Kerry candidates thin on ground

The search for a new Kerry senior football manager looks set to continue for at least another week. Over a month after Jack O'Connor surprised many and stepped down as their All-Ireland winning manager the Kerry County Board are still no closer to finding a replacement, although they are still hopeful of having a new man in place in time for the county convention on December 11th.

A three-man subcommittee was formed, consisting of chairman Seán Walsh, secretary Eamon O'Sullivan and treasurer John Joe Carroll, and their first job was to compile a list of candidates. According to O'Sullivan, however, so far even that task hasn't been easy.

"We have drawn up a list of candidates, but the bottom line is it's a very short list. There just aren't too many people interested in the job, for one reason or another. And I am a little surprised with that.

"But then a lot of people have ruled themselves out as well. Like Eoin Liston and Ger O'Keeffe, they've definitely ruled themselves out. That makes the job of finding a replacement a lot more difficult."

One of the leading candidates from an early stage was Pat O'Shea, current manager of the Killarney club Dr Crokes. Although they were beaten by South Kerry in the county final earlier this month, they will represent Kerry in the Munster club championship, as South Kerry are a representative side. Dr Crokes play Cork champions Nemo Rangers in the Munster semi-final this Sunday, and at this point that remains O'Shea's priority.

But there is also the apparent obstacle of O'Shea's role as full-time games manager with the Munster Council. According to the Munster Council chairman, Seán Fogarty, it's impossible for full-time GAA coaches to manage county teams because of a conflict of interest and the time constraints involved.

"Well he (O'Shea) is part of the list of people we're looking at," added O'Sullivan. "But we haven't spoken with him yet. The difficulty there is that he is employed by the Munster Council, and I suppose it's really up to him to rule himself in or out.

"So I can't see anything happening this side of convention. Obviously we want to get someone in place sooner rather than later, but it's just not so straight-forward when you're presented with the difficulties we are."

Others to rule themselves out were John Kennedy, the current minor manager, who decided to stick with his job for another year, and former manager Páidí Ó Sé. Mick O'Dwyer was another potential candidate had he not committed to Wicklow a week before O'Connor's resignation.

O'Connor's entire backroom team of trainer Pat Flanagan and selectors Ger O'Keeffe and Johnny Culloty also followed suit. After winning two All-Ireland titles in his first three years the job was always O'Connor's for another year if he wanted it, and the county board could yet be regretting their failure to entice him to stay on for another year.

Elsewhere, the Ulster Council will this evening hold an emergency meeting to decide what course of action to take following violent scenes which marred the provincial club championship game at the weekend. Fighting erupted following the Ulster club intermediate football semi-final between Armagh champions Ballymacnab and Stewartstown of Tyrone at Casement Park.

The report of Fermanagh referee Martin Higgins will be discussed, and it's likely further action will follow. Ulster Council secretary Danny Murphy has already intimated "serious decisions"could be taken as a result of incidents he described as "a disgrace". The game ended in a draw, after Stewartstown came from five points down to tie it up at 0-11 each.

While a replay has been set for the senior game between Errigal-Ciarán and Ballinderry, which also featured on the Casement Park double bill, no rematch has been fixed for the Stewartstown-Ballymacnab tie.

Errigal and Ballinderry will meet at Casement Park this Sunday following their 0-10 to 0-10 draw.