Another one bites the dust: Mike McCarthy

[patinkerry]

McCarthy ‘unlikely’ to return for Kerry
By Jim O’Sullivan

Monday, March 08, 2010



KERRY manager Jack O’Connor yesterday admitted it’s ‘unlikely’ that Mike McCarthy will be returning to inter-county football.



O’Connor revealed: "You can never say never with Mike. He was not coming back last year either but we managed to convince him. He has other commitments (family) now outside of football and they are important as well."

The loss of McCarthy would be huge blow to the All-Ireland champions following the retirements of Darragh O Sé and Diarmuid Murphy along with the departures of Tadhg Kennelly and Tommy Walsh to Australian Rules Football from the side which defeated Cork in last year’s decider.



This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, March 08, 2010



Read more: www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/mccarthy-unlikely-to-return-for-kerry-113963.html#ixzz0hZlYmHpU

[seamus]

In terms of Sam 2010, Mike Mc is the biggest loss of all the players who have left in the last 6 months.

[Seoirse Ui Duic]

Well it's still not a 100% sure but the backlines did marvellous work yesterday in my opinion containing two off the best players in the country: the Bradleys.
Yes, Mike Mac is a loss but this would be the best time to loose him. We will loose him at some point anyway and at this point we have so much new blood that they would need more time playing. Maher impressed a lot yesterday as did Moran and both can play centre back as well as midfield and in the half forwards. Young O'Shea, Griffin, O'Mahony, O'Sullivan, Marc and Tomas,etc etc. I think our backs are still very very very good.

[animal]

As Jack said, never say never.

[sullyschoice]

Thats just put me in wose humour than I was already in

[kerrygold]

Mar 8, 2010 11:58:55 GMT seamus said:

In terms of Sam 2010, Mike Mc is the biggest loss of all the players who have left in the last 6 months.

yes certainly in relation '10. Tommys loss will prove the biggest over the next five years. Even if he comes home in 2 years time he will have lost out on two years honing his skills. Peter Canavan made the point yesterday that Marty Clarke didn't come back to Ireland a better player in his opinion.

Changing of the old gaurd now with 4 or 5 more potentially to go next year.

New era becons where Colm, Declan and kieran become the core senior players on the team.

[kapstad]

I hope Jack and co can convince Mike to return later in the championship. Remember the Sligo game was his first game last year. He will be a huge loss if he goes.

[hatchetman]

Can't he come back just for the final?

[Mickmack]

Mike drove Kerry against Antrim at a time when Kerry needed it badly.

He produced the hammer and nail for Goochs goal against Dublin.

He should give it another shot....... he has 50 years for being a spectator ...... but thats just a selfish opinion from a Kerry fans point of view.

He owes us nothing. He doesnt have to decide till the June weekend at the earliest

[misteallaigh abú]

Mike Mac was the only Kerry player able for Pierse O Neill last year, he haunted his every step in croke park in September. Never say never though, he may still be back.

[kerrygold]

Mike should be left alone till his soccer commitments are finished.

[Seoirse Ui Duic]

Mar 8, 2010 21:47:21 GMT kerrygold said:

Mike should be left alone till his soccer commitments are finished.

you took the words out of my mouth.
But even if he doesn't return we owe him and we should thank him for all he's done. We owe the 2009 title to him as much as any other player. Maybe even more.
If he doesn't come back we can't complain.
It would be nice to see Kerry win another Sam this year but for me it would be nicer if we can get a team out of the young lads that win many more Sams this decade as I know they will.
Mike is a hero and Kerry legend and should be remembered as such no matter if he returns or not.

[glengael]

I was on my way to work one morning last week. I stopped at a roundabout and had a chance to look at the car coming from my right and who was it only Mike McCarthy !! I was tempted to drive after him and when he got to work , I would go up to him and would plead with him not to retire. However I decided that such behaviour might be considered stalking and might land me with at least an 8 week suspension from my freedom !!!!!!!! So I decided not to do it.

If he goes , he goes. Like the selfish football fan that I am, I hope he does not. It was a joy to watch him in action in 2009 especially in Tullamore and in the Final. A wonderful player.

[Brollysbrain]

He will be back dont worry lads he just doesnt like playing in the munster championship he has to let pearse o'neill get a bit of confidence before mike tortures him in september!!! Its totally his choice anyway the man is a god he could still be coming back when he is 50!!!

[fortyyards]

Mar 8, 2010 11:58:55 GMT seamus said:

In terms of Sam 2010, Mike Mc is the biggest loss of all the players who have left in the last 6 months.

Say it ain't so

I know we have reputation for overcoming adversity but if we do prevail in 2010 it will put JOC on a pedestal above all others currently in management....

Do you know what, this is right up Jack's street, a seemingly insurmountable challenge, just what we need to rise to the bait.... write us off at your peril

[kerrygold]

Yerra, there's got to be life after Darragh, Jack reckons

The famous green and gold hoops of Kerry will be filled by several new torsos this season, and only time will tell if the Kingdom will be back up challenging for Sam Maguire, this in a county where they don't believe in transition, only tradition: a tradition of All-Ireland success.KERRY FOOTBALL: WHATEVER species of rough animal the typical Kerry football supporter is, Jack O’Connor will surely be granted a season’s grace this summer. As a team which has stayed at the top of the modern game, loses one third of its components and counts the cost of wear and tear on the others, it will be a miracle of management if O’Connor manages to keep the green and gold competitive this summer, let alone at the very top.

It’s quarter to 10 on a weekday morning and O’Connor is heading to Coláiste na Sceilge, where he will spend the day, as he likes to joke, pushing back the boundaries of ignorance.

It is a noble calling, but in Kerry they must wish he could push back the frontiers of time.

Time has claimed Darragh Ó Sé and Diarmuid Murphy and looks more than likely to do the same to Mike McCarthy. Australia has taken Tommy Walsh and Tadhg Kennelly. That’s as big a chunk of talent and influence as any All-Ireland winning team has ever lost between seasons.

So Jack. Is this transition or restructuring?

He laughs. “Listen. There is no such thing as transition or rebuilding in Kerry. Every year you have to go out and you have try and win the whole thing. Most people’s expectations will be damped down right now as it looks like we will be down a third of the team from the All-Ireland final. Come the summer they won’t be so damped down.”

The biggest blow is the one which is still lingering, the hammer about to fall. Like most of the county, O’Connor is pessimistic about persuading Mike McCarthy into another season of work. Having returned to be such a crucial influence last year, Kerry need him just as much now.

“It is pretty doubtful about Mike, unfortunately. Himself and his wife they have a young child and I think Mike is turning his attention in that direction. You never say never, but at the moment it is highly unlikely. That’s leaving a few big gaps to plug there now.”

Gaps are perhaps what are left when handy corner backs retire. Central players right the length of the field leave a chasm or a canyon when they depart. For a man whose stress levels were once legendarily high, Jack O’Connor is fairly nonplussed. Truth is, this is the sort of challenge he likes.

“We feel we can be very competitive again. You don’t replace a Tadhg Kennelly and Darragh O Sé and Mike Mac and Tommy Walsh and Diarmuid Murphy overnight; they were all great players in their own right, but you have to look at it calmly.”

He feels that, for one, there are players like Kieran Donaghy who, due to injury, wasn’t a factor last year, but who is ready to resume where he left off as one of the de facto leaders of the team.

The evidence of the league thus far suggests he is as good as ever.

Kerry lost a second goalie, Ger Reidy, during the week, the Castleisland man turning his attention more fully to his study. It was a loss, but Kerry have been happy with the form of Brendan Kealy from Kilcummin in goal.

“Our new man in goal is doing well, a good keeper. So I would be optimistic there. And there are a few fellas on the panel from last year; Aidan O’Mahony is coming back into a bit of form. It’s a big year for Bryan Sheehan being captain. We felt last year we had a very strong panel. Now it is time to give those fellas their head and see who comes out.”

So Donnacha Walsh will be allowed develop further. David O’Callaghan, a diminutive forward from Blennerville, impressed last week. Anthony Maher is back after nine months solid missed through injury. In last year’s league he looked like the player most likely to succeed. If he can find that form again Kerry will have serious options.

There are the two Barry Johns (Keane and Walsh) from Kerins O’Rahilly’s and even more promising, the one that didn’t get away, David Moran, who came in with three points last week against Derry.

The list goes on, sloping, as it were, from a deep end of realistic contenders to a shallow end of long-term prospects – but the personnel are there.

Whether Jack O’Connor can make them ready for this year is the question that remains to be answered.

“There is a good bit of fun in it trying to rejig the team.” he says, “and realistically, we aren’t under any massive pressure this year. The team have achieved an awful lot and as far as I am concerned we are in bonus territory and can go away and work without being under pressure.

“We looked at lads in the McGrath Cup and a couple of league games, the two Barry Johns, Paudge O’Connor from Legion, James O’Donoghue, a son of Dermot O’Donoghue, is very promising.

“We have a history over the last three years of bringing in fellas just gone out of minor to give them a look at it. They might not be realistic starters this year, but they would be ready in two years’ time. Lads like Killian Young would be in that category. Fellas like the Gooch don’t come along too often, out of minor and into the team – that doesn’t happen.

“You are looking for somebody who has to be 20 years old for senior football. It is just getting used to the physicality. The Dubs came down early in the league and we had a couple of young lads playing that day and it was an education for them. They could see this was at a different level altogether.”

This will be a spring and a summer played at a different level for Kerry. Sure, the appetite will grow as the evenings lengthen, but it is a season for the more learned students of Kerry football too, a time for trying and shaping, experimenting and analysing.

They do that better than anybody else does too.

“Optimistic, Jack?” you say, surprised at the absence of his native pessimism.

“Yerra, we’ll see,” he says with a grin.

They’re not gone and they’re not to be forgotten.

[Mickmack]

Great credit is due to Jack and Pat for thinking of the long term future and blooding young guys and bringing them on gardually.

Gooch and Tommy Walsh looked like vererans after a game of two.

None of the three O'Ses settled that quickly. We sometimes expect too much too sonn from young lads.

Its a pity that Mike McCarthy looks like he wont be back.

But sometimes good can come of these events

Galvins suspension has allowed David O callaghan to get a run.

Donaghys injury allowed Tommy Walsh to blossom.

Gradual change is the way to go.

As the old says goes "The only permanent thing in life is change".

[kerrygold]

Times of transition can also bring about a calming effect. Everyone, fans and players/management a like can pull back a wee bit from the coal face of expectation and demand.

It's no harm to hop of the roller coaster associated with the ulimate highs of victory and sewer like depts of defeat every now and again. We've had an unprecendended decade of highend achievement and all the associated emotions.

Times of transition are times for reflection, times to replenish collective footballing souls and to realign the footballing Gods, times to step back and appreiciate what drives kerry football, times to reflect on the great players that go to well on our behalf.

Not saying that kerry can't or won't win Sam 2010 or suffer a 11 year famine, not saying that kerry's ring master from '09 Mike Mac won't step forth again this summer.

This league is a time for reflection, pulling back and taking stock of where we are, a time for perspective. Mike Macs seconding coming last summer was a wonderful celebration by a gifted player of taking stock and reacting to a given situation. Calmness of mind, calmness of performance aligned to footballing greatness.

[lessbull]

Bank of Ireland All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final 2007

Kerry 3-13 .v. Cork 1-09

Date: Sunday 16th September :: Venue : Croke Park :: Time: 3.30pm
Referee: David Coldrick (Meath) ::

Teams...

Kerry:
Diarmuid Murphy (Dingle) ; Marc Ó Sé (An Ghaeltacht), Tom O'Sullivan (Rathmore), Pádraig Reidy (Scartaglin) ; Tomás Ó Sé (0-1) (An Ghaeltacht), Aidan O'Mahony (0-1) (Rathmore), Killian Young (Renard) ; Darragh Ó Sé (An Ghaeltacht), Seamus Scanlon (0-1) (Currow) ; Paul Galvin (0-1) (Finuge); Declan O'Sullivan (0-1) (Capt) (Dromid Pearses), Eoin Brosnan (Dr. Crokes) ; Colm Cooper (1-5, 2f) (Dr. Crokes), Kieran Donaghy (2-0) (Austin Stacks), Bryan Sheehan (0-2f) (St. Marys)

Subs:
Sean O'Sullivan (0-1) (Cromane) for Galvin -57min; Darren O'Sullivan (Glenbeigh/Glencar) for Brosnan -63min; Tommy Griffin (Dingle) for Young -65min; Mike Frank Russell (Laune Rangers) for Sheehan -66min; Mossie Lyons (Castleisland Desmonds) for Reidy -70min;
Kieran Cremin (Dr. Crokes), Micheal Quirke (Kerins O'Rahillys), Daniel Bohane (Austin Stacks), Paul O'Connor (Kenmare), Rónan Ó Flatharta (An Ghaeltacht), Kieran O'Leary (Dr. Crokes), Ronan Hussey (Sneem), Donncha Walsh (Cromane), Tommy Walsh (Kerins O'Rahillys), Declan Quill (Kerins O'Rahillys)


12 of this starting 15 are still available this year lads!
8 of the 15 subs are still there also. These include lads like Tommy Griffin, Darran O'Sullivan, Donncha Walsh, Micheal Quirke and Daniel Bohane who have since got plenty of experience and become regular starters. Add in the likes of David Moran, Anthony Maher, Barry John Walsh and others who have since come on board and maybe things aren't so bleak after all.

I still think we urgently need to start unearthing a few backs who can step up to the plate over the next few years with the inevitable retirements of most of our current backs. I see Tommy Griffin and Aidan O'Sullivan are the only 2 backs named in the 9 subs for tomorrow's game.

[lessbull]

We have lost some great individuals and will continue to lose players over the next few years.

But, what we will always have is a team of 15 men who are out on the field wearing the green and gold, representing us and (hopefully) playing with pride and determination.

[AnygivenSunday]

I think with the players we have lost this year, he is gonna stay off the panel and go out on a high note....he couldnt have imagined the year he would have had last year...but he is another year older and has played his final (maybe) game in an all ireland Final and left with a AI medal in his back poca....Can u retire on a higher noe then that???

[paddy03]

Theres nothing to worry about; The the fact that some great players retired from the county scene, only means more opportunity for many players, who didn't get a chance to play last year. Kerry will be there at the finish this year.