Latest news with #ex-Kerry
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Jack O'Connor: The rest of us are only trotting after Micko
Kerry may start engineering these mid-championship crises in future, if they haven't already. Jack O'Connor appears ready to ride off into the sunset after presiding over a fifth All-Ireland title victory in 11 seasons in charge. This is the third of the five in which they suffered defeat in the middle of the championship and the walls were supposedly closing in on them before the quarter-final stage. This has almost become its own genre of All-Ireland victory for Kerry at this stage, particularly so under O'Connor's stewardship. In his explosive press conference after the Armagh win, O'Connor had remarked that a Kerry team that are written off are "dangerous", saying that it allows them to play with a bit of "freedom and abandon." Clearly, the storm of negative commentary that followed the shock loss to Meath in the last round of the group stage provided ample fuel for a tilt at the knockout stage. As he plonked down in his seat to reflect on a "hard-earned" title, O'Connor remarked that "I was inside here a month ago and there was a lot of steam coming out of my ears. "It wasn't faked or it wasn't put on. It was authentic because I felt that we were getting a lot of unfair stick and we were trying our butts off and have been from the start of the year. "There was a lot of fall-out from the Meath game and life wasn't pleasant for me for a couple of weeks there. And maybe that was behind the bit of steam I left off here a month ago. "So, for us to finally get the reward is great." In O'Connor's case, it was the criticism from ex-Kerry players that rankled most - "a few pundits down our way let themselves down". For the Kerry players, it seems like it was the "one man team" barb that had them breathing fire. "As a team, we would feel disrespected," Paudie Clifford told reporters outside the Kerry dressing room. "We were in three of the last four All-Irelands. Have won two of them now. "To be called a one-man team when I see some of the work that our lads put in. Like Joe O'Connor, the turnovers, winning ball, scoring... Jason Foley, Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Gavin White... I'm only naming a few. "I see the work that they put in every day. To be called a one-man team then is nearly disrespectful. It's personal. "We'd be our own worst critics as well. We admitted that we have under-performed definitely as a team over some of the years. "But with the work that we put in and the players we have there, for those things to be said - it's not nice to hear." O'Connor's third stint as manager, like his first, has yielded two All-Ireland victories. The 2022 victory in the last of the old backdoor system was more of a straight line, dominated by the anxiety around getting over the hurdle of a slowly declining Dublin team who had tormented them during the 2010s. This one, however, was more stylish and spectacular in the end. Since the early 2000s, Kerry have been listening to endless jibes from their sparring partners in Ulster about their soft route through the Munster championship and how this gift-wraps them an express ticket to the latter stages of the championship. Now, more mischievous Kerry fans might be inclined to say that, in 2025, they've gone and won Ulster alongside the All-Ireland. Clifford, who delivered a stellar display, scoring 0-03 and handling an incredible volume of possession, said immediately after the game that it was the first time that this team had put in a 70-minute performance in championship. An hour after the game, the Kerry centre-forward reflected on the comment in greater depth. "Even in '22, when we won the All-Ireland, we played well against Dublin for maybe 45-50 minutes but didn't finish well. And probably fell over the line thanks to Seanie's free. Against Galway, we probably didn't start great, it definitely wasn't a 70 minute performance. "I know the Armagh second half - and we still played well in the first half because Armagh are a top team. Tyrone, we played well but it wasn't an out and out 70 minute performance like that against a top, top team." From O'Connor's perspective, the key factor in Kerry's victory was their use of possession and their ability to work the Donegal defenders, which in turn drained the latters' capacity for making lung-bursting sprints out of defence. "A big part of playing Donegal is get value out of your attacks and don't turn it over. I think Meath found that out when they didn't work the Donegal defence. They just took pot shots from outside the arc, looking for two-pointers. "Now you take the two-pointers when they're on but you don't force them and you work their defenders. I thought we worked the Donegal defenders and that in turn takes away a bit of their legs from going the other way. "I thought that was a big factor. I didn't think that (Finnbarr) Roarty and (Peadar) Mogan and (Ryan) McHugh had a big influence in that game - attacking-wise. I think a lot of that has to do with the patience we showed in attack and keeping them occupied." His strike-rate as a manager is now not that far removed from the late Micko, who passed away earlier this year. O'Dwyer famously won eight All-Ireland titles during his 15 years in the hot-seat, the chief difference being he held the post continuously. O'Connor had a famously uneasy relationship with the scions of Kerry's golden years during his first stint in charge, something he wasn't shy of disclosing in his bracingly candid 2007 autobiography. However, this evidently dissipated over the years as O'Connor developed his own reputation as a winning manager. After the 2022 All-Ireland victory, there was a famous photo of O'Connor bringing Sam Maguire to O'Dwyer in Waterville, in a scene which resembled a recently elected world leader meeting an elderly Pope. When Micko got a visit from his lifelong friends SAM & Jack #ThisIsKerry 💚💛 — Kerry GAA (@Kerry_Official) July 29, 2022 "Micko, you know, he's created a great history and tradition in Kerry and the rest of us are only trotting after him now," O'Connor said. "A bit sentimental for me because I brought the cup to him to his house in '22 and we had a nice half an hour of a chat there. "And there was a nice photograph taken, so I treasure that always because you know he was an idol of mine." As for the future, O'Connor laughed when the Kerryman's Jason O'Connor brought up the possibility of sticking around for a tilt at All-Ireland No. 40. "Well, all I know is I was going out the door Thursday evening with the with the bag and my missus took a picture of me going out the gate. "I have a fair idea that'll be going up on the wall as my last hurrah. I say now she'll be framing that one. "I think I went on record earlier in the year that it'll probably be my last hurrah. Look I don't want to be telling ye lads before I tell anyone else. There's a lot more important people down the corridor.
Irish Daily Mirror
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Joe Brolly responds after Jack O'Connor's fury over David Clifford comments
Joe Brolly was in Jack O'Connor's firing line after Kerry's hugely impressive All-Ireland quarter-final victory over Armagh. The Kingdom ran out winners by 0-32 to 1-21 against the reigning All-Ireland champions after a dominant second-half performance at Croke Park. They will now face Tyrone in the last four of the Championship. After Sunday's game, O'Connor hit out at critics of his side, accusing ex-Kerry players turned pundits of 'lacking loyalty to the team. The Kingdom manager also referenced Brolly's Sunday Independent column from the morning of the game, which had the headline: 'Joe Brolly: David Clifford is the only Kerry footballer worthy of the name'. '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 the only Kerry player worthy of being called a Kerry player was David Clifford. David is a great player but David would tell you that there was a fair support cast out there today." Brolly responded to O'Connor's comments on his Free State Podcast, saying: "That was the headline put on the piece. But it was about that requirement for perfection in Kerry and how they look at everything through the prism of the greatest team of all - Spillane, Sheehy, Egan etc. "And that's why I started the piece with the definition of a Kerry inferiority complex. A man with two All-Irelands. "I rang my good friend Marc Ó Sé and I texted him. I said, look, will you beat Armagh. He said, 'not a hope Joe'." However, Brolly stated that he actually backed Kerry to beat Armagh before clarifying his comments on Clifford. He explained: "Clifford is going to, if he hasn't already, break all scoring records now. And I don't care what anybody says. "It's not fanciful to say that the difference between Kerry and the other teams, essentially, is that Kerry have got David Clifford. What do you do with him?" The former Sunday Game pundit added: "Nobody's suggesting, for example, that David Clifford should turn out on his own. It's a very, very skilled team. The Kerry team has, see what I wrote, excellent skills and excellent pedigree. They're a skilled team with excellent pedigree." Brolly also credited Jim Gavin for "releasing the game" through the new rules introduced this year. "The weekend for me, more than anything, exemplified the extraordinary achievement of Jim Gavin in releasing the game," stated Brolly. "I'm sure there must have been times that David Clifford thought to himself, like, 'Jesus, am I just going to have to wade through this sort of double, triple marking for the rest of my career? Boy, do I wish I was born during the Kerry-Golden Era'." Brolly believes if Kerry play like they did for their awesome spell in the second half of the Armagh game for the rest of the Championship, they will be lifting the Sam Maguire later this month. "It was an electrifying and satisfying second half from Kerry," said the All-Ireland winner. "You couldn't but be delighted watching it. "They had a virtually perfect spell of football for ten minutes. I mean, virtually perfect. And everyone was in the mood all of a sudden. Their tackling was pristine without fouling. "Their fetching in the middle of the field. For that ten minutes, they were sensational. And then, whenever you're dominating midfield, and you're getting the ball to David Clifford quickly, hello, goodbye. It's like the Roadrunner. "And that for Kerry poses the question now, that ten-minute spell which will be in their psyche now, is that who they are? Is that what this team is? Because if it is, they'll be the All-Ireland Champions."
Irish Daily Mirror
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Jack O'Connor hits out at Kerry critics and ex-Kingdom players after Armagh win
Jack O'Connor has blasted ex-Kerry players turned pundits, accusing them of 'lacking loyalty to the team.' Speaking after Kerry's impressive 0-32 to 1-21 win over All-Ireland champs Armagh in Sunday's All-Ireland quarter-final, O'Connor hit out at the way his side were written off inside and outside the county. And he challenged those criticising the Kerry team to get involved in coaching instead of sniping from the sidelines saying, 'it's very easy to knock people.' O'Connor said: 'One of the great motivators in life is trying to prove people wrong. We were being portrayed as a one man team. 'I saw somebody writing this morning that the only Kerry player worthy of being called a Kerry player was David Clifford. David is a great player but David would tell you that there was a fair support cast out there today. 'We think we have a lot of good footballers but I think sometimes we are being judged on different criteria to other teams. 'For example, Dublin got beaten by Meath in the Leinster Championship. I didn't see any ex-Dublin players coming out slating the team or slating the management like we had down south in our county. 'There was a sense of commitment to the team and a sense of loyalty to the team. Unfortunately a few pundits let themselves down in that regard.' O'Connor continued: 'I'm not giving out about it from my own point of view. I just gave the example that I never hear Dublin's ex-players slating the team. 'They're loyal to the group, they're loyal to the county and they give their support. 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. '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. 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?' You know what I mean? 'It's very easy to knock people. Go away and coach a team. Go away and coach a development squad. Coach a minor team. That's how you help, not knocking people."
Irish Daily Mirror
29-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Jack O'Connor: "We are judged on different criteria to other teams"
Jack O'Connor has broadsided ex-Kerry players and pundits, accusing them of writing the county off in their All-Ireland quarter-final victory against Armagh. Speaking after the Kingdom's 0-32 to 1-21 win against the All-Ireland champions, the Kerry manager said "One of the great motivators in life is trying to prove people wrong. We were being portrayed as a one man team. "I saw somebody writing this morning that the only Kerry player worthy of being called a Kerry player was David Clifford. David is a great player but David would tell you that there was a fair support cast out today. "We think we have a lot of good footballers but I think sometimes we are being judged on different criteria to other teams. "For example, Dublin got beaten by Meath in the Leinster Championship. I didn't see any ex-Dublin players coming out slating the team or slating the management like we had down south in our county. "There was a sense of commitment to the team and a sense of loyalty to the team. Unfortunately a few pundits let themselves down in that regard." Concluding the interview, O'Connor said: "I'm not giving out about it from my own point of view. I just gave the example that I never hear Dublin's ex-players slating the team. "They're loyal to the group and they're loyal to the county and they give their support. 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. "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. 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?' You know what I mean? "It's very easy to knock people. 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." When asked on Kerry running riot in the second half, racking up fourteen unanswered points, three of which came from two-pointers, O'Connor said: "We just got to grips with the Armagh kickout and that's where we got the stranglehold and drove on from there. Whatever the boys said to themselves at half-time inside the dressing room, they were fierce determined. "We felt we played well in the first half but gave away a very bad goal that brought Armagh back into it. But we thought we were playing well. We thought we were getting pockets of space to kick scores. I think the introduction of Paudie Clifford at half-time just gave everybody a lift because we know the calibre of a player Paudie is. "Him and Micheál Burns really lifted the team. Joe O'Connor going to midfield halfway through the second half gave us a big lift as well because Joe had been a little bit peripheral on the wing and he had a big influence when he went to midfield. Some days, stuff like that works for you. Today was that day." He felt the team had learned from their previous games, with a defeat to Meath forcing them to play Cavan in the preliminary quarter-finals. He said: "We were fairly sure that the performance above in Tullamore was not us. We were missing some key players that day and things just went awry on us and the game slipped away. Plus, Meath are a good team. They showed that out there today. I think it was a combination of us not being up to scratch and Meath playing very well and showing the calibre of a team they are. "But we were fairly sure that wasn't the real Kerry. Maybe we were trying to lull ye all into a false sense of whatever. It worked anyway." The Kerry boss was happy with the lack of faith in his Kerry side, saying it was an advantage for his charges. He explained: "I don't think too many people outside the camp saw that performance there. But we were very, very determined. There was ferocious determination in the camp that we weren't going to let the season fizzle out after the Meath game. It may have been difficult for Armagh not to listen to the outside noise where we were being written off and they were being written up. We know we have players who can perform here. The game Seán O'Shea had there, when that was a game in the first half and halfway through the second half, that man put in some display. "I don't know what he finished up with. But him and David, David was really good again. Paudie coming in at half-time, he's a high-calibre player and it just gave everybody a lift. Once he got the ball in his hands, you knew he was going to do something with it. It's funny the way things happen. "But we were fairly sure leaving the hotel this morning that we were going to give this a real rattle. We just need to steady up now and get our feet back on the ground. It's a big performance and a big Kerry support came up and backed the team, which is great. We love seeing that because a lot of people had us written off during the week. "But obviously the supporters felt there was another kick in the team. They've seen it happen before. They saw it happen in 2006, they saw it happen in 2009. Kerry is a proud county and we weren't going to fizzle out of the Championship without a hell of a fight. We saw that fight out there today." Kerry lost Tom O'Sullivan to injury in the first half, but O'Connor was pleased with his depth off the bench. "Of course we were very disappointed to lose Tom and obviously he'll be in a race against time now. But that young fella from the Crokes there, Evan Looney, has been chomping at the bit in training and he acquitted himself very well. He won a vital kick out below under the Hill there when we needed to get our hands on the ball. "But fellas stepped up. Micheál Burns had the game of his life when he came on there. He didn't play last weekend and he came on there today and showed that he's a big player for us." The return of Paudie Clifford for a full half of football was a big positive for Kerry, as is the imminent return of more players from the treatment table. "Look, they need a bit of time. Paul Geaney was close today but we'd only have thrown him in if the game was going away from us, a bit like Dublin did with Con O'Callaghan last night. He's nearly there but not quite. The heart-warming thing for us was the way Paudie performed. As late as last Tuesday, it was touch-and-go that he'd be able to play but he just turned the corner. The physios did great work with him. He turned the corner during the week. "[Diarmuid O'Connor and Tony Brosnan] are not a million miles away so we'll assess it during the week and hope to be coming with a strong hand in two weeks." Sean O'Shea had a massive game in Croker, scoring 0-12 in all, but O'Connor was more pleased with his leadership on the pitch. He said: "He's just such a genuine young fella and just the way he speaks and the way he commands the dressing room. David is a one-off and he's just a massive talent. "But Seánie is just a very mature young fella who commands the room and commands the group. We missed him more than anyone in the Meath game when he wasn't there. Not alone does he play well himself, he just commands the boys around him. "He's the leader on the field. Taking nothing away from any of the rest of them, Gavin White or anything, Gavin was fantastic today, but Seánie is on a different level as regards leadership. He's the spiritual leader of that group." O'Connor explained that his message to the Kerry side was to "flip the script". "Look, when everybody even down in our own county was throwing in the towel with us, I said in the dressing room after the Cavan game, 'Lads, I've been here before where we've been completely written off.' And a Kerry team written off in Croke Park are dangerous because it just takes a bit of the heat off. It allows them to play with a kind of freedom and abandon. "That's what you saw there today. Maybe it was very tough for Armagh. Our mantra this morning was we have to flip the script. The script has been written that Armagh have this game won and we have to flip that script. "Every breaking ball you win, every turnover you win, every score you get is a chip off the block there and it's a way of flipping that script. We did it block by block."
