Brendan Rogers says the Slaughtneil players haven’t been made aware of any decision regarding the prospect of Mickey Harte taking over as the club’s senior football manager.
Speculation was rife last week that the three-time All-Ireland winning Tyrone boss was set to take over at the club following Paul Bradley’s departure in the wake of their Derry SFC loss to Glen last month.
It is understood that Harte met with officials from the club and with a view to combining his role as Louth manager with a new role at Slaughtneil.
Read more: Slaughtneil boss braced for difficult Dunloy test in Ulster Hurling final
However, it remains to be seen what position, if any, Harte will have in any new Slaughtneil management team after Louth issued a statement over the weekend stressing Harte’s commitment to the Wee County for next season and beyond.
That didn’t stop Rogers from pondering what life might be like under Harte’s guidance next term.
Speaking after Sunday’s 19-point win over Portaferry in the Ulster CLub SHC semi-final at Corrigan Park, Rogers said of Harte: “You are looking at a man who has won three All-Irelands and has won many Ulster Championships. Why would you turn your nose up at a man with a bit of pedigree, know-how and ability to win games with a varying range of teams and styles that he has had over the years?
“Of course, you’d love to hear what he has to say but, at this stage, it is speculation.
"What the committee does and what goes on behind the scenes about management is not really our place. We don’t have a look into it at all.
“We’ve never had a meeting and said that’s who we are getting or anything like that. I couldn’t really tell you what’s happening really, but there’s a bit of a rumour going about.”
On the hurling front, Slaughtneil will bid for a third successive Ulster title next month when they take on Dunloy in the provincial final.
After three wins over the Antrim champions in recent seasons, Mickey McShane’s side will be installed as favourites to retain their crown, but Rogers knows the Derry outfit can’t afford to rest on their laurels.
“They are a team like ourselves that is always striving to be better. The more you see them doing well, the more it gives us a little bit of a kick to do a bit more,” said Rogers.
“It should be a very exciting game. No doubt Dunloy are going to prepare as best they can and they are coming off some very impressive victories in the Antrim Championship. Why wouldn’t they be confident coming in?
“We just have to try and play our game and, hopefully, it pays off. You can never look back at any of those previous performances and say that we were dominant or anything like that.
“Sometimes, one goal or one score was the decisive moment and that kills it in the last five or 10 minutes and maybe it wasn’t a reflection on how it went.”
After brave performances in defeat in All-Ireland semi-finals against Ballyhale and Ballygunner in recent campaigns, Rogers believes Slaughtneil are finally getting respect for their hurling ability rather than just being seen as a footballing outfit that are decent hurlers as well.
“In many ways, I feel your respect is earned,” added the dual star, who scored three points from play against Portaferry last Sunday.
“You can’t go out and, just because you win a game, it doesn't mean you haven’t earned respect. It has to be a consistent thing over a period of time.
“Maybe, in terms of the hurling scene, we are deemed as a young enough team in terms of winning. We’ve had a 10-year period were we’ve been competitive in Ulster. It will come with time - we’re not crying for people to give us pats on the back.
“Sometimes it is not ideal when someone tries to degrade the effort you are putting in because, at the end of the day, we’re trying to strive to better Ulster hurling and bring another All-Ireland up North.
“It isn’t something we’ll dwell on too much, we’ll always focus on ourselves. If people think what’s the way we are, so be it.”
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