BBC SPORT | N Ireland | Coleman out of Derry panel

Gary Coleman has expressed his disappointment at being left out of Derry's training squad.

Coleman, son of former Oak Leaf manager Eamonn, played in every Championship fixture last season.

But the former All-Ireland Minor winning captain finds himself out in the cold as new manager Mickey Moran makes his plans for the 2003 campaign.

There had been speculation that Gary Coleman was about to retire from inter-county competition.

Sources said he was upset over attendance figures at Derry training sessions.

Thirty years of age is too young to be retiring

Gary Coleman

But Coleman said he wanted to carry on playing.

During one of Moran's previous spells in charge in the mid-90s, Coleman withdrew from the Oak Leaf squad but later returned.

In late 1994, Moran had taken over as Derry boss after Eamon Coleman's controversial sacking.

The 1993 All-Ireland medallist acknowledged that his relationship with Moran became strained after his father had been deposed.

"We didn't get on," Coleman told the Irish News.

Gary Coleman says he didn't get on with Mickey Moran during the manager's previous spell in charge in the mid-1990s
Mickey Moran: Refused to comment

"I didn't speak to him and he didn't speak to me but I didn't give him any hassle," added Coleman.

The Ballymaguigan native insists that he is not past his best.

"Obviously I didn't play well against Tyrone.

"I was out of position and I played there because we were stuck.

"But I've played better football in the last two years than I did in the five or six before that.

"Thirty years of age is too young to be retiring.

"I would have been expecting to have been a Derry player next year again".

Mickey Moran has refused to comment on Coleman's exclusion from the Derry squad.


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