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O Se is contrite over comment on Kerry fans

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

Following a statement by the county board that criticised O Se’s description and sympathized with the supporters, O Se saw fit to issue an apology from South Africa, where he was on holiday with most of the Kerry players. In the meantime, former Kerry great Ger Power had also criticized O Se for his unsavory use of language.
Then a poll of its listeners taken by Radio Kerry concluded by a small majority that O Se should resign as manager. However, the journalist who had quoted O Se, Kevin Kimmage of the Sunday Independent, explained the circumstances in which the words were used. Asked why Kerry had lost prestige after coming to within a point of All Ireland champions Armagh, O Se responded:
“We are gracious in defeat, but deep down, Kerry people don’t like to lose. Being a Kerry manager is probably the hardest job in the world, because Kerry people I’d say are the roughest type of bleeping animals you could ever deal with. And you can print that.”
Kimmage pointed out that his immediate response to O Se’s remarks was laughter. He emphasized that the tone was exuberant and humorous and that while the quote looked starker in cold print, it was definitely spoken in jest.
Without glossing over the county board’s pompous overreaction, there were suggestions in the interview that shed some interesting light on O Se’s relationship with the panel’s physical trainer, John O’Keeffe. O Se’s suggestions that O’Keeffe’s regime had somehow meant that Maurice Fitzgerald made himself unavailable, and his insistence that he would follow his instincts more this season, did not go down too well with O’Keeffe’s supporters.

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