Fitzmaurice is fired up for new season ahead

Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice gave his first briefing ahead of the new season and spoke about a wide range of issues, including the expectations for the year ahead. Paul Brennan got the answers to a range of questions

Have you concerns with the number of unavailable players for the Donegal game?

NO, not really. Most of these weren’t really in our plans anyway. We knew that they probably wouldn’t be available for the first game or two or three so we’ve been planning without them. We’re happy with the group that’s training but it is going to be inexperienced.

There is going to be a share of experimentation through the National League but when you’re committing to a three-year plan you have to experiment and give players their head and we’re very conscious of that.

What was the thinking behind not entering the McGrath Cup?

IT was very simple. We’d have had eight games in eight weeks. You can see the amount of injuries we have, it wan’t an option at all, full stop. While we’re focussed on the Donegal game we also have to be conscious that we have three games in a row (in the League) and it wasn’t very appetising to be playing in a McGrath Cup in late December and going right up to the start of the National League.

That was the proposal that the five teams were going to play each other, that’s four games and a final (for whoever got there) so to me, trying to play eight games in a row at this time of the year - and throw Sigerson (Cup) into the mix - it wasn’t going to work. I take the point on match sharpness that Donegal (who played McKenna Cup) will definitely be sharper than us but I’d prefer to be going with a stronger squad that a completely depleted squad.

Are you more relaxed about that League this year than perhaps others years?

I think with the National League every year we’ve approached it game by game. We’re looking at the Donegal game, we’ve a fantastic opportunity to give players game time and show them what a step up it is, and as last year there was an awful lot of fellas who played in the League who went on and made Championship debuts. The likes of Jack Savage, Jack Barry, Tom O’Sullivan, Kevin McCarthy.

A lot of those fellas wouldn’t have been seen this time last year as possible Championship players and they proved throughout the League they could go on and compete at a Championship level so it will be similar this year. We’ll be looking at the fellas who can handle it, a couple of more fellas will need to develop further, and all in all it will strengthen our squad, and as usual we want to try and win every game.

Explain what is the three-year plan you mentioned?

THAT’S more about the whole county from top to bottom, from (the) development squads to the senior squad. I think what’s driving the three-year plan is that Currans is available to us from now on and there is a Centre of Excellence there, so I think you want to have a plan. I think it’s better to have a plan than not have a plan.

I don’t want to get bogged down in three-year plans really, I think from our point of view we’re thinking about the Donegal game, we’re thinking about developing the squad throughout the League to be as competitive as we possibly can come Championship. That’s the same as every year, the same as it was in 2013 as it is now. It’s important for the county to have a plan to develop all these players.

I think it would be careless, and you could probably use even strong words than that - I think it would be negligent if there wasn’t such a plan in place to have the structures to help those players who have been successful, but at minor level, not under-21 level, which is usually the provider for a senior team. So from that point of view we have to have a plan to develop the players and I think that’s a very positive thing. I don’t think it’s a thing to be threatened by or to hide behind. I think it’s a good thing.

What’s your thoughts on being eight years as Kerry manager if you see out this latest three-year term?

IF I am there that long then it’s a privilege. Every season that you start off in this position it’s a huge honour and privilege to be asked to do the role and be trusted to do the role. That’s the first thing.

Our focus is on this season. That was part of (Chairman) Tim (Murphy) and the lads’ thinking in terms of having a long-term plan so that there wouldn’t be necessarily a kind of uncertainty there.

But from my own point of view we’ll be thinking about this year, thinking about the first game, see if I’m still making a difference, see if I’m still improving the lads, and as long as I’m doing that and as long as the lads are happy it’s an honour to be in the position.

How much correlation do you put on winning the League and following it up with an All-Ireland win later that year?

I THINK if you’re doing well in the League there’s momentum to be got from that into the Championship. Any of the years historically that Kerry have won the League usually we’ve done well in the Championship afterwards. It didn’t quite tally like that last season but Division One is so competitive that if you’re managing to win that it is a huge achievement, there’s no doubt about it.

But I think the Championship is going to be so competitive and this season is going to be different because of the Super 8s and the way the Championship is structured I’m not sure that correlation is going to be as prevalent from now on.

What do you make of the more condensed structure of the League this year?

I THINK it’s appealing to everyone, to management, to players to be playing games week in week out. It will put pressure on, there will be knocks, there will be fatigue.

I think a big challenge for us this year, because of the amount of young players we have in the squad, is going to be the Sigerson. The preliminary round is the week before the Donegal game, the first round proper is the Tuesday after the Donegal game, and we’re playing Mayo six days later, so that’s three games in six days. I don’t know where you can fit the Sigerson to be honest. I don’t have the answers to the fixtures thing but it’s not ideal.

Kerry have three home games and four away fixtures this League. How crucial is it that the home games are won?

I WON’T be counting points. There’s two points up for grabs on the 28th of January and we’ll go from there. I think always with the League because it’s so competitive you end up with funny results. If you were sitting down to pick them now there’s no way you’d predict a lot of them, even from our own point of view.

Like you said, we’ve often been caught in games at home that we’d be expecting to win and we’d get great wins on the road so it really will be a case of taking every game... particularly when we’ve a young squad, we’re trying out a lot of players, there’s a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with Sigerson, fellas returning from injury and so on, so there’ll be a lot of flux I’d imagine in the League.

Are you excited about the year ahead with Kerry?

YEAH, very much so. I wouldn’t be here otherwise, too much goes into it. I’ve been working with the (younger) lads for the last two summers in particular that when they’ve finished up with the Under-21s they’ve come in with us. I think it’s like everything, there has to be a balance.

Of course there’s the excitement of working with the players on the pitch but you have to maybe wait and see how they do in competition then. I think that’s when the real excitement will start to build then for everyone. Be it the younger players or the older lads, I really like working with them and especially when you’re inside in Fitzgerald Stadium on summer evenings and things are going the way you want them to go it is an exciting place to be. That’s why we do the job, that’s why we’re involved, being at training and working with those lads, and when you know how genuine they are and hard working they are and how much they want to succeed, that’s a very fulfilling position to be in.

David Clifford is a player everyone has high expectations for this year. How has been doing so far with the senior set-up?

HE’S been very good, he’s come in kept his head down, he’s worked hard and (done) everything you’d expect from a new player coming in. He’ll get his chance, of course, during the National League and we’re all looking forward to seeing that.

Of course, and you hear it every time he’s mentioned, there has to be patience with him. He’s not even 19 yet, at the end of the month he’s 19, he’s a young man, has the world at his feet, very level-headed, very steady, working hard, from our point of view we can’t ask any more of him, but we all need to be patient. The public need to be patient, we as a management team need to be patient, and he needs to be patient himself.

Do you get any sense of impatience among the Kerry public for All-Ireland success?

THERE’S only one currency in Kerry, I know that, I’ve been through that as a player, I’ve been through that as a manager, that is what it is. That’s

I think it would be negligent if there wasn’t a plan in place to have the structures to help those players who have been successful, but at minor level, not under-21 level, which is usually the provider for a senior team

The public need to be patient, we as a management team need to be patient, and (Clifford) needs to be patient himself

not something that’s going to change, so you deal with that. You go out and try to win every game and that’s it and we’ll see where that takes us.

Sean O’Shea was brought into the panel last year, got no game time, and he was prevented from playing in the County Under-21 Final with Kenmare District. A lot of people took a negative opinion of it. What do you have to say on it?

THE timing of the Under-21 final was unfortunate. From our point of view at the time he was pushing very, very hard for at least coming on, if not more, and it didn’t happen afterwards and because of that the picture was painted a certain way. But would I do it differently? No.

What do you think of the new rule change with the goalkeepers kickout?

IT’S a good thing, wouldn’t have a problem with it. Depending on your personnel in the middle of the field. I suppose possession is king now and possession is so important that lomg fifty-fifty kickouts are less and less.

What do you make of the Club Championhips being completed in April/early May?

I THINK it’s a very positive thing. I think it’s a great initiative in the county. I know that when I was playing there was a couple of times that we felt we had a great chance of winning the intermediate and we got caught in the first round. I’d have loved another bite at it. I think the whole home, away, neutral venue thing is exciting as well. I think for the club players to have that certainty that they are going to get that number of games at that time of the year is great, plus it gives the lads a break away from the Kerry set-up for those weekend which will bring a bit of freshness to us. Of course in the club games every year it happens you pick up a few injuries, it’s just the nature of it, but I think the pay-back is worth it. Every player in the squad gets to play every weekend and I think it’s a positive and I’d have no worries about it to be honest.