John McIntyre is now a serious contender for the Tipperary senior hurling manager's post after he announced his resignation as Offaly coach last night.
McIntyre, a former Tipperary senior hurler, succeeded Mike McNamara as Offaly manager in November 2004 and his three-year stint ensures he is the county's longest-serving senior manager since Eamonn Cregan.
McIntyre presided over a massive 31-point drubbing against Kilkenny in the 2005 Leinster championship but that season ended on a positive note with a handsome victory over Antrim in a relegation play-off.
Offaly suffered a heart-breaking one-point defeat to Wexford in the 2006 Leinster semi-final and after failing to make the All-Ireland quarter-finals, McIntyre reacted by revamping his panel for this year with the introduction of a host of young players.
Offaly were relegated to Division Two of the 2008 National Hurling League following a heavy play-off defeat against Limerick but they ran Kilkenny close for 40 minutes in this year's championship before being overrun.
McIntyre's charges came desperately close to a famous victory against Tipperary in the All-Ireland qualifier in Thurles and could not recover from that effort as they fell heavily to Cork a week later before defeating Dublin in their final outing.
McIntyre's selector Aidan Fogarty is the leading contender for the post and sources within Offaly have revealed that the two-time All Star is the county board's favoured successor. Fogarty was part of the team that made a historic All-Ireland breakthrough at senior level in 1981 and he was also a member of the successful 1985 team that landed Offaly's second title.
Former county player Michael Duignan, who managed Meath in the past, will also attract huge support in Offaly but he is almost certain to say no because of media commitments.
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