GAA QUALIFIERSHAVING CONCEDED that his two-year reign as Galway hurling manager has been a failure, after the defeat to Cork in the qualifiers on Saturday night, Ger Loughnane is expected to formally resign in the coming days.
The two-time All-Ireland winner with his native Clare famously promised to deliver the Liam McCarthy Cup when appointed in 2006.
"I don't regret (saying that)," said Loughnane. "It is a failure. There is no point in saying otherwise. I said I'd give it two years to win an All-Ireland and we never got past a semi-final. We got nowhere and in any man's language that is a failure."
When asked about the possibility of seeking a third year in charge, he dryly responded: "Have a guess."
Considering the volume of matches over the weekend it was no surprise to see several high- profile managerial casualties with Meath's convincing defeat to Limerick having the biggest reverberations. Darren Fay and Graham Geraghty have followed manager Colm Coyle through the trap door after announcing their retirements from inter-county duty in the wake of the 4-12 to 4-3 loss to Mickey Ned O'Sullivan's team at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday evening.
Many expected Meath to recover strongly from the Leinster quarter-final collapse to Wexford after all their suspended and injured players, besides Anthony Moyles, returned to action but they trailed by 20 points after 52 minutes play. Geraghty started the game on the bench.
Longford manager Luke Dempsey and Cavan's Donal Keoghan also stepped aside in the aftermath of defeats to Laois and Kildare.
Meanwhile, Donegal, Tyrone, Limerick and Laois will all be satisfied with last night's second round football qualifier draw having gained home advantage for next Saturday's matches.
With four Ulster teams in the drum it seemed inevitable that there would be some old scores on the line. True to form, Monaghan's reward for scalping Derry is a trip to Ballybofey.
Westmeath must try to figure a way past Tyrone in Omagh, Kildare go down to giant-killers Limerick while Down will face Laois in Portlaoise.
All fixtures and venues will be confirmed by the GAA later today.
