Westmeath’s two-month search for a senior football manager is expected to end with the appointment of Cavan great Dermot McCabe this week.

The 1997 All-Star midfielder is set to be ratified as Dessie Dolan’s successor at a county board meeting tomorrow night. McCabe emerged as the leading candidate over the weekend after Lar Wall – who won a Westmeath SFC title with The Downs in 2022 and recently lost out to Robbie Brennan for the Meath job – had been tipped for the role.

McCabe coached his native county to a surprise Ulster SFC title in 2020 and jointly-managed his beloved Gowna to back-to-back Cavan SFC titles in 2022 and ’23. His brother Martin is a former Westmeath minor manager who has enjoyed great success with Garrycastle and his adopted Tubberclair.

Indeed, Martin’s son Eoghan was a member of this year’s Westmeath senior football panel.

There is also speculation in the Lake County that Mickey Graham, who stepped down as Leitrim manager after only two months in charge last week, could reunite with McCabe after managing Cavan to Ulster glory in 2020. Donegal 2012 All-Ireland SFC winner Mark McHugh has also been touted for a coaching role.

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