Managerial draw itching away at intrigued McGrath
Former Waterford boss Derek McGrath has admitted he wants to manage his county again at some stage but stated it’s unlikely to be for 2020.
Peter Queally and Colm Bonnar are joint-favorites with bookmakers to jump into the Déise hot-seat following Paraic Fanning’s one-year reign.
McGrath, who managed Waterford between 2014 and 2018 and took them to the 2017 All-Ireland final, didn’t rule out a return but said he’s ‘leaning towards’ remaining away from the sideline.
“I went on holiday on the Monday morning two weeks ago, early, five or six in the morning, and I was out there on the Thursday or Friday and got a text on my phone to say that Paraic had stepped down,” said McGrath.
“Your head is racing, your mind is racing. I have to be ambiguous enough about it because that’s where I’m at, I have a muddled mind really on it. There’s no point in not being honest with you, I’m kind of saying to myself, ‘Jesus, is it too early to go back there?’
And you don’t have a divine right to step back in there anyway, so it’s not a case of saying, ‘At the drop of a hat I’ll go back in there’.
“There’s other things to consider.
“I came out of it because I felt I was exhausted from it really. And then my own young lad started in first year and I was saying, ‘Will I get him to Junior Cert?’ That was just on a private level, you know, ‘Will I get him to Junior Cert and he will go into Transition Year and I might have a go at something then’.
“And the other boy would be going into third class then, in terms of a family plan, you know. And then parts of you is saying, you get this little probe like and you kind of say, ‘Jesus, you’d love another cut at it’.
“So that’s where my mind is at.
“I said I’d be as upfront about it as possible. I’m not saying I’m not thinking about it, but there’s parts of me saying, ‘No’. There’s 85% of me saying, ‘No, it’s too early to go back, it’s unfair even to go back’, if you know what I mean. And then there’s 15% of me saying, ‘Jesus, I might have a look at that’.”
McGrath said after his five-year reign ended in June of 2018 that he would like to return to the role some day.
“Definitely, at some point, without a doubt,” he reiterated. “Even though at the end of it I was tired, still you’d miss it.”
It remains to be seen if Waterford chiefs are keen on a McGrath return and if they pursue the De La Salle man. Other county or club set-ups may be interested in him also.
Asked if he would consider those, or if he’d only be interested in the Waterford job, McGrath said: “Ah no, they’d all interest me, if I’m honest. It’s just I’d be in the 20% category of, A) would I be considered and, B) would I have the energy or the know-how to do it?
“I’m open to it but I’m only partially open to it. I’m only trying to tell you what’s in my mind, you know? I’d be very much as honest as I can be and I’d be leaning towards not going, not getting involved this year anyway, but something could change my mind very easily.”
