Limerick boss to be revealed

THE nominations for the next Limerick senior hurling manager are set to be announced tonight at a specially convened meeting of the Limerick County Board.

The board are launching a development plan for Limerick GAA at 8pm in the South Court Hotel in Limerick city and this will be followed by the reading of the nominations list for the manager position to board delegates.

The list is widely expected to comprise of internal candidates, with current Limerick U-21 manager Ciarán Carey, outgoing senior boss Richie Bennis and former senior manager Tom Ryan all expected to be in the frame.

Former Limerick player Mike Houlihan is likely to be involved in a selector capacity if Carey is appointed, while Pat Herbert seems unlikely to let his name go forward despite being approached by Adare.

Gerry Molyneaux, who takes charge of the Limerick intermediate hurlers for Saturday’s All-Ireland final against Kilkenny, has also indicated that he is interested in making the step up to senior inter-county management.

“I would be very interested in the job. It’s a hard job but no harder than what I’m doing at the moment. We put as many hours and as much time into the intermediates as what goes into the senior.

“All that’s required in Limerick is to knit players together, focus on the job to be done and stop the arguing and the rumours hitting the media.”

It is still unclear as to whether any outside candidates will be nominated, although former Clare boss Tony Considine has been linked with the post.

Tonight represents the first step in the process of appointing the new Limerick manager and after the nominations are announced, a sub-committee will conduct interviews with the candidates over the next few weeks.

The sub-committee consists of chairman Liam Lenihan, secretary Mike O’Riordan, treasurer Owen Hayes and a delegate from each of the four divisions — Oliver Mann (Patrickswell), Louis Quirke (Ahane), Jim Dooley (Garryspillane) and Jimmy Stapleton (Granagh-Ballingarry).

The new manager is to receive a two-year term and will have two selectors as part of his managerial team. The next county board meeting on September 9 is likely to see the official ratification of the new manager.