Clare's Peter Keane may never have a better chance for revenge over Kerry
Clare manager Peter Keane before the Munster SFC semi-final match between Clare and Tipperary. Pic: Tom Beary/Sportsfile
Sunday is personal for Peter Keane. How could it be anything but?
When in 1997 another South Kerry man faced his own for the first time since his departure as manager, it ran deep.
It didn’t matter that Mick O’Dwyer had finished up with Kerry eight years previous; he wanted to make a point that in those last couple of seasons of a most stunning career he felt unloved.
It’s four years since Keane failed to receive a second term and his feelings about his excommunication remain undoubtedly raw. In a Radio Kerry interview after the county’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Armagh last year, he was asked for his opinion on the result.
“Look, you take this team. I’m gone three years ago. It’s still the team I built from the time I went in, in late ’18.”
He also mentioned: “Look, having been there and not that long departed, I have been very conscious over the last three years not to be commenting. That wouldn’t say I wouldn’t have an opinion on it but I just have been conscious not to do commentary on it. Equally, when I took over, (Keane’s predecessor) Éamonn Fitzmaurice hadn’t been commenting either and that’s probably a very good thing.”
That comment could be construed as a thinly-veiled reference to Jack O’Connor’s remarks on the Irish Examiner football podcast the day after Keane’s side lost an All-Ireland semi-final to Tyrone.
Critical if constructively of Kerry’s season, O’Connor, it was felt, was also putting himself in the shop window despite being in charge of Kildare at the time.
Asked by Paul Rouse if he would like to return to the position, he responded: “Of course, there is an allure there. Who doesn’t want to coach Man United? There is that allure because of the tradition.”
If you are to believe the Keane camp, that declaration put in train what was to unfold.
Stephen Stack had also put together an impressive management ticket but the fact after three seasons, Keane had to reapply for the role was considered a form of constructive dismissal.
On September 6, a week after his podcast appearance, O’Connor stepped down as Kildare manager citing the eight-hour return journey from St Finian’s Bay to Newbridge and Hawkfield. By September 24, he was being recommended for a third spin in Kerry.
He was ratified in a tense online county board meeting on October 4 at which Keane had strong support from a number of delegates.
Three days before that, Keane had released a statement claiming the players were on his side and they relayed that message to the selection committee.
“It's most disappointing that their wishes do not appear to have been considered in the decision-making process.”
The extent of the squad’s backing for Keane has been disputed by officials – for instance, there was no public endorsement for him as there had been for Páidí Ó Sé when he was let go in 2003 to later be replaced by O’Connor.
Irrespective of experiencing two “very unusual GAA seasons” because of the pandemic, the fact is no Kerry manager has survived three seasons without retaining the Sam Maguire Cup.
Not Mickey Ned O’Sullivan. Not Denis “Ogie” Moran.
Yet there is no doubt Keane was unfortunate. The Covid outbreak in the Tyrone camp, which put their All-Ireland semi-final back twice, greatly hampered his and his team's preparations.
Had the result gone the other way against Cork earlier this month, he could be forgiven for wondering what the fall-out for O’Connor might have been for fielding Graham O’Sullivan as a wing-forward after he was skewered for doing the same with Brian Ó Beaglaoich in 2020 when Mark Keane ended Kerry’s season.
As county chairman, Tim Murphy didn’t enjoy an All-Ireland senior success but overseeing the end of Keane’s term and the decision to hand O’Connor the keys to the kingdom once more ultimately proved fruitful.
Presenting the cup in Killarney on Sunday, Murphy’s involvement most certainly adds to the pot Keane is brewing with Clare. Had this game been in Ennis, his revenge mission would be more certain of itself yet Kerry have rarely been as depleted going into a Munster final.
Was the chance to meet them again part of the reason why he has returned to inter-county management? Clare sources say it was he who signalled his availability to the county board. A deal was almost done with Tipperary two years ago.
If he’s not so much front of house in his SuperValu store in Killorglin, it’s understandable.
Kerry remains home and his time in charge of his own is still very much his reference point.
After Clare beat Offaly in their final Division 3 game last month to complete a 100% record at home, he said: “The focus here today was try and win your home games… when I was in Kerry for the three years, I think we lost one home game.”
As if Keane needed to be corrected.
In 12 fixtures between Killarney and Tralee (nine Division 1 games and three in championship), Mayo in Austin Stack Park in March 2019 was the only blot in his homework.
In 1997, O’Dwyer had to lose one to Kerry before he made his point to his own the following year that he was still relevant.
Keane will aim to strike now. He may never have a better chance.
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