WESTMEATH FOOTBALL manager Brendan Hackett is seeking an audience with his panel tonight to convince dissenting voices from staging a coup d’état.

Westmeath’s senior footballers met before training last Wednesday to discuss their frustrations following a second successive winless league campaign which has seen them plummet from the top tier to Division Three of the National Football League.

The panel subsequently attended the regular training session, taken by Martin Kennedy under the supervision of Hackett, but afterwards a delegation of senior players informed the Monaghan native they no longer wanted to work with the management – effectively seeking his resignation.

Hackett has refused to step down, and has instead sought, through county board officers, an opportunity to present his case to the entire playing group.

Several members of his under-21 side that recently lost the Leinster final to Dublin have only just made the transition up to the senior panel.

Problems have been brewing within Westmeath for a number of months now, with one of the greatest players to ever don the maroon jersey, Dessie Dolan, withdrawing his services on Hackett’s appointment.

This was motivated primarily by the decision of a six-man recruitment committee, headed by county board chairman Tom Farrell, football chairman Des Maguire and county secretary Pat Lynagh, not to grant his father, Dessie Dolan Snr, an interview for the position.

A decision was made at county board level to seek an external appointment. As a result, Dolan was not considered, despite a productive term as Leitrim manager.

Matters were not helped by the retirement of All Star defender John Keane, citing recurring injury. Talented forward Denis Glennon was next to go just a few months into Hackett’s three-year term.

Hackett has previous, if not recent, intercounty managerial experience, with Longford (1987-90) and Offaly (1990-92), when he also trained the 1990 Internationals Rules squad.

He has also coached athletes James Nolan, Noel Cullen and Maria Lynch – and acted as sports psychologist for the last four Ireland Olympic teams, as well as Roscommon in 2001, Sligo in 2002, Fermanagh in 2003, Limerick in 2004, Monaghan in 2006 and Wexford in 2007.

His last sporting position was as chief executive of the Athletic Association of Ireland, but he stepped down in 2008 two-and- a-half years into a three-year term.

He has attempted to revolutionise the Westmeath footballers’ preparations, initially bringing in Irish Olympic canoeist Eoin Rheinisch as a weights specialist and boxer Michael Carruth as chief masseur.

Former county secretary and referee Paddy Collins returned as a selector, as he had served under Páidí Ó Sé, along with Michael “Spike” Fagan, Mattie Fox and former Armagh and Tyrone selector Gerry McDermott.

There were initial difficulties, as Hackett explained in January, due to the winter ban on intercounty training sessions, followed by poor weather.

“We had a trial game at the end of October, and we managed one further trial game the week before Christmas, to finalise a panel,” said Hackett.

“And that’s been it. The only thing we managed since was one training session in a sports hall, which wasn’t very satisfactory, and something we wouldn’t do again. The bottom line is we’ve had no training session whatsoever on the pitch.

“First of all, the pitches were all waterlogged, with the heavy rain. Since the week before Christmas all the pitches were frozen. And with the roads the way they were we couldn’t even get together.

“It’s a huge disadvantage. I mean, a manager who has been there for a couple of years will know the capabilities of his players, and is therefore only really looking at a few new players at this time of year. I wouldn’t be fully familiar with the capability of the Westmeath players, because I haven’t seen them play together, or done any work with them together. Plus, I don’t think the ban is serving the purpose it was intended for. The type of player it was meant to protect is still out there playing college football.”

Westmeath play the winners of Carlow and Wicklow in the Leinster championship on June 6th. Should the player revolt succeed, that would leave seven weeks for a new manager to come in and prepare them.

Neither Hackett nor any county board executive members were available for comment last night.