McNamara set for Offaly job

Offaly hurlers are taking it for granted that Mike McNamara will be named as the new county senior manager this week.

Several names had been bandied about in association with the post since Fr Tom Fogarty stepped down after a year's tenure.

But a senior county player said: "It's been known for quite a while now that Mike was the man for the job and some of the older lads have been thinking about their futures based on that."

McNamara is famed for the rigorous training routines that led Clare to All-Ireland glory in 1995 and 1997 and Galway to a final defeat in 2001.