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Despite the ‘it’s only the league’ factor, should Kerry fans be concerned about the attitude to the spring series? Gavin O’Connor gives five reasons to be worried about Kerry under-performing during the early part of the year…
Barry John Keane attempts to get past Sean McDermott during yesterday’s game. Photo by Dermot Crean
1. Where is the youth?
2014 was a fantastic year. All-Ireland 37 was won and more importantly for our current situation, an All-Ireland minor title was achieved for the first time in 20 years.
A year and half on we’ve saw two players from that side blooded, Brian Ó Beaglaoich and Tom O’Sullivan. Considering the panel has been hit with absenteeism at the beginning of the league, that seems like a meagre amount.
It’s telling that Brian Ó Beaglaoich has been one of the better performers. With every ball, he’s playing for his Kerry career.
Tommy Walsh, Donnchadh Walsh and Tom O’Sullivan put a Roscommon player under pressure. Photo by Dermot Crean
Players as good, with minor medals in their back pockets, Cormac Coffey, Mark O’Connor, Andrew Barry, Matthew Flaherty, Micheál Burns and Liam Kearney are the future of Kerry football and with bags of talent and everything to play for they could jolt this team back into life.
Last year, Eamonn Fitzmaurice, welcomed the return of Paul Galvin, saying as long as Paul is one of the best 30 players in the county he will have him on the panel. Perhaps a few more young fellas need their chance now.
Tense times during the match yesterday. Photo by Dermot Crean
2. Why are we so static?
Watching our attack, it was worrying how static they were, as they waited for ball to come into it them, especially during the second half.
Too often players made runs forward towards the ball instead of moving across. Tommy Walsh, was the victim of a lot of poor supply but he didn’t make it easy for his forwards either. When Donaghy is at full-forward he is most often operating from the most dangerous positions around the square. When he moves, he heads to the wings, not out.
Diagonal movement will stretch defenses when players come out to receive the ball they are moving further from scoring range.
Tom O’Sullivan gets a shot on goal. Photo by Dermot Crean
3. Mounting defeats over the last 12 months
Starting from the beginning of 2015 National League, Kerry have played 16 times in all competitions winning six, drawing twice and losing eight times. The league record in that time is five losses in nine.
We all know the business end of the All-Ireland is the only time that really matters, but management can’t be happy with the amount of games this Kerry teams is losing.
Donnchadh Walsh gets a shot on goal. Photo by Dermot Crean
Yes, you can point to to key players being absent, but this is the third time in four league campaigns Kerry have lost their opening two matches.
These losses have put the side on the back foot, fighting relegation, which has hampered any chance of experimenting with personnel.
Considering we’ve needed last minute points from other teams and stayed up purely because of points difference, can anyone say relegation won’t be overdue if it comes?
Brendan O’Sullivan tries to break away from Roscommon’s Ronan Daly. Photo by Dermot Crean
4. In the relegation mix up once more
Eamonn Fitzmaurice, will in all likelihood be glad of the three week break. It gives him ample time to put defeats in the past and welcome back key men, Kieran Donaghy, Bryan Sheehan, Anthony Maher and perhaps Colm Cooper.
Next it will be a must win match in Newry against Down, followed by Donegal at home, Mayo and Monaghan on the road and a potential relegation decider against Cork in Austin Stack Park.
Three wins is generally enough to spare a team from the drop, a loss in either of Kerry’s two home games or against Down and it becomes very tricky.
Eamonn Fitzmaurice was not a happy man watching during the closing stages of the game yesterday. Photo by Dermot Crean
5. Fitzmaurice feeling pressure for the first time?
The Finuge man took on his three year stint in 2013 and in the first two years the team exceeded expectations. Kerry weren’t given much of chance against Dublin in 2013, but the game turned out to be an epic with Kerry exposing a number of Dublin weaknesses.
An All-Ireland from from nowhere came the following year and even though the performance was poor in last year’s decider, the record will show Fitzmaurice brought Kerry within three points of back to back titles.
Kerry supporters are known to be without sentiment when it comes to their sitting manager and nobody needs to tell Eamonn Fitzmaurice what’s required now to sate football fans in the county as the year progresses.
Johnny Buckley fetches a kickout. Photo by Dermot Crean
