Cavan step up hunt for new boss

CAVAN will begin the process of finding a successor to Mattie McGleenan this week with former Armagh footballer Aidan O’Rourke and two former Cavan players, Peter Reilly and Mickey Graham, among the early front-runners.

Interviews are expected to take place in the coming days in the hope that a candidate can be confirmed ahead of the concluding stages of the local championships.

O’Rourke has managed Louth and has had coaching roles in Kildare and Down in recent years and is understood to be among the names under consideration.

Graham has a strong track record as a club manager having guided Mullinalaghta to back-to-back Longford titles in 2016 and 2017, the club’s first in 66 years.

He is currently a strong favourite to take over from Denis Connerton who stepped down after three years in charge of Longford.

Reilly has had success with Cavan underage teams, managing them to the last two, in 2013 and 2014, of their four Ulster U-21 titles in a row.

Jason O’Reilly is another potential candidate, having taken Cavan Gaels to a Cavan title last year and subsequent Ulster final which they lost to Slaughtneil. But his immediate future may lie in one of the respective backroom teams.

Tony McEntee’s departure from the Mayo backroom team may also place him on the Cavan radar over the coming weeks.

Whoever takes over from McGleenan, who had signalled his intention to remain on for a third year after guiding them to promotion to Division One, will have a challenging task to survive in the top flight.

Cavan bowed out tamely from the Ulster Championship, losing to Donegal in their opening round, but put up a better challenge in the qualifiers against Tyrone.