Flanagan appointed in Westmeath
August 28, 2010The Offaly native received the overwhelming backing of club delegates at last night's county board meeting in Mullingar, and will take charge of both the senior and under 21 teams for a two-year term. Flanagan's selectors for both teams will be appointed at a later date.
Flanagan, who has won county championships in both Westmeath and Offaly with Tyrrellspass and Clara, was appointed manager on an interim basis last April after Brendan Hackett was forced to step down after seven months in charge. He had previously served as a selector during Tomas O Flatharta's reign.
Just six weeks after his appointment, Flanagan guided the Lake County to a Leinster SFC quarter-final win over Wicklow, but disappointing performances against Louth in the Leinster semi-final and Derry in the All-Ireland qualifiers had cast a doubt over him getting the job on a permanent basis.
However, after his name was put forward by the sub-committee which had been set up to seek out a new manager last night, the clubs had no hesitation in appointing him. The only other candidate considered was Dessie Dolan Snr, who is currently managing Roscommon club side Clann na nGael.
Like Flanagan, the former Athlone, Westmeath and Leinster star had his name in the ring for the position 12 months ago, but wasn't even granted an interview on that occasion, leading to his son Dessie Jnr refusing to play under Hackett. Tweet
