Brendan Rodgers is very much in the dark as to whether Ciaran Meenagh will remain on as Derry football manager for 2024, but speaks glowingly about the man who stepped up to the post in mid-season.
Following Rory Gallagher's departure just days before the Ulster final, Meenagh, who was part of Gallagher's backroom team, took on the job and guided the county to a succesful defence of their provincial crown. Derry remained unbeaten until Kerry just got the better of them in a high-quality All-Ireland semi-final.
That was six weeks ago.
Still no official word from the Oak Leaf board as to Meenagh's position going forward.
Rodgers, who was named PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month for July, informed a media gathering that he hasn't heard any mutterings on any management developments.
"Nothing communicated towards the team whether there is a change or there isn't," said the midfield star.
"At this point, it's not even a full rumour about what's happening.
"Everyone has moved back into their club scene. I hope in the not too distant future you will have it confirmed, you would presume it's the same management until told otherwise."
Indeed from listening to Rogers you would get the sense that he would like Meenagh to stay on.
"Ciaran is a good character and we have massive respect for him, has a good camaraderie with the players on a personal level. He commands respect across the team. It's a testament to Ciaran in how he managed things going forward for the latter end of the season. He's on the same wavelength as the players and he's been with us for five years now.
"He certainly understands how we grow and he's been part of the process in how we develop. He's maintained our training schedule without any fuss. He's a no-fuss kind of character; he just likes to get things done and move on."
As for Derry's year on the field of play, there was obvious disappointment when losing to Kerry. A few regrets, but some positives to take from a game that the Ulster side were in control of for a large part.
"You certainly wish things had gone a different way," the Slaughtneil clubman added.
"Our shot/execution could have been better and could have swung the momentum our way. I think there were shots that could have been taken. In a weird way you can look at it in a positive light that we did perform, maybe not in the last ten minutes, but we can take solace in the fact that we are there and thereabouts at the top end of the table now.
"It's hard to believe that you can come away from the game thinking we have room to improve which is scary given the age profile of the side. It's not a bad place to be in.
"You know you can compete with people who are wrestling for honours. The problem that we've had for a long time was being able to get to that point. They say you have to lose one to win one. You don't realise until you lose how well we can do. We have a lot of lads that are 20-22 years of age.
"Hard lessons are ones that stick the longest. You kind of wish it was now rather than later."
Rogers, of course, is a dual star for his club Slaughtneil and he will be targeting more silverware in the months to come.
He was asked about the differences between both codes - athleticism and intensity - were words that came to the fore.
"I get the premise that in football you need more of your 15 being that classic ultimate athlete type of thing, when you're constantly up and down the pitch.
"Distance is always high, but the tempo is a lot more controlled.
"What I would find in hurling that it's more bouts of intensity, and a lot more all or nothing because of the speed the ball moves. So you're reacting a lot sharper in hurling. At club level, distances covered are relatively similar, but the physicality of being in rucks is a lot more.
"Across the board, you'd cover more ground in football, it's just the rucks and stuff that are more physical in hurling and that's how it differs.
"They're so similar and so different in many ways. You'd do the same conditioning for both but how they apply is ever so slightly different. The reactiveness is the bigger change."
