Micko still favourite in football manager race

As speculation continues that Micko Dwyer will be the next Clare senior football manager, Clare GAA chairman Michael O’Neill this week told The Clare Champion, “we hope to be in a position to make a recommendation in the next week to 10 days”.
He refused to speculate as to the likely new manager other than to say, “We still have a few people to meet this weekend as we seek to put a management team together. I would hope that we will be able to bring the November meeting forward to Tuesday week and to put a proposal to that meeting.”
According to the chairman, “a few people have withdrawn because of articles linking them to the job”.
Sources close to the committee elected by the September meeting to find a successor to Micheál McDermott have indicated that efforts are being made this week to put a selection committee together that will work with O’Dwyer as manager.
There is a view that there should be a link between the senior and U-21 managements. The outgoing U-21 manager is Colm Collins and his name is being mentioned as a senior selector along with that of Michael Considine, also an outgoing U-21 mentor.
Kilkee’s Ger Keane is also being linked to the new set-up and there is speculation the Kilkee native will head up a new U-21 management team.
Cork man Ned English, who is coach to Duhallow who will contest the Cork final on Sunday, is understood to have withdrawn his name. He had met with representatives of the group charged with putting a new management team together.
A few weeks ago, former Limerick manager Liam Kearns ruled himself out of the race.
Another who is out of the race is former manager Donie Buckley who this week was confirmed as the new coach to the Mayo senior team.