New Westmeath ladies football manager Alan Mangan will have former county team-mate Martin Flanagan as one of his selectors.

After a long search for a new manager, Mangan has been appointed to the role and will have Flanagan and another ex-county footballer, Ollie Rogers, as his selectors. 2004 Leinster championship winner Mangan had been joint-manager with Peter Leahy for the past two years, but stepped down just weeks after last October's historic All-Ireland intermediate title win after Leahy agreed to become the county hurlers' new trainer.

However, Mangan subsequently had a change of heart and will now be sole manager of the team as they try to build on last year's success, which also saw the Lake County win the National League Division 4 and Leinster intermediate championship titles.

"I didn't want to see the girls stuck so I decided to see if they'd let me give it a go for another year," he told the Westmeath Topic.

"I would have loved to have Peter (Leahy) back with me as he is brilliant at fitness, but he has commitments to three other teams this year so it's just not possible.

"We are miles behind everyone else in terms of preparation. The girls went back training last Thursday night, but I'd say we're easily two months behind the other teams at this stage. If there is still a platform there from last year, we might be okay - we'll take the good with the bad."

Mangan is hoping Martin Flanagan's vast experience as a player will benefit the team as they prepare to make the step-up to senior level. Rogers, whose daughter Jenny was a regular at centre back last year, previously managed the Westmeath minors so is already familiar with many of the current team. Tweet

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