McGilligan set to vacate Derry post
June 18, 2009

Derry hurling manager Brian McGilligan
Brian McGilligan has suggested that he is likely to resign his position as Derry hurling manager once the Oak Leafers conclude their Under 21 championship campaign.
The former football All Star took the reins of Derry's senior hurling boss in 2007, succeeding Sean McCloskey, and although he hasn't picked up any silverware at senior level, he did lead his native county to back-to-back Ulster titles this year in the Under 21 grade.
However, work commitments have made McGilligan question whether or not he is the right man for the job anymore, after Sunday's Ulster SHC defeat at the hands of Down.
"I'll be back for the Under 21s in the next couple of weeks. After that, I'm going to have a look at what I'm doing, but it's not looking good at the minute," he admitted.
"There's too much work involved in it. I haven't time to do anything for myself, never mind anything else. I take football teams as well and I'm out of the house every night of the week.
"This job is for someone who's working nine to five in an office. It's not for somebody leaving the house at six o'clock in the morning and not in until all hours of the night."
McGilligan believes that if Derry want to compete at the same level which Antrim are at they will need to have a few of their younger players to stand up and be counted for.
"It's a belief thing," he said. "I've no doubt that when Derry make the breakthrough, and they will, that they'll be there for a couple or three years. But until we get enough boys coming through that are prepared to lead instead of sitting back and waiting to see who'll do the leading, we're going nowhere.
"Last year we led Antrim for 60 minutes and just hadn't the confidence to go on and beat them. You saw today, when we're looking for men to step up to the plate, we haven't got them. To be fair, some of the boys are only back after injury, but there's no excuse for it. It's not something you can teach boys. It has to be bred into you. We just haven't got the boys," added the Derry boss.
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