17 hours ago
'What's to be gained by slating people? It's the easiest thing in the world'
Kerry boss Jack O'Connor hit back at his team's detractors after the Kingdom surged into the All-Ireland semi-finals in spectacular style with a 0-32 to 1-21 win over Armagh at Croke Park. The Munster champions breathed new life into their bid for a 39th Sam Maguire Cup by knocking out the holders with a performance that extinguished the hurt of their shock group stage defeat by O'Connor praised his side's performance, he took aim at a Sunday Independent column written by former Derry footballer Joe Brolly that clearly irked him in the lead-up to the quarter-final. "One of the great motivators in life is trying to prove people wrong. We were being portrayed as a one-man team," said O'Connor. "I saw somebody writing this morning that said the only Kerry player worthy of being called a Kerry player was David Clifford."Now, David is a great player but David will tell you that there was a fair supporting cast there today."We think we have a lot of good footballers but I think sometimes we're being judged on different criteria to other teams."O'Connor, who has led Kerry to four All-Ireland titles across three spells in charge, added he "didn't see any ex-Dublin players coming out slating the team" after their shock Leinster semi-final loss to Kerry's 1-22 to 0-16 loss to Meath in Tullamore, the Kingdom's six-time All-Ireland winner Darragh O Se was critical of O'Connor's team in the Irish Times, writing they didn't take the game "seriously enough". "Unfortunately a few pundits down our way let themselves down in that regard," added the Kerry boss."I'm not giving out about it from my own point of view. What's to be gained by slating people? 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."O'Connor outlined that he has "spent all my life coaching underage school kids, minors, Under-21s, seniors, at every level"."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."
