Former Armagh All-Ireland winner and current Wicklow senior football manager Oisín McConville believes that the current Kerry team has lost its “aura” and are no longer feared, especially by northern teams in Croke Park. 

Speaking on the Irish Examiner's Gaelic Football Show, McConville did not hold back. 

“The All-Irelands for the last four years have been strange because there are teams who you don’t see and all of a sudden a path opens up and when that path opens up, you have to be good enough or ruthless enough or have the foresight to be able to take it. 

“It’s happened to Tyrone, it’s happened to Kerry and it’s happened to Armagh. Whether you want to call them soft All-Ireland’s, poor All-Irelands, you can call them whatever you want but they still had to be won. 

“This year was Armagh’s turn and I have to say from quarter-final stage, semi-final, which I have to say was one of the best days I ever had in Croke Park, (it was) one of the most enjoyable. 

“You can say what you want about the actual game but the occasion with everything that it brought, the colour that Armagh brought that day, the celebrations, maybe even the disbelief for some people but a path had opened up at that stage and I did fancy Armagh to beat Kerry. 

“It’s almost like that Man Utd thing where the aura around them has completely gone. I think when people see that fixture in the Premier League they are rubbing their hands and I do think it’s something similar now when teams come up against Kerry. I do think the teams at the top, like a Derry, like an Armagh, the Tyrone's - especially the Northern teams - when they see Kerry, they feel as if they have a real chance. 

“When you look at the personnel that Kerry had coming off the bench against Armagh, in particular, I suppose apart from Cillian Burke, Armagh’s bench was way, way superior to Kerry’s and let’s face it since 2013, we really have started to take notice about what was coming off the bench and how important that can be. 

“The importance (of the bench) appears to keep growing and Armagh seemed to have realised that this year. It must have been very hard for Kieran McGeeney. For ‘Soupy’ Campbell to be sitting on the bench at the start of the game or even Oisin (O’Neill), when they feel as they should be playing (it must be hard)

“Yet to have the foresight to hold them back and finish as strongly as they have in every game, yeah I could only see one winner.”

Kerry's Diminished Aura

McConville went to explain what exactly he meant by the loss of Kerry’s aura. 

“I think the personnel just does not scare people anymore. I think the year Kerry won the All-Ireland, I felt that they had changed and had turned things around. Defensively they looked pretty solid; they had a defence that worked for them. But they haven’t been able tweak that or change it in a way that other teams have. 

“Like for example, Tadhg Morley playing in that role that he played in, teams are not allowing him to play in that role anymore. They are not letting him sit in that box seat that he was in for twelve months and Kerry don’t have the man markers. 

“Jason Foley definitely has the quality to do that while Brian Ó Beaglaoich had a great year for them. But I think outside of that they really struggled defensively. 

“I actually like Kerry in the middle of the field but again they had a poor year. They really did not particularly fire up front I thought and especially when it came to Croke Park. If you put all of those things together, I just don’t think that Kerry are a scary animal anymore.” 

Kerry's Talent Drain

McConville has an even more damning indictment of the Kingdom’s pool of talent coming through, as he maintains the best are being cherry picked for export.

“I would not be coming on a podcast and telling you that Armagh are a million miles ahead of Kerry. They are not. I think that Kerry are in that bunch of teams that could or could have possibly won an All-Ireland last year. 

“But if you look at the players they are producing, if you look at the bench that they had, it’s just not at the quality that it needs to be to win an All-Ireland. 

“They are losing a lot of their best players, and if Cillian Burke is going to go to Australia then it’s troubling. He was really a shining light when he came on against Armagh but him on his own, that was it. 

“They seem to be losing every possibility they have around the middle. It almost like they are cherry picked and they are gone and they could really be doing with every quality player they have. 

“If you look at the players they have coming through from minor level and U20, is there anybody there who could go straight into the fold? There is nobody jumping off the page for me.”

The New Era of Forward Brilliance

While Kerry faces a daunting future, the Gaelic football landscape is experiencing a resurgence of forward talent. This era, however, presents a unique challenge for these attackers. 

It wasn't long ago that David Clifford stood alone, a rare breed in a game where collective cohesion trumped individual brilliance. Teams were becoming tactically sophisticated, limiting space for forward expression. Coaches favored reliable scorers over unpredictable mavericks.

The emergence of gegenpressing, however, shifted the balance. This aggressive style created more scoring opportunities in the attacking half, fostering a new wave of exciting talent. 

Despite this positive shift, the modern game still presents significant obstacles for forwards to thrive. This year's championship saw several top forwards underperform, highlighting the challenges they face. 

The Rise of Defenders

While the spotlight often shines on forwards, the 2024 championship revealed the emergence of a new breed of defenders. Their impact was undeniable, as several players emerged as potential contenders for Footballer-of-the-Year. This shift in focus is a testament to the evolution of the game, where defensive prowess is becoming increasingly crucial. 

The championship was a defensive spectacle. Goals from play were scarce, with many scored by defenders who exploited vulnerabilities in the opposition's setup. This trend suggests that the game is becoming more tactical and less reliant on individual brilliance.

The defensive dominance of the championship is reflected in the potential Footballer-of-the-Year candidates. Defenders and a midfielder are the frontrunners, indicating the shift in the game's focus. It seems the age of the dominant forward is waning, replaced by a new era of defensive dominance.