Kerry fans need to be patient with Fitzmaurice

IT OFFERS you a window into the mindset in Kerry that there wasn’t a wireless without an ear stuck to it when Eamonn Fitzmaurice was a feature of an hour-long interview on local radio.

It had the feel of a ‘state of the nation’ address and was perhaps something he felt he needed to do given the unhappiness from some sections of the Kerry support-base in the aftermath of last year’s Championship.

Call it a charm offensive, but I think it was more of a reality check.

It was not so much that he was down-beat about Kerry’s chance but the fact that as he touched on all the new faces that the public got a real sense that he is the early stages of a major rebuilding project.

There is no real sense here that this is going to be Kerry’s year, although that was the vibe in 2014 and we all know how that rolled.

But this time I think the Kerry public see that not only is there a pathway to a better future, but that is a sustainable one as well.

Of course, that is not to say if Eamonn returns home empty-handed at the end of the summer, that some won’t be calling for his head.

But that is the price of serial success and it’s one he will be happy to pay for over now as a deposit for bigger and better things to come