Jack O'Connor interview: 'Relegation? I'd find it hard to live with that'

The Kerry manager admits he's still loath to talk about last summer's All-Ireland final loss - and that lessons were learned from a year when they were chasing their tail too much.

Kerry manager Jack O'Connor at Austin Stack Park in Tralee on Monday as he looks ahead to the start of the Allianz League.

BEFORE the first tango of spring, Jack O’Connor is coaxed to glance wistfully back at last summer and a cargo-less drive home from Croke Park. Coming up short in All-Ireland finals generates its own class of tribunal in Kerry. At this remove, Jack isn’t inclined to poke the embers.

“I’m loathe to talk about it,” he says. “I went away to clear the head for a few days after the All-Ireland final, and one of the promises I made myself was that when I returned, I’d leave it behind me and look forward to the club campaigns and this spring.