Kerry FC Set Sights On ‘Mid-Table’ For 2024

As they build towards their second season in the League of Ireland, Kerry FC are aiming to move up and push for a “mid-table” finish, according to head coach James Sugrue.

“Definitely two wins” was the goal jokingly from the coach, as he revealed that the club is “definitely aiming for mid-table” for the side that has put in a lot of work over their first full off-season.

Under new management with Billy Dennehy now overseeing operations as the Sporting Director, Conor McCarthy and James Sugrue lead the side into the 2024 campaign, and after a chaotic opening few days with the departure of the clubs CEO, are now settling into their roles.

Both were heavily involved in the club last season, but now have the chance to take the reins and put their own stamp on the side. The biggest positive both coaches spoke about before their open training session last Friday night was their fitness and physicality. A year ago, Shane Guthrie lined up at Centre Back for their inaugural fixture against Cobh, but has transitioned into the clubs Strength and Conditioning coach, and through the off-season put together a programme for the players to follow over the winter, which the benefits of are visible for all to see in the players already. 

Conor McCarthy now holds the title of manager, and will formally become the youngest League of Ireland manager next week, taking the statistic from one Stephen Kenny during his time at Longford, but the coaching staff for Kerry is very much a unit. McCarthy spoke about his relationship with Sugrue and how decisions are made together, “This is our third maybe fourth year together and like that, we share a very similar opinion on things, usually when I’m turning to him he is turning to me, you know so decision and things like that are very closely knit.”

“It’s not about who makes decisions, you have to use your staff to help make these decisions, sometimes you might get a rush of blood to the head and maybe it’s not the right one and you’re scratching your head five minutes later, as a staff we work very closely together in here, everything is put through the whole staff to get the best answer because I definitely don’t have the answers that’s for sure.”

Coming into their first season, mostly due to the timing around the licensing procedure, there was always a sense that Kerry were a step behind, from the recruitment process to the logistics everything took just that little bit longer to get set up, but with none of those worries this time around everything was a lot more relaxed this time around, and the club have already started to show the benefits they’ve gained from this with pre-season. 

A big aid to the Kerry preparation process was the addition of the Munster Senior Cup campaign. Victories over Avondale United and Cobh Ramblers have seen them into the last four, with a visit from Treaty United in early March to come, but getting that match sharpness up in the team early is of huge benefit. As James Sugrue put it, “Last year it was rushed a lot of it really, we didn’t get proper friendlies in but this year we are a lot more equipped and you can see the difference in the team already” 

There are eighteen members of last season’s squad still with the side, along with the additions of Andy Spain and Jack Kavanagh from Treaty and Athlone respectively. Steven Healy and Daire McCarthy have also come in on loan from Galway United. Fans were beginning to wonder about the attacking depth as the weeks ticked to days before the new season kicks off, but worries turned to relief last week as Valerii Dolia formerly of Athlone Town was announced along with the one trialist who excelled in behind closed doors tests, Striker Victor Udeze being announced merely hours before opening his tally with the only goal in the victory over Cobh. 

“I’m happy enough with the squad that we have, there are two or three of the u20s who are good enough to come into the squad as well, and that’s the plan, the whole idea of the club is to bring through players that are good enough and to give them opportunities as well, you don’t want to just be bringing in players from the outside” said James Sugrue, noting that Togor Silong, Oisin Breen and Cianan Cooney have all been training with the first team in recent weeks. 

The move to a semi-professional side will be of huge benefit to the club in a competitive sense this season. The club have moved to three training sessions during the week, along with Gym sessions on the off days and Sugrue noted how it feels like a professional outfit now, as he put it, “To compete at this level it has to be that, two days a week and playing a game was just not enough”. 

Andy Spain was announced during the week as the new club captain, the 22-year-old Kildare native joins Kerry off the back of spells at Treaty United and Athlone Town, and Sugrue spoke highly of their appointment. “He is a great character around the place, he eggs people on in training, he encourages people, he is a really good example you know at his age he is like a grown man already.” 

The new skipper spoke to the media on Friday night for the first time since being named and called it “a pleasure, I’ve had a couple of chats with the managers and they’ve been really pleased with how i’ve been doing and yeah no it’s a nice surprise, I’m very honoured, very proud just hopefully can bring a lot of success this year.” 

“I’ve been captain at underage clubs and I suppose I do like being captain, I like leading by example, not only by communication but also the way I play, I like to thrive in that sort of scenario.”

The 22-year-old Kildare native represented Ireland at underage level and was a member of the Shamrock Rovers academy before heading to Athlone and on to Treaty United, playing alongside the likes of Nathan Collins, Adam Idah, Jason Knight and Troy Parrott, which Spain described as a really good experience for himself. 

Having featured at the centre of defence in a couple of the pre-season games already, Spain described his centre-back partner Samuel Aladesanusi as a player with bags of ability. “He is quick, he is strong, he is what a modern-day centre-back probably should be, he has all the attributes to be a very good centre-back and has shown that already through pre-season. We’re trying to build a trust and a partnership between us.”

Spain revealed to the media that he is an Arsenal fan, and described the French defender William Saliba as a great example, “he is the definition of a modern-day centre back you know, quick, strong, good on the ball, so small little things in his game I try to look at and take it into my game so he is a good idol to look at.” 

Meanwhile, new Kerry FC full-back Jack Kavanagh would’ve been in hiding from his defensive partner and housemate Spain last weekend, revealing that he is a Liverpool fan, pointing out Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson as examples of players he would look to. “They would be my two favourites, they both do things differently and they both excel at different things so I try to you know watch them and take what I can out of their games.” Interestingly, Jack Kavanagh believes that a lot of young players don’t watch much football anymore, but described it as important to watch the game for your own development. 

Kavanagh has featured at left back in the three games so far, and despite his dead ball ability being noted by Kerry fans, described the defensive assets of the game as the most satisfying. “One-on-one defending I’d be quite good at as well, I do really enjoy defending, getting up and down the line”. When asked about his targets for the season the Donabate native mentioned a couple of goals and assists along with clean sheets. “I’d be quite confident over set pieces and I think my delivery is quite good, it’s something I enjoy doing.”

The 21-year-old fullback spent some time in the Dundalk underage system, inspired by his father who he described as an inspiration to him. Mick Kavanagh made almost 200 appearances in the league, including a part in the league-winning 1994-95 season at Oriel Park. 

Kavanagh also mentioned that after every game his father is the first person on the phone to him telling him what he did wrong and what he did well, and also had a part to play in his son’s move to Tralee, saying that it would be great for him. “You have to take yourself and really push yourself this year and see what happens then.” Jack Kavanagh said his father will likely get down to Mounthawk Park to see him play this season. 

Any thoughts of players shying away from the challenge of playing for a team that performed so poorly in the league in their first season have been put to bed by the quality of the signings that have arrived. Players are looking at the Kerry FC challenge as a real opportunity to showcase their talent as well as grow the club, which Andy Spain went into a little detail on. 

The Kerry Captain noted that one of the reasons he came to the club was to get a full season under his belt, having only featured in 38 of a possible 72 games across the last two years in the league. “Yeah it’s massive, that’s probably one of the reasons why I came to the club, I want to play a full season underneath my belt, get loads of experience because obviously i’m confident in my ability and I want to kind of show that for a full season that I can do it and be consistent, as I was a little unfortunate with injuries over the last two years. 

Looking forward to Turners Cross away next week to open up the season, Spain said the aspect he is most looking forward to is the atmosphere. “I think it’s going to be rocking, there’s a lot of pressure on them but I think the place is gonna be packed and hopefully we can show what we can do as well, we are not here to make up the numbers, we want to compete.” 

Longest serving Kerry FC player Sean McGrath described the challenge saying that in his opinion “There’s no better place to start the season off than up there, it’s quite a historic venue in the league of Ireland and I’m sure they’ll have a big crowd there and it’ll be noisy but you have got to cherish those moments and get stuck in from the first minute and who knows what can happen from there.”

Coach James Sugrue feels like there’s no pressure on his squad next week, “we’re gonna go up there and play and go enjoy the day, it’s a big opportunity, it’s history, it’s the first time that Kerry will play Cork in a League of Ireland game.” 

Both coaches confirmed to the media that Ryan Kelliher is back in full training despite missing the Munster Senior Cup tie last Monday and has been given the all-clear by the physio, meanwhile, Valerii Dolia remains a doubt. 

Cork City away to start the season is almost the dream for Kerry fans, when you think of their history in Irish football, however, there is a long season to come after that, but the best place to finish is with this quote from Conor McCarthy on expectation for the season, “Our fans should be excited, and I hope they are and I hope they’re coming up here thinking we’re gonna win a treble but for us inside here we’re gonna take it at a game at a time, a session at a time.”