Spillane would fancy a crack at managing Westmeath

Kerry football legend and outspoken pundit Pat Spillane has claimed that the vacant Westmeath senior post would tempt him to try his hand at inter-county management.

In a wide ranging 'Sunday World' column - which touched on various GAA issues and other sporting matters - Spillane wrote: "If I was taking one job that’s vacant, I would like to go to Westmeath.

"Here’s a county with the potential to be a top-ten team, especially after winning the Tailteann Cup. Westmeath have some seriously good footballers," he continued.

Jack Cooney, who steered Westmeath to that Tailteann Cup success, recently stepped down as Lake County manager after taking up a new position in Croke Park.

Spillane retired from his role as a long-serving pundit on the 'Sunday Game' after this year's All-Ireland final in which his native Kerry defeated Galway. It was a fitting way for Spillane to bow out, with Kerry lifting the Sam Maguire Cup and two of his nephews (Killian and Adrian) being introduced as substitutes in the All-Ireland decider.

Spillane's former Kerry colleague, the late Páidí Ó Sé famously guided Westmeath to a historic Leinster senior football title in 2004. Both Spillane and Ó Sé won eight All-Ireland senior medals with Kerry.

Considering Spillane's lack of experience in inter-county management and the distance from his Templenoe base to Westmeath, it's extremely unlikely that he will swap the Sunday Game studio for the Westmeath hot-seat. However, perhaps his positive comments about the talent in the Westmeath ranks will make some other possible candidates sit up and take notice.

Spillane's erstwhile Sunday Game colleague Dessie Dolan and John Keane are two of the names being linked with the Westmeath job. Garrycastle's Dolan and Rosemount's Keane, both of whom were awarded All-Stars after that hugely memorable 2004 campaign, were part of this year's Westmeath management team alongside Jack Cooney.

Click HERE for an article on the Westmeath County Board starting the process of appointing a successor to Cooney.