PETER Keane’s appointment as Clare senior football manager may have come as a surprise but the former Kerry senior manager is “very happy” with the response he has got to date.
“There has always been footballers in Clare. These are a lovely bunch of lads,” Keane reflected.
“Colm (Collins) did a fantastic job during his time in charge. We have got a great response and we are very happy. The lads are very willing, very committed. They have taken to us and we to them”, Peter told The Clare Echo as he headed back to Kerry following a training
session.
“We are training in Caherlohan and Clareabbey and we have got into Cusack Park on an odd day. We are very happy with what is going on”, he added. Looking ahead to the upcoming league campaign and the team’s first competitive game under his stewardship on Sunday, he said, “Whatever division you are in, your level is your level and we will be playing teams at our level. Antrim have had good success under Andy McEntee. We will go there and do as good as we can”.
Keane and his backroom team must plan for the trip to Corrigan Park without Stephen Ryan, the team’s goalkeeper in recent seasons. He is recovering from injury and the Kilrush man isn’t expected to be available until later in the season. Sunday’s opening league game is expected to be too soon for Éire Óg defender Ronan Lanigan who is recovering from an injury he picked up with his club in the
club championship. On the plus side for the new Clare boss is the return of experienced players Eoin Cleary and Keelan Sexton.
“They are two very good forwards and it’s great to have guys of their calibre coming back into the side. They are scoring forwards as well”, according to the Kerryman. “We were late enough coming into this role. The lads we have brought in have performed well so far”, Peter
added.
At this time the Clare management is “not looking past Sunday’s game with Antrim”.
“We have seven games in the league and it’s a fairly in-tense schedule. It’s a bit of a boost that we will have four games at home. I would love to have had the Antrim game at home. It’s a long journey and it will involve travelling overnight”.
Continuing, he said, “The priority is to try and find a team with some bit of rhythm and to get to know each other. Look, it’s a learning curve for both sides, players and management.”
The Clare manager agrees that “there will be mistakes as teams try to get to grips with the new rules. It will be very difficult for everybody.
We haven’t had much of an opportunity to trial them. There has only been a short window for challenge games. It will be a steep learning
curve”, he said.
Concluding, Peter expressed the wish that support for the team will be strong. “We would love to see a lot of support for the team, get
people coming to the games and shouting the lads on”.
