Cooper is mulling over future after talk with Fitzmaurice

COLM Cooper is considering his future as a Kerry footballer this week following a one-to-one talk with team manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice last Thursday.

Cooper was circumspect on his inter-county future following Dr Crokes All-Ireland Club final win on St Patrick’s Day, but he met with Fitzmaurice last week to talk about his future in the green and gold jersey.

“I laid my cards on the table and he did likewise and he’s having a think and I have to give him the space to do that as well,” Fitzmaurice told The Kerryman last Sunday regarding Cooper.

“We’d a chat last week but we didn’t come to a decision, no. I wanted to give him another bit of time, I felt it was so close to the Crokes victory. We’d a good chat, he’ll be mulling it over and we’ll have a chat again in the near future.

“Colm is around the game long enough and he’s going to make the right decision for himself and that’s the way it has to be. Of course, from our point of view we want to see him back and we’d love to see him back but you can’t strong arm a fella into that decision, especially someone who has been such an incredible servant for Kerry,” the Kerry manager said.

If Cooper doesn’t make a decision this week and make himself for the final League game against Tyrone next Sunday he will possibly buy himself an extra week or so before making a decision.

However, if Kerry don’t qualify for the League final on April 9, the management will be switching into Championship mode straight away with Fitzmaurice looking to start shaping his Championship panel. Fionn Fitzgerald rejoined the Kerry panel last week from Dr Crokes and Johnny Buckley is expected to link up sooner rather than later.

James O’Donoghue (calf), Shane Enright (hamdstring) and Killian Young (groin) are all doubtful for Sunday’s game in Killarney.