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Post by popeye on Aug 3, 2010 14:41:17 GMT
One member says we have "an unreal pool of talent at our disposal". Where is the evidence to support that assertion? How come we were unable to draw from that pool last Saturday when a couple of our backs were struggling badly, when the injured Declan was crippled in the first five or ten minutes and need I mention the midfield scramble? Must agree with you veteran where are these players? Michael Moloney Shane Enright Colin O mahony Aidan O Sullivan Aidan Cahill Adrian Greaney Eamonn Hickson Brian Shanahan Padraig o connor Garry driscoll. these are young lads who have the potential to be big players but they havent been given the experience. I said it before the lack of planning for the future is now catching up with Kerry. Wev gotten over bigger hurdles no need to worry
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Post by kerrygooner on Aug 3, 2010 15:44:24 GMT
Well, it had to come at some stage. This group of players have been on the treadmill for the guts of a decade - where other counties have come and gone, taking a couple of years out here and there to mount a strong challenge, our lads have had no such respite.
It'll be odd for us supporters, having no semi-final to look forward to for the first time since 1999, but for the players I think it may well be a blessing in disguise. Go away, let off steam, remember just what a privilege it is to be in Croker in September. We may all be guilty of taking it for granted but days like last Saturday should remind us that no team has a God-given right to turn up and win.
I'm just glad it was a team like Down that ended the run, playing the game the correct way (give or take a certain wing back). Good luck to them.
And thanks a million to each and every Kerry player, coach and back-room staff who have contributed to what has been an unforgettable decade of consistent success. Because you can bet your ass there isn't a county out there, over the next 10 years, capable of emulating what Kerry have achieved.
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Post by ballynamona on Aug 3, 2010 23:42:36 GMT
I don't want to offend anyone by being flippant about bereavement, but on reading back through the last couple of pages it feels like reading through different stages of grief: shock, anger, pain - and now we're getting towards acceptance and hope.
The early exit in 1983 was in retrospect a good thing for many of the Kerry team who had been on the go for a long time; they were going for 9 Munsters in a row. This team had done 10 semis in a row. The long-serving players deserve a rest for now, irrespective of what they decide to do in the future.
The championship can definitely be structured in a better/fairer way. It seems odd to me though that the consensus a number of weeks ago was that Kerry needed to avoid the qualifiers owing to all the mileage the team had put up, and now some are saying that we would have been better off to play them, as we would have blooded players. Last year we didn't really give any fringe players a run in the qualifiers. This year Jack's hand might have been forced, after all the retirements and defections - not to mention suspensions. But the McGrath Cup and the league are the ideal time to be blooding players; the stakes are much higher in a qualifier.
Of course very little credit is given to a Kerry manager for blooding players - instant and continous success is demanded. The defense was allowed to grow old together, and in a crisis, management turned to Mike Mac rather than a young player. I'm not saying that was wrong, but it highlighted that the new defenders weren't coming through or weren't being given much of a run .
As other posters have pointed out, we have a wealth of established talent in attack, and that's the springboard for next year. Whatever about guys that have been on the panel for years, it's premature and unfair for people to say, as some have done, that Moran and Maher are not inter-county class. I too have been very frustrated by both men, and though I was never a big fan of Mike Quirke, I felt he deserved his chance to start as both coming men had failed to impress. But lets not forget that neither man has had an extended run in the team. David Moran's decision making can be very poor and that's obviously a massive worry and he could not be regarded as an option if it were to continue, but we can't afford to just discard the man now. I remember him making a telling contribution against Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final replay in 2008, he was involved in the build up to Gooch's goal. He could come good yet.
Veteran made a good point also, that it's only worthwhile trying someone if they have shown decent form at a reasonable grade of football. We need to unearth players but we shouldn't go down the road of trying every decent club player for a game here and there. I hope Jack stays on, for the simple reason that he's the best man for the job.
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Post by stacksman on Aug 4, 2010 0:48:22 GMT
The McGrath Cup will be the first chance to try them out Toman Mac An tSaoir , Peter Crowley , Aidan Cahill , Eamon Hickson , Eoin o' Neill , Barry Shanahan , Padraig o' Connor , John Lyne, Shane Enright , Aidan o' Sullivan , Ciaran Kelliher , Aidan o' Shea ,John Buckley , Gary o' Driscoll , David Moran , Anthony Maher , Don Murphy , David o' Callaghan, Mike o' Donoghue , Gary Sayers , BJ Walsh , James o' Donoghue , Niall o' Mahony , Paul Geaney , Daithi Casey , JB Spillane , Mike Murphy should all be looked at .
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Post by kerrygold on Aug 4, 2010 8:42:41 GMT
By Colm Keys
O'Connor hasn't 'much appetite' for new term
Wednesday August 04 2010
Kerry will find out next week if they are in the market for a new football manager.
Jack O'Connor's two-year term has elapsed and yesterday the man who led Kerry to three of their last four All-Ireland titles admitted he did not have "much of an appetite for it at the moment".
However, he promised to sit down with the members of the Kerry executive next week and talk about the future before making a decision.
"I don't know. I don't think there is much of an appetite there at the moment. It just hurts a lot. We put everything into it and our whole lives are geared towards football," said O'Connor.
"We will let it settle for a week or so and then maybe have a chat about it and make a decision then. But right now would not be a great time to be making those decisions."
Kerry chairman Jerome Conway has revealed that the board are obviously anxious for him to stay.
O'Connor paid tribute to Down for seizing the opportunity on Saturday, but joined Tyrone manager Mickey Harte in his call for a greater carrot to be placed in front of the provincial champions. He even suggested that next year it may not be worth winning a provincial title after the way 2010 has panned out.
Beaten
"I am not just saying this after we have been beaten. I have said consistently that the provincial championships will have to be changed, or provincial winners will have to get a second shot at it," he explained.
"I mean, if you were looking at it in the cold light of day now, you would say that next year it's not worth trying to win a provincial championship, because you are sitting around for four weeks while other teams get match practice.
"Of course it has to be changed because it's an unfair system at the moment and the proof of the pudding is there for all to see at the moment, because the eight provincial finalists are now all out of the championship.
"The teams who have the match practice and the momentum through the back door are through to the semi-final. It worked in our favour last year and it worked against us this year, but all I am saying is that down the line this is an inequitable system and it will have to be changed."
O'Connor admitted he had mellowed since the aftermath of the defeat, when he was critical of disciplinary committees, new rules and referees. However, the way certain things have gone in the GAA this year continues to "gnaw away" at him.
"Look, they (Down) were better than us on the day but, having said that, I will have to say that the lads fought to the bitter end," he added.
"We just got no break in the game. Killian Young's disallowed goal was important because we had overcome the bad start and clawed our way back into the game. We had won seven or eight kick-outs in a row and had the momentum, so we needed that score to nail that momentum down.
"What other game in the world will have grown men inside in a studio (on 'The Sunday Game') wondering was a pass lateral, was it underhand or overhand. It is a ridiculous, crazy situation where men who were looking at it in slow motion cannot agree whether it was legal or not.
"What else will you have only chaos when you have a rule so loose that it's up to the discretion of a referee on any given day.
"That was disappointing and I have been consistently against that interpretation of the handpass. There are just a few things about the way the GAA have gone this year that are gnawing away at me and that handpass is certainly one of them."
O'Connor is satisfied that there has been "no negativity" from the Kerry public since Saturday's defeat, as acceptance that this team has travelled far seeps in. He does admit, however, that more change is imminent.
"I suppose you would have to say sooner or later that the team will have to be rejigged or revitalised. There were already a lot of changes from last year as it was. Some of those lads are on the road a long time.
"I was with the U-21 team back in the 1990s and some of those lads were involved. Mike McCarthy, Tomas O Se, Tommy Griffin and Tom O'Sullivan were on the All-Ireland U-21 winning team of 1998 and the '99 team that lost the final.
"They have ferocious mileage up and while I am not saying that any of those fellows are going to retire or anything, I am just saying that they have a lot of mileage on the clock.
"Maybe because they have a shorter year this year might give them an appetite to have another blast at it next year. Look, I suppose there will be a couple of fellas who will reconsider their positions, but there certainly won't be any pressure put on them."
- Colm Keys
Irish Independent
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Post by sandycove on Aug 6, 2010 11:24:51 GMT
Just heard this from a Cavan connection of mine, so make of it what ye will. Joe McQuillan is from a small village called Tullyvin. Apparently he got a massive cheer on entering Tullyvin Tavern on Saturday night.
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Post by wayupnorth on Aug 6, 2010 21:51:37 GMT
Just heard this from a Cavan connection of mine, so make of it what ye will. Joe McQuillan is from a small village called Tullyvin. Apparently he got a massive cheer on entering Tullyvin Tavern on Saturday night. And your point is...? If he was from any one of the other 29 counties he would have got the same or a bigger reaction. Unfortunately Down had no need for a 16th man last Saturday.
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hamish
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Post by hamish on Aug 7, 2010 12:15:43 GMT
The Irish Times - Saturday, August 7, 2010 Kerry, can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em Yes, they’ve won enough, but now they’ve gone to that mythical part of the Kingdom populated by serial All-Ireland winners, something’s missing, writes KEITH DUGGAN I AM missing Kerry. Never dreamt it would happen but since Down came to Croke Park and gave an exhibition of football splendour they cannot help giving against Kerry, the days afterwards have been filled the kind of void old Winston Churchill used to describe as the Black Dog. “Are you sure it’s not cos Saturday Night with Miriam is finishing up?” one friend asked, concerned. But no, it wasn’t that. It was the sudden absence of Kerry in all of our lives. No more of them green and gold stripes! No more of those loping runs from right back by Tomás Ó Sé which are all the more unbelievable because it never looks as if the lad is travelling particularly fast but nobody ever catches him. No more ridiculous points from Colm Cooper or heart-on-sleeve afternoons from Paul Galvin, who always brought a welcome Sex Pistols-type edginess to GAA Sundays. No more enjoying the fact pundits never quite had the guts to come out and brand Kerry as dirty even though half of them are dying to. No more of those Jack O’Connor grimaces before he answers a question. Sometimes after matches, Jack would listen to a question about the Gooch’s groin or Kieran Donaghy’s “vision” and he would grimace like Fletcher Christian at the wheel of the Bounty before giving a reply that was often wry and always wise. Half the craic about Kerry football is not watching them win stuff but listening to them afterwards. They talk about All-Irelands and compare modern footballers with Kerry men from the 1940s and 1930s with such joy and at incredible speeds that is impossible and curmudgeonly not to be happy for them. There is a touch of the decent amateur thespian in most Kerry men and all of them have acted in a John B Keane play at some point in their lives. They can sometimes be a little businesslike in their soliloquies when they win because they are so used to winning that it doesn’t so much give them a hashish blast as maintain the equilibrium. But in defeat they are always unbeatable. Losing is such a shock to the system that they become different men entirely. Losing a championship match to a Kerry man is like being flung buck naked into Lake Huron to the rest of us. Páidí Ó Sé, on those relatively rare occasions when he had to cope with defeat as Kerry manager, was always at his most reflective and magnificent in the hour afterwards. Often, his voice was little more than a whisper but his presence combined with the sheer weight of sadness emanating from him was such that if you transported him onto the stage of the Old Vic, he would have given the best incarnation of Hamlet since Larry* himself. Kerry men always treat the loss of a championship match as something mystical. Losing falls between outright bereavement and rite of passage in their minds. This is partly because the rest of the country behaves as if something monumental has occurred when Kerry get beaten. And on Saturday afternoon last, it was clear all over Ireland something strange and rare was happening. Down were kicking points at a faster rate than the Kerry men were and with more smoothness and Kerry men everywhere could feel that old Northern hoodoo enveloping them. So the sky darkened and the crows were restless and at around 3.45pm Michael Lyster, anchor man on the Sunday Game Live , wore the kind of expression not seen on television since Walter Kronkite was tasked with informing America he had some news from Dallas. Everyone was in a state of mild shock that Kerry were, as we say with fatalistic Irish overstatement, “gone”. The immediate temptation is to assume none of these Kerry men will ever be seen again; that they will disappear into whatever parts of Kerry multi-All-Ireland winning Kerry footballers go to. (I sometimes imagine there to be a secret town in Kerry, locatable only by a map hidden under Bomber Liston’s mattress and involving a hazardous trek over the Brandon to a place populated only by Kerry men who have won four or more All-Irelands – excluding substitutes or those won against Mayo – where their mission is to populate the county with future green and gold stars). Naturally enough on Saturday last, when the press boys ganged around the crestfallen Kerry men, the question of “the future” would have been timidly broached. And they wanted no reflections on the cosmos or the Hadron Collider or that stuff. They wanted only to know if men like Tommy Griffin would be seen in a Kerry shirt again. As ever, the Kerry answers were enigmatic and poetic. “Man’s yesterday will never be like his morrow,” Jack O’Connor said. “Nothing endures but mutability.” Come to think of it, it might have been Shelley who said that but it hardly matters: it is just the sort of thing all Kerry people are likely to say when they find themselves freefalling out of the All-Ireland sky. I have a good friend from Kerry. Everyone in the world has at least one good friend from Kerry: it is unavoidable. The man was supposed to be in Scotland for a few days, cycling across the Highlands. This is typical of the kind of lark that Kerry men get up to when they are not following the football team. He hoped to get himself so thoroughly lost that he would be non-contactable so it is possible it took a few days for the text messages from other distraught Kerry folk to reach him. I fear for him, cycling through wild terrain in his Stacks shorts and a shirt he swapped with Pa Laide after a trial match in the 1990s. The news might be too much. He had no idea Kerry would lose. He predicted Down would give his team “ a rattle” but he was optimistic the Kingdom would be around in September. After all, they have been around for the last six Septembers. It is likely the cycling was instantly abandoned at the nearest tavern and that even now some helpless Highlanders are hearing about why Ambrose O’Donovan from ’86 and Aeroplane O’Shea from ’14 were the kind of men you don’t meet everyday. That Dublin went and won just an hour after Kerry went and lost simply adds salt to Kingdom wounds. What is the point of a Dublin renaissance if Kerry aren’t waiting for them on the third Sunday of September? Crafty, red-faced men from Sneem or Listowel in Gills pub early enough to get the best seats because, well, they have more experience of the Jones Road at this time of year than the Dubs. Can the Dubs even hope to extract the best from themselves if the green and gold is not there to incite and inspire them? Who knows? The other day someone admitted out loud they were kind of missing Kerry. “Why? I demanded sharply. “The b*****ds win enough.” “Dunno,” he mumbled, “just do”. He is right. Kerry, man. Can’t live with ’em. Can’t . . . *Olivier in this instance, not O’Gorman. www.irishtimes.com
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Post by inforthebreaks on Aug 7, 2010 15:06:31 GMT
the sunday game didnt put its fingers into eoin cadogans mouth, nor did they hit the limerick forward (cant remember his name) and elbow into teh head. paul galvin and tomas o'se did. they were banned for those actions and rightly. you cannot blame anyone but them for them being missing yesterday. fair enough to say other players should be getting bans too but that doen't change the fact that the two lads did the crimes they were banned for. end of story. Were all entitled to our opinion and I'm intitled to point out that TSG and the CCCC stopped identifying and suspending players after they had sought their pound of flesh. Of course its not the first time myself and ur goodself have disagreed on a point, but I suspect the only thing we'd agree on is that the White Strand is a nice place to go for a walk on Stephens Day morning before the South kerry Final well at least wiht kerry out early this year the south kerry final might be on a bit earlier for a change. sliver lining i suppose
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Post by frankeeg83 on Aug 8, 2010 2:44:04 GMT
I still cannot figure the usual Kerry animosity towards Down's record regarding them. I would have thought it proud for any county to rejoice so proudly in defeating an obviously more dominant rival. Consider our arrogance a complement, you head-strong fools. Regards from Rostrevor, Ps Love the Web-page
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Post by kerrygold on Aug 8, 2010 9:17:48 GMT
Sunday August 08 2010
Páidí ó Sé: I fear Kerry's great spell of dominance is at its end Páidí ó Sé believes that unfair treatment of Paul Galvin and Tomás ó Sé by the GAA has hastened the decline of a great team
The typical Kerry supporter woke up last Sunday morning like a man who had been on a big binge the day before. He not only had he a terrible hangover, but as he slowly pieced things together, he realised he had been mugged and robbed of his wallet the previous day, too.
It was a horrible feeling that fine Sunday morning for Kerry people to come to terms with, the slipping away of the holy grail of the Sam Maguire for another year.
But I must say that there seemed to me to be a lot of complacency in Kerry in the days leading up to the Down match and people were sanguine about the outcome even though we were without Paul Galvin and Tomás ó Sé.
But, as the reality began to sink in, it became the view of all and sundry here that Kerry had been subjected to a miscarriage of justice by the CCTV Committee. How is it that in the entire country, the only times a referee's decision has been reversed by the CCTV Committee has been in the case of two of Kerry's most important players?
Eamonn O'Hara of Sligo seemed to me to be lucky to escape the bureaucratic deliberations of this committee for an incident in the game against Galway -- ironically on the same weekend that Tomás was singled out, but I hold to my opinion that the referee's decision on the field should be final, right or wrong.
The great contradiction is that this is one of the GAA's core principles. And it is because of this that Louth are not Leinster champions in 2010, as the Association deemed the referee's decision was the only one that counted. Or is it only 'final' when it suits?
The final cut for me was the disallowing of Killian Young's good goal after what looked to me -- and most observers -- a perfectly good handpass from Donnacha Walsh. I warned at the start of the championship that confusion over the handpass rule would almost certainly cost a team dearly at some point, but little did I know that the team to suffer would be Kerry.
In case people think I am going under with a persecution complex, let me hasten to make clear that I think Down on the day would have beaten Kerry one way or the other.
But I also agree with the widespread feeling in this county that the authorities were out to get Kerry this year, possibly in a desire to spread Sam Maguire around a bit but also, I think, because of a bit of old-fashioned begrudgery.
Another crucial aspect of the whole thing is that, after the Munster final, Kerry had to wait three and a half weeks to know who their quarter-final opponents were going to be. A four-week gap between games is difficult enough for a manager to navigate while trying to keep his team fresh and in top form, but not even knowing who your opponents are going to be gives your players no clear target to aim at.
Here let me say unequivocally that Jack O'Connor has been doing a very good job as Kerry manager and I expect him to be in place for next year's challenges. Hurlers on the ditch are ten a penny and it is my considered judgement that Jack is as good a manager as is available to Kerry at present.
But it is my opinion that he has not done himself any service by too much post-match whingeing.
As to the game itself, Kerry got off to a terrible start and a had series of disasters at midfield, where the loss of crucial possession enabled Down to open up a good lead after only seven minutes. It is not often that Kerry are so badly served in the middle of the field. It is a position that ideally demands a complete footballer, skilful, athletic, physical, quick and quick-witted.
The county has had great football artists in this position in the past, from Mick O'Connell to Jack O'Shea, Sean Walsh to Darragh ó Sé.
A lot of people lost the run of themselves after Micheál Quirke fielded a few high balls against Limerick but I never felt he was mobile enough to carry the responsibility of getting a grip in the centre of the park -- especially in Croke Park. To be fair to Quirke, it takes two to tango and there was no indication that the other players tried out at midfield were any better. It is now clear that we took Darragh ó Sé's sterling service for granted and his departure left a gaping hole.
A lot of grievance has been vented around the country in the fall-out from last weekend's quarter-finals that there is something wrong when the provincial title winners are dumped out of the All-Ireland after losing just one game.
But opinions on these things are as fickle as the weather; when Kerry won the Munster final, there was a lot of stuff written that they would be spared the grinding attrition of making their way through the qualifiers. Now, some of these same people are saying the opposite, and are pointing out that the spectacular progress of teams like Dublin and Kildare is due to the fact that they had to get through the obstacle course of the qualifiers.
There is merit in both arguments. One way of looking at it is that being the manager of a county football team is like training a thoroughbred racehorse. I encountered John Oxx at a gala sports dinner last year and in his speech he might just as well have been talking about footballers as racehorses. To get a racehorse, or a team, fresh and flying for the day is a magnificent skill.
When this Kerry team tried to put its foot on the gas in the second half against Down, there wasn't enough there to give them the acceleration needed. By that time it was too late and Kerry were beaten; you don't start nailing down the rafters after the gale has started.
The loss of four of last year's stars, Tommy Walsh, Darragh, Diarmuid Murphy and Tadhg Kennelly drove a huge hole in the team, and the absence of Galvin and Tomás ó Sé, unfairly banned on video evidence I feel, tore the heart out of the side. So Jack O'Connor has a big job to do and I wish him well next year.
But, having said that, I now fear that Kerry's great 10-year spell of success is at its end and that considerable rebuilding will have to be done. When you think back to the last great Kerry era of dominance, when the team I was part of was lucky enough to have won eight All-Ireland titles in 12 years, it then took another 11 years to win another. I truly hope it won't be like that this time.
There has been talk of Darragh ó Sé going into football management but, at this stage, it won't be Kerry. I think we might be looking more in the direction of Galway.
In any event, the complacency of the weeks before the quarter-final has been completely shattered and Kerry people have the rest of the summer, the autumn, and the winter to let what has happened sink in.
Let's hope that the sense of simmering injustice will light a fire under Kerry and that they will come forward in 2011, renewed and reinvigorated, and ready to write another great chapter in the county's football history.
Sunday Independent
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Post by Corner Back on Aug 8, 2010 10:51:31 GMT
Dara to Galway???
Does P.OSe know something the rest of us dont or is he just stirring the pot? Is P.OSe after the galway job with the nephew his understudy? Who knows!
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Post by ballybunion on Aug 8, 2010 11:57:22 GMT
Well written by Paidi: selective justice begrudgery The Sunday Game Anti Kerry Referees anti Kerry CCCC jealousy Nobody to fight our cause. Well done to Down, no complaints on the day by us except the disallowed penalty and the miserable attempt by referee at end to atone in awarding us a penalty (which never was). Our team is tired, we will rest, regroup and rise again. Ciarrai Abu over to you now Cork, the pressure is on and if you dont win the All Ireland we will be one hungry lion in next years Munster Championship.
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Post by glengael on Aug 8, 2010 18:58:28 GMT
Given the reasons why Big Joe felt he had to leave Galway, I would say Paidi is well off the mark there !! The Tribesmen seem to be believers in staying local and I suspect Kevin Walsh will be their main target once the Junior All Ireland is over.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2010 19:57:46 GMT
Darragh to Galway is pure mischief making by Paidi. Not a chance.
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Post by brogin41 on Aug 9, 2010 0:01:46 GMT
When Paidi was manager nobody gave a * what he said ye were were all saying he had a gaeltacht smog in front of his face, now when he says something in jest ye are all jumping on the bandwagon, Darragh for Galway would ye get a grip!! Not happening! if it is ,giving up on gaa and the o'sés.
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Post by kerrygold on Aug 9, 2010 8:40:50 GMT
Football Analyst, Liam Hayes - Jack not up to job this time round Instead of facing up to the discipline problem in his side, he sulked, complained, defended the indefensible and ended up paying the price for it Kingdom of Hell: the people of Kerry deserved better than the leadership offered by Jack O'Connor Tomás Ó Sé let his county down through his lack of discipline 12Jack O'Connor's sulky ways and, generally dour, ungrateful demeanour will not be missed by Gaelic football supporters who live outside The Kingdom. Not seeing him around the place, for the remaining weeks of this Championship, was one of the great pluses which resulted from last weekend's wonderful and refreshing All Ireland quarter-finals. Whether the Kerry team boss is back in 2011 also remains up in the air. Jack O'Connor says he's got to think about it!
But if I was a Kerry man or a Kerry woman with any say whatsoever in who will be manager of the Kerry senior football team next season, I wouldn't be letting Jack O'Connor think for too long.
Jack wasn't up to the job at the second time of asking. And it doesn't give me any great pleasure in reaching this judgment because I was one of the first people to shout for his return and I forecast that we had so much to look forward to in watching Jack go head-to-head with Mickey Harte in possibly one of the great managerial showdowns in the modern history of the game.
O'Connor vs Harte, I predicted, would be right up there with Micko vs Heffo, and Boylan vs Morgan.
Everyone with a true love for Gaelic football wanted that to happen. It hasn't. Last weekend ruled it out for sure. But, in truth, Jack was in big trouble long before he got to Croke Park last Saturday week. Starting out the defence of an All Ireland title without four senior players meant that the man had to get almost everything exactly right this spring and summer. Instead, Jack O'Connor got so much so badly wrong and worse than that he has hugely contributed to a substantial amount of damage being done to the good name of Kerry football.
In Gaelic football terms, more than any other aspect of Irish culture and life, Kerry is without a shadow of a doubt The Kingdom and Jack O'Connor wasn't strong enough or sufficiently smart enough to be the leader of his own county in 2010.
The Kingdom needs a new man.
• • •
With the notable exception of Mickey Harte, there was widespread agreement from last Sunday morning and throughout the last week that the Kerry and Tyrone teams which lost to Down and Dublin last weekend had simply run out of time, run out of legs, run out of years… the works. Kerry, however should regret what happened last weekend more than Tyrone. This Down team would not have been nearly good enough to defeat Kerry at their best. And in 2010, there is a very good chance that Kerry left one more All-Ireland title behind them.
The loss of Paul Galvin and Tomás Ó Sé was ridiculous and unnecessary. They behaved disgracefully and selfishly in the Kerry jersey this summer. For Jack not to admit to that was, most probably, the lowest point of his managerial career to date. The pair of them had let O'Connor down and let their team down and their actions totally undermined O'Connor's fairly decent efforts in bringing so many talented young lads into the team.
There was a transition in progress in Kerry this spring and summer. There were points in time, in the last couple of months, when it was demanded of Jack O'Connor that he stand up like the man so many of us believe him to be. He was never to be seen. Instead he sulked, complained, defended the indefensible, and thereby helped Galvin and Ó Sé to tear the arse out of the Kerry team completely and also tear the arse out of a season which might still have earned an All Ireland for a patched-up Kerry team.
The people of Kerry expected better of him. The great Kerry teams of the past deserved better from him. The youngsters who will one day become Kerry footballers needed better example from him. Of course, in the process, Jack has also let himself down, and badly at that. As the leader of the Kerry football team he is also the custodian of the proudest and most inspirational name in Gaelic football. The man who manages Kerry carries a mammoth responsibility which outweighs the success which he might bring to his own dressing-room. None of this seemed to dawn on Jack O Connor these last nine months.
It is a great pity for Kerry, and it is a great pity for him personally. Within the dressing-room he also had problems to contend with. And while he introduced a number of notable young and talented footballers this season and gave them a fair taste of the heady life of a fully-fledged Kerry footballer, he did not sort out the urgent needs in so many of the principle positions on the team list which were screaming out for some sorting.
Starting with midfield! For many years I have been asking why is it, how is it, that there are no longer any midfielders (or full-backs either, for what it's worth) being manufactured in the county anymore? We had not seen a Kerry midfield pairing worthy of the name 'pairing' in more than a decade. And with the retirement of Darragh Ó Sé there was suddenly no greater task at hand more important for Jack O'Connor to deal with satisfactorily than finding two men on whom he could depend to compete against and live with any other two lads which any other county would put out against him.
Deciding upon two midfielders who can fetch ball, track back into defence and deliver decent passes by foot and by hand is not rocket science. But Jack O'Connor somehow made it look like a near impossible piece of work this season. By last weekend, the Kerry midfield still looked a complete hames.
And this despite the fact that the Kerry manager had Seamus Scanlon to start with. That's one midfielder who has survived and earned his place, and stepped up to the mark more than adequately in last September's All Ireland final. Scanlon is not in the top 10 of the country's midfielders, but he was still a start for O'Connor, who just needed to find one other man. That could have been David Moran or it could have been Anthony Maher. It could have been Kieran Donaghy – as Michael Quirke at number 14 and Donaghy stepping into Darragh Ó Sé's boots would have been eminently sensible and workable.
After this season, I'm not so sure too many people in Kerry should trust Jack O'Connor to complete the rebuilding work which is now necessary – and with Kerry needing a full-back, a centre-back, a midfield pairing of course, as well as a full-forward if Kieran Donaghy is to be remolded and reignited in a different role on the field, this work will have to be of the highest possible standards.
In the next few days, we're told, Jack O'Connor will be letting people know if he has the heart or the hunger for another year or two in the job. On the evidence of the last five years, on and off, Jack O'Connor is quite likely to tick both of those boxes for himself. It might be better, however, after what we have seen and heard from him in the last nine months, to question the man's overall leadership abilities.
For too long, Jack O'Connor has been led by the nose, by the actions of his own senior footballers. That's been his problem.
This season, it also became Kerry's big problem.
lhayes@tribune.ie
August 8, 2010
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Johnnyb
Fanatical Member
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Post by Johnnyb on Aug 9, 2010 8:52:34 GMT
Boooring....
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scott
Full Member
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Post by scott on Aug 9, 2010 10:30:06 GMT
Can some one tell me, Were Meath not playing last weekend? did he not write and article with ANY reference to them? I don't know as I don't buy this paper, purposely because of this man.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2010 10:37:57 GMT
Hayes article has nothing to do with Kerry. It is all to do with his personal animosity towards Jack O Connor. This article says a lot about the bitter type of person Hayes actually is. Hopefully the Sunday Tribune will be put out of its misery soon and the likes of Hayes won't be heard from again.
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lorr29
Senior Member
Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative
Posts: 647
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Post by lorr29 on Aug 9, 2010 11:10:53 GMT
a very strange sad man, pathetic, Jack stick it up on your wall/dart board and send him a pic of Gooch lifting Sam in 2011 please. As Scott pointed out Meath wereplaying last wkd and not even a mention in the article, what a sad individual he is!!!
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Post by kerryjo on Aug 9, 2010 11:28:54 GMT
That "article" by Liam Hayes is a disgrace. What a totally bitter, biased, anti Kerry load of rubbish. Making it sound like he's speaking for the ordinary Kerry supporter and looking out for us. How dare he!! He clearly has an issue with Kerry in general and Jack O'C in particular.
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Post by kerrygold on Aug 9, 2010 12:38:07 GMT
Ok lads, just to rip a ferocious curving backhand across the forecourt, what if Liams piece contains large elements of truth and slices closely to the bone?
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Post by popeye on Aug 9, 2010 12:52:59 GMT
Look at the article without the kerry glasses on guys. He has made a few decent points in fairness. There was a lot of things that needed sorting this year and Jack never went about doing it. hayes is simply pointing that out.
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Post by goalswingames on Aug 9, 2010 13:18:45 GMT
Look at the article without the kerry glasses on guys. He has made a few decent points in fairness. There was a lot of things that needed sorting this year and Jack never went about doing it. hayes is simply pointing that out. I think that is a fair point. Jack had the hardest job in football this year. Expected to deliver back to back All Irelands minus 4 key members of his team last year. Also the fact that our underage system is lagging behind a lot of counties. I don't blame Jack, and I think he is the best man for the job. However the personal attacks on Jack by Hayes are not fair or entirely accurate. No journalist would question Brian Cody or Mickey Harte like this. This is verging on slander.
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Post by kerryjo on Aug 9, 2010 14:51:54 GMT
I'm no big fan of Jack believe me. I do however respect him as a manager and what he has delivered for Kerry. The Hayes piece does have some grains of truth to it. I object to the overall tone in which it is written, his speaking on behalf of the Kerry people and how let down we feel by Jack. I don't doubt many people would question some of Jack's decisions but we have had a good 10 years and Jack has delivered plenty in his times as manager and if he does stay on I'm sure he will have learned from this year too. He needs to be testing young fellas out in the league rather than ringing the older guys to come back early.
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Post by popeye on Aug 9, 2010 15:00:41 GMT
I'm no big fan of Jack believe me. I do however respect him as a manager and what he has delivered for Kerry. The Hayes piece does have some grains of truth to it. I object to the overall tone in which it is written, his speaking on behalf of the Kerry people and how let down we feel by Jack. I don't doubt many people would question some of Jack's decisions but we have had a good 10 years and Jack has delivered plenty in his times as manager and if he does stay on I'm sure he will have learned from this year too. He needs to be testing young fellas out in the league rather than ringing the older guys to come back early. Now thats the general view point not what hayes has said on behalf of kerry people
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Post by ballybunion on Aug 9, 2010 15:05:24 GMT
A bitter biased two bit writer.Was it Carlow he managed, with great success!! I am from Kerry and I have no problem with Jack O Connor and I hope he remains our manager. Disipline: Paul Galvin was singled out by TSG and CCCC Tomas O Se: I dont know what came over him on the day but I can guess, Kelly is no angel. Look at what the ref did to Donnacha Walsh the last day.
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Post by kerryjo on Aug 9, 2010 16:30:17 GMT
I'm no big fan of Jack believe me. I do however respect him as a manager and what he has delivered for Kerry. The Hayes piece does have some grains of truth to it. I object to the overall tone in which it is written, his speaking on behalf of the Kerry people and how let down we feel by Jack. I don't doubt many people would question some of Jack's decisions but we have had a good 10 years and Jack has delivered plenty in his times as manager and if he does stay on I'm sure he will have learned from this year too. He needs to be testing young fellas out in the league rather than ringing the older guys to come back early. Now thats the general view point not what hayes has said on behalf of kerry people I don't know that this is the general view in Kerry.. I can only speak for myself here.
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Post by glengael on Aug 9, 2010 17:20:05 GMT
You speak for me kerryjo. Jack knows the score with this year and what went wrong. Hayes is a bitter and mean individual and him and his newspaper are best avoided. He was always thus, older readers might recall his articles in the now defunct Sunday Press. Still the same old bitterness.
Brogan41, as far as I recall Paidi said very little of note for a lot of the time when he was manager. He was very wary of the media , especially the local media. So that is why nobody paid any attention to his gems of wisdom till Christmas 02.
I also think it is a bit rich for him to criticise Jack's post match comments. If Jack had declined interviews and gone to ground after the match, I can guarantee you that the bould Paidi would berate him for " deserting his players" and " failing to highlight the great injustices done to my nephew, Paul Galvin" etc, etc.
Paidi was well able to be "ag caoineadh" to the indo in 2003 when he was so sure that he still had a shot at the Kerry job that he fixed up the Westmeath gig in double quick time. All those days with CJH were surely not wasted.
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