martyos121 wrote: » There is, but Cluxton had a huge meltdown for 10 minutes against Kerry and Comerford really wasn't any better than Clarke and his side didn't go as far as Clarke's. That makes any argument for those two a little weaker in my opinion, but it was a close race.
PressRun wrote: » Cluxton had a meltdown against Kerry, but he did recover well later in the match when things could have easily fallen apart and was very good in both finals. Clarke had a great year and was instrumental in getting us to the final, but according to Stephen Rochford, his kickouts were a problem towards the end of the first match against Dublin. There were issues with both Clarke and Cluxton at different points this year. How many issues were there with Comerford's keeping? I haven't studied the guy's form in great detail, but I don't remember him making any huge mistakes. So where does that place him in relation to Clarke and Cluxton? Lower down because he didn't make a final?
TCDStudent1 wrote: » The All star to Clarke does not make Rochford’s decision any better or any worse. Receiving the all star does not change the performances that Clarke put in this year. His performances did not warrant him to be dropped in the AI final replay. It’s not rocket science! There was very very little between the 3 main contenders really. Cluxton’s meltdown against Kerry probably cost him somewhat while maybe if Quinlivan hadn’t got one for Tipp, Comerford may have been gotten the nod. Colm Keys had an article after the AI replay where he said that Mayo management felt Clarke’s kickouts were directly responsible for 5 – 7 of Dublin’s points. I would have loved to watch the final back after reading that to see if I could identify those 5 – 7 points but unfortunately I did not have access to it. From memory, I find it difficult to come close to that amount of scores. During his time in Corofin, one of the criticisms levelled at Rochford was that he liked to do something that nobody else would even contemplate – if it came off, it made him look like a genius. Corofin are so far ahead of other clubs in Galway that he could get away with doing stuff like that. His decision to replace Hennelly with Clarke absolutely reeked of that. It was not a brave decision by Rochford. A brave decision is when you decide to drop a top player who is not in good form; for example, Gavin dropping Brogan for the replay was a brave but logical move – If I was Dublin manager, I wouldn’t have been brave enough to make that move. I don’t think Mayo fans are split 50 / 50 regarding Clarke & Hennelly. Even going back to before the Galway match, I would have said that the majority of Mayo fans I know preferred Clarke as goalkeeper. On the morning of the AI final when the rumour about Hennelly starting came out, 100% of Mayo fans I talked to (and other county fans too) could not understand it & thought Clarke should have retained his place. I’d be curious to know Clarke’s stance on it at the moment and how Rochford dealt with Clarke in the aftermath. I guess we will never really know but if ever a player was owed an apology for being wrongfully dropped, it is Clarke. Every manager makes mistakes. This was one of the most un-necessary mistakes made by a manager in a final. But Rochford is young and hopefully is learning from his mistakes. Mayo need to stick by him for at least another year to see if he can evolve and progress the team.
MayoAreMagic wrote: » Re mossy quinn putting in his two cents, why would you pay that any mind? The dubs will tow the party line in the papers, we seen that before the final replay. You can be sure we wont read too many columns about guys diving and showing imaginary cards any time soon. The reality is they want to talk about mayo because they are worried about mayo.On the topic of rochford, i firmly believe him to be our best ever manager. What he achieved in his first season was exceptional. No manager gets everything right, but i will say now, he came damn close to doing so. I dont think ge can be blamed for his gk making that sort of fundemental error, that cant be anything other than hennellys error. But nobody will want to meet us in 2017 and we are in a great place
Gael85 wrote: » That is a bit of strange statement. He lost 2 championship games this year. James Horan is probably Mayo best ever manager at inter county level in recent times. He won 4 Connacht titles in 4 years.
Fr Tod Umptious wrote: » This notion that the Clarke All Star is a clear indication that Rochford f**ked up in replacing him for the replay is BS. Hennelly was brought in because the Mayo management believed that, after analysis of the first game, an altered kick out strategy would take something away from Dublin's game plan. As of turned out Hennelly made one bad mistake that resulted in a Dublin goal. Had Higgins, Harrison and Durckan conceded three kickable frees that Dublin converted, no one would be talking about Clarke's All Star as some sort of "I told you so". Hennelly is no slouch, it's not as if a guy was brought in who never had played at this stage, he and Clarke have swapped that jetesy for the last few years, ask 100 Mayo fans who should be in goals and it would be 50/50.He just had one howler and now every keyboard warrior thinks they are smarter than Rochford. Too often Mayo managers have been criticised for not making a brave decision. Well done to Clarke on the All Star. Let's look forward to 2017.
seligehgit wrote: » Lee Keegan POTY!!!
Oldtree wrote: » Well done to DOC and LK, deserving winners. 2017 FBD fixtures announced Round 1 8th January Mayo v NUIG 2pm Round 2 15th January Mayo v Sligo IT 2pm Round 3 22nd January Roscommon v Mayo 2pmhttps://oceanfm.ie/site/2016/11/04/fbd-insurance-league-fixtures-2017/
PressRun wrote: Andy just on Off The Ball there. Spoke very well about the year. Still sounds as enthusiastic as ever.