'I'm extremely wired for this game'
WHEN Páidi Ó Sé met me, he was in relaxed mood, jovial and witty, certainly not dour or uncooperative as he is frequently portrayed.
Then again, taking account of the hurdles he has had to overcome over the past year or so, he had every reason to positive and upbeat. He has guided Kerry to a third All-Ireland final since he took over from Mickey O'Sullivan at the end of 1995, and he has been able to prepare for Sunday's final against Armagh with an injury-free squad.
Once his team recovered from losing to Cork in the Munster semi-final replay and grew stronger in each round of the qualifier competition, it was clear that they were going to be major contenders for the title.
However, the controversial dismissal of team captain Darragh Ó Sé initially posed a serious threat about their ability to beat Cork in the semi-final. And Tomas Ó Sé and Tom O'Sullivan being called before the GAC arising from separate incidents in that game provoked further concern. In the end, however, they needn't have worried.
Prior to the All-Ireland semi-final, Ó Sé admitted he was a broken man in the immediate aftermath of Darragh being red-carded in the game with Austin Stacks. Three weeks on, with his captain having played another starring role in the semi-final, and the other two completing their suspensions in time, he is able to joke about it all.
"We got so many scares this year that we were taking no notice of them,'' he says.
He's well-known for pacing the sideline, except that he appears to be better at controlling his emotions than he was.
However, he says that he is always very tense at every game.
"People say you have been there before and you'd imagine that it should make it easier. In actual fact, it makes it harder," he comments, pointing out that of the 11 All-Irelands he played in, the hardest one was the last.
"You'd be asking yourself, 'is today the day I'm going to get a roasting in Croke Park?'.
"I'm as uptight and as anxious as I was in 1975 when I first went up there. I'm not telling you the word of a lie, I'm extremely wired up for this game. I'm just hoping we can put it together. We know it's going to be a real test for us. And the players realise that."
There have been frequent references to the meeting between players and management on the Tuesday night after the defeat by Cork. Ó Sé says that there was nothing surreptitious about it, but, privately and publicly, players have said that it marked an important turning point in their season.
"We all aired our views. We all thrashed out a few areas that we could improve on. And we did that. It was all for the better,'' he commented.
After that, the games in the qualifier series gave them the opportunity to strengthen the team getting the games and winning them.
"As well as that, the fact that we had the bulk of our endurance training done allowed us to play more football in training."
Of course, they milked the favourable draw.
What helped them, too, was the timing of the games, with the opener against Wicklow the weekend after the Pairc Ui Chaoimh defeat.
"The big situation for us was that we didn't have much time to reflect on it or lick our wounds. We were back into business six days later. And, with no disrespect to Wicklow, we always felt we were capable of winning that game.
"After that, we drew Fermanagh at the same venue and then Kildare in Thurles. Semple Stadium is a happy stamping ground for Kerry.
"Having those games again meant we had a limited amount of time for preparation, which was all football, because John O'Keeffe had worked
extremely hard with the team during the off-months of January, February and March."
Ó Sé attaches little importance to the big win over Cork, readily acknowledging what happened to Meath in last year's final after they had beaten Kerry by 15 points. He recalled the 1980 All-Ireland semi-final against Offaly when Kerry produced a massive score (4-15) and managed only 1-9 in the final when they were very lucky to beat Roscommon.
"It's all on the day," he stresses.
Based on their experiences against Armagh in the 2000 semi-final, Ó Sé agrees that tactics will play a big part in deciding tomorrow's final. They know the opposition and their capabilities, and most of all, they recognise that they play a crowding game at midfield. It may be difficult to counteract, but there will be much possession to win.
"If we want it badly enough we'll get those breaking balls. If we don't we shouldn't be up there," he says.
And, without giving away any secrets about their attacking plans, he suggested that they might adopt a different strategy. Rather than getting Dara O Cinnéide to move out to make space for the two corner-forwards, they may keep him inside.
"We're playing a different type of team. We might need a physical presence at the edge of the square."
Reluctant to talk too much about Colm Cooper preferring to include him among the other players new to the team he said that while he was "a good player", he needed to be "minded". What he meant was that he should be kept out of the media spotlight, as he has been this week.
Overall, he stresses the importance of having a strong squad. With John Crowley having missed out on much pre-season training due to injury, and Aodan MacGearailt breaking a bone in his hand in the draw with Cork, the advantage of being able to use 20 players is "only being appreciated" this year.
"The big situation for a manager at the moment is when to get these players in, the timing of it. We called Michael Frank (Russell) ashore against Galway, not because he was playing badly, but he had played the game at a very high tempo and we wanted to keep the game at that level.
"The 20-man situation is very important, to all teams and the key to it is when to introduce them and that when you do it will work for you."
It doesn't surprise Ó Sé that they are meeting Armagh, and not Dublin. He says he fancied Joe Kernan's team for one reason that they were the more experienced side.
"No disrespect to Dublin, but they had five or six of their under-21 players. They didn't have the same resilience and experience. Armagh have been around the block for the last five or six years playing top teams. That stood to them."
Not only does he caution against the dangers of over-confidence, he dismisses the "fly-by-nights who climb aboard the bandwagon" when they reached the All-Ireland.
"The real Kerry supporters and the people that I rate those who really know football appreciate that we have a daunting task ahead of us."
