Kevin McStay has described the process in which Jack O’Connor was appointed to a third term as Kerry senior football manager as “a little bit ugly”.

Last week, Kerry county board confirmed that O’Connor’s name would be going forward for ratification on October 4th, succeeding Peter Keane after the latter served for three seasons as manager.

At the end of August, O'Connor seemed to air his interest in the Kingdom managerial post when speaking on the Irish Examiner football podcast, during which time he was still Kildare boss and Keane was still at the helm. 

On Friday, Keane released a statement independently from Kerry GAA where he outlined that he had the support of the players to carry on in his role for another season.

"[Keane's statement said], 'we were a united Kerry team with a great sense of purpose and ambition'. That's past tense. Does that suggest it's going be a difficult transition? I don't know," McStay told RTÉ's Saturday Sport.

"The manner in which it all came about was a little bit ugly, I'd have to say. There was a sense that the position was courted when there wasn't a vacancy - or a technical vacancy at the time.

"It was a disappointment that there was a kind of public grab. We all know this is a smashing Kerry team. They're going to win All-Irelands sooner rather than later, I'd have a great sense of that. There seemed to be a little bit of grabbing going on."

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