Mayo GAA Discussion Thread

Uncle Ben

Peanut Butter Jelly wrote: »

There was rumours he has done his cruciate and that they're trying to keep it hush. One of the tubber lads in college has seen him with strapping on his knee. I don't know if it's true or not but I'm kinda worried.

....Trying to keep it hush.... Well the rumours out now. Straight off the press. :-D

TCDStudent1

What would the advantage be of keeping a cruciate injury secret? If he has done his cruciate, then he is out....

ColeTrain

I definitely read some quotes from Pat Holmes just before the Cork game, he was saying that Cillian was a few weeks away yet with a knee injury.

MaroonAndGreen

If he has done the cruciate then I'd happily settle for just a Connaught title this year

Syferus

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

What would the advantage be of keeping a cruciate injury secret? If he has done his cruciate, then he is out....

There's so many different cruciate injuries you can suffer. Many only take 6-8 weeks to full recover. It would certainly not be as simple as 'doing the cruciate' (whatever that's supposed to be) and being out for a year like Gooch or CO'N.

Barlett

And if that was the case, they wouldn't be keeping it a secret

NabyLadistheman

Lads leave this sort of speculation to the tabloids. Whatever injury Cillian has I am sure they are giving him all the time he needs to get back to full fitness. He went straight from last years All-Ireland series into club action. From there straight into sigerson. Perhaps we are giving our best player a calculated breather to get the body right and for freshness come Championship. This also gives Management an opportunity to get some minutes into other options

Nidgeweasel

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I'd certainly expect the team to take the game seriously.

As the other poster said a competitive game is worth more than six weeks of training etc.

This idea of staying in the long grass or not showing ones hand in folly if you ask me

We won't go down unless we get humped. Rather not end up in the semi's.

Not cute hoorism or anything just we've a small squad. That'll do us now. Just don't beat us by 16 like the last time.

Defiler Of The Coffin

Strong midfield showing from Mayo but the forwards are finding it tough. Tight game, hard to call it at this stage

padd b1975

Defiler Of The Coffin wrote: »

Strong midfield showing from Mayo but the forwards are finding it tough. Tight game, hard to call it at this stage

Seems to be a stiff breeze in our favour for the second half going by the flags.
But you're right, barely getting a sniff inside.

wackokid

If a team can'r convert a free in from 25yds with ball in hand they have no business in finals.
That was pathetic shooting from Mayo today and wirhout Killian O Connor this team is going nowhere.
Hurts me to say that as I'm a 'sleeping' Mayo supporter.

km79

such a frustrating day for so many reasons
but further evidence that Mayo are completely and utterly dependent on Cillian. some of the shooting ( and lack of it ) from the forwards today was pathetic.
I don't care if mcloughlin is left footed I'd rather see ANYONE else take frees on that side than him anymore. he simply can't be relied on when the chips are down.
a simple free at a crucial stage missed cos he got rattled by a few Donegal lads jostling him......

Fr Tod Umptious

Pretty disappointing league overall from Mayo.

It would have been ideal to get to the playoffs and get an extra game before the Galway match, but they had two opportunities in the last two weeks to get that and blew both of them.

Another goal of the league would have been to find a few more players to add to a fairly static squad.
I have not seen enough games though to judge if Ronaldson, Kirby, Durcan and D. O Conner etc. are up to it, also is Keane now a genuine starter in the backs again ?

Getting back to the Galway game one positive is that Galway failed to get out of Div 2, which surprised me because I thought that would be the main aim and the obvious step of a team that seem to be on an upwards curve this last couple of years.

Even though Ros did get promoted I'm not as worried about facing them in a final in Castlebar as I am of facing Galway cold after a 10 week layoff.

The league has done nothing to remove the thought of a championship exit on a wet Saturday night somewhere in Ulster in July from the back of my mind.

km79

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Pretty disappointing league overall from Mayo.

It would have been ideal to get to the playoffs and get an extra game before the Galway match, but they had two opportunities in the last two weeks to get that and blew both of them.

Another goal of the league would have been to find a few more players to add to a fairly static squad.
I have not seen enough games though to judge if Ronaldson, Kirby, Durcan and D. O Conner etc. are up to it, also is Keane now a genuine starter in the backs again ?

Getting back to the Galway game one positive is that Galway failed to get out of Div 2, which surprised me because I thought that would be the main aim and the obvious step of a team that seem to be on an upwards curve this last couple of years.

Even though Ros did get promoted I'm not as worried about facing them in a final in Castlebar as I am of facing Galway cold after a 10 week layoff.

The league has done nothing to remove the thought of a championship exit on a wet Saturday night somewhere in Ulster in July from the back of my mind.

Keane was mayos best player in the league. he will start full back.
ronaldson had good days and bad like today. will be a squad player
same for diarmuid and possibly durkan.
Kirby was AWFUL today. he has height but not the strength or know how to use it. coughed up possession WAY too easily on numerous occasions and is very very slow to cover the ground. his kick passing seems good! would be very worried if we see him during the summer
Kenneth o malley was nervous / poor today
the rotation of goalies was ridiculous.
the only bright spot today was Barry Moran who was superb but will be be injured again by galway game.......
Anyway from 1-15 right along the spine of the team nobody knows who will start against galway.
thats not a good place to be.
the league has been a disaster really and if Cillian is out for any length of time we can all book our holidays from early august on!

just to add Donie Vaughan had a fine game today in the half back line. He was the only half back making runs off the man with the ball which is vital and something our team had been renowned for .......we now seem caught between 2 styles of play!
Lee Keegan continues to look a shadow of himself

finisklin

Thought the keeper should have taken the free before half time. It was within his range. Mcloughlin's humility deserted him and he went for the glory. Pity.

Great chance at the end when we broke quickly with Keane leading the charge. The off load ended in a feeble chip that the keeper easily bettered. A point would have won us the game.

Havin seen the tyrone game and the 14 man defence they put up, when Donegal switched to this for the last 10 minutes, Mayo's learnings were out the window - no one with confidence to try long range point, kicking for corners and drawing out defenders and even a high, high ball to Aidan O'Shea inside did not cross the imagination of the Mayo attack. Instead we had short hand passing and attackers trying to bate through 3-4 defenders.

Perhaps time to look at MacHale for his basketball expertise a la Dublin and Mark Ingle?

Anyway, as per previous poster the thought of Mayo exiting the championship in a wet July evening in the north is not too far away.

HighKing33

I actually thought Mayo played very good football against Cork, should have won the game but they don't seem to have that hard edge yet. Could be a bedding in period. No shame in drawing against one of the best teams in the country.

Agree that the rotation of goalkeepers has been comical. Priority for the NFL was finding forwards who could play off Cillian. Evan Regan could have made a difference here. Asides from that, no outstanding candidates. I wouldn't write off the championship. Dillon and Moran could easily play in the full-forward line, and Barry Moran could always pop up as a target man. Ally that to a settled defence and it's not all doom and gloom. Connelly has impressed me so far but this is a step up for him. Confident they'll find the right formula.

Syferus

It was the Mayo panel themselves that had a problem with McHale. Didn't like him criticising them in the media. Ridiculously touchy to be honest, I don't think there's a man in Mayo who could ever mean less harm to Mayo GAA than McHale. A man as decent as him deserves far better than what he got.

McHale is a selector with Cavan now so you can for get about him helping out Mayo. That ship has sailed.

finisklin

Syferus wrote: »

It was the Mayo panel themselves that had a problem with McHale. Didn't like him criticising them in the media. Ridiculously touchy to be honest, I don't think there's a man in Mayo who could ever mean less harm to Mayo GAA than McHale. A man as decent as him deserves far better than what he got.

McHale is a selector with Cavan now so you can for get about him helping out Mayo. That ship has sailed.

If Ingle has success with the Dubs using his basketball nous, MacHale's stock will rise. May not make it back to Mayo, but some of the bigger counties may take a punt on his know how in unlocking blanket defences via basketball.

For me jury is out on Mayo management and time will tell if they will cut the mustard.

Fowler87

Confidence is the biggest problem as ever with the forwards. I still don't doubt their ability. Think people are being bit harsh on Kirby too. He doesn't look as sharp as the rest though and tried to do do much yesterday. Did showed glimpses of what he's capable of and did play some intelligent passes in the 1st half.

How Donie Buckley is going to react to this management duo when he arrives will be interesting. Too many cooks and all that..

seligehgit

Well I'd little cause for concern re Donegal's motivation for the game.I was very impressed with them...minus Niall Gallagher and their main man Michael Murphy.Donegal appear to me to regaining their 2012 appetite,very impressive.
Physically imposing,defensively near impregnable.

Superb joust at times between Aidan O Shea and Eamon McGee,Frank McGlynn was exceptionally good.We did clean them out at midfield,Barry Moran was stellar with 3 great scores and some fine clean catches.Seamie O Shea put in some great graft for the game.

Little wrong with McBrearty's second goal,McBrearty and MacNiallas are 2 quality forwards...survived quite well on a limited supply of ball.

Kenneth O Malley had quite a nervy day between the posts,leaving aside the missed 45.Defensively I thought we are beginning to get a lot right.

After number 9 is where the issues continue to lie.Lots of lateral passing,loss of ball in contact as opposed to quick ball into a few forwards making runs or the confidence to kick long distance points as opposed to passing off the responsibilty to somebody else.

At times there was a solitary Mayo forward inside with numerous Donegal defenders when we regained possession in our own half!

Kevin McLoughlin is a pale shadow of himself,constantly coughing up possession and most importantly lacking any reliability in taking frees.Danny Kirby deserves another chance,he found it hard to maintain possession but he is an obvious target man and appears to have a decent foot pass.

Unfortunately I do not think we'll win any All Ireland with Michael Conroy in the panel,little logic to letting Enda Varley go whilst keeping Michael Conroy.Evan Regan and Conor O Shea could add something up front.The dependency we have on Cillian O Connor becomes ever clearer as the championship looms.Hopefully he'll be fit and stay fit for same.The old wise heads of Alan Dillon and Andy Moran will be most definitely to required this summer.Is Jason Gibbons still injured?

Thought Aidan O Shea was lucky to escape a black card sanction,for a big man tackling is not his forte.Shame re the obvious niggle that developed during the game,consequence of past encounters.

In summary,disappointing league overall.It would have been nice to get a couple more games in before the increasingly worrying Galway game.Nothing is guaranteed in Connacht,Roscommon are coming good,endless under 21 titles,Division 1 football,FBD title won in Castlebar(psychological barrier overcome).

Barlett

Fowler87 wrote: »

Confidence is the biggest problem as ever with the forwards. I still don't doubt their ability. Think people are being bit harsh on Kirby too. He doesn't look as sharp as the rest though and tried to do do much yesterday. Did showed glimpses of what he's capable of and did play some intelligent passes in the 1st half.

How Donie Buckley is going to react to this management duo when he arrives will be interesting. Too many cooks and all that..

Was Donie Buckley missing for the league?

mayo.mick

Barlett wrote: »

Was Donie Buckley missing for the league?

I saw him at the last couple of match's I'm sure.

MaroonAndGreen

When is our game v Galway/Leitrim going to be played? The break 'til then is a concern

padd b1975

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

When is our game v Galway/Leitrim going to be played? The break 'til then is a concern

Sunday June 14th, not sure if throw-in time has been confirmed yet.

yop

Disappointing results in the last 2 games, some good performances but again lacking in front of goals. Shot selection and finishing is just incredibly poor, management can't go in a do it for them.
Think this will either be a good chance for Boyle, Higgings, McLaughs and Keegan to rest the bodies a bit or is the start of a short summer, still not sure which. Based on the performanaces against Monaghan, Cork and in spits against Donegal we still have a lot of potential, though then when we are bad we are just so bad.
Can't say there is one single team that has so far come out of the league with all "A grades", no one has impressed and the AI champions nearly got relegated.
Would certainly have preferred to get to the semi and possibly a final, but then we could have been hockeyed again or could have won it.

I certainly don't know how to gauge us after that campaign, management haven't done much to impress me or not impress me, positives on the player front certainly is the performaces of Keane, Moran, Ronaldson and Parsons. On our day we could be a match for anyone, but no where near that day yet!

Stoner

TBH it looks very much like last year or the year before but with less potential for the intensity that was previously there.

yop

Stoner wrote: »

TBH it looks very much like last year or the year before but with less potential for the intensity that was previously there.

The blanket defence doesn't suit teams like Mayo and Dublin I think, trying to find a way down a rabbit hole to get a score seems to be the key. I would love to know the stats on how many passes that Mayo and Donegal had within the opposition 1/2 on Sunday. At times it was said to me it was like watching Barcelona.
To such an extent, rightly or wrongly, the crowd started booing.
Where we are going, as in the GAA, I don't honestly know. Its fkn awful to watch and just leads to player and crowd frustration.
All this blanket defence can't be laid at the door of the Ulster teams, we were at it on Sunday with 13 or 14 players in our own 1/2 at times, also watching Derry and Dublin, while Derry were the main culprits Dublin did it when they had to also.

I think they need to, as with Basketball ensure that here are X amount of players in the opposition half at all time, otherwise you lose possession.
If they limited it to 4 players minimum then I think it could eliminate some of this.

TCDStudent1

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Pretty disappointing league overall from Mayo.

It would have been ideal to get to the playoffs and get an extra game before the Galway match, but they had two opportunities in the last two weeks to get that and blew both of them.

Another goal of the league would have been to find a few more players to add to a fairly static squad.
I have not seen enough games though to judge if Ronaldson, Kirby, Durcan and D. O Conner etc. are up to it, also is Keane now a genuine starter in the backs again ?

Getting back to the Galway game one positive is that Galway failed to get out of Div 2, which surprised me because I thought that would be the main aim and the obvious step of a team that seem to be on an upwards curve this last couple of years.

Even though Ros did get promoted I'm not as worried about facing them in a final in Castlebar as I am of facing Galway cold after a 10 week layoff.

The league has done nothing to remove the thought of a championship exit on a wet Saturday night somewhere in Ulster in July from the back of my mind.

There were valid reasons as to why Galway didn't get promoted though.
Galway have a new manager and he tried a lot of new players throughout the league. This has worked out in that there are some players that have emerged as potential championship starters. However, it still meant that there was quite a bit of chopping & changing earlier in the year as Walsh got to know the panel better.

They were missing a significant portion of their panel as Corofin were involved in the club championship right up to the middle of March. They won the 2 matches where the Corofin players were available - coincidence?

Given those reasons, finishing just 1 point off promotion isn't a bad league for Galway. In saying that, I wouldn't exactly go rushing out to back them beating Mayo!

blinding

yop wrote: »

The blanket defence doesn't suit teams like Mayo and Dublin I think, trying to find a way down a rabbit hole to get a score seems to be the key. I would love to know the stats on how many passes that Mayo and Donegal had within the opposition 1/2 on Sunday. At times it was said to me it was like watching Barcelona.
To such an extent, rightly or wrongly, the crowd started booing.
Where we are going, as in the GAA, I don't honestly know. Its fkn awful to watch and just leads to player and crowd frustration.
All this blanket defence can't be laid at the door of the Ulster teams, we were at it on Sunday with 13 or 14 players in our own 1/2 at times, also watching Derry and Dublin, while Derry were the main culprits Dublin did it when they had to also.

I think they need to, as with Basketball ensure that here are X amount of players in the opposition half at all time, otherwise you lose possession.
If they limited it to 4 players minimum then I think it could eliminate some of this.

It has to be a simple rule change like that.

It should be tried.

Stoner

TBH, I think the blanket defence would suit Mayo. Some would agree that you guys could do with some more scoring forwards. Possibly just optimise the ones you have.
In a blanket defense to copy Donegal a little, O'Conner could be a McBrearty, AOS as an Michael Murphy, B Moran as a target man, your half back line breaking on the counter like only they can, the extra lads back could help out an issue I think you have at number 3.


It would have been nice to see something more radical form the mayo management team so far this year.
The sort of changes we saw in Donegal in 2011, and Dublin in 2010, it really took both management teams to do some housekeeping, and change things up, Donegal dropped Cassidy, big calls started in the league the year before AIs were won.
Really I think Horans management team was very good but were a little slow on the line to spot that Dublin were there for the taking I 2013.

Maybe the new set up would being this to how table.