RYAN MCHUGH has urged the Donegal County Board to show faith in Rory Gallagher by giving the Donegal manager an extended term in the role.
Gallagher has one year left to run on his current arrangement, which ends at the conclusion of the 2017 campaign, although there is the ‘option’ included for a fourth year.
Earlier this week, Donegal captain Michael Murphy lent his weight to the feeling that Gallagher’s term should be extended and McHugh, speaking to Donegal Sport Hub last night at the Irish News Ulster All-Star Awards, echoed the sentiments.
Picture caption: Ryan McHugh palms in a goal for Donegal against Dublin in this year’s All-Ireland SFC quarter-final. Picture by Geraldine Diver.
“It’s one of the most important things in Donegal that we hold onto Rory Gallagher,” McHugh said.
“I’ve been lucky enough to work under good managers in my time. I have to say I’m honoured to play under him and I hope Donegal keep him on.”
Gallagher is set to meet with the County Board tonight having delivered an end-of-year report to club delegates at Monday’s county committee meeting.
The meeting, with a selection from the County Executive, was not expected to discuss the finer points of Gallagher’s term, but given that senior players have publically spoken on the matter, it seems likely that it will now be up for mention.
[adrotate group=”37″]McHugh won his third Irish News Ulster All-Star award last night and is hopeful that Donegal can remain at the top table.
He said: “There is plenty of talent in Donegal. We’ve been in minor and under-21 finals. It’s not easy to get to these finals. We have put work in at underage and we have to keep building for the future.
“If we put in the effort, we can definitely reap the rewards.”
Donegal contested a sixth successive Ulster final in 2016, but lost to Tyrone in added time, while they gave Dublin a game in spells of the All-Ireland quarter-final, with the Dubs winning 1-15 to 1-10.
McHugh said of Donegal’s season: “We got off to a good start, but it was a disappointing end. That’s football and you can’t win them all. We have to look forward and build on that defeat by Dublin.
“Looking back, we probably didn’t kick on enough in the Ulster final, too, but we have to learn from that and not make the same mistakes again.”
Listen to the full interview below …
https://soundcloud.com/donegalsporthub-club-notes/ryan-mchugh-at-irish-news-ulster-all-star-awards
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