No hiding place for Kerry boss under unforgiving spotlight

Timmy Sheehan reflects on the legacy Eamonn Fitzmaurice leaves behind and looks ahead to what’s next for Kerry football

AS ever when it comes to Kerry football when the bomb drops the fall-out is huge. Barely had the realisation started to sink in that Kerry were out of the Championship in early August before the All-Ireland semi-final stage that another bombshell was dropped: Eamonn Fitzmaurice was stepping down as team manager.

It has been, needless to say, the only topic of conversation since Saturday night when Fitzmaurice delivered his decision in a postmatch press conference in which he spelled out the difficulties and the downsides inbuilt in managing the Kerry senior football team.

Such has been Kerry’s rich history, not alone in terms of its success but in the quality of the football successive teams have produced down the decades, that a continuance of that record is not alone expected, but almost demanded in some circles. In many ways it mirrors that of Brazil and soccer, or New Zealand and rugby. Failure in any given season - and in Kerry that’s measured by not winning the All Ireland title - provokes wide ranging reaction, some of it not at all complimentary, and that carries on right throughout the winter months. It’s always been that way, even in the golden era under Mick O’Dwyer, but the type of criticism outlined by the departing Fitzmaurice last weekend brought about a whole new focus on the associated problems of managing at this level, but most especially in Kerry.

Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s tenure will most likely be judged on winning All-Ireland titles. He won one, the same as Jimmy McGuinness with Donegal and Joe Kernan in Armagh. However, he probably won’t be remembered in the same light as those two managers given that he hasn’t delivered Kerry’s expected ratio of titles. Looking back, Kerry have always endured periods of one length or another when Sam Maguire went on vacation elsewhere. Just two titles in the 1960s, and none between 1986 and 1997. The pendulum swings in different directions at varying stages with success, even for Kerry, being difficult to mantain when some other counties produce a team that scales the heights for a period of time and then falls back into the pack as participants rather than contenders.

In the recent past we have had Meath (1996 & ’99), Galway (1998 & 2001), Armagh (2002), Tyrone (2003/’05/’08) and Donegal (2012). So the prolonged level of dominance by Kerry in the 1970s and 1980s realistically is unlikely to be replicated any time soon, if ever.

Kerry, under Fitzmaurice, won six Munster titles, one All-Ireland title, and one National League. Dublin under Jim Gavin enjoyed unparalleled success during that same period. So the Kerry manager is being judged solely against the record of the Boys in Blue. Mick O’Dwyer lost All-Irelands to Kevin Heffernan with the greatest ever Gaelic football team, but it didn’t in any way diminish his greatness. I am not in any way comparing Fitzmaurice with O’Dwyer, but is the former’s record being judged too harshly given the fine margins that have defined this particular era?

Kerry lost to Dublin in the 2013 All-Ireland semi-final by 3-18 to 3-11, but two late goals, one of which was pretty fortuitous, put a false complexion on the final scoreline with the outcome delicately poised with just minutes of normal time remaining. Kerry won the title in 2014, and one year later lost to Dublin in the final by just three points, 0-12 to 0-9. Of the four All-Irelands won by Dublin since 2013, three of them were won by a single point and in circumstances that, at times, provoked a lot of negative opinion and criticism. So Kerry weren’t ever that far away from the top table at any stage, and in terms of trophies they finished ahead of Mayo, even if they haven’t always received favourable comparison to the Red and Green Machine.

Certainly mistakes have been made on the sideline in terms of team selections, tactics and substitutions, some of which have been acknowledged by the management. To this day some are still being scrutinised, with Kieran Donaghy’s non-selection, when he was captain in 2015, being one of those.

When Kerry lose every decision is magnified, whereas Dublin, even if they are just scraping wins by the bare minimum in All-Ireland finals, are constantly being talked up as the greatest team of all time. So, while Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s stewardship may not be looked back upon with great credit in some quarters, looking at it objectively he didn’t do that bad at all, getting the better of McGuinness in that 2014 All-Ireland Final, and Jim Gavin in a National League decider.

Personally, I always Eamonn to be accommodating and respectful at press conferences, along with being extremely gracious in defeat. I remember especially the crucial role his leadership played in UCC’s Championship success in Cork in 1999. A summer to savour with Dr. Con Murphy and a collection of young students from the Kingdom. Anybody who retires as an All-Ireland medal winner as a player and a manager (it should be remembered too that Fitzmaurice managed Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne to Hogan Cup success while he was Kerry manager) can reflect on a career with a great deal of credit and satisfaction.

SO, where does the story go from here? There’s plenty of confidence around the county that the new kids on the block can provide the platform for another productive spell, and those who have already come on board have largely carried the torch for most of this season. But it’s now going to be a period maybe, of prolonged transition