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30th Aug 2021

“Managers in Gaelic football now are like Premiership managers” – Colm O’Rourke shares his opinion on Peter Keane

Lee Costello

“The world failed is harsh.”

Success is a subjective matter. If you look at Tipperary’s Munster win last year, that will go down as a hugely successful year, and rightly so.

However, no one in Kerry is going to pencil 2021 as a successful year on the back of their Munster victory and close semi-final loss.

The Kingdom have huge ambitions and expectations, so now the question remains – should Peter Keane stay or go?

Speaking on The Sunday Game, Colm O’Rourke compared the modern GAA manager to a Premier League one.

“There will be a lot of question marks on him now. The world failed is harsh.

“Kerry against Dublin two years ago [All-Ireland final] seemed to have the game for the taking and then lost it in the replay, then lost against Cork last year and then they lost against Tyrone.

“I would say a lot of people in Kerry would have the knives out for him. Maybe that’s unfair.

“Managers in Gaelic football now are like Premiership managers. If you don’t succeed you could get the brush.”

The likes of Chelsea spring to mind, where the expectations are almost impossible to meet, and any successful you do have, is quickly forgotten about the following year.

Longevity in the GAA isn’t quite as a common as it once was, but whether or not it’s as bad as the Premier League where huge sums of money are at risk, probably isn’t fair.

This is more of a Kerry-specific issue, because the fans are so loyal and they breath the sport, but they are unforgiving I their demands, and right now, Peter Keane isn’t meeting them.

LISTEN: The GAA Hour – Klopp in Croker, flop in Kildare and the ‘worst fans’ award?