Mayo GAA Discussion

TsuDhoNimh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121729853#Comment_121729853

I'd expect to see O'Shea getting the nod most of the year and if we play smart around him (unlike Saturday) us making hay from it. We didn't have the legs for runners off him, a huge part of why he's in there, and between shocking balls kicked at cover and the couple he slipped the catch on it'll be the perfect way to fire him up for Kerry. I'd feel sorry for whoever is picking him up at training over the break. He'll have a point to prove.

That said, always great to have options for every position and always nice to have nonsense to talk about so no harm a discussion around options in there....

Darren McHale one that has always oozed potential, started to deliver on it at times (consistently for Knockmore and flashes for Mayo), but keeps getting rocked with injuries to set him back. You'd love to see him put a run of fitness together. I'd well believe a run of form would quickly follow.

CO'C, Carr, D McHale, Towey, Irwin, Quinn, Duffy and McStay the ones you'd hope might start to push (Callaghan, O'Flaherty, D Quinn and Reilly we've seen involved too so potentially pushing). Lads like Tuohy/Carney/DO'C could be pushed inside as alternative (different) target men, someone like Hession used for a whole different setup in attack or potential for Sigerson lads like Fallon or McHale to make a late push and offer something. (I'd love to see young Niall Hurley brought in from the 20s but can only imagine the abuse he'd take given his style of play so probably the correct decision to leave him be another year or two while they get the base S&C needed done)

Can't say I've ever seen what James or Kevin obviously do in Conor McStay (be it club or county) to have him in there (I'd have a Regan, Cunningham, Heneghan, Moran, Hopkins or Reape ahead of him) but hopefully he can prove me very wrong this year. I'd be delighted if he does.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121729756#Comment_121729756

Yeah the Mayo blog is very polarised. At least you can have an opinion here without causing a meltdown response.

Aidan will probably be better the next day and he often plays well against Kerry. But he is nearly 34 and I think a pacier player is needed for championship football. If Diamuid gets back he may slot in at midfield or at 11 and that might free up someone for full forward. And if Aidan happened to get injured (he rarely does to his credit) they would manage to come up with someone to replace him.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121730285#Comment_121730285

Is Ronan Clarke another option? He seemed to be a great prospect at minor alongside the Hurley lad when they reached the AI final a few years ago.

TsuDhoNimh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121730317#Comment_121730317

Yeah, long term he's a huge prospect too. Himself and Brian Reape looked deadly at times linking up for Moy Davitts this year in his first year adult (arguably had the better first year at intermediate/senior of the two). Long term you'd expect him to fill the Cillian sort of role of a 'boring' consistently heavy scorer (certainly club and hopefully county) with Niall offering more of the RO'D/Tommy style explosiveness & creativity (and hopefully heavy scoring too). The explosive pace to potentially create goals why Niall would edge infront in my mind but having not caught any of the 20s games this year (I know they'd a challenge against Derry on Saturday, rushing to get in to the Senior game on time) I could be miles off on what's happening on the pitch.

Maheady from Crossmolina could be ahead of the two for now in terms of the physicals to push towards senior (wouldn't be far off Duffy you'd imagine). Wouldn't quite offer the explosivness of Hurley but another that can pull off some outrageous scores and a flair for the unexpected our existing options (outside McHale) are potentially a touch short on.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121730398#Comment_121730398

Yes Mahedy would be a wild card that could unsettle the opposition. He can score from distance too which is a valuable trait in this era of packed defences.

naughto

Have agree with a lot that's being said here re oshea did OK against a sh1te galway team,was very poor against dublin then the free kick just summed up his night.

Don't think he deserves his place for kerry to be honest (didn't realise he was 34)last 20 massive impact sub for us.Coc to start he hasn't played much since ballintubber got knocked out.

RedDevil55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121730501#Comment_121730501

Aidan usually plays well vs Kerry so I'd start him in that game. After that would definitely rotate more to try and get Cillian and James Carr into form.

It doesn't get mentioned much nationally but we've a really young team playing by and large. Aidan is 33 but outside of that the whole team is under 30. Sam and Bob are still only 20, McHugh 21, Carney and Reid 22, Coyne, Brickenden, McBrien and Towey 23, Conroy and McLaughlin 24, Flynn and O'Donoghue 25. Add in Hession when he's back.

Obviously it's never an exact science but the majority of them should still be improving as players, as games go by.

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121730648#Comment_121730648

You'll often hear people complain about no new faces etc but whatever system is in place, there's a fairly constant conveyor belt of guys coming through. Credit to whoever is or was behind setting up that structure. It would be something that I would love to know more about.

Maybe it's the lack of one or two attacking gems that causes us to overlook it at times, but we've been rejuvenating the team now consistently for a long long time.

crusd

The talk about the minors from two years ago being able to add something this year is a bit premature I think. Clarke, Hurley and Maheady look great prospects, however minor is U17 not U18 now. They are only turning 19 this year. Long term we would be better served with them in the 20's this year and integrating into the extended squad next winter if the are up to it.

TsuDhoNimh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121734452#Comment_121734452

David Dolan in the Club All Star challenge game and Diarmuid Duffy in the league have already been involved this year from that group. All the lads mentioned (along with Dara Hurley and Luke Feeney) showed plenty in the Club Championship to be in the conversation so I'd disagree with the chat being outright premature.

I wouldn't disagree that for their long term health/development of the lads we're probably better leaving them in the 20s (they are u19 after all so on the same page there) but no question in terms of current talent and current ability (ignoring the sky high potential) they're part of the chat. Similar chats were had around Callinan (played u19) and Mullin (didn't play u19 but burst on the scene u20 iirc) with different decisions made so obviously no clear right/wrong answer for management on it.

Cartman78

Thinking of heading down to Tralee next weekend.

Based in Limerick so could come back that night I guess but would prefer to make a weekend of it if possible.....but looks like I've left it a bit late maybe for accommodation 😬

Any recommendations welcome 👍

Be-Jaysus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121740141#Comment_121740141

Lots of Ukrainians in Kerry are renting out their apartments on the web for short-term lets and on weekends too .

spakman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121748865#Comment_121748865

Presume that's their own apartments they've bought or are renting privately? If someone is making a profit from state-provided accommodation, they should be reported.

Clareman

Let's keep the topic to GAA please, not sure what the Kerry rental landscape has to do with Mayo GAA, if you want to discuss that topic I'd suggest the regional forum.

Coillte_Bhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121740141#Comment_121740141

Currently there is availability in The Grand Hotel, stayed there for the game two years ago, great location in middle of town, good grub.

Westernview

Interesting piece from James Laffey on Mayo's forward line issues.

https://westernpeople.ie/sport/gaa/attacking-strategy-requires-urgent-attention-if-mayo-are-to-bloom-in-summer_arid-9095.html?fbclid=IwAR2XZMTFB8nwaMmwTkw1d3wt_7a_l-Lc0E_kofzyxkVU_ei7P_3Y00_UtaQ

Westernview

And a piece with colm boyle and his view on pitch invasions - not a fan. But then again he only played for Mayo for 13 years and won 4 all stars so what would he know.

https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/sport-opinion/colm-boyle-column-mayos-celebration-32082927

TsuDhoNimh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121751503#Comment_121751503

"O’Shea’s willingness to take on responsibility is to be commended but if it’s not working it needs to be changed and there is little logic in a veteran taking frees when he never previously did it for club or county."

Free in the County Final, frees in the Semi-Final against Mitchels, 3rd highest scorer in the Club Championship with 2-17 for the year (beaten only by Evan Regan and Ryan O'Donoghue) a large portion of those being frees (can't find a breakdown on the specifics sadly) and a surprisingly massive portion of those frees he won for himself (and a tonne more where he assisted Conor/Robbie with right footed free scores). All while carrying (Mattie had a really poor year at club so it ended with Aidan & Conor doing an awful lot of the heavy lifting for Breaffy, with notable support from younger lads like Neary, Tunney & Beirne) an unfancied Breaffy side through battles with Westport and Castlebar to make the Final. If that's not previously doing it for club, successfully kicking under pressure in big games with the weight of the team on him, I'm not sure what is.

I disagreed with far more of the piece than I agreed with.

Some of the numbers GAA Tracker App shared were pretty interesting to me. I'd never have imagined we got as many shots away against Dublin as we did against Galway, really shows how much that Salthill breeze had interfered in Round 1.

The average time to a score versus average time to a miss probably the most telling (and hopefully actionable) of the numbers there. Important to get the lads comfortable and patient for stages where they have to hold it and go through phases, whether it's to kill momentum of a team or game management for black cards/see out a win, rather than it causing our conversion rates to drop. That said... anything we can do to get the average time to a score even lower all the better again. The faster the transition the more likely a goal chance from it, or at least you'd assume so.

https://twitter.com/GAAtrackerAPP/status/1755930176448352614

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121752026#Comment_121752026

I would assume that when Laffey said Aidan didn't take frees previously he meant before McStay arrived and when he was in his 20s. Perhaps he was taking them for Breaffy but I think other players were taking them including Robbie when he was there.

I have felt for a number of years that it would be better to have Aidan on the bench to come on. And I'm now noticing that a lot of people around me that previously disagreed with me are now admitting that he isn't playing well and his lack of pace is undermining Mayos attacks.

You obviously believe that he should continue in the role but I'm thinking more about developing the Mayo team for the years ahead. I'd rather see an alternative up front before the league has ended. Otherwise it is almost impossible to develop a cohesive forward unit.

Be-Jaysus

Anyone think we should add more seats to McHale Park ?

I remember the board saying couple years ago that they have ambitions doing it but so far it hasn't happened.

The stadium looks great on TV, but if we added more seats it would look the real deal,

My inlaw who is a dub was at the game the other night were very impressed with the stand, but confused as to why we only planted a select few seats on the oppposite side , and just left like that.

I couldn't give him an answer.

spakman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121752566#Comment_121752566

The co board is already in massive debt due to the stand, I don't think there's any appetite to increase that debt for the sake of plastic seats.

Any development works will likely be on the "centre of excellence" or training centre to the rear of the stand.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121752566#Comment_121752566

The blue seats on the McHale Road side were originally in the stand.They had to take about 1000 out of the stand as there weren't sufficient walkways.You can see it in pics of the 1st year or two of the stands existence.

There's no appetite to do anything more with the stadium because they made such a hames of the finance side of it first time round.The debt on the stadium and levy on clubs is projected to go till about 2060.More than 50 years after the stand opened, its the single biggest obstacle to Mayo staying at the top table.That money can't be used for centre of excellence, GPOs etc.

Roscommon will open a refurbished stand with a bigger capacity than our stand next month.It cost 10% of what we paid and is mostly self funded,no debt.

irishgeo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121752732#Comment_121752732

No need to go all out.

Something like these would be ideal.

https://www.pakar-seating.com/flat-stadium-seat-for-grandstand/

TsuDhoNimh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121752355#Comment_121752355

I'd actually love to see him used as an impact sub*. I just don't like (lazy) journalism/comments making it look like an open and shut case (even if a majority might agree with it), not discussing the nuances of it or pointing out failings/facts that aren't true (Suggesting Aidan going out for throw ups is Aidan showing he doesn't want to play full-forward is farcicle stuff. That's a management call based around giving us the greatest opportunity for possession/scoring. Nothing to do with Aidan's playing preferences at midfield/FF). Seeing people writing off a player in February who was probably the club player of the year just gone (kicking all sorts of frees in the process), was right up there in the top 3 as Mayo player of the year last year and has only just returned from holidays and still not near top gear is just odd to me.

Lots of reasons not to want Aidan starting. Maximising his potential late on (ageing legs take a serious toll) and introducing more movement/pace into the forward line two big ones but the biggest for me is using him can weaken us defensively at times. Ironically enough, when this was one of Aidan's strengths for the vast majority of his career.

Last year when we were coughing up numerous goal chances they were coming from a large variety of sources. Part of that was familiarising ourselves with a new defensive system, part was the system itself being demanding and relatively unforgiving to mistakes and part was individual errors. The most common of the individual errors was Aidan getting breached around the middle (Conor Loftus' lack of defensive strengths/pace at CHB second by a distance and both of those well clear of any other repeated cause), causing an overload chain along the lines we'd then need our scramble defence to cover which wasn't working out often enough (having 2 of Coen and Loftus lacking some pace probably didn't help there either so you'd hope we'd be closing more of those doors this year regardless). We haven't seen it yet in Salthill or Castlebar so perhaps they've made steps to resolve it but I'd fear it's still a major issue we have with Aidan at full forward. If we're going to use him there I'd like to see us locking him on the edge of the square and giving the opposition the question of what to do with that rather than giving them a (relatively) easy breach around the middle.

Any discussion of whether we do or don't play him, especially one from a journalist in a newspaper, should be (even briefly) looking at the pros too, something that editorial badly lacked. When used properly in there, Aidan is our most potent attacking threat. He won't score 1-6 a game like Cillian/Ryan and often won't score 2 or 3 like Tommy or Jordan.... but he's currently looking (still) our best bet of getting those lads putting up those scores and the best option to maximise our overall scoring.

He requires a fairly specific matchup that often pushes teams to break up their normal defensive unit. He causes them to have to tweak other defensive plans (instead of a sweeper sitting on the D it now has to be 15 yards deeper or they need a 2nd sweeper) or risk getting taken apart as many experienced last year in the league (easily could have happened against Dublin too if he hadn't uncharacteristically fumbled a few and others weren't poorly kicked straight to a sweeper when a ball was never on). Sure, lots of games he might/will get swallowed up in there with bodies... but at that point it's up to the lads not being swamped to make hay. Something for lads like Tommy/Jordan/Jack/Bob/Diarmuid/Paddy/Sam or 'the team' to capitalise on.

*The most important part of discussions about not using him for frees or not using him at FF is who you're replacing him with. I've said it in the past, anyone calling for someone to be dropped and not giving the specific change they'd like to see is being disingenuous at best.

Until we see one of Carr (pace & direct running to beat 1v1s & create overloads), McHale (probably offering the most creativity to potentially unlock goal chances for others) or CO'C (longer range shooting) lay down a claim to the jersey (Cillian you'd imagine the closest but yet to recapture form at club or county since his injury - he looked bright & seemed to cause problems in the brief cameo against Dublin.... hard to know whether the multiple misses will spur him on or sap his confidence further. 50/50 but you'd imagine he's mentally strong enough for it to be a motivation) it's hard to justify calls for dropping Aidan. We absolutely need to try the lads in there (at least when they're back fully fit) but we should be looking for them to stand up and make themselves a must pick rather than attempting to attack the confidence of who's currently in there.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121752860#Comment_121752860

Yes,something like that would be great,similar to the Mackay stand in Limerick.

Im really interested in stadiums and GAA stadiums especially.

As a Mayo fan they did a half decent job on MacHale Park,there's a lot I would have done differently but the financial side of things really leaves a sour test.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121752964#Comment_121752964

Your reply is so long winded and contradictory that it's difficult to reply to. You said in the first line that you'd love to see Aidan as an impact sub. Well that's what Laffey and myself are saying. But later on you say it's hard to justify dropping him. And giving an opinion on whether he should start or be on the bench is not attacking his confidence. Its just an opinion on team selection. Otherwise by the same yardstick you would be accused of attacking the confidence of conor Loftus - which you clearly weren't.

Also after all the managers he has played under over 14 years there is little need for pros and cons 'nuance'. Your views remind me of Billy Joe Paddens repeated opinion that managements are not using Aidan correctly. Well that ship has sailed but its still the discussion for some.

km79

Is there anywhere I can follow the schools final ?

km79

Gerald’s won by two . I seen their Junior team win Connacht before Xmas. They have some savage forwards

TsuDhoNimh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121753435#Comment_121753435

Not sure where you felt a contradiction was.

I'd love to see him being an impact sub. I mentioned the cons why (they've changed dramatically over the years so a whole new chat) & the pros of him playing (again, a whole new conversation). Then suggested that until we get someone pushing him out (two of which aren't fully fit and another in a poor run of form - even when fully fit from everything we've seen the last two years at club and county) he'll continue starting, despite those limitations.

St. Gerald's did incredibly well in the Connacht Final.

Horrid conditions down in Bekan with a driving cross field wind a struggle to deal with playing in either direction. Both sides managed to pick out some fantastic scores in spite of the conditions and put on a very enjoyable contest. The Gerald's setup and structure done an unbelievable job keeping the likes of Monaghan and Curley underwraps (Diarmuid O'Connor might have a future in this football craic yet). Yousif Coghill (was Eanna Monaghan's shadow all day), Dara Neary (some absolutely incredible scores) and Gavin Forry (a staggering number of possessions and interceptions in the second half) probably just the pick of the bunch but the whole team deserving of great credit for the seriously hard work to grind out the result.

Be-Jaysus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121753131#Comment_121753131

Its 2024, and many "elite" GAA county's are forking out incredible sums on backroom staff.. (border-line professional level)

We are splashing out 300k on a pitch that was waterlogged inside 12 months of completion ;-), Media room was also leaking water, tripping electricity,

(No accountability or breakdown of where the money actually was spent ) ... but gradually adding a few hundred plastic seats every season until completion would financially tip us over the edge somehow .... so now our fans have to suck it up for previous past mistakes , and sit our Backsides on Wet Concrete & Moss on a Winter night.

Where's the ambition , or should i say a common sense approach ?

We are letting these Crooks away with murder because we allow them.