Declan Shaw is in the mix for Mayo job

Former county player and joint manager of the three-in-a-row Castlebar Mitchels winning side Declan Shaw has been nominated by his club for the Mayo senior football manager job.

Shaw, who played senior football for Mayo under manager John Maughan, brings a wealth of experience to the job having been joint-manager with Declan O’Reilly in bringing Castlebar Mitchels to that famous three-in-a-row (2015 to 2017) of Moclair Cups.

The Castlebar businessman, who runs a very successful horticultural business at Westport Road in the town, is highly respected within the GAA community in Mayo and beyond for his ability to get the best out of players and is seen by quite a few people I have spoken to, particularly players, as a man that is well up for this job.

A great believer in the hands on approach with players, Shaw is understood to be more than interested in the job as he feels passionately about the job and has expressed the view that issues off the field have side-tracked the team in recent years in particular.

I also understand that Shaw has already approached a number of people to become part of his backroom team.

While Shaw came up just short of winning an All-Ireland club title with Castlebar Mitchels, one of his finest hours was undoubtedly that memorable victory by Mitchels over Crossmaglen in the 2016 All-Ireland club semi-final.

Mitchels failed to perform in the final and crashed to Ballyboden St. Enda’s, while Shaw was also part of the management team that brought the club to their fourth Connaught club title in 2015 when they defeated the reigning Connaught and All-Ireland champions, Corofin.

There is no doubt that Shaw has proven very popular in the GAA community in Mayo and has a lot of support.

Nominations for the position of Mayo manager close this week with betting suspended following a lot of money going on Knockmore manager Ray Dempsey, while Michael Solan and Kevin McStay are among those that are expected to be in the running for the position which was vacated by James Horan following Mayo’s defeat to Kerry in the All-Ireland quarterfinal.

The closing date for applications for the position of Mayo manager is this Friday, July 29.