Article on balls.ie on the 5 contenders. https://www.balls.ie/gaa/westmeath-manager-gaa-candidates-637800
Personally I think there is only 1 candidate on that list which is Lar Wall but i cant see him leaving St Judes in Dublin who are a very ambitious Club. I don't know anything of note about Davy Burke. The rest i do not think would be ready for such a position. Where are the likes of Tony McEntee, Austin O'Malley, Declan Darcy, Kieron Donaghy?
Meridian (Westmeath) - Posts: 688 - 13/08/2025 08:54:00
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Replying To Meridian: "Article on balls.ie on the 5 contenders. https://www.balls.ie/gaa/westmeath-manager-gaa-candidates-637800
Personally I think there is only 1 candidate on that list which is Lar Wall but i cant see him leaving St Judes in Dublin who are a very ambitious Club. I don't know anything of note about Davy Burke. The rest i do not think would be ready for such a position. Where are the likes of Tony McEntee, Austin O'Malley, Declan Darcy, Kieron Donaghy?"
Wouldn't mind that article not a fear of Sherlock or Dowdall being in the running. I'd say John keane has a chance but he's worked with a lot of the players before they might need a fresh voice.
People on this forum need a reality check. It's unrealistic to expect us to land someone like Declan Darcy, Kieran Donaghy, or Jason Sherlock. We're a mid-division 3 team. In Leinster, Dublin, Meath, Louth, and Kildare are all ahead of us, and Offaly is closing the gap fast. On top of that, we've been beaten two years running by a fairly average Wicklow side!
What we need is someone willing to commit to a 3-year plan. By year three, the goal should be reaching the Leinster final and making it to the last 12 in the All-Ireland.
Here's my take on some of the names mentioned on this forum:
Tom Cribbin - An outdated option. He was offered the job before McCabe last year and even spoke with the county board but declined.
Lar Wall - The county board committee that appointed last year's manager said he wasn't ready for inter-county management.
John Keane - Would be a good choice, but John has made it clear in the past he doesn't enjoy being a manager and prefers coaching roles.
Davy Burke - A hard no. Roscommon is a top-8 team, arguably close to Armagh's level, but Davy hasn't delivered over the past three years.
Jack Cooney - Probably the best option, but will he want it? The downside is he's only managed defensive football with Kinnegad.
Andy McEntee - Hasn't made much impact at Antrim.
Tony McEntee - Did some good work at Sligo. However, moving from Sligo to Westmeath is more of a sideways move, so I doubt he's interested.
Buddha Mangan - A good Westmeath man who loves the county. Would love to see him involved on the coaching staff.
Paddy Dowdall - The best club manager around, but he's been managing the county's top club team, so it's hard to gauge how he'd perform at inter-county level.
Please explain your comment. Ballycomoyle lined out at weekend with no Collinstown hurlers. That would be like Killucan lining out without Cormac B, Sean Leech, Eoin and Rory Keyes, Eamon Cunneen, Luke Darby, Conor Leech, Eoghan Ahearne, Conor McKeogh and Devin Hill. In other words with the bones of a junior team and Killucan have more replacements. Ballycomoyle minus the Daly's, Doyle's, Dan Higgins, John Egan, David Williams and others would be struggling to field. What are they supposed to do if the hurling club prevents players from playing?