Liam Cahill has opted to step down from his post as Waterford boss, adding further fuel to the speculation linking him with the vacant Tipperary job.
The Premier native led his county to All-Ireland titles at U20 and U21 level which burnished his star. Whilst he was linked with the senior job, he was overlooked and went on to take over The Déise's senior side in 2019.
Under him they have made strides and reached the All-Ireland final of 2020 where they lost by 11 points to Limerick.
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And this season they looked primed and ready to be The Treaty's main challengers as they claimed their first league title since 2015.
However, the wheels badly came off in the Championship as their performances flat-lined after an opening win over Tipp.
They went on to lose the rest of their round-robin games and went out with a whimper versus a Tony Kelly-less Clare.
While his stock has dropped as a result of that drop-off, he will immediately become everyone's fancy to finally take the reins over his native county's senior side in the wake of Colm Bonnar being 'relieved of his duties.'
This afternoon Waterford communicated his departure through a county statement.
It read: "Waterford GAA wish to announce that Liam Cahill has today informed Waterford County Board that he has decided not to take up the option of a fourth year as Manager of the Waterford Senior Hurling team.
"All in Waterford GAA wish to sincerely thank Liam and all his backroom team for their tremendous work, commitment, and dedication to the Waterford Senior Hurling team over the past three years which culminated in an Allianz League title in 2022 along with Munster and All-Ireland Finals appearances.
"Waterford GAA would like to wish Liam every success in his future endeavours.
"A process will now be put in place for the appointment of a new Senior Hurling Team Management. Waterford GAA will not be issuing any further comment at this time."
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