Fitzmaurice blow for Kingdom

KERRY will have to plan their assault on next year’s football championship without key selector Eamonn Fitzmaurice, who has opted to step down from the management team for 2011.

The decision of the three-time All-Ireland winner is a significant blow to the Kingdom and the prospects of regaining the All-Ireland title they lost in frustrating circumstances earlier this month.

Fitzmaurice (33) is seen by many as a future Kerry coach and was responsible for much of the video analysis conducted by Jack O’Connor’s backroom team.

Kerry chiefs are still very hopeful O’Connor will be in charge of the county in 2011 and are keenly aware he is head and shoulders above any other potential candidate for the position.

But Fitzmaurice’s decision, relayed to O’Connor over the weekend by the Finuge man, leaves him with a major void to fill alongside the other Kerry selector, Ger O’Keeffe.

Fitzmaurice was appointed by O’Connor at the beginning of the 2009 season which culminated in the county’s 36th All-Ireland title last September. However, Kerry’s surprise defeat to Down in this year’s quarter-final brought hopes of a repeat to an abrupt halt.

“It’s been pretty full-on for two years and I thought it was a good idea to take a year out now at this stage,” said Fitzmaurice last night. “Also, from the players’ point of view, it is no harm to keep things fresh by shaking up the management team.”

Many people in Kerry saw Fitzmaurice being groomed as Jack O’Connor’s successor but it was evident from earlier in the season that he felt it more appropriate to earn his stripes away from the rarefied air of senior inter-county level. There was some surprise when he was not appointed under-21 coach at the beginning of this season, with the post going instead to former Kerry minor coach John Kennedy. Fitzmaurice would seem an obvious candidate for that position when Kennedy’s term ends.

For the moment, retaining the services of O’Connor for the senior job should be the priority in the Kingdom. Board executives plan to have things tied down in time for the August 30 county board meeting.

The key question for Jack O’Connor is the extent of the rebuilding job at hand. Though many pundits have been quick to write off the Kingdom in the wake of their defeat to Down, there’s a strong view in the county that there is at least one more All-Ireland in this group — with a little bit of nip and tuck.

Some players are considering their future, but the prospects of them remaining are inextricably linked to O’Connor’s decision on his future. The chances are that the Dromid man will be offered at least two more seasons in charge, a challenge he will be more amenable to on the basis of his changed employment terms. He has been seconded by the Kerry Educational Services to help coaches across the Vocational school sector in the county, considerably reducing his hours in the classroom.

Fitzmaurice’s departure could open the door for Donie Buckley, widely regarded as one of the top coaches in the GAA, to return to his native county next season. Limerick are desperate to keep the Mickey Ned O’Sullivan-Buckley partnership in place for their footballers next season, but the Castleisland man is bound to be tempted at the prospect of working with the Kingdom.

In the event of O’Connor quitting, Kerry would then turn to the likes of Eoin ‘Bomber’ Liston or even the legendary Mick O’Dwyer for a short-term solution.

The possibility of John Evans returning to the fold is unlikely, though his situation regarding the conflict between being director of football and inter-county coach in Tipperary has yet to be fully resolved.

Were he to remain as director of football, there’s a chance that Liam Kearns could be approached to manage Tipperary. He is presently coaching the Aherlow club in the county.