O'Connor Says Darragh Ó Se 'Crossed Line' With His Criticism Of Kerry

It is easy to forget now after the team's All-Ireland success, but it was not that long ago when Jack O'Connor's position as Kerry manager was coming under severe scrutiny on the back of some patchy performances from the side.

Kerry received quite a bit of criticism on the back of the loss to Meath in the All-Ireland round robin, with some questioning whether their coach had mismanaged what was clearly a very talented group of players.

A number of former Kingdom stars would publicly criticise the side for their form. However, the side would bounce back in an emphatic fashion over the games that followed.

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Jack O'Connor Says Darragh Ó Se 'Crossed Line' With Criticism Of Kerry

Jack O'Connor is always tuned into the criticism directed his way in Kerry, with the high expectations within the county meaning there is often no shortage of digs thrown in the direction of the inter-county side.

Speaking in Irish on the An Pod Gaeilge podcast, the Kerry boss called out what he felt was 'personal' criticism from former players such as Darragh Ó Sé during the 2025 season.

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It hits harder when it’s ex-players. Criticism is fine, and there’s fair criticism, but there’s also criticism that isn’t fair, when it gets personal. I felt that some of the criticism this year was personal. Take Darragh Ó Se for example, he was involved in five or six of those All-Ireland titles, two when I was a selector and three when I was manager. I thought maybe it was a bit strange, some of the things he was saying, because he was being very dismissive of the selectors I had and other things like that. It’s fine to criticise tactics, or the style of football you’re playing, that’s fair. But when the criticism becomes personal, that crosses a line. At the start of this campaign, that’s what happened. So yes, it affected me, I can’t say it didn’t. We were putting in massive effort, even if results weren’t always going our way. It wasn’t from a lack of trying. There’s fair criticism, but there’s also personal attacks, and I think a few people crossed that line.

Back in June, Ó Sé would suggest that the Kerry manager had done a poor job in blooding new players over the last few years, something that was coming back to bite him.

Any criticism directed towards Jack O'Connor quickly dissipated as a result of Kerry's performance towards the tail end of the championship, but it seems the man himself will not easily forget it.

In any case, his status as a genuine Kerry legend was further cemented as a result of his All-Ireland triumph.

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