ALTHOUGH speculation is rife, Kerry County Board Chairman, Tim Murphy, has stressed that no official announcement about the preferred candidate for the vacant Kerry senior manager’s job will be will be made before next Monday night’s meeting of the Kerry County Board.
At that meeting the chairman will propose a manager – along with a new management team – for ratification by club delegates.
Mr Murphy has also confirmed that the proposed candidate will not be in attendance at the meeting but the chairman will be available for questions from the media directly after the meeting.
While no official announcement has been made, KillarneyToday.com revealed early last week that sources close to the selection committee had indicated that former attacking ace Maurice Fitzgerald had emerged as the favourite to succeed Eamonn Fitzmaurice in the hotseat.
Well-placed sources have indicated that former Castleisland Desmonds All-Ireland Club Championship winner, Donie Buckley – who trained Mayo for the past six seasons – and former Kerry defender Stephen Stack are expected to be part of the management team.
Peter Keane, who led Kerry to the last three All-Ireland minor title triumphs, was thought to have been the early clear favourite for what is perhaps the most demanding management job in the GAA.
Former boss Jack O’Connor was also in the reckoning but distanced himself from the post saying he was enjoying his role with the Under 21 squad.
“I had two goes at it now and that might be enough for me. I’m enjoying what I’m doing with the under 20s at the moment,” he said.
Maurice Fitzgerald, who guided St Mary’s Caherciveen to an All-Ireland Intermediate title in 2016, had been a selector with Eamonn Fitzmaurice last season and it understood to have built up a good rapport and working relationship with chairman Murphy.
The four-man selection committee, headed by the chairman, also included secretary Peter Twiss, coaching officer Terence Houlihan and development officer Eamonn Whelan.
The selection team had always expressed a strong preference for a management team as opposed to an individual manager working with selectors.
Mr Murphy met with the chairpersons and secretaries of clubs in the county and he said there was a preference for a team approach rather than having one man in charge.
“It’s important, from our point of view, that we respect the wishes of the clubs,” he stated.
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