David Clifford hopeful Jack O'Connor will continue as Kerry manager in 2026

BreakingNews.ie

a day ago

Kerry star David Clifford is hopeful Jack O'Connor will continue as manager in 2026 after guiding them to the All-Ireland.
Following their All-Ireland final win over Donegal, O'Connor, who is in his third spell in charge, hinted his time in charge could be coming to an end.
Advertisement
Having won several All-Ireland's, O'Connor is yet to win back-to-back titles, and Clifford hopes he will be around next season to get his hands on Sam Maguire once again.
"It would be great if we could keep it the same way it was for last year.
"I thought we had a brilliant set-up so hopefully they'll figure things out.".
A year in which questions were raised about Kerry, the Kingdom were the deserved winners after a convincing win over Donegal in July, which followed wins over fellow Ulster sides Cavan, Armagh, and Tyrone.
Advertisement
After their final group stage game, which was a shock defeat to Meath, pundits and former players had their doubts over Kerry.
However, those questions were answered following an emphatic second half win performance over Armagh, which Clifford says was important after the dfeeat to Meath
"It was pointless having the Armagh performance if we didn't back it up. That was a big motivation for us.
"The Armagh performance was great, but we had to back it up in the next two games. The way the season was structured, it nearly felt like we didn't deserve to have a second chance.
Advertisement
"We had the home game against Cavan, so it wasn't the end of the world in that sense. The fact it was week on week, we didn't have much time to reflect. We had a game the following week, so you couldn't feel sorry for yourself.
"We were bad against Meath, if we produced another performance like that we wouldn't have been winning. We were miles off it in terms of physicality and aggression. It just felt like we were flat coming into the game.
"We let people down. We let our management down, we let the Kerry supporters down. So we were disappointed."
At the age of 26, Clifford is viewed already by some as the greatest to ever play the sport.
Advertisement
With two Player of the Year awards in the last three years, and in line for a third in October, the awards and trophies are likely to keep coming for the Kerry forward.
However, just like everyone else, Clifford has moments where he doubts about himself.
"You have doubts every day, 'am I still good enough?' I think everybody has those. It's natural to have doubts in all walks of life."
Contributing to Clifford's season was the new rules, which allowed him to score two points and give him more space in vital moments of games.
In a successful season under the new rules, the Kerry forward says he enjoyed playing under them, while also enjoyed watching so many forwards have a good season.
"I thought they were very enjoyable, I thought they were very enjoyable.
"There was a lot more space, more kick passing. I thought fowardsa played well this year, so that is obviously great for me. I enjoyed it."