Éamonn Fitzmaurice sat down with the Irish Examiner for his first in-depth interview since 2014 and he didn’t hold back when discussing GAA punditry and Pat Spillane in particular.
During the interview, which can be found in today’s paper, the former Kerry senior football manager touched on many subjects including his successor Peter Keane and the county’s battles with Dublin.
Fitzmaurice was also very honest when giving his thoughts on the current state of GAA punditry, which he believes is based on trying to stay “current and relevant” on social media, comparing it to Gary Neville on Monday Night Football.
He then turned his attention to one Sunday Game pundit in particular, Pat Spillane, who was very vocal in his criticism of Fitzmaurice following Kerry’s exit from the Supers 8s competition this summer.
The 41-year-old says that he would never let Spillane near a Kerry team.
“Spillane had a good few pops. Look, when you have eight All-Ireland medals you can pretty much say what you want. Pat had plenty to say about players he won All-Irelands with when they were managing Kerry, so I wasn’t foolish enough to think he was going to spare me.”
“What amuses me though is the way he will send the odd text message either preceding or following a lambasting. He reminds me a bit of Donald Trump.”
“He has a huge ego, he understands how the media works and he’s good for a soundbite to keep himself relevant. But, personally speaking, I wouldn’t have him within a million miles of a Kerry team.”
Fitzmaurice stepped down as Kerry manager in August following five years with the team.
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