by Daragh Ó Conchúir

Niall Carew has moved to dampen speculation surrounding his potential candidacy for the vacancy as Roscommon manager by ruling himself out of the reckoning.

The former Sligo and Waterford manager, who established his inter-county credentials initially as a coach and selector for five years with Kieran McGeeney in his native Kildare, had been touted as a potential successor to Kevin McStay, who announced his resignation in September.

Carew ended a 10-season unbroken spell at inter-county level when standing down as Sligo boss himself last year and enjoyed a successful term back at club level in 2018, bringing Palatine to the Carlow county final.

Roscommon officials will be anxious to secure an appointment sooner rather than later, with a view to getting preparations under way for the early challenge of retaining top-tier status in the National League.

“It has been flattering to have my name mentioned for such an attractive job like Roscommon, who are always contenders in the Connacht championship and will be competing with the big guns in Division 1 of the League next year” said Carew.

“There has been a lot of speculation alright and when you hear some of the names that have been linked, it is nice for people to consider me. There is no doubt being manager of Roscommon would be appealing but it just wouldn’t be right for me now and I am not putting myself in the mix.”

Former Mayo boss Stephen Rochford was another to rule himself out of the reckoning before reportedly accepting an invitation to take on a coaching role with Declan Bonner in Donegal.

Others mentioned to take the Rossies into 2019 have been former Louth manager and Armagh All-Ireland winner Aidan O’Rourke, ex-Carlow boss and Kildare star Anthony Rainbow, and Paul Curran, an All-Ireland winner with Dublin who was manager when Clann na nGael won the Roscommon county championship in 2015, having led Ballymun Kickhams to a Dublin title three years earlier.

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