FERMANAGH boss Ryan McMenamin has cast doubt on his future – despite having just led the Ernemen into Championship battle for the first time.
The former Tyrone star worked alongside Rory Gallagher for two years before taking over the reins when Gallagher stepped down in the summer of 2019.
It hasn’t been the easiest introduction to inter-county management for McMenamin, however, with the Ernemen suffering relegation to Division Three last month – their survival bid not helped by a Covid-19 outbreak within the panel on the eve of the League’s restart.
Against Down on Sunday, Fermanagh were without eight starters from their last Championship outing against Monaghan in June 2019, with McMenamin handing Championship debuts to teenagers Sean McNally, Luke Flanagan and Josh Largo-Ellis.
After a solid start the Ernemen fell away in the second half to crash out at the quarter-final stage, leaving the three-time All-Ireland winner to ponder what the future holds.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“I mightn't be here next year so I will have to sit and chat with [Fermanagh County Board chairman] Greg [Kelly]. It's one of those things.
“We knew we were trying to blood a lot of young boys this year and we knew, we discussed with the county board, that it was the time to do it. But it was probably disjointed the whole year.
“It's something me and Paul [McIver] were chatting about from even pre-Covid. It was very disjointed and we never really got the players we wanted on the pitch. It is very hard, county football - a dog-eat-dog game and you have to put the work in behind the scenes.
“People think you get judged on the 70 minutes but there is a lot of work that goes on behind it.
Players have to ask themselves if they are happy to sit on a 26 or a 32 panel, or happy to go through the motions. Small county or not, you want the best players but you want the players who want to be there and are going to put in the work.”
Despite the disappointment of recent weeks, and Sunday’s Championship exit, McMenamin does feel Fermanagh can come again in 2021.
“You always have to look at it, see where we are going.
“To me, the squad is there and the potential is there. Again, it works two ways - if the players want you. There is no point being there is the players don't want you. No point being there if the county board don't want you.
“We will go away and review it. You give the boys their time, three/four weeks, whatever happens, it’s only a game of football. We’ll get over it and if we are back, we’d like to be back in a couple of weeks.”
McMenamin was without the likes of Ultan Kelm, the Cullen twins, Che and Lee, Ryan Lyons, Barry Mulrone and Sean Quigley for Sunday’s last eight showdown, while midfielder Ryan Jones was unable to start and didn’t enter the fray until late in the game.
After an edgy first half, Donal O’Hare’s goal seven minutes after the break set the Mournemen on the way to a seven-point victory.
