‘One of the smartest brains in the country’: Paudie Clifford says Galway have landed a gem in Éamonn Fitzmaurice

Paudie Clifford, fresh off a historic club success with Fossa, isn’t exactly standing still, but it may feel like that given all the movement around him.There is Jerome Stack’s decision, for starters, to head for the exit door at Fossa just four weeks after guiding the club to that first ever Kerry intermediate title. Nobody envisaged that departure.The speculation is that Stack, a hugely experienced coach/manager, took umbrage to training arrangements around the cohort of Fossa players, of which Clifford is one, who play for East Kerry in the senior championship.“I think they’ll have something in place for next Tuesday,” said Clifford, referencing a replacement for Stack. “We’re just training hard ourselves this week. It’ll be resolved.”READ MOREAny idea what the problem was?“I’m not really sure. As I said, I’ll have to wait for the club to come to their decisions over the next few days before commenting.”Fossa are somewhat fortunate that there’s a decent gap until their Munster club semi-final tie on November 22nd, against the representatives from Clare or Waterford.Éamonn Fitzmaurice, part of the management for Fossa’s All-Ireland junior success in 2023, has also been on the move. Fitzmaurice was recently confirmed as the new Galway senior football manager, succeeding Pádraic Joyce.At some stage in 2027, Clifford may come up against his old ally.“When he was with us at Fossa, he just added so much,” said Clifford. “So, unfortunately, he’s going to add a lot to Galway. I suppose he just felt it was an opportunity that he wanted to give a go. I wish him the best because, as I said, I just have massive time for him as a person and as a coach.“He’s one of the smartest brains in the country. Everyone could see that when he was doing the commentary and the punditry work, how smart he is. But [he’s] also a very good man manager, so he’ll definitely add a lot to Galway.”Finnbarr Roarty, the Donegal defender detailed to mark Clifford in both this year’s league and championship, is going even further afield, to Australia. The Young Footballer of the Year has taken up a two-year rookie deal with AFL side Collingwood. Considering how tight a marker Clifford found the Glenties man to be, perhaps that is no bad thing?“He’ll be a big loss for his club and a big loss for Donegal. We’ve been hit hard by it ourselves,” said Clifford, eyeing the drain of young talent from Kerry to Australia. “It’ll be interesting to see how he gets on. He’s a young lad, he could be back after his two-year contract. Or if he gets on well, he might stay there. But he’ll be a big loss for the GAA in the whole country because he’s a top player.”Fossa and Kerry footballer Paudie Clifford at the launch of the AIB All-Ireland Club Championships. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho Clifford was speaking at the launch of the AIB club championships. It was his first proper media sitdown since Kerry’s All-Ireland final defeat to Mayo in July. It was his man-of-the-match performance against Dublin in the semi-final that helped get Kerry there.They subsequently became a footnote in Mayo’s remarkable All-Ireland story. There was more movement after that final too, Kerry coach Cian O’Neill opting to switch Kingdom football for Cork hurling.“I think he’ll be well able for that role,” said Clifford of O’Neill’s new position as head coach. “I think he’ll add a lot to Cork. He brings great energy. He brings great ideas, he’s very, very good tactically. So he could be the missing piece that Cork need.”Back in Kerry, Jack O’Connor is searching for those missing inches too. The Kerry manager has been vocal about the apparent fatigue felt by Kerry players due to the amount of club competitions they participate in each autumn and winter. A work group recommended a guaranteed break of between four and six weeks each autumn/winter for county players – potentially restricting their activity in local competitions – but this was rejected by a county board vote. So the status quo remains.In Clifford’s case, it means that if Fossa go deep into the Munster and All-Ireland club series this winter, Kerry mightn’t see him or his brother David until well into 2027.“I’m not exactly sure what went on in the meeting but I do know that they’ll still be aiming to get the four-week break, and hoping that that will pay off later on in the season,” said Clifford.“However long it goes on for us, the S&C and Jack and all the lads will give us enough of a break that we’ll get a chance to down tools for a few weeks and then build it back up. We’ll get enough of a break that we’ll be ready to go again. It might mean missing a few league games, but I think we’ll be fine.”