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Vacancy

'I had two goes at it and that might be enough for me:' O'Connor distances himself from Kerry job

Jack O’Connor previously guided Kerry to three All-Ireland SFC crowns.

FORMER KERRY BOSS Jack O’Connor has distanced himself from the vacant senior manager position in the county, saying that he is content to continue working with the U20s team.

Kerry are on the hunt for a new manager after Éamonn Fitzmaurice stepped down from the role following their championship exit at the end of the inaugural Super 8s competition, and O’Connor is among the names linked with the job.

O’Connor had two previous stints in charge of the Kerry senior team which delivered All-Ireland success for the Kingdom in 2004, 2006 and 2009.

Speaking on Radio Kerry’s Terrace Talk on Monday night, O’Connor was initially reluctant to discuss the vacancy, preferring to speak about the Kerry minors and their historic five-in-a-row success.

But when pressed on the matter by presenter Tim Moynihan, he said his work as manager of the Kerry U20s is his priority at the moment:

I had two goes at it and that might be enough for me. I’m enjoying what I’m doing with the U20s at the moment.

“The Kerry senior manager is a very tough assignment in the sense that it’s a huge commitment. People don’t realise that you basically wouldn’t want to be working and you’d want an awful lot of energy.

“It’s a huge commitment, there’s no question about it. The level of professionalism that’s in the game now basically demands your full attention. That’s not a job to be taken lightly, there’s no question about that.”

Moynihan then asked O’Connor what he would do if he was hypothetically invited to meet Kerry county board chairman Tim Murphy to discuss the possibility of returning to the helm once more.

O’Connor laughed off the question and said, ‘that’s not a question for me to answer.’

“Look I’m getting a great kick out of being involved with the U20s. We were a bit disappointed this year but we were close.

We were probably missing a bit of class up front but there’s a right good group at U20 level again next year and that’s where my intention lies to be honest with you.”

Other names which have been mentioned as potential candidates to become the next Kerry manager include Maurice Fitzgerald, former Kerry goalkeeper Diarmuid Murphy and Peter Keane, who guided the Kerry minors to that fifth consecutive All-Ireland at the weekend.

You can listen to a podcast of the full show here.

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