WITH the dust finally settled on Fermanagh’s exit from the Ulster Championship at the hands of Monaghan, manager Ryan McMenamin believes the time will come in the next few weeks for him and the county board to sit down and see where his future lies.

McMenamin was coy on what he would like to see happen and acknowledged that there is a process that needs to be followed to ratify him as manager for next season.

“The GAA is funny they give you a three-year term but nothing is ever done until you are ratified in again.

“You don’t know if you are going to get ratified with the County Board so you sit down with the County Board and review it.

“It is only natural that you if have a three-year term that you would like to complete it,” said the Dromore native.

Evaluate

But there will be time enough for that he added as he feels it will be best for all involved to step back and evaluate the 2021 season.

“There’s a process and I haven’t been in contact with the County Board. It’s best just to give it a few of weeks and let players go back to their clubs.

“I’m a firm believer in letting the dust settle. Everyone needs a break to sit and take stock of where we are at.”

It was a difficult afternoon in Clones last Saturday for Ricey and his men.

Monaghan were in control from early on and when Jack McCarron palmed to the net midway through the first half the task of causing an upset became even greater.

“Looking back on it and watching it back, the goal was a massive turning point in the game and it gave them a cushion that we found hard to get back.”

Was it not for a fine save from Sean McNally corner back Kieran Duffy would have been the goalscorer and Ricey felt his side did not do enough to stop Monaghan building from deep.

“Defensively I think our players probably matched up alright but we struggled to contain them coming from back to front and that was just the problem in that.

“It’s something we will have to look at how we can get better at that there.”

That quick transition from defence into attack was helped with Fermanagh dropping off and conceding the short kick-outs from Rory Beggan.

And with the ball in the hands of their forwards very quickly, it caused all sorts of problems for the Fermanagh defence.

“Ultimately we were just a wee bit too passive letting them out of defence. We have to get a lot better at hunting down teams when they are coming out of defence, it has been a problem all year and it’s now about trying to see how we can rectify it.

“They had six very, very good forwards who could score from anywhere. It is hard to nail down everybody,” said the Dromore man.

Asked if he felt dropping off for kick-outs was the right strategy, Ricey was honest in his assessment: “I know they destroyed Tyrone with the long kick-outs into the pockets and in behind midfield and they got a lot of joy out of Galway doing the same thing.

“So look we probably thought we would concede the first few. But when we were conceding the first few it was really up to the lads, the top three, to start putting pressure on and we didn’t get enough pressure on and that’s probably the downfall of it.

“When we pushed up we were able to push Sean up as an extra player we started to get more of a grip. Maybe in hindsight, we maybe could have done it from the start but it is what it is and we can’t change it now.”

One aspect of the game that did not sit well with Fermanagh supporters was the performance of referee Barry Cassidy.

The Derry official waved away no fewer than two penalty claims for Fermanagh.

Eoin Donnelly was dragged down when about to bear down on goal which with the new rules is a penalty while there was also claims that Monaghan players touched the ball on the ground inside the box as Fermanagh went searching for goals.

“Everyman goes out to do his best but I probably thought he was a wee bit sore on us.

“I do definitely think there was a penalty in one of the cases.

“I do think we had to work that wee bit harder to get a score whether he meant it or not it’s a different thing but I do feel we were hard done by decisions from the referee.

Penalties

“I think one of the penalties would have brought us back down to four [points] and it would have given us a chance going forward,” added Ricey.

On Saturday after the game, McMenamin was asked about the absence of players who had stepped away from the set-up at the end of last year.

He was blunt in his answer saying he would not be chasing anybody to play for Fermanagh.

“Funny more players have left the Tyrone squad and there hasn’t been a word about it.

“Maybe it’s Fermanagh and the smaller pick but you just have to move on.

“You have to respect the fact that things will move on and Fermanagh football will continue.

“I don’t think you should be begging and chasing people to do anything. It’s not fair on the fellas that have come in,” added the Fermanagh manager.