‘Jayo’ joins Dessie’s Lake County backroom team

Legendary former Dublin footballer Jason Sherlock has joined new Westmeath senior football manager Dessie Dolan’s backroom team, it was announced tonight.

The 1995 All-Ireland winner and seven-time Leinster SFC medallist will work alongside Dolan as a performance coach.

Sherlock, who was a selector for Jim Gavin during his hugely successful reign as Dublin manager, will join John Keane, Cathal Mullin, Mick Dillon, Joe Nangle and Andy Meares on the coaching side.

The Finglas native was linked to the vacant Monaghan job some months ago, but withdrew from the race, with Westmeath now reaping the rewards.

When Dolan was ratified in September, the Garrycastle clubman stated his intent to keep the vast majority of his predecessor, Jack Cooney’s backroom setup together. However, he was expected to make one high-profile coaching addition to his team, and Sherlock certainly falls into that category.

The full Westmeath football backroom team for 2023 is as follows:

Manager: Dessie Dolan. Selector/defensive coach: John Keane. Selector/goalkeeping coach: Cathal Mullin. Selector/coach: Mick Dillon. Performance coach: Jason Sherlock. Strength and conditioning coach: Joe Nangle. Goalkeeping coach: Andy Meares. Nutritionist: Katie Murphy. Physiotherapist: Liam Heavin DBC. Co-ordinator/logistics: Liam Daly. Team doctor: Dr Jerry O’Flynn. Performance analysis: Tomás Mount. Kitman: Paddy Walsh. Kitman/training referee: Shane Maher.