Flanagan one of three in the frame for Westmeath job

Pat Flanagan should find out tonight, Wednesday September 5, whether or not he will be at the helm of the Westmeath senior football squad again next season. The Clara man was one of three candidates interviewed in the past week by a five man panel. The other two candidates are Dessie Dolan Snr, who was nominated by the Garrycastle club, and Maryland's manager Finbar Egan. The interview panel consisted of Liam Gavin and Gerry Coyne from the football board, two members of the county board and Aidan Maguire from The Downs, who was nominated by the delegates. The three candidates were announced at a meeting of the Westmeath Football Board in Cusack Park last Thursday evening. The five-man panel are due to report back to football board delegates tonight (Wednesday), with their recommendation for the role. While it is expected that Flanagan will be reinstated after a season in which Westmeath retained their league status and almost pulled off one of the shocks of the summer by beating Kerry in the qualifiers, the other contenders possess impressive CVs and shouldn't be written off. Des Dolan Snr - father of Garrycastle star Dessie Dolan, who opted out of the county panel this year - was a mainstay of Westmeath's senior football team during the 1960s, and after turning to coaching, has managed club sides in Offaly, Longford, Dublin and Roscommon. He has also managed Leitrim and Longford at inter-county level. Dolan expressed an interest in the Westmeath job when Tomás " Flatharta stepped aside in 2009, and after Brendan Hackett's brief tenure, he was again proposed for the role. Finbar Egan, meanwhile, is credited with masterminding a revolution at Maryland in recent years, steering them to an intermediate championship win in Westmeath (2008), a senior 'B' and U21 title, and maintaining their strong senior championship presence. The former Athlone boss also guided Mayo's ladies to All-Ireland glory during the 1990s. Football chairman Gavin revealed that he and secretary Gerry Coyne recently met Flanagan for a review of last season and to discuss the new expenses charter introduced by the GAA earlier this year. Joe O'Keeffe, the Coralstown Kinnegad delegate, wondered if the county board was satisfied with the team's progress under Flanagan. The delegate said that he had talked to a number of players who were not "overly enthusiastic" about Flanagan's management of the team. He also noted that if the Westmeath football squad wants to be successful it will have to "up the ante" and follow the example of All-Ireland finalists Donegal who, he claimed, have been training up to 12 times a week. Regarding the make-up of the interview panel, Ballinagore's Seamus Ennis expressed the view that a player should have been appointed. His sentiments were echoed by Eamon Whelehan from Tyrrellspass. "Players are the most important people and should definitely have a say," he said. No place for Luke next year While former manager Luke Dempsey stated that he was not interested in putting his name in the hat for a return while Pat Flanagan was still in the frame, Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall delegate Des Doolin suggested that he should be considered for a central role with the U21 team. Football board chairman Liam Gavin told the delegates that it was up to the successful candidate to decide whether or not they would take control of both the senior and U21 squads next year. Secretary Gerry Coyne noted that aside from the extra costs involved, he believed that it was in the best interests of Westmeath football that both teams are looked after by the same management structure. He added that when you have two separate managers they can often end up "pulling against each other". Westmeath is a small county with a small pool of players and last year a large number of the U21 team also appeared for the senior team, Mr Coyne said. When you have two different management teams you often have two sets of tactics and this would not help either team achieve their objectives, he argued. "It's better if both squads are singing off the same hymn sheet," added Coyne.