Former Kerry and Limerick senior football boss Mickey Ned O'Sullivan was last night ratified as the Kingdom's new minor manager.

O'Sullivan, who replaces Pat O'Driscoll in the role, has been handed the task of reviving the Kingdom's fortunes in the under 18 grade. Incredibly, Kerry haven't won an All-Ireland minor title since 1994 and this is something O'Sullivan and his assistant and former team-mate John O'Keeffe will be hoping to put right in 2012.

"The reason it was suggested that I get involved was that basically we needed to produce a pathway for players to get on the senior team and I would like to be blooding young players and treat their minor days as an apprenticeship for senior football," he said in the Irish Examiner.

"This would not rule out, as a by-product doing well in the minor championship. But ultimately it is a pathway to the seniors.

The 1975 All-Ireland winning captain believes his experience with the Kerry and Limerick seniors will stand him in good stead.

"I have plenty of experience of the end product and what we will be trying or needing to achieve and straight away I asked John O'Keeffe to get involved with me and he would have similar knowledge to myself as to what is required at senior level."

He continued: "It's a challenge but it's more than winning minor championships. It's about setting up structures, for the development squads as well, and we might have a say in that as well.

"It won't improve matters overnight maybe but it's about structures being addressed so that players have a higher intensity of coaching and preparation - and I am not saying it wasn't there - but we are obviously not producing minors for some reason and what we aim to do is improve the whole structures up along from U15." Tweet

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