Fitzmaurice falls on his sword to take heat off younger players

Paul Brennan was at Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s post-match briefing when he announced he was stepping down as Kerry team manager

YOU were a very long time in the dressing room, was there a reason for that?

“I was speaking to the lads, I think it is time for me to move on. I have been in the job for six years. I’ve given it everything I have. I think there are very good foundations there for the future. I think a change of voice, a change of direction will be good. And, I also think by taking me out of the equation, it can remove some of the over-the-top negativity that was coming at the team, which I feel was unfair. When you are preaching about patience about a young group, we didn’t carry through that as a county at all this summer.

“I think part of that was down to the fact that I was there for so long and that, maybe, I was a kind of a lightning rod for that negativity and criticism, which, if you are 19 years of age as David Clifford is or 20 years of age that Seán O’Shea is, the other lads, Gavin White, 21, Jason Foley, 21, and so on up through it, that is not a nice environment to try and develop yourself. It is great when we are in here in Fitzgerald Stadium together, but there is a lot of time when they are out in their own communities and are out in the general public and they are hearing stuff.

“I’m hoping by someone new coming in, they’ll be given a bit of time and space, and I mean real time and real space and real patience to allow the [younger] lads make mistakes, allow bad performances to happen, without it being the end of the world, and appreciate how hard it is to develop a team. As a county, we have probably hung our hat too much on the minor success, which has been outstanding, but winning minor All-Irelands and winning senior All-Irelands are a very different thing. And it takes time.

You feel you were the lightning rod, but you know better than anybody that it doesn’t matter who is managing Kerry, there’d still be the same criticism if they weren’t winning?

“I think you can take criticism, but not overthe-top criticism. The thing about is, I get a lot of the info second and third-hand, I stay out of it because I have to, you’ve enough to be doing when the games are coming thick and fast.

“But I think if you’re being patient there shouldn’t be over-the-top criticism when you’ve a young team. There has to be a realisation within the county that we need to give them a bit of space, a bit of time. And maybe try the positive stance and see how that works, getting behind the team when there’s a bad performance.

“Listen, there’s no standing over our performance in Croke Park against Galway, none of us can still figure out where that came from and I wouldn’t even try to defend it. But, going after that so aggressively doesn’t help younger players. The older lads don’t really care, they’ve been there and they’ve done that, but when you’re trying to develop young players, it’s easier to do it in a positive environment.

“If things are going against the next man there will be question-marks but they’ll be more muted. It gets louder the longer you stay and I don’t like the way that was affecting the group.”

Did you feel you were an obstacle to progress?

“I wouldn’t say that but it has got noisier and noisier. The younger players will benefit from a bit of time and space.”

If Kerry had got to an All-Ireland semi-final and put in a performance against Dubs would have alleviated some pressure?

“Winning things is the answer, there’s no doubt about that. I said at the time, I think Tim [Murphy] felt the same way, a three-year term is great but it’s always assessed and analysed and reviewed on a yearly basis.

“I don’t sign any contract, I’m not paid any money. A three-year term is a verbal commitment and you review it at the end of every year anyway. You sit down, you look back, I’d have always asked myself, ‘Can I give it more, can I make a difference, can I improve it?’

“I think I’m at the point now where the group would benefit from a new voice and a bit of space, but it’s grand me asking for space on the bank holiday weekend in August – if the man loses three games next March, will everybody be down his throat again? I’d hope not.”

Are you referring to the Kerry public or media when you say ‘everyone’?

“It’s everyone. I have a very specific example – could I… no, I won’t go there, they do, yeah [receive undue criticism]. They get it in verbal form, they get it in written form, players, management and selectors. I have a box full of anonymous letters.”

You couldn’t call them real supporters?

“Absolutely, if you’re a supporter you back the team through thick and thin, but there are plenty of them out there. I don’t want to go down the road of ‘poor me’ because it doesn’t bother me at all. It comes with this position and if you’re going to be precious about that coming into it, forget about it. I knew that, I have thicker skin than that, but I don’t like it when it’s happening the players, that’s a different scenario. Does that make it right that it comes with the territory? I don’t know, but that’s a different debate. When it’s happening the players, I don’t think it’s very nice.”

The younger players have performed quite well this summer, but some of the older palyers have underperformed. Are those older players tiring of hearing the same voice?

“It’s always a question, but I don’t think so. I’d have a good relationship with the lads and I

think that’s where a management team comes into effect. There are a lot of different voices there and it’s not as if I’m the only one banging on the whole time. Pádraig Corcoran does a lot on the pitch. Maurice [Fitzgerald] would be vocal, Liam [Hassett] would be vocal, Mikey [Sheehy] would make his point.

“I don’t think it was a case of that, but a new person coming in with different messages, different demands, [the players] having to prove themselves all over again, that can lift the thing a small bit further.

“We are very close, there are good foundations there. All of those young players are going to benefit hugely from exposure to these Super 8 games against Division 1 teams. They’re going to be in a great position next February, facing into the league and next year’s championship. That’s all positive and that would give you energy.

“It isn’t a knee-jerk decision, I was hoping that I’d be doing it after winning the All-Ireland, but you don’t always get what you want.”

Would you have stepped down had Kerry won the All-Ireland?

“I would. I felt it was time.”

Was getting principal in Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne a factor in your decision?

“Not at all.”

Is there an ignorance on behalf of solme people about the demands of inter-county football?

“I don’t want to go down a road of fighting with people, I’m only stating facts. Would you agree that there is negativity in the county over the last number of weeks? I don’t think that helps young players? I would hope that by me stepping away and a new person coming in, they would be afforded a bit of time and space to develop as very exciting young players that are going to be playing for Kerry for a long time, in a positive environment, in a positive atmosphere outside of Fitzgerald Stadium. If that happens, then I’m happy with my decision.”

How would you assess your six years in charge?

“It’s probably early for that. The one thing I’d always say – outside of winning one All-Ireland, we won six Munster championships, we won a League against one of the best teams of all time, we reached another All-Ireland Final – rather than measuring it in cups or wins or whatever, I can look in the mirror and say I gave it absolutely everything I have.

“I tried everything, I did everything – it was enough in 2014, it hasn’t been enough subsequently and that’s sport. You just have to accept sometimes that there are better teams out there.”

Did your selectors try to persuade you stay in the job?

“I’d say the lads would love to be going for another go, but they accepted my reasoning. It wasn’t something we discussed, you discuss at the end of the season and I wasn’t going to be seeing the players again unless you invite them in specifically. You don’t want to be doing that, there’s a time to tell them and I knew it was the right decision. I was hoping it was a thing you’d be doing the Thursday or the Friday after winning the All-Ireland but it didn’t work out that way.”

To clarify, even if Kerry won the All-Ireland this year were you still going to step down?

“I think it would have benefited the group anyway to have a new change of direction. This year was all about building a very solid foundation and trying to be as successful as we can. Considering the amount of young players we used, we stayed in Division 1 and won a Munster championship, we got within an ace of getting into an All-Ireland semi-final, we didn’t do enough in the first day of the Super 8s. I think those lads made big strides and they’ll make even bigger strides next year.”

Early in the year you were preaching patience, but then before the Munster Championship you said you were expecting a “huge Championship” for Kerry. Was that ill-advised now?

“We played five games in the Championship, I would say in three of them we played the way we can play. We played the way we can play against Clare and Cork – they’re nearly completely written off now that they were useless rather than us doing our job but, regardless of the opposition, we’d have beaten most teams playing the way we did. I think we played particularly well in the second half today and in the second half of the Monaghan game, but we didn’t show up against Galway. You can’t do that at that stage.

“I would have expected the performances against Clare and Cork to be our standard the whole way through, but when you’re developing a team, there are going to be peaks and troughs. I wouldn’t have seen that before the Championship because I felt we were in a very good position, but it didn’t work out that way.”

Have you any regrets over the last six years?

“None.”

What would be the highlights from your time?

“Beating Mayo in the replay in Limerick was a big day, winning the All-Ireland, beating Tyrone in Croke Park for me personally was a big one in 2015, the semi-final, because we hadn’t beaten them since Mikey’s team. Winning the first Munster championship out here was a big one, winning the league, there have been loads of great days but there have been loads of head-scratching days as well, that’s for sure.”

Is it futile to even try to change the mindset of some Kerry supporters?

“I think there is patience at times. I don’t know, I don’t have the answer – I tried to preach patience this year and it didn’t work out too well, did it?!”

[The players] get it in verbal form, they get it in written form, players, management and selectors. I have a box full of anonymous letters.”