tumultuous week on the back of a difficult league campaign, expectations of a Down upset against Monaghan will be low.
Down officials had denied on Monday night that McCartan had stepped down, and could not be contacted last night.
