Malachy O’Rourke is backed to takeover at Tyrone following departure of Logan and Dooher

It was confirmed on Monday that Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher would step down from the helm of the county having managed the side since 2020 after the departure of Mickey Harte, and O’Rourke is getting a confident vote from punters to be named as the new manager.

Paddy Tally is rated O’Rourke’s main rival in the race to take charge of the county’s senior side, with the Tyrone native, who has been part of Kerry’s backroom team since 2022, a 5/1 chance.

Ciaran Meenagh and Paul Devlin had been the early favourites on Tuesday morning, but the support for Malachy O’Rourke has seen the duo drift out to unlikely 10/1 chances (from 3/1 joint-favourites), despite both holding strong qualifications for the job.

Having led Derry to an Ulster Championship win and an All-Ireland semi-final as interim manager in 2023, Meenagh sensationally ruled himself out of taking up the job on a full-time basis, before taking a backroom role with Down.

Paul Devlin meanwhile had also been popular in the betting having led Tyrone’s U20s to two All-Ireland titles in the last three years, but according to the punters, it’s all but certain Malachy O’Rourke is their man.

Brian O’Keeffe, spokesperson for BoyleSports, said: “It looked like the race for the hotseat in Tyrone was going to be a competitive one, but punters have really latched onto one candidate. Malachy O’Rourke’s stock has never been higher after his All-Ireland win with Glen and he has been the subject of a significant gamble to sign on the dotted line.”

Next permanent manager of Tyrone

4/7 Malachy O’Rourke

7/1 Paddy Tally

10/1 Ciaran Meenagh

10/1 Paul Devlin

10/1 Enda McGinley

10/1 Mickey Donnelly

14/1 Stephen O’Neill

14/1 Peter Donnelly

14/1 Conor Gormley

14/1 Ryan McMenamin

14/1 Joe McMahon.