Mayo GAA Discussion

eastie17

I’m still struggling with the fact that we went with a manager who we bate the shite out of when the chips were down.

also think the behind the scenes video was really poor judgement, even if they needed money bad there are other ways not to have that distraction and all it brings

i know, he’s there for the year anyway and beyond so get behind him but unless we see major progress in developing lads and style of play I’d say good luck and thanks

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121683913#Comment_121683913

He went through a lengthy rigorous appointment process, won the league and got to AI quarter final against the eventual champions in his first year and you are already talking about his removal. I think he deserves a full second term before any such discussions about his future.

eastie17

Fair points.

however I’m looking at it from the point of view of winning the all Ireland. I manage a club team and have been doing that for a good few years in different clubs. I analyse games and patterns of play. Don’t have access to every mayo game but the ones I have looked at in detail raise the concern in that last year there were 3 distinct ways it appeared mayo were trying to play but none really stuck, and the execution was poor for the most part.

imho he should be going in with a clear idea on the way he thinks he can get the best out of the group of players he has and all the work should be about trying to embed that style of play. If you have gaps in execution see if you can find players to fit the plan in the county. He has the luxury of being able to pick any player in the county who is willing to commit.

So if he won nothing last year but you could see what they were trying to do and they were making incremental progress which you could see might lead us to winning an all Ireland I would be happier than current state even after the fact of winning the league as enjoyable as that was.

but yeah ur right, let’s see what the second year is like and what we’re at. I’m sure they did plenty of thinking and planing since the 200 plus days we were last in competitive action

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121684294#Comment_121684294

I think the big issue last year was it was a new format and most counties were unsure how to approach a shorter season. Mayo seemed to peak early and will have learned from that. I've no doubt they have a clear idea of what way they want to play. But all the plans in the world are matterless if the players aren't at the level needed. It will take time until the younger guys come through. I see it as a full 3-4 year project and today is only the beginning of year 2. Any talk of all irelands is premature.

HBC08

I've two tickets free to any Mayo supporter,pm me

MacDanger

Reid in at MF for Coen

Comer not starting

Green&Red

Great first half

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121684946#Comment_121684946

Yea, I thought they were excellent going forward, less lateral passing around the 45 and more taking on their men and running at them, and plenty of runners in support.

Out of curiosity, which way is the wind blowing?

PARlance

The only question mark about Boland is why wasn't he involved last year.

Not saying he's a definite starter, but he certainly adds something to the team / squad.

MacDanger

Should be further ahead really

Boland involved in most of our good moves although he coughed up possession a couple of times

Callinan doing v well

MacDanger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121684969#Comment_121684969

We have it in the 2nd half

Westernview

Pretty solid win. Good to see some fresh faces. A lot of players seem to have bulked up.

Galway quite poor. Joyce will be struggling for excuses.

MacDanger

Good win but Galway were v poor and missing Comer & Kelly. Should really have shook them off earlier than we did

Green&Red

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685206#Comment_121685206

Ah I wouldn't write him off just yet, PJ can find an excuse for every occasion

km79

Time to book the hotel

Blackjack

I had a load of time for PJ as a player, he really was an exceptional talent, and to that end I’d keep some amount of respect for him. But he’s an awful lad for talking through his hoop in the post match interviews and not taking responsibility for his own players or his decisions.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685268#Comment_121685268

Yes I always felt he never had much regard for Mayo but he's had a good few losses to us now. The early days of him patrolling the sideline with the collar up seem to be long gone.

Barlett

A good win for Mayo , hopefully we will keep foot passing it in the summer - Galway I don’t really know what to think . You look at the panel & think they’ve got to compete but they were as bad as I’ve seen in recent years & like how many times have Mayo beaten them now with PJ as manager , the attitude seemed off.

MacDanger

Touhy and Brickendon both v good I thought.

Tommy C poor enough

PressRun

You wouldn't know what to think. They looked fluid enough and solid at the back, but they also looked decent all through the spring last year and then championship arrived and they weren't able to keep up with teams who timed their peak for mid-summer.

HBC08

Great stuff from Mayo.

Lovely game management in the first half running down the clock with possession football,also to note it was confident possession football not the chaos heart attack stuff we have seen in the past.

Great pace,quick movement and running off the shoulder particularly in the 1st half.Also good kick passing inside when it was on.Could have used the wind a bit better in the 2nd half but managed the game out well in the end.

Paddy, jordan and Eoghan mac played very well and best of the established guys.

Fergie B was excellent and my motm.

Callinan,Brickenden,Reid,Touhy,Carney,McBrien were the stand outs of the newer lads.

Towey and Daire Duffy did very well when they came on.

Mattie Ruane,Enda Hession,James Carr,Diarmuid O Connor all to come into that team/squad.

Things are looking pretty OK.

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685250#Comment_121685250

And back the draw!

km79

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685491#Comment_121685491

I thought today was going to be a draw so I’ll stay away from any bets

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685416#Comment_121685416

Yeah it's very early days.

Good to start the league with a win and two points.

Winning or top two would be good but survival while trying new players and game plans would do just as good.

spakman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685484#Comment_121685484

Daire Duffy more of a soccer head ;)

diarmuid Duffy did well though, pity he couldn't finish either of the goal chances

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685869#Comment_121685869

Yep sorry,got my Duffys mixed up.

He looked confident and eager,pity he didn't finish off that chance.

TsuDhoNimh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685304#Comment_121685304

Tommy worked hard but yeah, poor enough by his standards. Not really the type of day for his talents to shine I guess but hopefully as the sod dries we see him start to fire. Odd how often we were hitting him under the high ball. They must have thought the Galway back had a weakness to exploit.... mistakenly, perhaps.

Tuohy, Brickenden, Coyne, McBrien and Carney got through an absolute mountain of the messy work that seldom catches the eye. Really impressive stuff defensively from 1 to 9 (helped with a severe lack of Galway pace, in body or mind).

Callinan stole the show for me (a couple of sloppy possessions make it unlikely he'd get the MOTM pick but that ignores how often he turned it over, all while keeping Walsh in his backpocket) and Boland with the type of comeback against neighbours that you'd dream you.

Some nice flashes from young Diarmuid Duffy, winning the penalty a nice way to round out a debut. Another game or two to settle those nerves and he'd be walking away with two goals. Conor Reid did plenty to build on recent performances. Could see him (understandably) tiring towards the end but he put in a great shift around the middle for a first day out. Nice to have another high fielding option there and looks to be one with potential (Be nice to see Murphy from Ballinrobe get a run out there too at some point).

Great to see the pace, willingness to kick, support running off shoulders/in groups clicking so early in the year. Nothing you'd be getting carried away by but plenty of positives to show the lads what they're working away at is going in a positive direction. We looked far higher paced & fitter than Galway, thought they were incredibly lucky with a few of Hurson's calls to keep 15 on the field at all times, so be interesting to see how it looks later in the year when we all hit top gear.

Blackjack

Some will cop the below is tongue in cheek. Some won’t but here we go.

Overall that was a good enough display against moderate opposition, but I felt we really didn't get going as we should have. I wouldn't be too worried, 1st game of the league. Galway had a strong team out and we were off the pace, put Ruane, Hession , Diarmuid and O’Donoghune back into that team and it changes it but still alot of potential to do more to better teams. I thought Flynn was solid and Reid has alot of potential. No harm to give the neighbours a bit of a kick in the hole and for Neighbours to downplay their defeat so as to keep the feeling they are contenders still again in January.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121686571#Comment_121686571

I see what you did there!

PARlance

Anyone catch McStays interview after the match? It was Michael D/MidWest asking the question, but I picked it up on Newstalk. Assume it was on MidWest as well.

Michael D asked him how he thought the new players got on. McStay kind of deflected it by saying that the couple of new guys did well but that the main improvement this year will be seen from the guys who are in their 2nd and 3rd years.

It makes a lot of sense and goes back to the talk on here about where are the new faces... 1. There aren't a huge amount of new faces out there that remain to be discovered and 2. S&C has come on so much that it takes a few years for most newer players to really get up to speed (there's the very rare talent who can burst onto the scene obviously).

There's a big chunk of the team that you would expect to see push on and improve from last year just through having a solid year or two under their belts.

Reid aside, from the starting 15 yestrrday, the below group of 8 could be classed as a group that should all show improvement this year.

Colm Reape, Sam Callinan, Rory Brickenden, Jack Coyne, David McBrien, Jack Carney, Jordan Flynn, Bob Tuohy,

The below 5 are around long enough where much improvement isn't going to be expected.

Paddy Durcan, Eoghan McLaughlin, Aidan O'Shea, Ryan O'Donoghue, Fergal Boland.

Tommy Conroy would fall in between both imo, more so due his injury etc. I think there's improvement there to be expected.

Not sure what my point is other than I would agree with McStays take on it.

Galway were very poor yesterday, its hard to judge how good we were... and even harder to know if we want them to be good at this stage of the year.