All Star Sheehan insists players and managers must be rewarded
The 2011 All Star midfielder supported the proposal for top level managers to be remunerated for their services but was adamant players will have to be looked after in some form.
He told Radio Kerry: “This is an amateur sport and I think it’ll probably have to stay amateur but at the same time I think there has to be some contribution made towards players and management for the amount of effort they are making. Professionalism probably isn’t the way to go but again there are ways around this and how it can be done.”
Sheehan added: “You see how filled Croke Park is on the big day and the players are getting nothing back out of it, which is wrong. The management and the backroom staff aren’t getting anything back out of it either but something has to be done. Yeah, managers probably (need) to get paid but I think players should be looked after just as much.
“Is it going to happen over the next couple of years? I don’t know. A bit more work will have to be done.
“It’s a tricky situation because if you make the game go professional I don’t know if it’ll work that way but something will have to be done down the line. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still nothing better than putting on that Kerry jersey. We’re still doing this. If we felt so strongly about it we’d probably be on strike and not playing for Kerry but that’s not what it’s about. It’s all about the passion of playing football for Kerry.”
Sheehan has no gripe with the idea of paying managers, providing their players are also catered for.
“Managers put an awful lot of time into video work and travelling the length and breadth of the county looking at players. But don’t forget the players. The players put in as much effort as everyone else.”
Sheehan admits Kerry only had themselves to blame for losing last year’s All-Ireland final to Dublin.
“There’s no hiding it — it was an All-Ireland we threw away.”
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