Hackett emerges as contender to take over as Offaly manager

Brendan Hackett has emerged as a possible contender to take over as Offaly senior football manager. A former CEO of Athletics Ireland, Hackett has a wide range of coaching experience, and was previously involved with the Offaly senior team in the early 1990s. In the wake of Richie Connor"s recent resignation - after player unrest forced him out - Tom Coffey was drafted in as interim manager, with Phil O"Reilly and Vinny Claffey appointed as Coffey"s selectors. This trio took charge for Offaly"s National Football League clash against Longford last Sunday, which ended in a draw (0-11 each), thanks to a late equalising point by Tubber"s Ciaran McManus. Coffey, who is the current manager of Offaly football champions Rhode, has said that he has no interest in taking the role of county manager on a full time basis at present. Coffey, O"Reilly and Claffey are on a sub committee - along with county chairman Pat Teehan and county secretary Martin - which has been given the task of seeking a new manager. Others to be linked to the vacant Offaly post are former Mayo and Roscommon manager John Maughan, former Dublin footballer Paul Bealin and ex-Laois manager Liam Kearns. Coffey has said he hopes a new manager is in place before Offaly"s next National League game, at home to Louth on Sunday, March 8. 'The work to find a successor really starts this week,' he stated. 'We did a bit last week but it wasn"t a nice time for Offaly football with everything that was going on. We hope to have someone in place before the next game but we"ll take as long as we need to find the right man.' 'If he needs time settling in, we"ll be available to him for that, but otherwise we"ll just disappear,' Coffey added.