Ó Sé focus is firmly on Westmeath

SINCE departing Kerry under a cloud 15 months ago, Páidí Ó Sé has jousted with his former adversary Billy Morgan in Páirc Uí Rinn, his old master Mick O’Dwyer in Croke Park and his successor Jack O’Connor in Mullingar.

Now, it's personal, with the Leinster champions lining up in Tralee with the All-Ireland champions in this evening's floodlit Allianz Football League.

Ó Sé is back among his own people with Westmeath for the first time since he was deposed as Kerry manager, but it won't faze him.

At heart he remains as proud a Kerryman as he ever was, even before he first donned the green-and-gold, but now and for the foreseeable future he is aligned with another county and his commitment to his new team is total. It has to be if he is to be true to himself, and the Midlanders are to live up to their status as provincial champions.

Tonight's game will be unusual, he readily acknowledges not least because his nephews Marc, Tomás and Darragh are playing for Kerry. And, he points out that, with one or two exceptions, the players in the current Kerry panel were coached by him during his eight years in charge.

"From that point of view it's going to be a bit strange being with another team," he remarked. "But, it's something that I have taken on and I have to get on with my job. From my point of view I'll be very much a Westmeath man."

The circumstances of his departure are clearly fresh in Ó Sé's mind and among members of the County Board executive, but time moves on. Officially the view would be that things worked out well for Páidí and Westmeath and, more pertinently, that Jack O'Connor and Kerry were successful.

As would be expected, he says that he had 'an awful lot of goodwill' shown towards him following the success he had with Westmeath.

"It wasn't just in Kerry, but from GAA people all over the country. Basically, they were very happy for me that after moving into another county I did have success. They realised how disappointed I was (losing the Kerry job) and how much of a Kerryman I am and how much hurt I felt at the time. Certainly the support I got at the time was magnificent, but all of that is put aside. Now, it's just a matter of getting on with the job."

Without giving any hint about his future intentions, Ó Sé admits that he is still getting a buzz out of his involvement except for the burden of travel. That means he is away from home a lot, at a time when he says the pub business in rural Ireland is suffering as a result of elements like the smoking ban and the restrictions on driving after drink.

"It's at a crossroads period and for that reason it has to be very personalised if you want to exist. My time at home is very precious," he says.

Westmeath's league form has been moderate, yielding a draw with Cork and a win over Donegal, while they lost to Offaly and Dublin (also under lights in Parnell Park last weekend).

Ó Sé makes the obvious point that the division is extremely competitive and that it is very hard to pick up points. But, players and management know that they have to improve their position if they are to retain their status in the top group. Otherwise, they would lose out on quality games.

"There is so much of a gap there between division one and division two," he adds. "From that point of view it's very important for us if we can get a win because it would give us a great chance of staying up. If we don't win, then there remain two very hard games to play. We have Tyrone at home and Mayo away and Mayo are doing very well at the moment."

Because they are in the same division he has been keeping a watchful eye on Kerry. His assessment is that they have been winning games "without playing well at all. They are only going half-throttle at the moment and it suits them," he commented.

"They are keeping an eye on the big picture, which is putting a second All-Ireland back-to-back." While Kerry lost to Donegal last weekend, Westmeath beat them by a point.

League form being what it is, Ó Sé says that means nothing in the context of this evening's game, for which Westmeath will definitely have key defender Donal O'Donoghue available at full-back.

"Donal has very important exams coming up and is finding it difficult to combine that with his football. Tomás Ó Flatharta is handling that and he will be taking his place."

Tonight's game is crucial for both teams; for him personally it represents only a minor challenge. Once the ball is thrown in, he will become totally engrossed in it, as passionate and as animated as ever. Only this time, his concentration will be on the team in the maroon jerseys. And afterwards it will be home to Ard a 'Bhothair in Ventry.

Not that much has changed.