FORMER DUBLIN football manager Paul Caffrey has said Eamonn Fennell is Ciarán Whelan’s “heir apparent”, and called for a swift resolution to Fennell’s troublesome transfer request from O’Toole’s to St Vincent’s. Caffrey was speaking in Croke Park at the launch of the Cadbury Under-21 football championship, as one of the judges to the competitions Hero of the Future award.

“It’s a mess this whole transfer thing and it needs to be sorted,” said Caffrey. “Sometimes adversity can make you much tougher and I think that’s probably done that to Eamonn. He looks a much tougher guy now. I can understand both sides of the argument but in limbo is not the place this should be. There should be a definite decision made. Eamonn Fennell’s best years, as a midfielder, are in the next three or four years and he needs to be able to play football with a club, go and play football and get into this number nine jersey for Dublin and hold onto it for the summer.”

Fennell’s appeal against the unsuccessful transfer request is due before the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA) next Monday, although in the meantime he has delivered two fine performances in Dublin’s league matches against Kerry and Derry.

Caffrey believes Whelan won’t be changing his mind about his decision to retire last summer, but said Fennell is ready to step into his shoes. “I’ve spoken to Whelo a couple of times, and he’ll miss it terribly. But it’s very, very hard when you’re Ciarán Whelan’s size to step away from it, and go back. I think for a corner-forward or a wing half-back who is at his fighting weight all the time, I think it’s easy enough for them to step back into the fray but I think for the big guys, big midfielders it’s nearly impossible to go away for six months and then step back into it.

“I think Ciarán made his decision knowing right well there will be temptations further down the line.

“It’s incredible to think Whelo and (Paul) McGrane and now Darragh Ó Sé are gone, but who’s to say Eamonn Fennell won’t turn into an icon in Dublin football over the next 10 years? I definitely do think he’s up to the mark.”

Kildare midfielder Dermot Earley – also a judge on the Hero of the Future award – believes talk of Ó Sé being the last of his generation is premature: “There’s still a lot to be said for having a Darragh Ó Sé type player. You don’t see players like that every day, and when a player like that goes you say it’s the last of a dying breed, but I’m sure there’s someone to fill his shoes, and no better team than Kerry to find that player.”

Earley admitted he was also a fan of the experimental “mark”, and expected it would become more frequent as the playing conditions improve over the coming weeks: “I do think it will survive. I think now is not the time to analyse it, because there’s not much high fielding in January and February, with the conditions and lack of fitness. Hopefully March and April we’ll really see the benefit . . . I think it was brought in to stop the crowding when you come down with the ball. I think we will see a bit more of that in March and April. I don’t think it’s slowing down the game.”