Kerry opt for a new, fresh voice in Peter Keane
Now that Tim Murphy, the Kerry GAA chairman, and his three-person find-us-a-manager committee have got their man in Peter Keane, the next task is phasing out the archaic system of leaving the Kerry captaincy in the gift of the county champions.
Peter Keane, for one, just might be obliged.
When Jack O’Connor went into his first senior inter-county job in 2004, he was fortunate to have the leadership and personality of Dara Ó Cinnéide to pull all the Kerry dressing room strands together.
Only those who’ve managed Kerry will appreciate the queasy feeling of the ground moving underneath, and O’Connor experienced such a disconcerting motion in the wake of losing his first League game as Kerry manager in Longford.
Having a captain leading in word and deed is crucial in such moments, and though Ó Cinnéide arrived at the armband via the traditional route of Gaeltacht winning the county in 2003, it’s been a wholly unconvincing system in the interim.
Dr Crokes might have been the best club team in the land in 2017, but over the course of this year’s championship, the Kerry captaincy jumped from Fionn Fitzgerald to Shane Murphy to Gavin White, a rookie, for Éamonn Fitzmaurice’s farewell against Kildare.
The Kerry chairman has apparently made initial soundings with clubs in Kerry on the captaincy issue, which remains a delicate one in the eyes of traditionalists, but the system won’t change in time for 2019. If East Kerry were to win the championship — as likely as not — the new Kerry manager may be looking at someone like David Clifford as his dressing room leader. Hardly?
From previous conversations, it is known that Murphy is a firm advocate of an inter-county coaching pathway in Kerry. Only that Jack O’Connor is in situ, the next step for Keane would have been the U20s. The appointment group of Murphy, Peter Twiss, Eamon Whelan and Terence Houlihan, were evidently keen not to parachute someone else in over Keane but they are more aware than anyone there is an element of a gamble here. Keane is a coaching freshman at senior level which might explain why there’s been such a concentration on who’s going to be on the bottom of the ticket.
Don’t be surprised if his fellow Caherciveen native, Maurice Fitzgerald is part of management for the reason of been-there-awhile. While there has been plenty of dartboard speculation in recent weeks on Fitzmaurice’s successor, Fitzgerald would unquestionably have been interested had he not started as the new principal in Coláiste na Sceilge a month ago. He revelled in being involved as a selector in the previous group, but whatever chance he might have had of overcoming the logistical problems had he been in the school job for a period of time, he had no chance starting almost simultaneously as Kerry manager and principal of the biggest secondary school in south Kerry.
Keane was the preferred choice, no doubt. But there is a sense with this appointment, and indeed virtually all inter-county managerial posts, that time flexibility is a prerequisite for candidature. It’s why so many teachers can make it work with the bulk of the summer off. Fitzmaurice would drive out of Dingle on the last day of May for the last six years thinking: ‘Now I become the full-time Kerry manager’.
Before the Kerry executive came calling, Jack O’Connor, Maurice Fitzgerald and Keane had to undertake their own stock-take. Keane owns and runs a very successful SuperValu store and fuel station on the Iveragh Road out of Killorglin, but he can delegate his work-load to some extent.
He will also bring important freshness to the set-up.
His interest in promotion from minor to senior manager was beyond doubt – so long as he retained the right to piece together his own management team. There was a flurry of speculation in recent weeks which threatened to turn the process into something of a beauty contest — show me your medals, dressing room gravitas etc — but once he was assured that he would be nominating his own coaches and selectors, that concern dissipated.
The irony, of course, is that the board’s executive sub-committee would have been derelict in their responsibility to chart a future for Kerry football had they not been involved in the shaping of a management structure going forward. From the get-go, it was the stated intention to put together a team management group that would give Kerry the best chance of landing their 38th All-Ireland SFC title, while also providing a template going forward for future inter-county managerial appointments.
To that end, whether it be Peter Keane or Tim Murphy’s initiative, it was important that Donie Buckley be brought on board by the new manager. The Castleisland man is not possessed of the touch of Midas, but he is the best coach around in the areas Kerry are suspect in — defensive shape, the tackle and turning over the ball. Buckley, and Tommy Griffin, if he makes the move from minor to senior selector with Keane, will be charged with making Kerry a better and more resilient side without the ball. Buckley is a coaching innovator and players love his work. Even in the truncated spell he was involved with Kerry previously six years ago, the squad relished his brief coaching cameos.
Not that Peter Keane will turn Kerry football’s DNA on its head. He is known to get exasperated at times with the direction inter-county football has gone and as an antidote, enjoys following Killorglin’s Superleague basketball team around the country — and not just because he is the main sponsor.
Keane, and the likes of John Evans, will continue to follow the fortunes of Keane’s SuperValu Killorglin with great enthusiasm in their maiden Superleague campaign. Also, don’t do a double-take if you’re in Páirc Uà Chaoimh this Sunday and spy the new Kerry manager watching the Cork SFC semi-finals — his brother Ray is the manager of the St Finbarr’s footballers, who face Carbery Rangers.
Keane: The first 100 days
There aren’t too many years when it’s deemed advisable for Kerry to get out of the blocks early in the National League, but 2019 might be one such. The fixtures are quite kind to the new Kerry manager – home to Tyrone on January 27, then away to Cavan before the Dubs come to Tralee for a Saturday night belter on February 9. The Kerry executive will plead patience and perspective, but as Colm Cooper has written on these pages before, such traits are in short supply in Kerry.
With the appointment of a freshman senior coach, Kerry is playing the long game. Does that mean Peter Keane gets a pass in 2019? That retaining Division One status and making an All-Ireland semi-final represents an acceptable season? Possibly, but the League campaign will still inform much of what Kerry do next summer.
If Donie Buckley gets involved in the new set-up, he will, along with the S&C coach, want to get his hands on the new group as soon as possible to frame the approach to 2019. Whether the new management looks to hit the ground running or tailor their season with an eye towards the back-end of 2019 will be intriguing but either way, the involvement of the former Limerick, Clare and Mayo coach would be a big positive.
Peter Keane coached the Kerry minor three-in-a-row team of 2016, and three years on, a number of the players who defeated Galway in that All-Ireland final have progressed through U20. David Clifford and Sean O’Shea are already established seniors, but keep an eye on some of the others, and whether Keane fast-tracks them into the senior squad – Na Gaeil midfielder Diarmuid O’Connor, Spa dynamo Dara Moynihan, and Dromid defender Graham O’Sullivan, are contenders. Stefan Okunbor, who came on in that 2016 final, is also a promising athlete.
It’s mentioned elsewhere on this page, but the new manager could do with a strong captain in 2019. The skipper will again be nominated by the county champions, and while that throws up a possibility from Kerry SFC semi-finalists like Paul Geaney or David Moran, the stronger possibility is for a final between East Kerry (Jack Sherwood, David Clifford) and Dr Crokes (Gavin White, Fionn Fitzgerald, Shane Murphy, Daithà Casey, or more likely if he returns to the fold, Johnny Buckley).
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