MARK Doran has ruled himself out of becoming manager of the Derry senior footballers and will instead take on a coaching role with Roscommon.
After weeks of speculation, the in-demand Longstone native – whose Slaughtneil side lost out to Glen in last Sunday’s Derry Championship final – confirmed that he won’t be the successor to Mickey Harte in the Oak Leaf dugout.
“It’ll not be me,” said Doran who, it is understood, did have discussions with the Derry County Board this week.
Doran, who has previous inter-county experience with his native Down as well as Clare and Wicklow, was installed as favourite to take on last year’s National League champions after Malachy O’Rourke was confirmed as Tyrone manager last month.
His withdrawal comes just days after Karl Lacey ruled himself and it leaves Derry in an unenviable position. With most club championships either completed or at the final stage, next season is already looming. Most inter-county managers are already putting panels together and working hard to get up to speed with the potential new rules that have been recommended by the Football Review Committee.
The new Derry manager will inherit a talented group of players but there is an increasing risk that he could find himself playing catch-up.
With Doran now out of the frame, Derry U20 manager Damien McErlain has been mentioned as a possible candidate and so too has vastly-experienced Mickey Moran, whose recent successes included an All-Ireland club title with Down’s Kilcoo.