Monaghan board ponders Banty’s demands

THE Monaghan county board management committee met last night in Truagh to consider demands made by Seamus McEnaney which will play a crucial role in determining whether he will remain in charge of the county’s senior footballers for a seventh year.

It had been widely expected that McEnaney would step down in the wake of last month’s All-Ireland qualifier defeat to Kildare, which arrived just six days after their hugely disappointing Ulster final defeat to Tyrone.

But it is understood that prominent county board officials and leading players from the Monaghan squad have approached McEnaney and implored him to stay on. McEnaney responded by issuing a series of demands that he requested to be met before committing to the county for the 2011 campaign.

It seems likely that the county board management committee will grant McEnaney’s requests and that would lead to his appointment for another season being ratified at a full Monaghan county board meeting next Monday night.

Meanwhile Tipperary star attacker Eoin Kelly is still expected to line out in next Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final against Waterford despite only taking a limited part in team training last night.

Kelly has suffered a slight recurrence of the back injury which plagued him last summer and Tipperary management opted to take the precautionary measure to wrap the Mullinahone man in wool, in order to ensure he is able to feature in the Croke Park clash.

Elsewhere Mayo county board chairman James Waldron has revealed that ‘nothing can be ruled in or out’ ahead of the August 20 deadline for nominations to be submitted for the vacant position of senior intercounty football boss.

Several home-grown and outside managers continue to be linked to the position, including former Mayo footballers Noel Connelly, Ray Dempsey and James Horan, former Mayo boss John Maughan and ex-Sligo and Galway manager Peter Ford. Outside candidates like Kerry’s Mick O’Dwyer and former Dublin manager Tommy Lyons have also been mentioned in dispatches in recent weeks.

“It would be nice to have a manager in place for the closing stages of the club championships so they could have their selectors in place and do some scouting,” said Mayo GAA chief James Waldron.

“We can rule nothing in or out. It would be nice to have a manager from within the county but we’ll just have to wait and see who is nominated, what kind of experience is out there.”

Former Mayo boss Maughan insisted his focus is on his current position with Crossmolina.

“I love being involved in football, I love being involved in Crossmolina football, and that’s my focus at the moment,” he said.

Finally the future of Wexford hurling manager Colm Bonnar and his football counterpart Jason Ryan is set to become clearer tonight, when they meet with the Wexford GAA Management Committee. The meeting has been arranged to discuss how both teams fared in the 2010 season and it is expected to become clearer afterwards whether Bonnar and Ryan are both willing to continue for another term in charge. However former senior boss Tony Dempsey is expected to continue as county U21 hurling boss having guided them to this year’s Leinster final.