Kerry unrest as board tell Keane to freshen up management team
THE Kerry GAA executive wants Peter Keane to make changes to his backroom team ahead of the new season as the fallout from their loss to Cork in the Munster semi-final intensifies.
Keane has come under pressure since the game over the team’s tactical approach. Significant player disquiet with aspects of management of the team is also believed to have surfaced.
But suggestions circulating on social media of a player heave against Keane (inset) on the back of a vote at a scheduled meeting over the weekend have been rejected by Kerry GAA sources, who expect that he will still see out the third year of a three-year term.
While the condition of backroom change is anticipated, it remains to be seen just how that will be implemented as the county reel from an earlier-than-expected championship exit.
Earlier this year, Keane dispensed pensed with the services of Donie Buckley, who had been part of his management and did not replace him, preferring instead to press on with the coaches who assisted him to win three All-Ireland minor titles, Tommy Griffin and James Foley. Maurice Fitzgerald remains part of the backroom team.
Kerry issued a statement at the time saying Buckley was
“no longer a member of the e senior management team”. ” When pressed in a media call last month on the issue, e, Keane did not disclose why hy they had parted company.
“What I can say is that we parted company, but I don’t get into individual discussions I have with either members of the management or the players,” he said at the time. “You have privileged discussions going on all of the time and that would be a breach of them.”
It had been a preference of the execu-tive when replacing repla Eamonn Fitzmaurice in 2018 that Buckley would be part of a future backroom team, but that arrangement barely lasted into a second season.
A meeting between the members of the executive and Keane to convey a desire for change to strengthen the backroom team has already taken place, place with a further meeting planned pla for next week. The Kerry management . have received criticism in the county for their cautious c approach to the Cork Co game, particularly the choice cho of Brian Ó Beaglaoich, a defender, defe to replace Stephen O’Brien in the half-forward line. Keane now faces mounting challenges to retain support within the dressing-room and around the county as Dublin prime themselves to add a sixth successive All-Ireland title, something that is sure to create further unease in the Kingdom.