Trust in each other: Kerry's defence contractors must share the load  

"If a guy slips or another fella is in a better position to take that man’s player, does he actually do it? Is that trust there? Because there is so much focus and criticism at the moment, maybe fellas are afraid to do that.”

LESSONS TO LEARN: Dublin's Jack McCaffrey celebrates his goal against Kery in the 2019 All-Ireland SFC final. The Kingdom's defensive issues remain problematic as they head in the 2021 campaign. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Barry O’Shea and Stephen Stack fielded calls on different days this week to discuss the issues troubling the Kerry defence. Neither was aware the other was contributing to the piece and yet the key points both made were pretty much identical.

That both identified the same problem areas is perhaps no bad thing. If two former players looking in at games from their respective sitting rooms are in unknowing agreement on where the deficiencies are rooted, surely management have made similar observations and are in the process of correcting such.