Uncertainty surrounds the future of manager John Evans following Roscommon’s dramatic exit from the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in Enniskillen on Sunday.
Roscommon County Board are remaining tight-lipped on the question of whether or not Evans will be asked to stay on as manager.
However, judging from Evans’ comments directly after Sunday’s dramatic defeat to Fermanagh, it looks like the Kerry man is likely to want at least another season in charge.
Roscommon have enjoyed considerable success during the Kerry man’s tenure, but a hugely disappointing and relatively short 2015 Championship campaign has placed a firm focus on Evans’ position, with some fans believing the time has come for a parting of the ways. Some fans believe that Evans has made crucial selection errors and criticism has been voiced of the substitutions he made in Enniskillen at the weekend.
Under Evans, Roscommon have achieved back-to-back promotions – from Division Three to Division One – as well as success in this season’s FBD League.
Evans would appear to retain the support of the majority of the Roscommon public, with widespread acknowledgement that the team has improved under his management and that the big achievement of winning promotion to Division One should not be overshadowed by under-achievement in the championship.
Calls made by the Roscommon People to the County Board on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week were not returned. It would be usual, in the aftermath of a championship defeat, for some time to elapse before any big decisions are made about the fate of the management team.
As for Evans himself, it is not certain that he will wish to continue. He has now completed three seasons with Roscommon and has alluded to the demands on his time and family. However, Evans, whose passion for Roscommon is not in question, is excited about his developing team and may well relish a crack at Division One and the opportunity to make real progress at championship level next season.
Speaking to Seamus Duke after Sunday’s stunning defeat to Fermanagh – Roscommon led by five points with five minutes to play, only to be overhauled – Evans hinted that he may want to continue.
Perhaps it was a throw-away line, but Evans said: “We have to learn from this because we have to go again next year in Division One.”
Asked about his plans, he said: “I will stand back and take a look at it now. I agreed to a year last year and I have to look at the whole package. Today is not the day to take any decisions and I will sit down and take a look at it and talk to my family.
“We have to look at the progress that we have made and the players know that we have made progress too. I have always said that we are on a journey and that there would be hard knocks along the way and by God was today a hard knock.
“We have a lot of young players on our team and these young lads are going to make mistakes. It’s part of the learning process. We have to learn from this because we have to go again next year in Division One.”
It is expected that the County Board will clarify the management position in the coming weeks.
