Seán Moran asks the Limerick football manager how he's coping with the loss of so many players

When on the verge of accepting the job as manager of the Limerick footballers, Mickey Ned O'Sullivan put in a phone call to his predecessor and fellow Kerryman Liam Kearns.

"Liam said to me that he felt a lot of the lads might be thinking of packing it," he remembers.

Undeterred by this gentle note of caution, O'Sullivan took up the challenge. The problems were, however, a worthy adversary for even his dauntless self-confidence.

Of the panel of 30 names he was given at the start, 14 are gone. A plague of injuries and the total flight of the dual players to hurling meant that the new manager was starting from scratch. At present, he is missing eight of last year's championship team and five of the six starting forwards.

Limerick enjoyed a renaissance under Kearns, who had led the county's under-21s to an All-Ireland final in 2000. Having taken over the seniors, he retained the loyalty of that panel, many of whom were dual players, but chose to play senior football.

Division One football and a couple of serious cracks at the Munster championship followed, but the departure of Kearns after five years seemed to mark the end of a golden age of sorts.

O'Sullivan's appointment was a surprise to many, but he had been this way before, taking over from another hard act, Mick O'Dwyer, at the end of the 1980s. He presided over the fading of a great team, and the reconstruction. Playing off a limited deck, he delivered a Munster title and derailed Cork's three-in-a-row ambitions in the process.

In the 13 years since he stepped down after losing that title to John Maughan's Clare, business commitments kept him busy, but he is now free to re-focus on football.

He walked into Limerick with his eyes open and was thankful in a way that his work would start in Division Two, away from the pressures of trying to stay afloat in the top flight.

"I felt it was very important to put reality in place from the word go," says O'Sullivan. "No false illusions or expectations. On the other hand, I have guys who really want to play for Limerick. Some were on the fringes last year and now have the opportunity, and they appreciate the chance.

"I still believe. I'm very confident in my ability to motivate and coach players. Reasonable players can be more than the sum of their parts as a unit. We see the progress every week. Success breeds success, and confidence and adds to the credibility of the training process."

Success to date is five out of six points, including one win over promotion rivals Roscommon. Limerick are joint top of Division Two A with Leitrim and in a strong position to bounce back up at the end of the season.

This has been achieved despite crippling departures. Stephen Lucey was the last of the dual players to withdraw. "Stephen just found it too difficult. He's a junior doctor and is working back-to-back shifts. It's hard enough for him to do that and play one game. Trying to combine both that and another game is impossible."

Not only the dual players have been missing. A roll call of footballing talent, especially up front, is laid up with long-term injury: Eoin Keating, Stephen Kelly and Muiris Gavin.

"I think it's much more enjoyable than I anticipated," he says of the return to the intercounty scene. "I'm very fortunate in my management team and am getting good support from the county officers. It's a new thing for me to see officers attending training sessions, something that wasn't done in Kerry.

"When I trained a team last you did everything yourself and probably didn't have time for the players, for one-on-ones, no time to talk. Now there are specialists in most aspects of team preparation.

"My two selectors are John Reddington, who played for Limerick for 16 years, Mossie McCarthy, probably the most successful club trainer in the county with Drumcollogher-Broadford. They know the players very well. Cian O'Neill, who is a lecturer in UL and a former Kildare player, is a sports scientist with a strong Gaelic games background. Football's a labour of love for me, something I enjoy very much."