MAC yet to hold first meeting in search for new Mayo manager
Fergal Boland, the player who scored the last point of Kevin McStay's reign as Mayo senior football manager, has a word with Andy Moran, the man tipped as a potential successor to McStay, following last Saturday's Mayo SFL Division 2 final at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar. Picture: David Farrell Photography
The committee that will oversee the process of appointing the next Mayo senior football manager has yet to hold a meeting.
Mayo GAA’s Management Appointment Committee (MAC) now has the authority to identify and approach suitable candidates for the role, to add to any that may be nominated by clubs, as was traditionally the process, but progress – on the face of it at least – would appear to be slow.
Mayo GAA has, however, informed clubs of its confidence in having a manager appointed before the end of August.
A full month has almost passed since the Mayo GAA executive decided to terminate the reign of Kevin McStay as manager, after the Ballina native’s three seasons at the helm. The announcement on June 25 came ten days after Mayo’s exit from the All-Ireland SFC at the hands of next Sunday’s finalists Donegal.
“We were very cognisant of the fact that if there was going to be a change of management, it needed to be done fairly quickly,” said Mayo GAA vice-chairman Michael Diskin at the county board’s monthly meeting on July 7. But over two weeks later, key positions on the Management Appointment Committee are understood to remain vacant.
The MAC consists of Mayo GAA chairperson Seamus Tuohy, vice-chairperson Michael Diskin, secretary Ronan Kirrane, treasurer Valerie Murphy and coaching officer Seamus Smyth, along with two additional members of Coiste Bainistí and at least one external representative with expertise in Human Resources. However, the understands that those latter three positions have yet to be assigned to anyone. That’s despite an assurance given to board delegates at their last meeting that, “The Management Appointment Committee will be formulated over the next number of days.”
“Even though the MAC has not met, that’s not to say individual members have not been sounding out potential candidates,” one county board source told the .
Not only can the Management Appointment Committee actively seek out a possible successor to Kevin McStay, individuals themselves can, by writing directly to the secretary, now apply to become Mayo senior football manager without seeking the nomination of a club. But any club who wishes to make a nomination must have agreement from the proposed candidate to put their name forward.
The closing date for nominations is at midday tomorrow (Wednesday) after which all qualifying candidates will be asked to submit an application form, each of which will be assessed against a scoring matrix and a shortlist of candidates drawn up. Only then will an interview panel be appointed, to include members of the MAC, an external HR expert, a former Mayo player and an external nominee with relevant experience.
Meanwhile, the has also learnt that Mayo GAA officials intend to stall the process of appointing new managers to the minor and U20 football teams, and the U20 hurling team, until after the new senior football manager has been confirmed.
