If Mick O'Dwyer was still in charge of the Kerry senior football team, he would "train the s**t out of" David Clifford and his All-Ireland minor winning team-mates.
Back in the seventies, O'Dwyer famously introduced a number of fresh faces into the Kingdom set-up and the rest, as they say, is history. That all-conquering team was also renowned for its high fitness levels.
O'Dwyer's time patrolling the inter-county sidelines may have come to an end but, writing in today's Irish Independent, Tomás Ó Sé reveals that the eight-time Sam Maguire Cup winning manager's philosophy hasn't changed much.
"David Clifford's performance in the minor final, scoring 4-4, was unbelievable and I suspect there'll be a lot of pressure now to see him promoted to the senior squad," Ó Sé states.
"One big talking point in Kerry after the Mayo defeat was the fact that young Sean O'Shea didn't get a run. He's been setting the club scene on fire and recently gave All-Ireland champions, Dr Crokes, a torrid time.
"So Eamonn Fitz will know there's an appetite to get these young fellas in now. I met Micko O'Dwyer on Sunday and he was raving about Clifford.
"Micko's view was that all these young bucks should be brought into the senior set-up immediately and, as he put it, "train the s**t out of them". I was laughing when he said that.
"But the energy is certainly there for Kerry to start blooding young fellas, so long as they get the balance right."
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