Tony McEntee 'the preferred choice' to guide Mayo GAA into new era
by Aiden Henry
Mayo GAA's precise direction with regard to identifying a new manager for the county's senior football squad will not be known until after Wednesday night's county board meeting.
The expectation is that the appointment process will be conducted sooner rather than later.
Indeed, the hope is that a new senior manager (and a complete new backroom team) will be in place by the time the Mayo club championships get underway in six weeks’ time in order that some new talent can be found by the new supremo.
The burning question for now is this: Will the county board go for a home-grown manager or for someone from outside the county?
Within the county a number of candidates will have their supporters.
These include Austin O’Malley, Andy Moran, James Horan, John Maughan and Ray Dempsey.
Outside of the county, the leading names include Tony McEntee, Oisin McConville, Eamon Fitzmaurice, Jim Gavin, Kieran Donaghy, Mickey Harte and Karl Lacey.
On this occasion, I believe the Mayo County Board will look outside the county and will head hunt their preferred choice in the near future.
Indeed, it would not surprise me if the process has already started as they are sure to have a chosen few they would like to take over from McStay.
Last weekend Armagh native and present Wicklow manager Oisin McConville came in for huge support, according to the latest betting.
There is no doubt McConville would be seen as a good choice by the Mayo supporters, especially after his great exploits in improving the Wicklow senior team.
However, it is another Crossmaglen and Armagh team-mate of McConville that I think the Mayo County Board will go after – Tony McEntee.
McEntee, who recently stepped away from the Sligo job after five years, is highly respected across the GAA circles and seems like the ideal man to take over the hot seat in Mayo.
He knows the Mayo set-up as he was a selector of the Mayo team prior to taking the Sligo job. By all accounts he was very well liked in the Mayo camp then.
The most important thing when looking at McEntee is that his CV is very impressive.
As a player, the 48-year-old won All-Ireland senior club titles with Crossmaglen Rangers, an All-Ireland senior championship with Armagh, as well as a National League title.
As a manager he won two All-Ireland senior club titles with Crossmaglen, in 2011 and 2012, before going on to be appointed manager of St. Brigid’s GAA Club in Dublin.
In 2020 he was appointed the Sligo manager on a three-year term, which was extended to two more years until he stepped away last month.
He brought the Sligo senior inter-county scene up a notch or two.
In 2024, Sligo were denied a famous victory over Galway in the Connacht championship by an injury time goal.
Galway, as we know, went on to contest the All-Ireland final against Armagh. Indeed, this year, his Sligo side ran Mayo very close in the Connacht semi-final in Castlebar.
With McEntee’s managerial style described as ‘direct’, is he not the right fit for Mayo?
There is a growing view within the Mayo GAA organisation's executive committee that appointing a big name from outside the county would prove an inspirational move for both players, clubs and supporters at this time.
It is understood McEntee is the man the Mayo GAA executive committee wants.
It remain to be seen if they can succeed.