Páidí: Jack will get a rough ride from fans
O Sé stressed yesterday that his remarks applied to the standards demanded by Kerry fans. “You could probably say it was taken out of context,” said O Sé. “Any person that knows Páidí O Sé knows bloody well that I’m as much a Kerryman as anybody else in Kerry.
“I don’t think the people that know me would disagree with me and I have no problem in saying that Kerry supporters demand very high standards.
“If I say they are f***king animals for high standards, well that’s the truth. They are. They demand that. As an awful lot of Kerry managers before me and after me will find out as well.
“And you’ll find out that the present man, if he doesn’t deliver an All-Ireland this year, they’ll be saying the same thing.”
Speaking to Today FM, O Sé described the pain of losing his bainisteoir’s bib with Kerry in 2003.
“It hurt at the time. It’s pointless saying otherwise. But time is a great healer. I was very fortunate that when the Kerry people put the dogs on me, the Westmeath people took me in.”
O Sé also commented on the reported lack of camaraderie between the players that won eight All-Ireland senior football titles for the Kingdom between 1975 and 1986.
“Anybody that would say to you that we were one big happy family – nothing could be further than the truth. But there was one more very important part of it. We were one very united family when we took the field; we were inseparable on the field.
“We wouldn’t be in the way of meeting each other very often, or we wouldn’t put ourselves out of the way to go to the trouble of meeting one another for no particular reason.
“Maybe this year there will be a reunion in Croke Park – the 25 years of the Kerry team that won in ‘84 – I think they’re going to be paraded this year and we’ll probably meet that weekend.”
Meanwhile Munster Council chairman Jimmy O’Gorman is hopeful that the 20,000 attendance barrier will be exceeded despite the absence of big guns Kerry in the provincial final on Sunday week.
With Cork sabotaging Kerry’s hopes of Munster title glory in the semi-final replay, the Rebels and Limerick will square off at Pairc Ui Chaoimh in nine days’ time.
“We’re not denying the fact that we’d be expecting a bigger crowd if Cork and Kerry were playing in the (Munster) final,” admitted O’Gorman.
“But we’re still hopeful that Cork and Limerick will attract a crowd in excess of 20,000 at the game.
“I think at the replay between Cork and Kerry that Cork had their biggest following in a very long time. I feel that a considerable number of Cork GAA followers believe that their football team has an awful lot of potential, and that it is one of the best to come out of the county in a long time.
“As well as the players who have been around for a good while, a number of very promising younger players have broken into the team, so I think the future for Cork football is very bright. And while Cork did very well to get over Kerry, Limerick had a great win in their semi-final over Tipperary, who had done so well in the league.
“Limerick didn’t have a great league campaign, but Mickey Ned’s (O’Sullivan) was obviously putting his main focus on the championship.”
Tickets for the provincial decider went on sale on-line last Saturday, but O’Gorman expects the bulk of the crowd to be of the walk-up variety.
“That’s the experience we’ve had for all of our championship matches, but we’ll have enough ticket-selling booths near the ground to cater for the expected crowd,” he pointed out.
Tickets cost €35 for adults to the covered stand, €30 for adults to the uncovered stand and €20 to the terraces. Juveniles can purchase tickets for €5 for either of the stands.
* Páidí O Sé’s extended interview with Paul Collins will be heard in full on ‘The Vodafone GAA Show’ on Today FM on Sunday from 9.30am.
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