Miscellaneous

Lean times for Kerry and our three great midfielders

August 31st, 2010
by Weeshie Fogarty

And so as expected it goes on and on. And what is that you may well ask? That which is the life blood of the county and that which every Tom, Dick and Harry, man woman and child is entitled to express on himself as an expert, a know all and a selector just awaiting the call for higher authorities to help solve the problem. Yes indeed it is one of the "Secrets of Kerry" and every time our senior team loses a match and are knocked out of the championship it begins all over the county and far beyond our shores as exiles and relations in far away places are also engrossed in this traditional great Kerry debate, and that is. What is wrong with Kerry football and exactly how can it be rectified? Ever since the Down defeat thousand of words have been spoken and written as to how the present state of Kerry football can be improved and set the county on another glorious run of All Ireland wins.

Suggestions have come from far and wide. Every so called expert has had their say. The defeats of our minor, under twenty-one and junior teams have only added fuel to fire. Many will say it is the natural cycle of events and no one county can dominate forever. This of course applies to all sports in all countries. While I am not for one second suggesting that Kerry are in the doldrums because of just one defeat the big worry is that maybe, just maybe we might be heading for a very lean period. The answers will come when the new National League begins and Jack o Connor (hopefully it will be him) and his generals begin the task of unearthing new talent and remaining in division one. Have the foundations for the future well being of Kerry football been laid over the past ten, twenty, thirty years. Is there a well oiled and highly organized mechanism ready to roll and bring budding young Kerry players to the top? We shall see. It is inevitable that some of the great players of the past will decide to call it a day. Replacements as good as those will take a couple of years to develop adjust and mature physically and mentally and more worryingly also is that we must have a squad of substitutes good enough to come on and change the course of a big game. I believe we need at least ten new men that will hopefully make the grade.

It is literally impossible to win an All ireland to day with out at least five men on the bench just as good as the men on the first fifteen. The county board has a massive responsibility to guide and direct the county's fortunes during these crucial times. Kerry has the best football brains, knowledge and experience available more that any of the other thirty one counties'. Can you imagine the following men sitting down in a room under the county chairman and coming up with a blue print for Kerry football? Mick o Dwyer, Jack o Connor, Liam Kerins, Paudie o Se, Johnny Culloty, Ger o Keeffe, Eamon Fitzmaurice, Pat Flanagan, John Evans, Mickey "Ned" o Sullivan, John o Keeffe, Ogie Moran, Thomas o Flahertha. What I would give to be the fly on that wall. Its all so simple but I know it will never happen. However where there's a will there's a way. What harm would it do? 

But what about our mid field problem. Well here's some great food for thought. Just read this fascinating theory that I received from my great friend Niall Flynn in America, he the author of that wonderful bible on Kerry football "Thirty Six and Counting," its self explanatory and might hint just why we might not win Sam for a long time to come. Make up your own mind on the following. "Weeshie I was listening to you on Radio Kerry discuss the greatest Kerry players that you saw over the years and it got me to thinking about our mid-fielders and who were our best two down through the years.  With "36 And Counting" as my reference, I came up with the following startling observation. Kerry won our 18th All-Ireland title in 1955.  Since then we have won eighteen more.  It is nice and even...in the fifty five years from 1900 to 1955, we won eighteen, and in the fifty five years since 1955 we won eighteen.  That's nice...sure the mid-point had to be somewhere, and 1955 is as good as any other winning year.  But 1955 is special for the composition of our winning teams since then. Since 1955, Kerry has been blessed with three of the greatest players to ever play the game...and all wore the number eight jersey for Kerry.  They are of course Mick O'Connell, Jack O'Shea and Darragh O'Sé.

Of our eighteen All-Ireland titles since 1955, only one featured a team without one of the three as the holder of the mid-field role for Kerry.  That's right...seventeen of our last eighteen titles had Mick O'Connell, Jack O'Shea or Darragh O'Sé in the number eight geansai for the vast majority of our championship games.  A few games were missed here and there through injury or suspension but only Darragh had to miss out on an All-Ireland final when he missed the 2004 final against Mayo with a foot injury. What about the other All-Ireland?  What All-Ireland victory since 1955 did not feature Micko, Jacko or Darragh on the panel?

Well, people have often said that the 1975 All-Ireland title was a fluke...I'm not sure it was a fluke, but it certainly is a statistical oddity.  Paudie Lynch and Pat McCarthy was the midfield partnership that wet day when Kerry silenced Heffo's Army.  John Egan scored an early goal, and Mickey Ned O'Sullivan's early departure after a trademark solo run left him unconscious are the main memories from that game, which also featured Pat Spillane receiving Sam Maguire on behalf of Mickey Ned.  Pat had not yet turned 20 years of age...surely one of the youngest ever to receive football's most coveted prize.

There you have it Weeshie, what do you make of that?  Seventeen out of the last eighteen with one of these three involved is some record. If Mount Rushmore can carve the faces of four US Presidents into the side of a mountain, Kerry football should recognize these three with an equally permanent marker. How about a statue outside Fitzgerald Stadium?  Not only to remind Kerry fans of our glorious past, but to challenge and invigorate the youth to reach for the stars as well. Now...where is the next number eight to add to the list?"



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