Mayo GAA Discussion

So you’re not going to actually address any of the questions I put to you about why they should skip these opportunities.

and how extensive are these sponsorship opportunities?. And why should they not do so if they haven’t won an all Ireland?.

how many all Ireland’s does Lee Chin have?. Why would that even be a concern?.

Collection of thoughts:

You are a fairly critical bunch, James Horan & A O Shea might be tempted to use Páidí’s description for you!! Most of the player/coach criticism is unwarranted. For the most part you met better teams along the way. Some finals you were unlucky in, Saturday’s was not one but there were certain factors that could have been improved.

Hunger, you haven’t won an AI in so long, you should have been absolutely fired up & been able to bully Tyrone around the middle third where there should have been scope for physicality particularly around the breaking ball. Tyrone brought the desire & it was flagged from the semi-final. Interestingly, in the North a lot of teams & players are super conscious of who & what we represent. I think the importance of this is not recognised by a lot of ppl & I think (I know this likely to be controversial) some ppl/counties will be incapable of understanding this - our experiences are all different. Compare it to the Dublin players generally & particularly the Ballymum players who have different life experiences & Kerry players (who also have different experiences) & Mayo players who’s life experiences are also different. I think our sense of identity gives us our motivation, desire & hunger. The Ulster teams, Dublin & Kerry have this hunger, Mayo teams don’t consistently demonstrate it. I know this is a general point & I don’t mean to stereotype, but if your self reflecting I think it’s worth considering how you develop/manufacture an ‘edge’ to use the hunger you should have. You need more players with Keegan’s hunger. Sore point & not meant to be condescending but in reality, your Sam Maguire hunger is nothing more or less than Tipperary’s or Wexford’s.

AO’S did contribute, he is not the reason Tyrone won, but like every other teammate he could have done more. You expect too much from him. Yet, he’s not properly utilised. The point I made earlier about McKenna not contributing enough but remained on the pitch to offload for McCurry’s goal. O’Shea is capable of that. McShane’s goal was flukey enough, O’Shea is tailor made to deliver similar. It wasn’t tried, not O’Shea’s fault.

In Tyrone, Mattie Donnelly was our starman, then a bad injury, then our captain, his star then declined, then we got a new captain, then Mattie rediscovered his mojo, now he has an AI medal. Maybe a learning for Mayo?

Enough from me, you shouldn’t be too despondent & I hope that your team does what it always does & comes roaring (a little bit louder!) back for more.

You will reach the promised land!!

I'm sorry but this is nonsense, Dublin played in a grand total of zero AI finals between 95 and 2011. Also Mayo played in a grand total of zero All Ireland Finals between 1951 and 1989. After that they contested two in the 90s and two in 00s. In the last ten years they've played in six, if that doesn't show a complete culture change, nothing will. I accept that our failure to win AI finals is extremely disappointing but if our 'culture' hadn't changed, well we'd still be like Galway and Roscommon winning a Connaught title here and there, but exiting the championship before semi final stage. Because Galway in particular have had a strong team for the last few years, but don't have the structures in place to capitalise on it, whereas we have the structures thanks to Horan and his 'culture'.

This is precisely the sort of thing Joe Brolly is talking about and the sort of thing that would be addressed in any team culture. "How do we manage commercial opportunities arising from being a member of the Mayo Senior team.

Extra Gravy seems to favour "The me first approach" namely I am an amateur and I am under no obligation to put my County First or any of my Team mates. I give my time and committment year in year out so I will take everything I can and to hell with everyone else. To be fair to Extra Gravy (appropriate name for taking part in this particular discussion) this does seem to be part of the culture of the Mayo Squad and allowed by james Horan.

I understand that Holmes \ Connelly wanted to ban commercial work resulting from membership of panel which is another approach, which it would seem did not find favour with the squad at the time.

I understand that the philosophy of Dublin during the Gilroy \ galvin reign was that all monies resulting from commercial work tied to squad membership was pooled and shared. This was probably the most successful philosophy with 8 AI's. Everyone treated the same, everyone equally valued within the squad while at the same time getting the money in from commercial sources.

I do wonder how the lesser known members of the Mayo squad feel about some members of the squad making money from their membership while they do not. I also wonder how businesses feel when squad person they have built a campaign around is dropped from Team, do they stand idly by.

I would love to know what the Tyrone approach is.

Yes Dublin did not take part in any AI between 1995 and 2011, and Mayo did not between 1951 and 1989, yes Mayo contested (LOST) 2 in 90's and 2 in 00's. Yes they have played (LOST)a further 6 in last 10 years. Maybe the culture changed, I can accept that it did. The thing is it did not change to a WINNING CULTURE.

Most people in Mayo would happily swap with Galway with 9 AI's to our 3 with the last 2 inside the last 25 years. The common thread in all the teams you mentioned is that they have not had a winning culture in the periods you reference. Dublin have had it this past 10 years (and other periods), Galway had it ifor 4\5 years 25 years ago and for 4\5 years in 60's, Roscommon had it for a few yeras in 40's while Mayo had it late 40's \ early 50's.

What a load of manure. The very man... Jack O'Connor lining up the Kerry job and he still with Kildare...sinking ship comes to mind.

Plenty people making the best of the publicity they get. Don't see a problem with it tbf. Fairly narrow minded to suggest there is an issue with it.

GAA players the length and breadth of this country who've never won an all ireland using their fame for one thing or another.

Jack O Connor a load of manure ??????. He managed Kerry to 3 All Ireland wins 2 against Mayo. We can only dream of having a Mayo manager as successful.

Page after page of complaining of blaming this or that or him is actually a bit of evidence of Mayo arrogance that's crept in recently. Not a single mention that the players just mightnt talented enough to win one.

Blaming Horan. Horan is probably the best manager in Ireland currently. He mightnt be absolutely tip top tactically but he gets amazing buyin and momentum and structure year after year. He gets the group to outperform their talent level consistently.

Blaming 'culture'. A hell of a lot of counties would kill for Mayo's culture at the moment. At a time when players are opting out all sides, Mayo football always has huge buyin and a feeling that everyone fully wants nothing else but to win an AI.

Blaming county boards. The same old tired excuse that every county falls back on. Nearly all counties would kill for Mayo's outside funding. 3 of the last 4 managerial appointments have been top notch. I'm sure there were some idiots in the past but that's a legacy the majority of counties have.

At the start of the year it would've been very fanciful to say Mayo would win an AI. Basically barren at underage for years. An average enough club championship. Basically no notable forwards (albiet Conroy is making a name for himself). Is it fanciful to say Kerry will win next year despite doing little but flatter to decieve since 2014? No they're joint favourites because theyve had 5 consecutive minor titles and have clear class coming out their ears.

We were lulled into a false sense by the hype of Mayo beating Dublin. In reality it was an awful game, probablys Mayo's worst performance v Dublin In a decade (bar maybe 19) and they simply outlasted an imploding Dublin. While it's crap to lose a final, reflect for a while and you'd have been very surprised at that sort of success with a young team at years start. They've outperformed their level. Repeated talk you see here of moving Horan on is absolutely ludicrous

I will put it this way for you. I would rather wait another 70 years than see that lad anywhere near Mayo. Kerry got two titles from a very average Mayo side. When they met a proper team, he was found out. Granted he got them over the line but he has done nothing since and I can't see that changing. Tbh, I hope he gets the Kerry job!!

I did come on here , saying Mayo should not look to much into beating a Dublin team that were in serious decline , but i was ran out of it being accused of sour lemons bad loser etc .

Oh ffs

Not sure if it would have been scored to be honest, it was a tough free on the wrong side. However, there is a strong possibility that if he is around for some of those goal chances, it is in the net for at least one of them. Furthermore, no missed penalty is a positive, considering it served to lift tyrone and cause mayo to panic. Doesnt matter either way

Agree with most of what you say. The only thing I dont agree with is this 'Tyrone hunger in their dna' stuff. Mayo have actually beaten tyrone more often than not in the recent past. Surely these 'life experiences' would have been present there also?

They just deserved the win and were better in the day. It wouldnt surprise me at all if mayo knocked tyrone out next year as there is little between them. I agree mayo fans are going over the top. Enjoy the celebrations