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Irish Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Clifford delivers verdict on Jack O'Connor's Kerry future after retirement hint
Paudie Clifford believes Jack O'Connor may find it hard to walk away from a young Kerry side hungry for more success. O'Connor had indicated he might step down after guiding Kerry to this year's All-Ireland title – their second in four years. The 64-year-old said last month: 'There's a lot more people down the corridor. Look, we'll do that in due course. There's no hurry. 'I was going out the door Thursday evening with the bag and my mrs took a picture of me going out the gate. 'I have a fair idea that will be up on the wall as my last hurrah. I'd say now she'll be firm on that one.' But there has been no official word on the Kerry managerial situation, and Clifford, who was at the heart of Kerry's success this season, reckons O'Connor could end up backtracking on his retirement plans. Clifford told The Square Ball podcast: "I haven't been talking to him or anything about it, but I think he should [continue in the role]. "Our squad depth was underrated, but it's going to be very important for all those lads to keep pushing on. "It's no good doing it for one year. Winning two All-Irelands isn't enough for this team. We need to keep going. "There is nothing wrong with two All-Irelands but there wouldn't be much point resting on our laurels in our peak years." The age profile of the Kerry squad suggests that there could be many more All-Ireland titles in their future. Paudie turns 28 next month, while his brother David will be 26 in January. Similarly, the likes of Seanie O'Shea, 27, Joe O'Connor, 25, Gavin White, 28, and Tom O'Sullivan, 28, all look to have some of their best years ahead of them. The Kingdom's 2009 All-Ireland winning captain Darran O'Sullivan thinks that O'Connor, given the talent at his disposal, will be tempted into another year. O'Sullivan said: "Jack would be crazy to leave. This team is not even at the peak of its powers, it's only moving into that stage."
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Paudie Clifford weighs in on whether Jack O'Connor will return as Kerry manager after All-Ireland run
Two county icons have tipped O'Connor to stay on STILL KING? Paudie Clifford weighs in on whether Jack O'Connor will return as Kerry manager after All-Ireland run PAUDIE Clifford has supplied a breadcrumb of information around the mystery of whether Jack O'Connor will remain as Kerry boss. In the immediate aftermath of the Kingdom reclaiming Sam Maguire, O'Connor had virtually stated that their final success over Donegal would serve as his swansong. 2 Clifford bossed proceedings as Donegal gave him the freedom of Croke Park 2 O'Connor is now only behind Mick O'Dwyer and Jim Gavin with five All-Ireland football titles to his name as manager The 64-year-old laid out: 'I think I was on record earlier in the year that it would probably be my last hurrah, do you know, so. I don't want to be telling ye lads before I tell anyone else. 'There's a lot more people down the corridor. Look, we'll do that in due course. There's no hurry. 'I was going out the door Thursday evening with the bag and my mrs took a picture of me going out the gate. 'I have a fair idea that will be up on the wall as my last hurrah. I'd say now she'll be firm on that one.' He repeated that line about his wife being insistent on him finally blowing the full-time whistle on his managerial career at that evening's victory banquet. However, other high-profile figures in the county such as Tomás Ó Sé and Pat Spillane have suggested it's more likely than not that O'Connor will be back on the sideline next year. When quizzed on The Sunday Game if he'd be keen on potentially replacing the Dromid Pearses clubman, Ó Sé remarked: "Jack said it there, Jack writes the script now. "He's in there with a fresh group. Why would you leave? As far as I know there's no vacancy in Kerry to be discussing." Now the elder Clifford brother has given his say on the matter - albeit he kept his cards close to his chest. He was asked on The Square Ball podcast about whether he expects O'Connor to row back on his previous public comments that indicated he was leaning towards walking away. TJ Reid and wife Niamh de Brun's gorgeous pregnancy reveal The Fossa playmaker concurred with the question's premise, adding: "I think so. I haven't been talking to him or anything about it, but I think he should. "Our squad depth was under-rated, but it's going to be very important for all those lads to keep pushing on. "It's no good doing it for one year. Winning two All-Irelands isn't enough for this team. We need to keep going. "There is nothing wrong with two All-Irelands but there wouldn't be much point resting on our laurels in our peak years." SULLY'S SAY The show is hosted by Dave McIntyre and All-Ireland winning captain Darran O'Sullivan who was happy to be far more free-wheeling with his choice of wording. The ex-Kerry speedster went so far as to argue: "Jack would be crazy to leave. This team is not even at the peak of its powers, it's only moving into that stage." It's easy to see why that view is so widely held when you consider the age profile of their core players. Paudie will turn 28 next month while brother David is 26. Sean O'Shea is 27 and breakout force Joe O'Connor is 25. Even captain Gavin White has plenty of prime years left at 28 - an age shared by Tom O'Sullivan - with established goalkeeper Shane Ryan just a year older. Realistically, Paul Geaney, Paul Murphy and Tadhg Morley are the only names from their panel that spring to mind as potential retirees over the off-season with the first two 34 while the latter's 32.
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Clifford: 'To be told that we'd be put out of our misery... that's why we were so hurt'
Apart altogether from its depth and range of talent, Paudie Clifford rates this Kerry team the fittest he has played on. "It is, I think. A lot of us are coming to our peak and it's just the years of hard work. "It's not like we did a lot of extra work in the gym (this year). We might have done a bit more on the pitch, started a bit earlier. But I think it's just us coming to our peak years and our bodies developing. "There might have been one or two fellas who felt they were a bit heavier, or the opposite, needed to put on a bit of muscle, who did that this year. "And I know for a fact the hunger is going to be there to try and be fitter and stronger for next year." Speaking on The Square Ball podcast, Clifford expects manager Jack O'Connor to row back on his hints that he will now step away from the job. "I think so. I haven't been talking to him or anything about it, but I think he should. "Our squad depth was underated, but it's going to be very important for all those lads to keep pushing on. It's no good doing it for one year. Winning two All-Irelands isn't enough for this team. We need to keep going. There is nothing wrong with two All-Irelands but there wouldn't be much point resting on our laurels in our peak years." Former Kerry star Darran O'Sullivan agrees O'Connor will find chasing back-to-back titles too sweet a carrot to resist. "Jack would be crazy to leave. This team is not even at the peak of its powers, it's only moving into that stage." The pair also made efforts to untangle the powerful and almost magical ability of Kerry footballers to get annoyed and motivated at being criticised by other Kerry footballers who they know well are only doing it to annoy and motivate them. After the All-Ireland final win, Clifford rounded on the critics who had supposedly written off Kerry, while earlier in the season Jack O'Connor took former star Darragh Ó Sé to task for a critical Irish Times column written after the defeat by Meath, when he talked of an air of finality around Kerry's season. Clifford expanded: "Obviously some of the comments that were made... one of them was to be put out of our misery. "I know Darragh meant it to get a reaction. I'd never say anything about Darragh. Darragh is the man. He definitely got a reaction. "I think it was just that we work so hard as a team, and the management team, and fellas have wanted to play for Kerry all their lives, to be told that we'd be put out of our misery... that's why we were so hurt about it. "It motivates you, it motivated us. Again, we're our own biggest critics, we reallised we underperformed as a team in some of the last few years. To only have one All-Ireland for the talent we feel we have, we fully admitted it ourselves. "But you just use the outside noise as a motivator just to give you another edge. You know none of the comments are personal or anything like that. We knew that a lot of the comments were true, that we have underperformed in some bigger games and lost some games we could have won." While almost every GAA team has harnessed, at times, the power of being 'written off coming up here today', O'Sullivan accepted the Kingdom has limitless energy resources in this area. "You can guarantee with some of the former players, they're saying 'we'll throw the knife in here' and we'll see the boys coming back. There is nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal. "I think it's a good thing to be honest." Are Kerry champions of this fine art too? O'Sullivan added: "I don't think other counties do it. Or they don't do it as well as we do anyway." "It's possible," Clifford accepted, of Kerry's uniqueness in this field. "There's probably only a bit of craic in it at times. You might hop off each other if we met each other in the street. We'd be slagging each other about it. That's kind of the way it is down here." Whatever way it is, Clifford suggested the reaction in-house to that infamous defeat by Meath shaped Kerry's performances on the run to the final. "The mindet was different on the Monday. "We might have scraped those few games (without that defeat) but I don't think we'd have had the three massive performances that we did. "When you win a game, even by a point, you're not as critical of yourselves as you should be."
BBC News
29-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
'Gradual build-up' the plan for Rangers' potential new owners?
With Rangers' disappointing season trundling towards a conclusion, fans are looking ahead to a summer of huge change at club are set to come under new ownership - talks are continuing with a US-based consortium including the San Francisco 49ers - and a new manager also has to be might Ibrox fans expect in year one of the new era?"I don't see 49ers and Andrew Cavenagh coming in and just throwing money at it and saying we have to go and win the league in season one," says Chris Jack of the Rangers on the Scottish football podcast, Jack added: "If you look at the way they have operated elsewhere, it has been a bit more of gradual build-up."And of course, in Glasgow, second is last and if you don't win the league, it's a disaster. Rangers fans will never accept not winning the title, not winning domestic trophies and not challenging in later stages of European competition. So the new owners will come in with all that burden and all that expectation."But I do expect them to try and build Rangers up. It's almost a bit of both. They will have to make inroads very quickly. They will have to be successful early on. But there will be a longer-term plan for the club to grow and evolve as the investment continues."In 12 months' time they need to have a trophy in the cabinet at Ibrox. Ultimately that's how their first season will be judged."I think they come in with a of a feelgood factor behind them. That feelgood factor will only remain behind them for as long as Rangers fans see that they are making the right decisions."Paraag Marathe, the Leeds United chairman and the force behind 49ers Enterprises - the investment wing of the 49ers NFL franchise - is a key player in the prospective Rangers Normanton, co-host of Leeds podcast The Square Ball, says: "I can't see the fanbases of either club willing to accept being second place in this particular pecking order."There may be some transfer of players between the club, but it doesn't feel like we're entering like a Red Bull/City Football Group system where there's going to be a constant churn of players between."
