McEnaney drops exit hint

SEAMUS MCENANEY wasn’t in the mood to discuss his future as Monaghan boss on Saturday.

However his tone and body language left few in any doubt that this defeat heralded the end of his six-year reign.

Monaghan have made giant strides during McEnaney’s time at the helm but a failure to break the Tyrone-Armagh duoply up north will grate, even though the Farneymen are firmly ensconced in the top division of the league.

He said: “I gave six years to this Monaghan job and the players have been absolutely fantastic.

“I’d be very proud of this group of players that have taken Monaghan from a very low ebb to dine at the top table. Today is not a day for either players and management to be discussing such issues but I truly enjoyed my six years.”

Pressed on whether he was indicating that this might be the end for him, McEnaney replied that: “this has been a disappointing six days for Monaghan football. There’s a fantastic group of players there that any manager would be proud of to manage going forward. I’m certainly proud of them for the past six years.

“This group of players, while they haven’t achieved the goals they would like to have achieved, they certainly have Monaghan football in a great place.

“They started in Division Four six years ago and have them in top eight teams in the country for the National Football League for 2011. That’s a good place to be.”