Forget Gooch for final, says O’Connor

Former Kerry manager Jack O’Connor has claimed that the notion of Colm Cooper featuring in the All-Ireland football final is more romantic than realistic.

The three-time Sam Maguire winning boss, the last to lead Kerry to success, accepted you can ‘never say never’ where Cooper is concerned.

It’ll be almost exactly seven months since Cooper suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury when Kerry take on Donegal in the decider.

But the sight of the gifted attacker taking a part in the warm-up for Saturday’s semi-final replay win over Mayo was tantalising and with three more weeks to the final, speculation of a cameo appearance is inevitable.

O’Connor feels the bottom line is that it is not realistic for the 31-year old to play.

“Sure you never say never,” said O’Connor. “It would depend on the circumstances. I’m certain the ‘Gooch’ will be desperate to play, but realistically he’s only done the warm-ups, a bit of kicking, a bit of running.

“I don’t think he has done any contact stuff. So unless he does full on contact before the final then, no, it wouldn’t be a runner at all. It would be a romantic notion but not a runner.”

Henry Shefflin attempted to overcome a similar injury and compete in the 2010 hurling final with Kilkenny though he limped off after just minutes. Kilkenny lost and, earlier this week, Tipperary legend Richie Stakelum suggested it was one big distraction that cost the Cats.

Asked if Cooper’s status could be a distraction to Kerry in the coming weeks, particularly as they are playing so well in his absence, O’Connor shook his head. “Ah, I wouldn’t think so, ‘Gooch’ is never a distraction,” insisted O’Connor. “Gooch’ is a very positive guy. He’s been inside with the squad, he’s been around the place and it’s a great support to the management team that he’s around the place.”

O’Connor took some credit for predicting Kerry could still be successful this season despite Cooper’s lay-off.

“I remember doing a radio interview the day after ‘Gooch’ got injured in February,” he said. “Of course it was all doom and gloom for Kerry. I said, ‘in a perverse way, this could take the pressure off the Kerry team, in that other players could flourish without the normal expectation’.

O’Connor was speaking at the launch of the Electric Ireland All-Ireland minor finals. His Kerry side will face Donegal, who are managed by county legend and All-Ireland medallist Declan Bonner.

O’Connor stated that free spirited Dublin may be ‘revising their tactics’ in the wake of Donegal’s shock senior win on Sunday. Bonner agreed, labelling it ‘juvenile defending’ from the champions at times.

“There were gaping holes right through the middle of their defence,” said Bonner. “Dublin must have thought, ‘we’ll score more than Donegal, no matter what Donegal score we’ll score more than them’. It was just all-out attack. There was no defensive plan. We could have got five goals. It was unbelievable.”