Mickey Harte has no plans to retire from inter-county management
Brian Flanagan is expected to be confirmed as the recommendation for the Kildare football manager’s role over the next week as the process to replace Glenn Ryan draws to a close.
Flanagan has been the frontrunner for the position since it became vacant when Ryan stepped down as manager in the wake of the county’s Tailteann Cup quarter-final loss to Laois.
It is understood that Mickey Harte has spoken to Kildare since his departure as Derry manager earlier in the month but the county’s officials remain firm in their belief that Flanagan, who managed them to All-Ireland U-20 success last year, is best placed to take the county forward.
Harte has expressed an interest in pursuing a fourth inter-county job, following on from his involvement with Tyrone, Louth and Derry, telling BBC during their recent coverage of the All-Ireland semi-finals that he “wasn’t ready for the pipe and slippers yet”.
“I like what I’m doing – I like managing at this level. We’ll see what happens,” he said.
Harte has teamed up with Gavin Devlin in Tyrone, Louth and Derry but now that Devlin has taken a full-time development role in Louth that would essentially rule him out of inter-county involvement elsewhere.
Harte’s apparent interest in Kildare has not, it seems, put Kildare off the path they’re on to pick up the pieces from a disappointing year.
There have apparently been other expressions of interest from outside the county too in recent weeks.
But it all points to Flanagan, a former Kildare player who was a selector with Cian O’Neill for a year during his four-year term.
