No decision yet on senior football management

WHILE it remains very likely that Colm Collins will be appointed manager of the Clare senior football team for 2014, a meeting with the county board on Tuesday evening did not finalise the management for the coming season.

Ger Keane, who worked as part of Mick O’Dwyer’s management team this year, will stay on as a mentor for the coming season and will also take on the role of county U-21 manager. Talks are ongoing as regards the appointment of a strength and conditioning coach and a further football coach as part of the senior management team, while U-21 selectors have also to be confirmed.

The incoming management will be Clare’s eighth management team in 11 years. These include Tommy Curtin, Pat Begley, John Kennedy, the combination of Donie Buckley and Michael Brennan, Páidí Ó Sé, Frank Doherty, Micheál McDermott and Mick O’Dwyer.

Donie Buckley’s coaching skills have since benefited Limerick, Kerry and now Mayo, who are currently preparing for the All-Ireland football final.

The late Páidí O’Sé was appointed for what was a disastrous year in charge in 2007. The county board then appointed Mick O’Dwyer, despite concerns that the legendary Kerry man had no more to give inter-county management, following a stellar career in charge of Kerry, Kildare, Laois and Wicklow.

However, the likely appointment of Colm Collins and Ger Keane means the Clare senior panel will have a management with an in-depth player knowledge of Clare football.