Mayo GAA Discussion - Part 3

In a statement released in the immediate aftermath of McStay's announcement,he all but ruled out the prospect that his destination was Mayo.
Far from looking at any prospective roles,McStay confirmed that his decision to leave Roscommon coincided with a decision to leave inter county management altogether.

So, after much consideration I have decided not to take up the Chairman’s invitation.I’ve done three years,every one of them challenging and sometimes exhausting.In reviewing my time in charge I have to acknowledge the inordinate amount of time I spent dealing with financial and facility issues,personnel issues,media issues and the various contentious and controversial events that kept arising over those seasons.
Success is what we all crave but we must understand our reality too.While Roscommon is a proud football county,it is a small county with a limited playing pool and deficits in resources and facilities.The budget required to finance success at the highest level demands year round attention.Facilities,Catering,Kit & Equipment,Professional expertise and,especially,Travel costs are major financial drainers and they are placing a massive burden on voluntary officers that is often overwhelming.
These are the significant challenges the smaller GAA counties face.If the GAA is committed to ensuring all counties are,at a minimum,competitive,then they must be supported financially in a way that reflects the demands and the need for fairness,equity and solidarity.
I am privileged to say the Roscommon GAA family entrusted their team to me for three years.We had our share of special days,mostly grand days and of course, some very tough days.But overall,on reflection,these have been three of the greatest years of my life. Leaving the safety of the pundits chair for the passion and glory of the dressing room and football field is a decision I’ll never regret.However,today marks my retirement from senior inter county football management.
I look forward to a less stressful period now,concentrating more on work and family life and to supporting Roscommon and Mayo teams in 2019 and beyond.

muddle84 wrote: »

I always enjoyed his analysis on the Sunday Game so Roscommon's loss is the RTE's gain. 
Rochford to Roscommon?? 26-January in McHale park would be interesting then!!!

I'd love to see him back on TSG. He's one if the few older breed of pundits that are actually worth a damm. Would be great to have him back on co commentary duty too, especially if it means hearing less of Dessie bloody Dolan. McStay & Daragh Moloney did commentary of that utterly mad AI semifinal between Dublin & Kerry back in 2013 & they were brilliant. Thought the pair of them were going to have a heart attack live on air. It was deadly. (No pun intended.)

To be fair , Dessie wasn’t the greatest commentator or analyst . Seemed to go with everyone’s flow rather than have his own opinion .
Mcstay and Kieran whelan are good . The

martyos121 wrote: »

Oh I like the sound of Horan and Solan. I’m a little bit sad for Westport if Horan leaves so quickly as they look to have some big talents coming through, but it’s not my local club so not too sad.

Wouldn't be surprised if Horan took the gig for just a year, one last heave with the current crew...doubt he'd be up for a big rebuilding job.

padd b1975 wrote: »

Classy statement from McStay to be fair.

Was he not sacked?

BENDYBINN wrote: »

Was he not sacked?

As they are not officially paid GAA managers never really get "sacked" anyway.

They usually just step down or the county board thank them for their service and do not nominate them for further years

muddle84 wrote: »

Similar situation to when Rochford toke over. He was with Corofin right up until the Connacht final in November before he swapped over to Mayo.

I think Horan finished out his tenure with Ballintubber as well in 2010.

He was named Mayo manager in early October and won the senior title a few weeks later, lost early in Connacht after that.

boosabum wrote: »

Big ask for westport to win the county championship so his tenure might be over in a matter of weeks realistically. I guess he needs to be putting his backroom team together though - assuming he is the heir apparent

And this will be interesting as a major part of the success of his first tenure was the quality of his backroom team the majority of whom have now departed

seligehgit wrote: »

Not unrealistic to expect that Westport might win a county title over the course of his tenure?

They've little or no chance of winning a county title this year IMO and it'll likely take them 2 or 3 years to catch Castlebar.

PARlance wrote: »

The cute move would be to leave and go back in 2-3 years imo.

Couldn't agree more.

The high horse brigade wrote: »

Just heard Cora on of the ball. She must've said "it wasn't a coup" 6 or 7 times. Yeah Cora, nobody believes you....

So she reckons it's a safety issue, they didn't feel safe. Can open, worms everywhere!!!

Strange interview. She was very defiant in what she was saying. Yet, somehow, she didnt really come across as that believable.

I dont know the full story, nor do I follow ladies football. But kicking the club out did seem a bit heavy handed. And she has a point in that players who had nothing to do with the county are being punished.