Tipperary look to McCarthy again

Managerial news: The football board in Tipperary last night recommended Séamus McCarthy for a third stint as manager of the senior panel.

And the Tipperary County Board are expected to unanimously support the sole candidate for the much disputed position early next week. Any other move by the club delegates would plunge the county into further controversy. County PRO Ed Donnelly confirmed last night the chances of such an occurrence are "slim to none".

McCarthy guided Tipperary to two Munster finals, in 1993 and 1994, and was manager of the side which contested the Munster final in 1984. He was also in charge of the Tipperary junior side which won the All-Ireland in 1998 and with the team that won the All-Ireland senior B title in 1995. McCarthy also led the minor side to the 1984 All-Ireland final when they were beaten by Dublin.

The position is for one year and he is joined on the management ticket by selectors Jim Healy (Loughmore), John Owens (Moyle Rovers) and Colm O'Flaherty (Cahir), who is also a former senior manager. The same team will also take over the under-21 side.

The resignation of the previous manager Andy Shorthall occurred after the mid-Tipperary board's refusal to postpone a hurling club championship tie between Loughmore-Castleiney and Thurles Sarsfields only four days before the first round qualifier against Fermanagh on June 12th.

The decision was made despite the presence of senior football panellists Micheál Webster and Tom King in the Loughmore side. The Shorthall management team resigned and the players subsequently went on strike, in support, forcing Tipperary to hand Fermanagh a walkover.

Webster will probably be the county captain next year as Loughmore recently won the senior club championship.

The motion for Shorthall to be reinstated was overwhelmingly voted down by the full county board, a decision that conceivably could have led to the football board's full resignation after their authority was undermined.

Instead, they turned to McCarthy, whose record as a manager at all levels of intercounty football in Tipperary made him the rational choice.

Meanwhile, Offaly football manager Kevin Kilmurray has named James Stewart and Gerry Cooney as his selectors. Stewart was a prominent member of the Offaly senior team for much of the last decade. He was also a member of the Offaly under-21 management team in 2003.

Cooney is a native of Tullamore, but spent most of his life in Meath. He was a member of the Meath panel that won the All-Ireland senior title in 1988 and went on to manage the Meath under-21 team that reached the All-Ireland final in 1997. He trained Dunboyne to their only Meath senior football title in 1998 and was manager of the Meath minor footballers in 1999 and 2000.