Speculation is mounting that Pat Gilroy could be in line for a return to the Dublin senior football set-up.
Gilroy, who managed the team to the breakthrough 2011 All-Ireland success, has had no involvement in inter-county football since stepping down as manager in 2012, though he did take charge of the county’s hurlers for a season in 2018.
It is expected that after losing at the All-Ireland semi-final stage in each of the last two seasons and suffering relegation to Division Two earlier this year that manager Dessie Farrell, who played alongside Gilroy for Dublin, will shake up his backroom team with significant changes in the offing ahead of the 2023 season.
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Although Dublin won a sixth All-Ireland in succession in Farrell’s first season at the helm in 2020, feedback from players suggested that the standard of coaching had dropped from Jim Gavin’s regime.
Where Gilroy would fit into that mix remains to be seen as he is more noted as a no-nonsense overseer than a hands-on coach, though Farrell may feel that he can be the foil he needs to return Dublin to the summit, with sources indicating that there has been contact between the pair and that the St Vincent’s man is exploring the possibility of coming on board in some capacity.
Gilroy was linked with a return to the job after Gavin’s departure three years ago and his name was mentioned again in the aftermath of this year’s Championship when there was uncertainty as to whether Farrell would continue, though he eventually committed for a further two seasons.
Farrell has since received a boost with the news that Jack McCaffrey and Paul Mannion are to come out of self-imposed exile for the 2023 season, with representations from players apparently central to their decisions. Neither player has worn the county jersey since 2020.
The provisional fixtures list issued to counties last week has Dublin due to start their Division Two League campaign at home to Kildare at Croke Park on Saturday, January 28. They will have further home ties against Clare and Louth and trips to Limerick, Cork, Derry and Meath as they bid to win immediate promotion.
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