The Football Board, led by chairman John Galvin and secretary Sean McAuliffe, has been tasked with identifying a candidate to bring before the County Board for final ratification.
The Football Board met on Friday night to consider their options while the rumour mill has already linked former Ballylanders coach Tom McGlinchy with the job as well as current Monaleen manager Ger Lawlor, former Limerick supremo Liam Kearns, Drom-Broadford coach Ned English and out-going Limerick under-21 manager Maurice Horan.
Mickey Ned O’Sullivan, the 58-year-old Kenmare man who has guided the fortunes of the Limerick senior football team for the past five years, informed Football Board officials on Thursday evening that he did not wish to be considered for a sixth successive term in charge.
Speaking on behalf of the out-going management team Mickey Ned O’Sullivan told Leader Sport that Limerick now needed a “new voice” and that he his decision to step down was in the “best interests of the team”.
“From my point of view five years is a long time to be involved with one team,” Mickey Ned O’Sullivan said.
“Only Mickey Harte (Tyrone) has been managing an inter-county team for a similar length of time.
“I want what is best for the team and what is best for Limerick football now is a new voice and a new approach. And, I hope that new voice can refresh and re-energise the team.
“I don’t think that as a management team we could have been any better this year. At the start of each year we asked ourselves how we could improve as a management team and how we could take it to the next level. And, in everything we did this year I thought we were excellent. I find it very difficult to see how we could improve on that. I hope a new appointment can take Limerick to that next level. I will miss Limerick football. Over the years I had grown to treat both the players and the rest of the management team as a family rather than a football team. The hardest part of it is saying goodbye to that.”
An emotional Mickey Ned also admitted that he was leaving a big part of his sporting life behind him.
“The players and the management were like one big family so when you’re suddenly leaving all that behind there are obvious withdrawal symptons. It has been emotional.”
Mickey Ned O’Sullivan’s term in charge came to a technical end when the Shannonsiders suffered a defeat at the hands of Cork in an All-Ireland qualifier on July 24 (0-16 to 1-11 after extra-time at the Gaelic Grounds), but the Football Board had been hopeful of tempting the Kerry man back for at least one more year.
Mickey Ned O’Sullivan, who captained Kerry to an All-Ireland title in 1975, was appointed manager of the Limerick senior footballers prior to the 2006 championship. While Limerick won the National Football League Division Four title this year the efforts of Mickey Ned’s men in the championship proved ultimately frustrating.
In five seasons Mickey Ned O’Sullivan guided Limerick into championship action on 16 different occasions. While the Shannonsiders only managed to win seven of those championship encounters Limerick proved extremely difficult to beat and narrowly missed out on winning a first Munster title since 1896 last July when they lost to Kerry in Killarney. Another undoubted highlight of O’Sullivan’s five-year term in charge was Limerick’s sensational 4-12 to 4-3 win over Meath in the 2008 All-Ireland qualifiers at the Gaelic Grounds.
“There are no regrets for me personally,” added Mickey Ned.
“I always treated my time in Limerick as part of my personal journey rather than as a destination. I feel we made amazing progress during my time in charge and I think the players feel that way too. It’s just a pity that we didn’t enjoy that little bit more success, I think the lads deserved at least a Munster title.”
In stark contrast to the management of senior hurling team, who criticised members of the 2009 hurling squad for indiscipline, Mickey Ned O’Sullivan had nothing but praise for the Limerick players.
“In my time there was not one incident of indiscipline,” he insisted.
“That’s the reality of dealing with this group of players. I would love to stay and work with the players for another year, but that would not be in the best interests of the team.
“The whole journey was something I really enjoyed. I’ve been involved in sport all of my life and I have never had such a positive experience as I did in Limerick. We did have our ups and downs, but the people we had involved on the team and with the team were exceptional. Everyone of the management team made my job easy and all I had to do really was co-ordinate.
“And, we didn’t have one spot of bother with the players. Limerick people should be really proud of that group of players, they really are an exceptional bunch of people.”
And, while Mickey Ned O’Sullivan believes that there is a bright future for Limerick he has warned administrators of the game on Shannonside that great care must be taken to develop football in the county.
“The future is bright for Limerick football. If you look at the forwards their average age is just 22. It was a great pleasure to work with the Limerick players and see them become some of the best forwards, midfielders and defenders in Gaelic football,” O’Sullivan explained.
“Limerick don’t have the same amount of players as other counties, they simply don’t have the same population of lads playing the game. So, the Football Board need to establish a conveyor belt and make sure the same message is getting through from the senior team all the way down.
“Limerick needs quality people at all levels of the game and all of those people need to be singing off the same hymn sheet. Limerick need to manage their resources carefully.
“In fairness the Football Board know that and that’s what they are trying to implement.”
Brian McDonnell
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