GAELIC GAMES NEWS:JACK O'CONNOR'S second coming as the Kerry football manager was officially ratified at a county board meeting in Tralee last night, but handing the torch back to the self-styled "outsider" from St Finian's Bay on the southwestern, jagged reaches of Ireland seemed inevitable once Pat O'Shea stepped down on October 16th.
Outgoing county secretary Eamonn O'Sullivan, who was joined by Jerome Conway and Patrick O'Sullivan on the committee charged with replacing O'Shea after his two-year tenure, confirmed yesterday that "only one candidate was put forward for ratification by the county delegates".
On the matter of the new management team, Ger O'Keeffe is primed to return, as is the recently retired Eamonn Fitzmaurice, who was part of the Kerry team that won the 2004 All-Ireland under O'Connor - who has been given a two-year term - and still plays at club level with Finuge and Feale Rangers. Still only 31, Fitzmaurice is a surprising option as selector, but he does ensure an immediate link to the current crop of senior players.
O'Connor's previous reign (2004-06) as manager saw Kerry reach three successive All-Ireland finals for the first time since Mick O'Dwyer was in charge. He also gathered a pair of Munster and national league titles, with the only genuine blemish, much like O'Shea, being the 2005 defeat to Mickey Harte's Tyrone.
This season O'Connor returned to the club scene, guiding Kerins O'Rahillys past South Kerry and into Sunday's county final against Mid Kerry. They were already knocked out of the Munster club championship last Sunday, having qualified as the only nonamalgamation team left in the championship, losing to Cork champions Nemo Rangers 2-12 to 0-12.
After his club duties with Kerins O'Rahillys are complete, the immediate challenges for O'Connor appear fourfold: appoint a new physical trainer, deal with the future of the iconic Darragh Ó Sé, solve the continuing fullback problem and beat Tyrone in September.
The last task has proved the rock that the previous three Kerry management teams have perished against: under Páidí Ó Sé (when O'Connor was a selector) in 2003, O'Connor himself, and O'Shea.
The highly-regarded Pat Flanagan has stepped down as trainer, but may be available on a consultancy basis, leaving Alan O'Sullivan, currently working alongside O'Connor at club level, the favourite to be named in charge of conditioning.
O'Sullivan's brother John is a professional rugby player contracted to Munster.
The complete Kerry backroom will not be ratified until the next board meeting in a fortnight.
The main barrier to O'Connor's return was Seán Guiney from Dingle, but he has been retained as the under-21 manager, after previously filling a dual role as a senior selector.
John Kennedy remains as minor football manager, while at last night's meeting, Eamonn O'Sullivan stepped down as county board secretary.
That leaves four high-profile managerial positions yet to be filled at intercounty level ahead of the 2009 season. Or five, if the Cork hurling debacle is to be included, although Gerald McCarthy's tenure has already received a two-year extension.
A replacement for John Meyler as Wexford hurling manager should be sorted by the next board meeting on November 18th, with former selector and Waterford native Kevin Ryan mentioned repeatedly in recent weeks.
In Galway, the search for a successor to Ger Loughnane is being aided by the Clare man's predecessor, Conor Hayes, who captained Galway to their last senior All-Ireland title in 1988. Eight nominations have been received: Michael Bond, Jimmy Heverin, John McIntyre, Gerry Spellman, Anthony Cunningham, Matt Murphy, Noel Lane and Vincent Mullins.
Finally, the new Meath football manager, Eamonn O'Brien, was appointed last night, while former Kilkenny and Tipp hurler Denis Byrne remains the front-runner to take the helm of Dublin hurling; an official announcement on this is also expected on November 18th. Byrne had been assisting the previous regime of Tommy Naughton with skills sessions.
