Brendan Rogers expects his former Derry boss Rory Gallagher to make a return to inter-county management.
Gallagher was strongly linked with an Oak Leaf comeback at one stage in the four-month hiatus that followed Mickey Harte’s resignation last July, but the vacancy was eventually filled by Paddy Tally last week.
The Fermanagh native stepped down as Derry manager in May of last year following domestic abuse allegations made by his estranged wife — allegations that Gallagher insisted had been “investigated and dealt with by the relevant authorities”.
However, Rogers can “absolutely” foresee an inter-county comeback somewhere along the line, citing Gallagher’s ambition and passion for sport.
“I can’t see why he wouldn’t. There’s been a lot of things went on in the background and that’s his personal life, but he’s very capable of being an inter-county manager, one of the best IQs in the game,” the 2023 All-Star midfielder declared.
“So look, I’d be very surprised if somewhere down the line he didn’t get an inter-county post because life has to move on as well too.”
Rogers is looking forward to renewing a relationship with Tally, who was Derry coach under Brian McIver when he made his senior debut.
When quizzed about previous speculation of a Gallagher return, and a narrative that there was player support for such a move, the Slaughtneil ace replied: “It’s not wrong to say that a lot of players would have an affection to how Rory Gallagher coached us.
“And ultimately, he did get us all our senior success and there’s a love for how he treated the players and they got on very well with him, so I would imagine that’s where the speculation came from.
“I don’t think any player that played under him thought that he wasn’t a good coach,” he added. “But in terms of the speculation, there was a lot of ‘apparentlys’ and ‘supposedlys’ and ‘heard from a good source’ type conversations.
“Again, what went on in the background, we’re not overly privy to whether the consideration was there or not — but would he have been a good coach for us again?
“Absolutely. The man’s IQ for football is phenomenal, but it just wasn’t to be… and I think the players can just understand that and move on. You can’t sit on it forever.”