A DECISION on Ronan McCarthy’s future as Cork senior football manager is expected to be made within the next two weeks.
The Douglas man’s three-year term as Rebel boss ended when Cork lost the recent Munster football final to Tipperary and afterwards McCarthy said that he wouldn’t rush into any decision about his future.
Speaking to the Star Sport Podcast this week, Cork GAA CEO Kevin O’Donovan explained that there are internal reviews going on in the background but that he expects a decision to be made shortly.
‘There is a really tight turnaround for next year, Ronan’s term is up after three years. The executive haven’t met on it yet because there are internal reviews going on first, Ronan is reviewing, the players are discussing it and so on,’ O’Donovan explained.
‘It’s steady-state at the moment, no rushed decisions, but I expect it all to move in the next week or two for the simple reason that next year is around the corner.
‘A few weeks ago we thought the national football league would start at the end of February, the soundings last week were that they might flip the season again and let the clubs go first like last year. Nonetheless, it’s urgent. No decision yet, no hard negotiations yet, but lots of discussions and reviews on how the last three years went.’
After a tough first year in charge, McCarthy has overseen an upsurge in the footballers’ fortunes in the past 18 months as they competed in the Super 8s in 2019 before claiming Kerry’s scalp in this year’s Munster SFC semi-final, but then, disappointingly, fell flat against Tipperary in the provincial decider. Cork will compete in Division 2 of the national league in 2021.
