Former Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice has said that RTE GAA pundit Pat Spillane has a huge ego and likened the eight-time All-Ireland winner to US President Donald Trump.
Fitzmaurice resigned from his role with Kerry earlier this year after the Kingdom were eliminated from the All-Ireland championship citing the need for a new voice in the dressing room.
Fitzmaurice won one All-Ireland championship and five Munster titles during his time as manager but he noted that he was not expecting an easy time from Spillane during his tenure given his comments towards some of his former teammates that have taken the reins of Kerry in the past.
“Spillane had a good few pops,” Fitzmaurice told Tony Leen of the Irish Examiner in a wide ranging interview.
“Look, when you’ve eight All-Ireland medals, you can pretty much say what you want. Pat had plenty to say about players he won those All Irelands with when they were managing Kerry, so I wasn’t foolish enough to think he was going to spare me.
“What amuses me though is the way he will send the odd text message either preceding or following a lambasting.
“He reminds me a bit of Donald Trump. He has a huge ego, he understands how the media works and he’s good for a sound bite to keep himself relevant. But, personally speaking, I wouldn’t have him within a million miles of a Kerry team.”
Fitzmaurice’s comments come after Spillane made an open plea to those within Kerry GAA to consider bringing him into the intercounty setup in some capacity.
“For three or four years I said I’d like to get involved with the Kerry U21 team,” Spillane said at the National Ploughing Championships in September.
“If I’m not going to be a manager I said I’d like to be a selector, I’d love to help out. I’m mad for Kerry football, I think I know a bit about football, I’d love to help out.
“But Jesus, no-one ever rings me back. And I don’t know why. There’s this thing they say, first of all if you’re giving out sometimes, which I do give out sometimes, but I give out because my heart and soul is in it.”
