Jack and David have decided that this state of affairs will not do. At all.

The 42

2 days ago

THERE IS NOT another Gaelic football manager alive that has walked away from an All-Ireland semi-final eight times, wondering how they might best approach the final.
But Jack O'Connor has. His body of work at coaching reaches back a quarter century through his work with Coláiste na Sceilge, through to the years spent as a selector in a Páidí ÓSé backroom in an environment where every quip and opinion had to be polished.
There is a picture of O'Connor as a hangdog, bristly Kerryman. Perhaps somewhat lacking in the type of fake friendship that makes the county such a black hole for tourist dollars.
After Kerry's victory against Armagh, he teed up a bit of a shot at criticism levelled at this Kerry team. Natural deduction had it that Darragh ÓSé's words cut when he said that the public wasn't fancying this Kerry team.
As the press conference was winding down, we revisited what he said, asking if this level of critique was just not part of the territory of managing Kerry. He reacted not in a calculated sly way, but with something that had been sitting in his gut.
The venue where the post-match press briefings has a habit of sucking all enthusiasm out interviewees and interviewers alike. But O'Connor was burning.
'What's to be gained by slating people?' he asked.
'It's the easiest thing in the world. I'm in the business of building people up. I'm not in the business of knocking people. I spent all my life coaching underage school kids, minors, Under-21s, seniors, at every level. I'm in the business of building people, not knocking people.'
And then, he got personal. Because no doubt, he felt some of the stuff being said about him was on the personal side of things.
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'I'd ask people who are knocking that group and knocking people involved with the group to look in the mirror and say, 'What have you contributed? What have you contributed to Kerry football off the field?'
'…Go away and coach a team. Go away and coach a development squad. Go away and coach a minor team. That's how you help Kerry football, not knocking people.'
If he was under pressure then, he showed it. The performance that beat Armagh had been well hidden beforehand.
There's a feeling however, that a significant core of the Kerry football team are sick of hanging around.
David Clifford is 26 years of age. He made his debut against Clare in 2018. He has played in three All-Ireland finals and won just one.
For a player that is routinely talked about as the greatest we have even seen, that's a ridiculously meagre return.
Where do you see his reaction? In the way he has used post-match interviews to call the Kerry public out to see their team. In the way he celebrates his goals to pump a bit of oxygen into the spectators' celebrations.
David Clifford. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
It's as if, following the defeat to Armagh in last year's semi-final with the stands containing just speckles of green and gold among Armagh tangerine, he's just decided that this shit stops now.
Right now.
In that, he is perfectly matched to Jack O'Connor. They are bound by this common destiny. Even being keenly aware of Dublin's complete dominance, to hear that Kerry have but one Sam Maguire to show for the last decade is still jarring.
Prior to the weekend games, they were warm favourites to beat Tyrone. The opening quarter gave a hint that Tyrone might actually deliver one of those seismic moments when they turn the world on it's head.
It's always tempting to fall into the trap that Tyrone have it over Kerry. The All-Ireland semi-final of 2003 and finals of 2005 and 2008 are the first examples cited, with further reference to the 2021 semi-final added.
Some recent underage successes and school's football could also be added to the brew. And a sprinkling of mentions of the Derrytresk-Dromid and Stewartstown-Fossa (which, we might point out, Fossa won easily) club games never harms an argument. Add in a sidebar of league games that got a bit tasty along the line and you have yourself a handy spreads.
But O'Connor's record against Tyrone stands on it's own.
Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Sure, he was manager when they lost the 2005 All-Ireland final.
But he was also manager in 2012 in Killarney. And he's back as manager now with the latest, most commanding defeat of Tyrone.
This championship is a relentless monster. Tyrone found that running each attack was never going to work against a side that have a kickpass as a strong instinct. Not in that heat.
And it almost paid off spectacularly in the second half when a long ball was drove into David Clifford's chest. Catch it and he'd have been likely to get the goal that buried Tyrone altogether, instead of it hopping off his chest.
As the game wore on, the performances of practically every Tyrone player was ground down by their direct marker. Only a couple can have emerged with credit and right now, Malachy O'Rourke will be having a long hard think about a rebuild.
Kerry did that to them.
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The trick they managed to pull is that they seem to have timed their run to absolute perfection.
The next two weeks will be a short lead-in to what O'Connor had been used to. You'd imagine that the days of a month-long build up would have been filled with exquisite tension for him.
Now it's different.
The faces aren't changing much in Kerry. But the feeling is.
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