Gooch: Kerry may face long road back

ANY Kerry supporters holding out hope that 2010 was a mere blip for their senior footballers would do well to heed Colm Cooper, who warned that the Kingdom could be facing a number of years in transition.

Jack O’Connor’s side claimed a Munster title this summer but the loss of so many key players from their 2009 All-Ireland winning panel finally caught up with them in the defeat to Down on the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Cooper said yesterday that the rebuilding process could take two seasons or more and agreed that O’Connor’s acceptance of a new three-year term was effectively an admission that a long road lies ahead.