Kingdom aim to end Blues

WHICHEVER way you assess the current position of Kerry football, the conclusion is the same.

Performances in the Allianz Football League have not been encouraging and pale more by comparison with the consistency of their championship conquerors Armagh.

One is either critical of the team's form and dubious about where they are going this season, or prepared to acknowledge the difficulty of overcoming an All-Ireland defeat and the challenge of combining a fitness regime with a programme of highly competitive games.

Clearly, the outcome of tomorrow's meeting with Dublin in Fitzgerald Stadium will sharpen short-term opinions, for better or worse. It's a big game for both sides, with a lot of prestige at stake. Dublin recovered from a seven-point defeat by Armagh in the opening round to beat Donegal and Tyrone, whereas Kerry managed just a win over Roscommon in between heavy defeats by Cork and Galway. Coincidentally, prior to their last clash in the League, in the 2000/'01 season, Kerry had been quite unsettled. All-Ireland champions at the time, they had lost four consecutive rounds before beating Dublin 2-9 to 0-10, with Aodhan MacGearailt contributing a vital goal. Páidí Ó Sé commented afterwards: "Supporters were getting uneasy and so were we as a management."

In Pearse Stadium a fortnight ago, Kerry struggled after Colm Cooper was sent off. Trainer John O'Keeffe says it was disappointing that they failed to muster a better challenge: "We would have expected to possibly conjure up a way of digging ourselves out of that situation.

"But, you would have to give Galway a lot of credit. They played something like eight U-21's. Some of them were running like it was the middle of summer. There was so much spring in their step I think John O'Mahony must be very pleased. He is unearthing some fine talent that will strengthen his panel for the summer."

O'Keeffe suggests confidence has a lot to do with Armagh's impressive form in the early rounds: "Winning their first All-Ireland is bound to be a factor in their play. I would also suggest the hard work that they put into winning has been to their benefit. Apart from that, there are a lot of mature heads in the squad. They would say to themselves: 'We have got to this position, let's hold the heads and prove to ourselves that we are more than a one-year wonder, that we are a really good team.' Those factors combined are driving them at the moment."

"They also have got this knack of actually winning tight games. They had so many opportunities to do that last year. They have some quality forwards who are well capable of scoring at any time in a game. It's coming together for them."

The day after the All-Ireland final, O'Keeffe suggested in an interview that in a nine-game campaign, winning the title had been something of a "bridge too far" for Kerry. The team was very low afterwards and suggestions that it was a game Kerry should have won probably didn't help.

After players "wintered well", O'Keeffe knew only too well there was a lot of hard work to be done. Training, which has reportedly been severe, has to be dovetailed with the League programme. The trainer describes it as a "a kind of balancing act, between trying to get the relevant fitness work in and playing a good brand of football at the same time".

"With due respect to the players, sometimes it's an awful lot to ask of them, to produce top quality performances from February to September. It isn't on really," he adds.

"It's something you are very conscious of and you don't want to over-play players. The bottom line for Kerry is to do well in the championship."

In preparation for tomorrow's game, training was eased up over the last week or so. The emphasis has been on sharpening up and making sure the players are well rested and fresh.

"We feel that this is a big game. We always look on a game with the Dubs, particularly in our own patch, as important for players and supporters.

"We feel it's about time we turned the corner a little bit and started to move on to winning ways. It's always good for morale if you can start winning games as well. It enhances the whole effort, when we come back into training for a recovery session on Monday, heads are up and there's a good feeling particularly now we are introducing young players.

"Confidence is always important and it's important for us as management, too, to try and find new players to strengthen our championship panel. We are missing Mike Frank Russell, Liam Hassett, John Crowley, Aodhan MacGearailt, Noel Kennelly all senior players who will be pushing very hard for places when they are fully fit again. Declan O'Sullivan and Donncha Walsh are starting for the first time and for any young fellow coming in now it's an opportunity for him.

"One thing about Dublin is that they will be very serious about their game. They will rate it also as a sort of barometer in their championship preparations and they will be playing their best available team.

"Ciaran Whelan's performances seem to be very consistent. He is an outstanding midfielder when he is on his game. They also have Ray Cosgrove back in the team. And as he showed last year he has this ability to score goals. Hopefully he won't come back scoring them against us."