Ger O’Keeffe believes Jack O’Connor will return for a third spell as Kerry manager

Former Kerry player Ger O'Keeffe suspects Jack O'Connor will return for a third spell as the Kingdom's senior football team manager.

O’Connor, who masterminded three All-Ireland title wins during two stints at the helm, guided Kerry’s minors to back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015.

The Dromid Pearses man is stepping up to the under-21 ranks and O’Keeffe, a former senior county selector with O’Connor in 2006, believes he’ll return as county manager in time.

O’Keeffe said: “That’s the big question – he’s certainly young enough and football is bred into his life. 2011 (All-Ireland final defeat to Dublin) was a disappointment, so was 2012 and one never knows. Kerry have been blessed with the fact that they have some very good coaches, particularly in the present situation.

“With Eamonn (Fitzmaurice) and Jack,they’re great thinkers and great GAA men. They know the game inside out, can read the game, can coach football, man manage and most importantly of all, they have the support of everybody.”

Former All-Ireland medallist O’Keeffe admits he was blown away by the Kerry minors this year as they retained their crown. He added: “He (O’Connor) did a fantastic coaching job. Looking back on the day of the final (against Tipperary), it was an outstanding display of football and coaching on the minor team.

“I thought it was a super performance. I’d feel sorry for Tipp in that eight or nine of those minors were beaten in the hurling too and they may have had a hangover from that. But it was the style of football that Kerry played, the way they worked the ball to players running into positions.

“If anybody wanted a coaching manual to give to schools and underage football, that game was outstanding.”

Semi-finals

Reflecting on Kerry’s senior final defeat against Dublin, O’Keeffe is calling for change, insisting that both semi-finals should be played over the course of one weekend. He explained: “One of the most important things not given enough of credence was that Kerry hadn’t played a game for four weeks, and Dublin had two games. Dublin seemed more up for it and no matter how much training you do, no matter how good you feel you’re doing in training, you can’t beat match practice.

“The ideal scenario for Dublin is that they won the replay and had two weeks to a final – brilliant. But Kerry were there for two weeks not knowing who they were going to play. It’s one of the anomalies in Gaelic Football, in the championship.

“If the first game in the semi-finals is a straight result and if there’s a draw in the second semi-final, the team that plays the second game has two matches while the other team has nothing.It’s a huge advantage.

“There could be something said for playing the semi-finals on a Saturday and Sunday, on the same weekend.

"Teams from the West, and Kerry, might make a weekend of it and while it might affect business (in Dublin), it means that people travelling for Kerry, Mayo or Donegal might get two games to watch. I don't think it would affect crowds - it might improve them."