Roscommon Legend Wants County To Reverse Concerning Trend With Next Manager

Quite a few managerial vacancies have opened up in recent times as the inter-county season drew to a close, with the Roscommon job likely to be among the most attractive.

The Connacht county have punched above their weight in recent times, bouncing between Division 1 and Division 2 over the last decade or so. However, they have not quite managed to break through to Gaelic football's top table on a consistent basis.

Davy Burke had been in charge of the side since 2022, stepping aside after Roscommon's elimination from the championship. His replacement has yet to be confirmed.

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The appointment of Davy Burke back in 2022 continued a lengthy trend of outside managers in charge of Roscommon. The likes of Kevin McStay and Anthony Cunningham (who does live in Roscommon) had been in the role prior to that.

In fact, the last native Roscommon man to be the sole manager of the county was Des Newton in 2012. Fergal O'Donnell did act as join manager alongside McStay in 2015.

It seems that some within the county would like to reverse that trend for 2026.

Speaking to the Roscommon Herald, the recently retired Donie Smith said that it was important that the next Roscommon manager should come from within the county.

In my personal opinion, it should be a Roscommon man managing the team.

If you look at all the top teams in the country, they all have people from that county. I don’t understand why a Roscommon man can’t take the job. I think it is really important.

I don’t see why it shouldn’t be an internal man. All the top teams have internal fellas because they trust them.

I think it is time we trust fellas from Roscommon, who live in Roscommon and are mad about Roscommon. I think we have plenty of good fellas about the place and I think it is time we went internal and put everything behind him.

It remains to be seen who will be the next Roscommon manager, with Stephen Rochford having been viewed as the favourite for the role.

As to whether an inside manager will be appointed, that could largely depend on the standard of options from within the county.