It’s been reported this morning (and thanks to James for providing a heads-up on this development a bit earlier) that Des Newton will shortly be appointed as the new bainisteoir of the Roscommon senior football team in succession to Fergal O’Donnell.

The new man, who played senior football with his county in the Eighties and early Nineties and who also holds an All-Ireland U21 medal from 1978, is based in Dublin where he has strong links with Kilmacud Crokes (from whose website I located this mugshot of him). He has also worked with development squads in Donegal while he was living in that part of the country. Des, whose brother John also played with distinction for the Rossies towards the end of the last century, hails from the northern end of the county and was originally attached to the Shannon Gaels club.