Páidi’s last stand
The embattled coach went on the offensive last night in a bid to remain in charge for another season, claiming that county board chairman Sean Walsh had issued a “resign or be fired” ultimatum to him on Thursday. Mr Walsh strongly denies any such suggestion.
The chairman stated last night that he had too much respect for Ó Sé to issue any such threat, but confirmed that he did inform the manager of the executive’s plan to appoint a completely new Kerry management team next season.
Mr. Walsh said he believed there was a clear mood in Kerry for change, but insisted that he never used the words ‘fired’ or ‘be sacked’ to Ó Sé. He claimed that Ó Sé said “sack me” during the short phone conversation.
The chairman asked Ó Sé to meet him as soon as possible to discuss team management for next season. “Páidi asked me to be more specific and I told him up straight that we were attempting to appoint a new manager and selectors for next season. I still want to speak to him and I think he deserves to be spoken to.”
The Kerry coach, whose two-year term concluded with the disappointing All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Tyrone in August, issued a short statement yesterday, expressing his hurt at being treated in such a way after many years of unlimited service, both as a player and as manager. He said he did not wish to add any further comment at this stage.
One well-placed source described the latest row as “Capetown revisited”, a reference to the furore caused by Ó Sé’s comments about Kerry fans earlier this year. The manager’s attempts to mend bridges from the South African resort only exacerbated the problem, despite the pleas of Mr Walsh not to do an RTÉ interview at the time.
What is clear is that if Ó Sé is to remain on for another term as manager, it will require a rejection by county board delegates of the executive’s nomination at its next meeting, possibly on October 21st.
The clear front-runner to replace him in the Kerry hot seat is Jack O’Connor, the former senior selector, who took charge of Kerry’s U-21s this season. He is said to be interested in the post, but speculation that he could be joined as a selector by his South Kerry colleague, Maurice Fitzgerald, was emphatically dismissed by all parties last night.
However, Mr Walsh added that if there was a groundswell of support for the return of Páidi O Sé next season, the executive would also be obliged to look at that.
A special executive sub-committee consisting of Walsh, vice-chairman Jerome Conway and secretary Eamonn O’Sullivan met on Wednesday night to begin the process of nominating a new management team, leading to Thursday’s phone call to Ó Sé.
The precise contents of Thursday’s conversation between Walsh and O Sé will remain open to dispute, but there is no confusing the bottom line - county board top brass sees no future at the helm for Ó Sé, nor for his four selectors - John O’Keeffe, Eddie O’Sullivan, John O’Dwyer or Eamonn Walsh.
Páidi’s claim, therefore, that the chairman gave him “in effect, the choice of resigning my position... or of being fired” seems reasonable, notwithstanding Mr. Walsh’s assertion that he never used those offending words at any point.
The fall-out from this latest Páidi Ó Sé controversy may bring a wave of sympathetic support for the Gaeltacht legend, and will inevitably shift the battleground to the floor of the county board.
The date for the next meeting is uncertain, but pressure will increase for the earliest possible date to ensure a quick resolution to the conflict.
The procedure is for the executive to table a managerial nomination for approval or rejection by the board’s delegates. Under new guidelines, agreed at the last county board meeting, the new coach can pick his own three-man selection team.
If delegates reject the nomination, the board’s executive must go back to square one.
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