Mayo GAA Discussion Thread

davegrohl48 · 25-08-2011 10:47am

I have hope for next year based on Horans cold calculated style of management where he makes decisions based on facts only. (Every manager can have things pointed against them like should have made a switch on Cooper, bar maybe Lee Keegan there wasn't much choice of who could mark him. He has beaten Higgins before.)
A managers main duties are prior to match day, from what I'v seen Horan is fairly astute on match day also.
He will review this year and be looking listed in priority at something like:
1. Improve strength and conditioning of FULL squad
2. Addition of a fast corner back to mark top class corner forwards
3. Addition of a tigerish wing back and half forward to add steel to the middle eight - Cathal Freeman possibly as a wing back
4. Addition of one pacey accurate forward, Darren Coen possibly as he seemed to be the pick of last years u21.
5. Improve midfield posession to 50% in all our games
Pretty assured he will at least manage to achieve 1 - 4. You'd be hoping (5) would be a follow on from (1) and (3).
It doesn't take a squad clearout and addition of a Kerry type forward line to make us competitive for All Irelands. But we do need to do all in our power to give us that 1/3 odds shot of winning if we can make a final over next few years against a Kerry/Dublin/Cork/Tyrone. Make a final or two and you could just get your day, that's how probability/risk works.

rossie1977 · 25-08-2011 12:09pm

Blackjack wrote: »

This year we were written off against every team we met bar London.
We beat Cork (last years champions) for the first time since 1916.

written off by whom?? you were favourites against galway a match i was at, you were bigger favourites against roscommon, the only person i saw saying roscommon would win was liam hayes and he thought sligo would beat roscommon easily in last years connacht, on the committee room all four went for a mayo win, even willie hegarty went for mayo, every mayo pundit from mchale to omahoney to mcstay, willie joe, carney went for mayo that day

spider guardian · 25-08-2011 8:43pm

Too many moaners in this thread.

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

That's all well a good from a supporters point of view to be happy with the year but I would like it if this set of players and back-room team were pi**ed off with themselves.

One thing Kerry do great is disappointment.

Each year they do not win an All Ireland they have an unbelievable motivation the next year to win one, and Mayo have been on the other end of that motivation more than once.

Mayo teams need to start thinking the same way.

This team have to start 2012 with the thought that they threw away a great chance to beat Kerry in 2011 and anything but an All Ireland final appearance in 2012 should be a disappointment to this team.

Too often Mayo players like to sit on their laurels and be happy with a start place on the team or a good run in the championship, that has to change if they are going to win anything.

And the prize for winning an All Ireland is that they will become legends in their own lifetimes.

What makes you think the Mayo players aren't gutted after that match? Read the post-match interviews with Andy Moran and Keith Higgins, they are extremely disappointed as I'm sure all the players are. Do you honestly think that given they have managed to reach a semi-final this year that they won't absolutely give 150% next year? They are a young bunch of players who are good enough to reach a semi-final, next year they will have the hunger and that bit more experience to go all the way.

Syferus wrote: »

Without trying to sound fatalistic, winning Connacht again next season will be progress for Mayo, or indeed for whoever does.

Galway will surely be an improved outfit after the last two years of almost complete annihilation, Roscommon will improve further and Sligo with David Kelly back should give a far better account of themselves next year. Hopefully the net result is all Connacht teams make progress, but Mayo really shouldn't be thinking about the All-Ireland series in that context.

What makes you think Galway will be an improved outfit? They've shown nothing to suggest so this year. It's not going to happen for them simply because they've a had a couple of bad years. You could argue that the confidence attained by both Roscommon and Sligo last year has been eroded. I'm not saying Connacht will be be anything less than tough for any of the teams but simply winning Connacht will not be progress for Mayo. It hasn't been that way since the 80s.

plasmaguy wrote: »

Tell me what great team they beat so?

They met only one decent team all year, Kerry and were hammered out the door.

Even the maligned Maughan never lost to Kerry by that much and he beat Kerry in his first year in charge, as well as manager of Clare.

First year or no first year, a 9 point defeat to the only decent team they met in the championship is no achievement.

Winning Connacht is no real achievement either, Mayo have won it comfortably in previous years and then gone on to get thrashed in the AI.

He hasn't brought the team a long way.

Maughan beating Kerry in 1996 has about as much relevance as what Mayo did in 1950/51, different times, different teams.

You cannot seriously suggest Horan hasn't brought Mayo along a good distance this year, confidence after last year's disasters was at an all-time low. No one even dreamed we'd beat the champions and give Kerry a good run in Croke Park.

plasmaguy wrote: »

We were slightly better this year than last, but we could have easily lost to London

We also nearly lost to London in 1996 under Maughan but that didn't stop you from proclaiming his greatness above.

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Now that is the kind of attitude the players have to have all winter and at the start of 2012.

The fans can think what they like but the team, players and management need to be looking for improvement all the time.

Agreed. What would make you think they won't?

plasmaguy wrote: »

Yep exactly.

Dublin realised a year or two ago that winning Leinster was worthless when it came to the AI. These days, they hardly put an effort into winning Leinster.

It's the same with Connaght, it's hardly worth winning.

Mayo team, management and supporters need higher standards.

Winning Connaght and losing 9 points to Kerry is not progress.

And from now on Mayo fans need to think that all that matters is winning the AI, not winning Connaght or beating Cork or Kerry in the league and so on.

Only the AI counts and success there.

Are you seriously suggesting we don't put any effort into winning Connacht? Given Mayo's record in the qualifiers we should be doing the complete opposite. That's not to say we should be peaking too early, no, but the qualifiers are too fraught with danger to be thinking about them before losing in the provincial. As Noel Connelly said even small victories can have a massive effect on a team's confidence. I think the hard-fought victory in Roscommon is what gave us the boost for Cork.

Look, I am not saying the team should rest on their laurels. Far from it. James Horan is an ambitious man and doesn't need our negativity in order to know he needs to make improvements in the team. It doesn't matter what happens down in Kerry when an All-Ireland is lost, we have to be realistic in that we were beaten by a better team this time around. Every sign is there that it won't be the case next year.

plasmaguy · 25-08-2011 8:55pm

So which would you rather win, an All Ireland or a Provincial Championship?

And these days you can win the AI without winning the provincial.

The answer of course is an AI.

Mayo fans would gladly trade their last ten Connacht title wins for one AI.

These days, provincial championships are about as significant as the FBD or the League. Nice to win, nice build up, but very little in the way of prestige, apart from maybe the Ulster Title.

Teams like Kerry and Tyrone are always aiming to be in Croke Park in September, a provincial title is a nice bonus, but they always have their eyes on the big one.

Horan has brought Mayo on a bit. My main point is I didn't see anything in Sunday's game to indicate he is the man to bring Mayo to the top level. Faced with Kerry, we came up short, a long long way short, and there were worrying decisions and lack of decisions by the management team. He restored some pride in Mayo, but that wasn't hard after O'Mahoney, who was after all a full time TD at the time.

Do I think Horan is the man to bring Mayo Sam Maguire in the next 2-3 years? No I don't.

This is not a small county we are talking about who are happy to have a bit of a run in the championship. This is Mayo, where we need to aim for Sam Maguire.

For Kerry, Tyrone and Cork, not winning Sam, even in a transitional year, is considered failure. Mayo need to think the same, as opposed to being happy to get to the semis or beat Cork in the quarters.

Mayo lacked quality when it counted on Sunday, and that's a worry for the future.

yop · 26-08-2011 12:31am

plasmaguy wrote: »

So which would you rather win, an All Ireland or a Provincial Championship?

And these days you can win the AI without winning the provincial.

The answer of course is an AI.

Mayo fans would gladly trade their last ten Connacht title wins for one AI.

These days, provincial championships are about as significant as the FBD or the League. Nice to win, nice build up, but very little in the way of prestige, apart from maybe the Ulster Title.

Teams like Kerry and Tyrone are always aiming to be in Croke Park in September, a provincial title is a nice bonus, but they always have their eyes on the big one.

Horan has brought Mayo on a bit. My main point is I didn't see anything in Sunday's game to indicate he is the man to bring Mayo to the top level. Faced with Kerry, we came up short, a long long way short, and there were worrying decisions and lack of decisions by the management team. He restored some pride in Mayo, but that wasn't hard after O'Mahoney, who was after all a full time TD at the time.

Do I think Horan is the man to bring Mayo Sam Maguire in the next 2-3 years? No I don't.

This is not a small county we are talking about who are happy to have a bit of a run in the championship. This is Mayo, where we need to aim for Sam Maguire.

For Kerry, Tyrone and Cork, not winning Sam, even in a transitional year, is considered failure. Mayo need to think the same, as opposed to being happy to get to the semis or beat Cork in the quarters.

Mayo lacked quality when it counted on Sunday, and that's a worry for the future.

As I have asked previously, please outline the Junior Management decisions;
Outline the "worrying issues" which you saw last Sunday;
As Coletrain asked 3 times previously, last year when we were knocked out, what were you expecting.

Its all and well ranting, and that is what you are doing, give us some of your thoughts on the issues I outline above.

The Dubs wanted Gilroy out after year 1, Mickey Harte was facing a similar setup when he started off with Tyrone, the most successful manager in British soccer was nearly outed in 1990 and again in the late 90's.

I'm not attacking you personally, I just think you need to give us your ideas as all we have heard is "X, Y, Z is wrong".

Syferus · 26-08-2011 12:48am

spider guardian wrote: »

What makes you think Galway will be an improved outfit? They've shown nothing to suggest so this year. It's not going to happen for them simply because they've a had a couple of bad years. You could argue that the confidence attained by both Roscommon and Sligo last year has been eroded. I'm not saying Connacht will be be anything less than tough for any of the teams but simply winning Connacht will not be progress for Mayo. It hasn't been that way since the 80s.

Galway will have players like Michael Meehan back and this year's u-21 All-Ireland winning team was possibly the best u-21 team I can remember seeing, they cut through every single team they played. They have plenty of skilled players and the right manager is put in change they will bounce back even faster than Mayo did this year.

And I can tell you this year eroded no confidence in Roscommon, we've got promoted and our team now is steps above the one that started the 2010 season, we didn't fall over any banana skin and made the last nine of the championship. We lost by a hair to Mayo (who had hurricane Enda on their side in more ways than one), a team that went on to beat the All-Ireland champions comprehensively, and then we lost to perhaps the team of the decade in that great team's final sting. We also have plenty of new players coming through, in the immediate season (another forward called Shine, with the potential to be just as good as Donie) and in the medium term (players like Donie Smith and Thomas Corcoran). We won the minor Connacht championship and we beat Mayo in the u-21 championship too, in Castlebar no less, a Mayo team filled with players that contested both the 08 and 09 minor All-Ireland finals. It's much harder to find reasons why we wouldn't be confident of the future.

Sligo had a rough year being demoted and burning out of the championship immediately but it's hard to imagine they're as bad as this year suggests, especially when they were lacking their best forward in David Kelly for their - brief - championship.

In the context of two up and down seasons and a Connacht championship with four teams with realistic aims on the title, Mayo successfully defending their crown will be progress. Very few teams win the All-Ireland without first establishing consistency. I don't honestly see Mayo being All-Ireland finalists next season so it may well be the team's only chance to secure meaningful silverware next season too.

Getting in the habit of winning trophies is as meaningful a progression as reaching a semi-final because the rest will come if the house isn't built on sand.

Fr Tod Umptious · 13-02-2012 12:15pm

News from the Indo is that Horan would not be against the idea of playing the refixed game v Dublin in Croker ?
http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/gilroy-and-horan-open-to-refixture-at-croker-3017382.html

What is he at ?

we only have 3 home gems this year, so why give away one.

Or is he getting the players acclimatised to the big pitch in Croke park for later in the year

keane2097 · 13-02-2012 1:19pm

Home advantage is worth surprisingly little in the league, I wouldn't be surprised if he thought the slight trade-off of losing the Castlebar edge was a good trade for acclimatising to Croke Park for the league playoffs and championship.

Don't think he really rates the league anyway.

blowitupref · 13-02-2012 10:40pm

Game refixed for McHale park for the end of March. Fair play to Mayo for not letting a venue change. you'll get the odd shock like Armagh beating Kerry in Kerry however home advantage still counts for something.

Mayo's first championship game isn't until mid June so you can be sure James Horan & the players will be taking this years league seriously.

Defiler Of The Coffin · 14-02-2012 2:45pm

Any team that aims to challenge for honours for this year will take the league seriously, I don't see why Horan wouldn't.

Personally I'm disappointed that the match won't go ahead in Croker as it would have made it easier for me to travel but that's just selfishness on my part!

Mayo fans will be kept busy every weekend from the Armagh match onwards. Might make for a tired team if they make the league semi-finals?

mayo.mick · 22-02-2012 3:07pm

Throw in time for the refixed match is 7pm

Saturday March 31st, 2012

7 00 PM

Allianz Football League Roinn 1 2012 Round 2
Mayo
vs.
Dublin
MacHale Park, Castlebar[URL="javascript:void(0);"]More info [/URL][URL="javascript:void(0);"][/URL]
[URL="javascript:void(0);"]More info [/URL][URL="javascript:void(0);"][/URL]

Referee: TBC

Barlett · 11-03-2012 5:55pm

Very disappointing performance today, red card certainly didn't help but the teal seemed flat and there needs to be a better reading of the game...too many times Down had a wall of six or seven players and instead of getting a couple of players inside Mayo stood in a line in fron of them passing the ball across...still too loose at the back also. Really needed a free taker today...

Defiler Of The Coffin · 11-03-2012 6:13pm

In fairness to the team it sounded like they worked extremely hard after O'Shea's sending off but John Casey noted on the radio that when Alan Freeman missed a scorable free and Rob Hennelly made an error that Down took advantage of it put Down 3 up when it could maybe have been 1. The heads went down then. The free-taker situation is rearing its ugly head again, I don't think Hennelly should be taking the frees at all, his conversion rate doesn't justify him bothering to leave the goal at all.

Mayo were favourites going into this game but maybe this defeat will stabilise the team a bit and bring them back down to earth, there are still some very tough matches ahead, Donegal won't be easy next week. Three points from play today just wasn't good enough, lets hope Horan focuses on scoring in training this week.

I'm not going to be blaming the referee for the defeat but it does sound like he made a comedy of errors today; the sending off, depriving Mayo of a penalty, disallowing 2 Down points, almost blowing up the match early! Where do the GAA get these boys?

Fowler87 · 11-03-2012 6:52pm

Mayo were brought down to earth today. Three points from play and numerous frees missed says it all. However the sending off was a game changer and until.i see it again imo it was a joke decision. What I could see was o shea trying to shake off the challenge of the down back who was holding his arm and got brushed aside when o shea freed his arm swiftly. Mcloughlin is big loss in the half forwards as there were not enough runners off the ball today against a typical ni backline.. Ref for his poor game lost the plot near the end. Gave the oddest hot ball ive seen in a game

Caiseoipe19 · 12-03-2012 5:13am

Commentators on Midwest didn't seem surprised he got a red...they said he swung back with the elbow, which if he did means he only has himself to blame and . Also didn't the referee not give Down a point when it was clearly over?...well, according to Billy Fitz and Co. it was anyways. Not saying he wasn't poor...by the sounds of it he was very bad especially toward the end.

Defiler Of The Coffin · 19-03-2012 1:44pm

Another disappointing performance, Billy Fitz said it was one of the worst Mayo performances he has ever seen... Seem to be lacking the firepower up front, One point from play in the 2nd half! Relegation is beckoning. Michael Conroy should be starting the next games.

Fowler87 · 20-03-2012 6:47pm

Defiler Of The Coffin wrote: »

Another disappointing performance, Billy Fitz said it was one of the worst Mayo performances he has ever seen... Seem to be lacking the firepower up front, One point from play in the 2nd half! Relegation is beckoning. Michael Conroy should be starting the next games.

From reports the second half was up there with the performance against Longford 2 years ago and London last year. Just as well its the league cos this same ****e would probably have happened in the championship. O'Connor need to be drafted in asap. Wont surprise me if we still get a result against Cork as we tend to up our performance for the big games..

Caiseoipe19 · 21-03-2012 12:56am

Defiler Of The Coffin wrote: »

Another disappointing performance, Billy Fitz said it was one of the worst Mayo performances he has ever seen... Seem to be lacking the firepower up front, One point from play in the 2nd half! Relegation is beckoning. Michael Conroy should be starting the next games.

I wouldn't be too sure Conroy would make all that much difference the last day but he should've been given a chance at least...instead of bringing him on in the 70th minute, which was absolutely pointless. Someone else was brought on at the same time as well if I remember correctly.

Fowler87 · 25-03-2012 6:59pm

Another disappointing collapse by Mayo today. Horan has alot to answer for in which after two games with a man extra for 35 minutes to play results in the team bottling a lead. However the forwards were alot better than the last few games with Conroy adding some much needed dynamisim in the corner. Couldnt believe Horan never moved McHale from the free role/sweeper position as he was clearly out of his depth and couldnt get to grips with the game.

Big game Saturday night now even if I think relegation mightnt be a bad thing for this Mayo side.

Barlett · 26-03-2012 10:04am

Cork outscored Mayo by 0-5 to 0-0 in the last ten minutes. Playing against a 14 man team that's a very worrying statistic. The team just seemed to tire towards the end and the defence became very loose. But all in all we don't appear any closer to the top teams than last year. Plenty of time for all that to change of course but three games now with the same basic mistakes reoccurring it's difficult to be optimistic.

Defiler Of The Coffin · 31-03-2012 7:47pm

0-13 0-5 for Mayo against Dublin at half time! What a revival! Let's hope the lads can keep it up!

Defiler Of The Coffin · 31-03-2012 8:40pm

Great win, Mayo have a habit of bringing their game for the big teams. I agree with the Mid-West commentators though, the crowd were wrong to boo Diarmuid Connolly off the field, no need for that kind of behaviour.

ShamoBuc · 31-03-2012 9:49pm

Super result for ye tonight.

DDC1990 · 31-03-2012 11:55pm

Defiler Of The Coffin wrote: »

Great win, Mayo have a habit of bringing their game for the big teams. I agree with the Mid-West commentators though, the crowd were wrong to boo Diarmuid Connolly off the field, no need for that kind of behaviour.

To be fair, it sounded like Connelly made a few terrible tackles and was almost looking to be sent off. I can understand it in that case.

Great win for Mayo. Can see them getting a win next week in Tralee.
Tight pitch and Kerry have nothing to play for. Will try a good few young lads.

blinding · 01-04-2012 6:16pm

If Mayo could come up with 3/4 (thats 2 spare) consistent midfielders that could hold their own and at least sometimes dominate then I think we have a panel that can compete.

I think our midfield is highly inconsistent and at present our weakest department on the field.

Syferus · 01-04-2012 11:44pm

Any team would be lucky to have two. The team with the best performing midfield will win Connacht this year.

blinding · 02-04-2012 7:48pm

Syferus wrote: »

Any team would be lucky to have two. The team with the best performing midfield will win Connacht this year.

Your probably not far wrong.

Mayo traditionally have good midfielders but we seem to be lacking in that department at the moment. Aiden O'Shea can be good but can he produce it against the top teams ? He certainly ran out of steam against Kerry last year.

Barlett · 02-04-2012 11:06pm

It's at least 6 years since Mayo had a consistent midfield that could compete.O'Shea looks their best prospect in that area....but yeah if they could get two consistent performers they wouldn't be too far off

Blackjack · 02-04-2012 11:18pm

Barlett wrote: »

It's at least 6 years since Mayo had a consistent midfield that could compete.O'Shea looks their best prospect in that area....but yeah if they could get two consistent performers they wouldn't be too far off

In fairness consistency has been an issue with Mayo for a good while now. Can beat anyone on a good day but have a habit of making a balls of it on others.

That said, the trouncing by Donegal and losing to Cork - having thrown away a good lead- not to mention Down may have given them the kick in the arse needed. I won't read too much into the game against Dublin, the dubs didn't even look interested and while the lads played very well, the dubs were abysmal.

Kerry will be a different prospect but again, and of no help to us, they have nothing to play for on Sunday as they'll top the league regardless of the result.
It would be great to get at least another game if not 2 after Sunday in the league, and we've all but guaranteed Division 1 next year anyways, unless some very odd results elsewhere occur.

It was still nice to scalp the champs on Saturday but I'm not expecting too many repeats performances of that calibre this year.

I sincerely hope to be guilty of low expectations. Maybe the new Jersey will prove to be the lucky charm.

Blackjack · 09-04-2012 10:15am

Happy enough with a draw from Yesterdays game, given we spent nearly all the second half with 14 men.

We have an issue holding on to good leads though. Need to get a bit more ruthless in this area.

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