From a neutral perspective, half of you would be saying ‘Damn it, Jack O’Connor is staying put with Kerry for another two seasons at least, knocking them off their f***ing perch isn’t going to be easy’. On the other hand, though, of course he is. Frankly, he’d be insane to vacate the manager’s sideline box (Technical Area) and him surrounded by riches.
Put it this way, who, if anybody, on the current panel, do you see walking away anytime soon? Looking in from the outside, if asked to pinpoint any troops that might be tempted to exit stage in a hale of gold, players such as Paul Murphy, Brian O’Beaglaoich, Tom O’Sullivan and Paul Geaney would surely be the only ones even tempted to consider such a course of action.
But then, no more than An Bainisteoir himself, why in hell would they want to that with a vast acreage of high yielding ground still to be harvested. Notionally at least. Jason Foley, Gavin White, Mike Breen, Diarmuid O’Connor, Joe O’Connor, the Brothers Clifford, Dylan Geaney, Dylan Casey, Armin Heimrich, Killian Spillane, Stefan Okunbur, Paddy Lane and, they will be hoping, Cillian Burke, still have more of their Kerry careers in front of them than behind.
Which you can be sure was to the forefront of the thoughts of Jack’s former captain, successor and then predecessor as manager, Eamonn Fitzmaurice, when he said “I think when he would have reflected, it was a fantastic season for Kerry,” on RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland.
“It’s an exciting time to be involved in that group. They’re at a great age now, a lot of them. There’s been a lot of maturity, physically, mentally, everything-wise, over the last while.
“And I think in a way, Jack would have probably felt he would have been mad to leave it as it is.
“He’s (got) a very strong backroom team. There’s a great spirit within the group. All of the ingredients you’ll be looking for, for continued success.
“The only question I suppose for Jack was that he’s never gone beyond the four years in his previous terms.
“I think the critical difference this time is possibly that he’s retired from his teaching role. He has the time to really give everything to Kerry and he’s enjoying it. So why not stay going?”
It’s easy when you put it that way. For them. God help the rest of us!
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