The longest-running managerial vacancy in intercounty football is set to be resolved in the coming weeks, with applications for the Sligo job having closed over the weekend. Former Mayo and Crossmolina player Michael Moyles has emerged as one of the more interesting candidates for the post, which has gone unfilled since Kevin Walsh stepped down at the end of their disastrous 2013 campaign.
"We have come close to double figures in terms of interest," said Joe Taaffe, chairman of the county's managerial appointments sub-committee. "We will meet tomorrow night (Tuesday) to process them and get ready for the interviews. Hopefully we can get it done inside a fortnight or three weeks. It depends on how available for interviews people are . . . But we want to get it put to bed as soon as possible."
Perilous state
Sligo were the first Connacht county to go out of this year's championship, exiting at the hands of Derry on the last day of June. The reason for the delay is the perilous state of Sligo GAA's finances. Reports last month revealed a county board €1.5m in debt and in need of a €250,000 loan from Croke Park to meet their day-to-day running costs. It was decided that no movement would be made on recruiting a new manager until budgets had been agreed with Croke Park for next year.
Taaffe wouldn’t be drawn on what names had been put forward by the Sligo clubs ahead of last Friday’s deadline but all indications are that Moyles is on the list of candidates. When contacted yesterday, the current manager of Sligo IT’s Sigerson team admitted that it was a role he would be interested in.
“I’m not too sure what the story is until it comes out who they’re interested in and who they’re not interested in,” said Moyles, who managed the Sligo minors in 2007 and 2008. “There’s nothing really to talk about yet until they have their list of candidates. If the opportunity came about, I would definitely talk to them but at the moment I don’t know what kind of scenario is going on.
“If the opportunity arose to go for an interview with them, I would definitely seriously think about it.”
