Eamonn Fitzmaurice is Kerry through and through. As supporters we need to ask ourselves, are we?

Sean O’Sulluvan reflects on Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s time as Kerry manager and remembers a former team mate, a manager and a good friend

THERE was a real sense of finality on Saturday evening as Kerry’s Championship hopes came to an end. They held up their side of the bargain by beating Kildare by the requisite tally and more. Unfortunately when your fate is in the hands of others you are left helpless when the tide goes against you.

Kerry’s performance probably typified their season. There was good and bad. The good coming mainly in the second half when it looked like finally Kerry just threw caution to wind and went for it. It helped that Kildare were down to fourteen men as up until then the Lilywhites were causing our backs serious problems. They had rattled up seven points in the first twenty minutes (all from play) and it looked like that whatever happened up in Galway didn’t really matter. Neil Flynn’s sending off just before half time certainly swung things in Kerry’s favour but credit where credit is due, Kerry sensed blood and pounced after the restart. They did all they could do putting up a fine tally of 3-25 which isn’t surprising. We all know this team is capable of doing that anytime they take to field but in the summer of 2018 it just never happened and for that our manager paid the price.

I first shared a dressing room with Eamonn Fitzmaurice in 2002 and when he was appointed boss of the

Kerry seniors six years ago it didn’t come as a surprise. From private words of advice to composed contributions at team meetings, the man had inter-county manager written all over him.

For me his greatest strength was his attention to detail. He did a serious amount of work on his opponent and this was back in the days when video analysis was still a pretty new phenomenon. He was selfless when it came to the team and often would be the first guy to put his hand around a fella who was having a tough time of it.

He served his apprenticeship as a selector with the seniors - and as the Kerry U-21 team manager - and so he became the obvious choice when Kerry went looking for Jack O’Connor’s successor.

One moment stands out for me personally and it came back in 2009. We had lost to Cork in Cork and I hadn’t seen any game time despite going well (I thought so anyway!) in training. The mood in the old dressing rooms of Pairc Ui Chaoimh was not good but Eamonn made a point of going over to every unused sub that day for a quiet word. I wasn’t happy and I’m sure the rest of the lads were in similar form. I had my speech ready for Eamonn as he sat down beside me. I was ready to go. He was going to get both barrels! But Eamonn being Eamonn pre-empted my mood and before I could open my mouth he had basically said to me what I was going to say to him. He knew I was pissed off. He knew I was ready to vent but he also knew that with a road down the Qualifiers now in sight the management needed to keep the squad united. There was a round of the county championship coming up and he told me to go out and turn the negative energy I was feeling there and then into a positive.

The point I’m making hereis

that he was a man manager. A real players’ man. The current crop of Kerry players are a guarded bunch. They have to be with the way the world is now but if you ask any of them about Eamonn that’s the vibe you get off them. He would never hang a player out to dry. He understood from the day he took the job that the buck would stop with him, good or bad. He got about his job in the most humble and admirable manner and won the trophies as well.

The 2014 All-Ireland win will, of course, be the highlight. It will go down as one of the most tactically astute performances of Kerry’s great history. Beating this current Dublin side in the National League Final of 2017 was also a great day and gives us hope that we are not that far away from the possibly one of the best teams of all time. Throw in our dominance of the Munster Championship and all in all Eamonn’s reign hasn’t been too shabby.

Would he have loved to have won more? No question. Were there days when his tactics and planning didn’t go the way he would have liked? Absolutely, but that’s sport, that’s management. If it was easy then everyone would be at it.

That’s what most disappointing for me when Eamonn announced he was stepping down. He revealed he had a box of anonymous letters from so-called Kerry fans, which I’m sure weren’t of a positive nature. That type of carry on makes me sick to my stomach. Eamonn and his family are strong enough mentally to not be bothered by that garbage but it still isn’t nice. Why someone would stoop so low to do that is beyond me.

I have always envisioned myself getting into some form of coaching at county level in the future but to be quite honest that type of stuff would make me really question if it’s worth it. If any of those faceless cowards happen to read this piece I say shame on you.

It’s the end of an era, not just for Eamonn you’d think, but also for some of these Kerry players. They will take a while to consider their future and make some tough decisions. Like Eamonn they owe the county nothing. They put their lives on the line to represent me, you, us. And the next man who comes in to lead the new generation of Kerry footballers need me, you, and us all more than ever.

Eamonn Fitzmaurice leaves his role and this team in fine fettle for the future. As he said himself he lived the dream and has no regrets. He is Kerry through and through. As supporters we need to ask ourselves, are we?