Former selector Pat Flanagan was appointed as Westmeath senior football manager on an interim basis on April 21 last.

The Clara man takes over from Brendan Hackett, who was forced to step down following a winless National Football League Division 2 campaign, which resulted in Westmeath suffered relegation for the second year-in-a-row. Flanagan, who is hoping to be appointed on a full-time basis when the manager's position is reviewed in September, has just weeks to prepare the Lake County for their Leinster SFC quarter-final against either Carlow or Wicklow on June 6.
Flanagan, who lost out to Hackett when the managerial vacancy arose last summer, is a highly regarded coach who has enjoyed considerable success at club level in both Westmeath and Offaly. He led Tyrrellspass to back-to-back senior championships in 2006 and '07, and to a Leinster club final appearance in '07. He also guided Tyrrellspass to an under 21 championship success in 2005.
Prior to that, he managed his native Clara to an Offaly senior championship in 2003, and to two minor championships in 1995 and '96. He also had a spell in charge of Kilbeggan Shamrocks, delivering an intermediate championship in 2000. Last year, he won his second Offaly senior championship with Clara after serving as a Westmeath selector under Tomas O Flatharta for the first half of the year.
Flanagan has named former county stars Paul Conway and David Mitchell as his selectors.
Both were key members of the Westmeath team which captured the Leinster championship in 2004, with former full back Mitchell having received an All-Star nomination in 2001. It will be Tang clubman Paul Conway's second stint as a selector, having served under Tomas O Flatharta from 2006 to last year. Indeed, he was a selector along with Flanagan last year.
St. Mary's, Rochfortbridge man Mitchell, meanwhile, served as an under 21 selector last year. Both men, who are approaching their mid-thirties and are still going strong for their clubs, had soldiered together for many years with the Lake County before finally getting their just rewards in 2004 when Paidi O Se delivered a first Leinster title.
Despite time being against him, Flanagan feels he can turn Westmeath's fortunes around and dismisses the notion that the team is a "sinking ship".
"The results to date are not a true reflection on this team," he said on his appointment.
"There is a very thin line between winning and losing sometimes. When things are going against you, it can be very difficult to get that bit of luck that you need in games.
"When things are going badly, events seem to happen during games that turn them very quickly against you.
"It isn't the best of circumstances to get the job in - on the back of someone else resigning - but we have the opportunity to try to progress things."
One of the new manager's first tasks will be to try to coax exiled forwards Denis Glennon and Dessie Dolan, as well as retired All-Star defender John Keane, back into the fold. Tweet

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