Paul Rouse to be appointed new Offaly football manager
Irish Examiner columnist Paul Rouse is set to be appointed new manager of the Offaly footballers, it has emerged.
The UCD history lecturer is a two-time County Championship winner with Tullamore in 2000 and 2002 and will lead a new management team for the duration of Offaly’s involvement in this summer’s Championship.
The decision is expected to be ratified on Saturday as the Offaly County Board bid to move past the controversial departure of Stephen Wallace from the position in the wake of last Sunday’s Leinster SFC defeat to Wicklow.
Rouse, 47, is likely to be joined in the management team by his brother John, who guided Tullamore to SFC success in the county five years ago, 1982 All-Ireland winner Stephen Darby, who guided Rhode to a three-in-a-row of Offaly football titles and Darby’s clubmate Alan McNamee.
Offaly are slated to play their first-round qualifier game on June 9, with Rouse tasked with getting the county’s footballers back on track after last Sunday’s defeat.
The loss means that Offaly have still only one won Leinster championship game since 2007 – against Longford.
