KERRY boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice is preparing for a Super 8 situation he acknowledges could be out of his team's hands.
As Kerry gear up for a crunch Super 8 clash with Kildare in Killarney next Saturday evening, Fitzmaurice knows that an awful lot depends on the result of the Galway versus Monaghan game, being played out at the same time.
And he shares some of the Kingdom supporters concerns about why the team have underperformed so much thus far in the Super 8.
“That’s the ‘Million Dollar Question’,'' he said.
“But I still don’t have the answer as to why we were so bad against Galway even though I felt that we came on an awful lot last Sunday in Clones against Monaghan.
“The one thing I found different playing Monaghan was when we had the ball they were set-up in a very orthodox way while against Galway we found ourselves up against a complete blanket.
“We know that we are still not where we want to be in terms of our performance but the ‘chat’ that goes on amongst supporters is something that comes with the job.
“I’m sure there’s plenty of it going on but we’re keeping our heads down.
“A couple of wins goes a long way towards sorting that (chat) out,” the Kerry boss added about the present uneasy mood amongst the county’s supporters.
The substitution and reintroduction of Paul Geaney last Sunday in Clones was a big talking point in the game’s aftermath, but Fitzmaurice said his return to the fray last Sunday was for one reason only: “We needed a goal, pure and simple, and Paul is one of our best goalscorers alongside James (O’Donoghue), Kieran (Donaghy) and David Clifford.
“You need to be flexible in some situations in a game and while bringing Paul back in might be considered a bit left field by some he managed to pull bodies away from David to give him the space to score the goal at the end,” he said about the management’s tactical decision on Kerry’s only All-Star from the last two years.
The Kerry boss he hasn’t seen much of the Super 8 outside Kerry’s own group to make a full comment on it but has been very impressed with the sides in the Kingdom’s own Group.
“Kildare have been very unlucky because they’ve played some great football against both Mayo and Fermanagh but just haven’t got the results they need in the Super 8,'' he stated.
“Monaghan came very close to the semi-final as we know well ourselves last week but as I said before the start of it we were under no illusions that the Super 8 would be a step up from what we faced in the Munster Championship.”
Fitzmaurice is hoping to have a full squad to select from for Kerry’s crunch Super clash with Kildare in Killarney next Saturday evening.
is “Jason (Foley) and Tadhg (Morley) are making strides but we wouldn’t know until the middle of next week really whether they will be good to go,'' said Fitzmaurice.
``Killian Young will be back from suspension, Shane (Enright) and Daithi (Casey) will be back while a number of other players who were away with their clubs getting game time will also be back in contention.''
