Dublin County Board have expressed their determination to crown Anthony Daly’s successor by the end of this month.

Daly ended his six-year reign as Dublin hurling manager on Monday, and board chairman Andy Kettle yesterday revealed their desire to move swiftly in filling the position vacated by the Clare native.

“I would like to see it happen by the knockout stages of our local hurling championship. That is a reasonably tight timeline [four weeks], but if it doesn’t happen by then it is not the end of the world,” Kettle said.

Former Tipperary All-Ireland-winning manager Liam Sheedy, along with Cork duo Ger Cunningham and Dónal Óg Cusack, have been linked with the role, but Kettle described as “complete news to me” the names mentioned to replace Daly.

“Number one, we have to be sure we get the right person. The process is that we will obviously approach some people, and some people will obviously approach us. We will evaluate those candidates and assess, from our point of view, who can do the best job.

“Sport can be cruel, but it can also be very good to you, and Anthony Daly was very good to Dublin hurling. He formed good relationships with myself, with other members of the  board and particularly with the panel.”

The Dublin hurlers also paid tribute to the departing manager. A statement on the panel’s behalf said: “In his six years in charge, Anthony and his backroom team have helped steer our county to a period of unprecedented success, winning our first league title since 1939, our first Leinster title in 52 years, along with two appearances in All-Ireland semi-finals.

“While, as a squad, we were extremely disappointed with our exit from this summer’s campaign, Anthony has left the game in the capital in a far stronger state than when he arrived, and has transformed the profile of hurling in Dublin.”

Meanwhile, a host of former Offaly All-Ireland-winning hurlers will lead a major think-in next week designed at restoring the Faithful County to hurling’s top table. Offaly have managed only two Championship wins in the past four years, the county’s small ball fortunes plummeting to a new low this summer when annihilated 5-32 to 1-18 by Kilkenny.

The Offaly Hurling Forum — a Leinster Council initiative — will be headed by Diarmuid Healy, who managed Offaly to  its maiden All-Ireland title in 1981. He, along with former Kilkenny selector Martin Fogarty, will address the forum next Wednesday at the County Arms Hotel in Birr (8pm) on the topics of team preparation and coaching. Wednesday’s meeting is open to the public.