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22nd June 2025
04:03pm BST
Following Kerry's shock hammering at the hands of Meath last weekend, Darragh Ó Sé, a six-time All-Ireland winner with the Kingdom, questioned boss Jack O'Connor and his blooding of new players.
He said: “That’s the biggest criticism Kerry people have of Jack O’Connor. He hasn’t future-proofed the squad during his time in charge. The Kerry team now is very similar to what it was when he took over at the end of 2021…
“Jack doesn’t like losing and he knows well that a chunk of Kerry supporters will think the sky is falling in if they get relegated from Division One.
“But every one of the other All-Ireland contenders has spent a bit of time in Division Two. They blooded players along the way and now they’re in much better shape.”
After yesterday's 3-20 to 1-17 preliminary quarter-final win over Cavan at Fitzgerald Stadium, O'Connor hit back at Ó Sé.
The manager said: "Yerra, he’d be better off doing a bit of coaching himself…
"There’s a lot of pressure on Kerry players from the supporters and it’s just hard for players.
"I mean that was a difficult environment for the lads to play football today because after the performance last week there was huge pressure on them to perform.
"That can be a difficult environment so oftentimes then it’s easier to go to Croke Park you know away from home and actually express yourself and play without fear and play with a bit of abandon."
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