Moloney and McDermott battle for vacant Clare job

THE race to succeed former Clare football manager Frank Doherty is beginning to take some shape.
Among those still in the running are Kilmurry-Ibrickane double championship-winning manager Micheál McDermott and Cooraclare Cusack Cup-winning manager Aidan Moloney, who won three championships as a player with Kilmurry and a Munster club title in 2004. He was also a member of Clare’s 1992 Munster championship-winning team, while he managed Shannon Gaels for a three-year period from 2006 to 2008.
Laois man Ger Lawlor is also in contention and has made his interest in the post known to the committee, who are responsible for appointing a new management team.
Lawlor was part of this year’s Cratloe U-21 and intermediate management-winning team, having managed Monaleen earlier this year in Limerick.
The Clare Champion has also learned that outgoing selector James Hanrahan has pulled out of the race to land the manager’s job, while Kieran O’Mahony and Seamus Clancy have ruled themselves out of contention.
County board officers, Bernard Keane, Tom Downes, Johnny Hill and PJ McGuane are on the recruitment committee, along with board chairman Michael O’ Neill.
Although a number of the 1992 Clare team attended a meeting of the committee, it is not clear what role they will have when it comes to appointing a management team.
It’s possible that Colin Lynch’s role as a possible team trainer could be pivotal in determining who will be included in the new set-up.
The Lissycasey man has been sounded out and it has been suggested that himself and Aidan Moloney would examine the possibility of working together.
Perhaps McDermott could be brought into the equation on the same ticket?
It is thought that the appointment will be made by the end of this month and in time for the next Clare County Board meeting.
Frank Doherty resigned on July 11 and the Clare County Board haven’t exactly rushed into appointing a successor. Neither have they appointed either a minor or U-21 management team for 2010. That lack of urgency is no surprise and unfortunately is reflective of the lack of progress Clare GAA has made in recent years, apart from the U-21 All-Ireland-winning success.
If they get it right this time at senior level, it will be down to pure luck rather than any semblance of a plan.