Moynihan set to join Ó Sé’s Kerry U21 set-up

Pat Spillane’s hopes of becoming the next Kerry U21 manager appear to have been thwarted by the addition of Seamus Moynihan pictured to the ticket of existing boss Darragh Ó Sé.

Delegates at next Monday’s postponed county committee meeting will be asked to ratify Ó Sé, who has been in charge for the last two seasons.

Moynihan has agreed to join his old county team-mate’s management team, a major shot in the arm for Ó Sé whose last two seasons have started and ended with defeats by Cork. The Glenflesk man has previously resisted attempts to convince him into inter-county management.

Spillane last month reiterated his ambitions to take charge of the U21s but they appear to have fallen on deaf ears at least for now.

The same meeting will hear Tony O’Keeffe’s presentation as part of the senior football championship committee. A final vote on the proposals, which may suggest a reduction of teams in the competition as well as a change in how the Kerry captain is nominated, will be made at county convention in December.

Meanwhile, Darran O’Sullivan believes Kerry are benefiting from their behind-closed-doors training sessions in Killarney. The gates were locked at Fitzgerald Stadium last night as the Kingdom prepare for their Munster final in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

“You’re never going to get away from the stories — it’s as simple as that,” said O’Sullivan. “Somebody always want to think something’s happening. If things aren’t going well it’s because such and such is fighting. You just take it with a pinch of salt.

“We go about our business now, we know what’s going on inside, we know who’s going well. If a fella is on, we know he’s on because he’s playing well and whatever anyone else thinks doesn’t really matter.

“I don’t know how they (Cork) do training — it doesn’t bother me — but Killarney is a popular place for people to go on holidays and, from wherever they were in the country, the big thing when they were down was to up and watch Kerry training.

“But now if you do fall out with somebody on the night you get over it and don’t have to hear stories two weeks down the line.”