Mayo GAA Discussion

What if Dublin took the same attitude? Is there a pitch that straddles the Leinster-Connacht border? Athlone the closest I can think of…

What is the actual criteria for venue selection?. Must it be a neutral province or is that just a preference? I would have thought capacity and similar travel distance for each county was more important.

I'm sticking with Limerick as best option anyway..

No published criteria and even with all the uproar over it in recent years (from Super 8's up to last year's new Group Stages) I've never seen them give clear outlines on how they evaluate options. Just a "CCCC will decide".

At underage, distance is viewed as a key factor. In various competitions if it's over a certain distance to an away game a neutral venue will be used instead to lessen the burden. You'd imagine it plays a part in this too. Beyond that, who knows.

Provincial clashes didn't seem to be an issue last year for most of the games with Kerry/Louth in Laois, Galway/Armagh in Leitrim, Tyrone/Westmeath in Cavan, Mayo/Cork in Limerick or Kildare/Roscommon in Offaly.

Gaelic Grounds a solid balance of distance, size, quality and equal distance. Certainly near the top of the list for our game you'd imagine.

Based on all that having the game in the province of either team isn't a factor.

A big thing in Limericks favour is the train. I think a certain proportion of Dublin fans don't even own cars or drive and getting on the train will bring more of them than relying on buses.

"CCCC will decide" probably means 'let's try and get it in Croke park and if there's big resistance we will reluctantly look elsewhere'

Michael Gallagher is right in this week's Mayo News. The minute the Leinster final is over the County Board should be contacting Croke Park and insisting it shouldn't be in Dublin.

Lots of posters bang on the money here - Mayo v Dublin will attract a far bigger attendance in a venue outside Croke Park, especially seeing as the losers are potentially on the road again for the following two weeks and one of those is potentially another CP game (obviously, it would be Mayo would be the favourites of the two to end up with this schedule at the moment). Then again, since when did HQ ever give a f**k about logic, fairness, supporters etc…..

Lads what's the craic. Heading over on Saturday from Cavan any tips on parking aiming to be over early and grab a the dinner before the game.

Looking for a decent spot to park and more importantly a decent spot for a feed.

Youll be coming in the N5,I think best option is to get in as far as you can to the first roundabout (locally Mulroys roundabout or Dublin road roundabout) and turn the car back the way you came.

You're a short distance (10 mins walk to Bar1,Coxes and Barrel And Castle all on the same street) These are all good spots for food. Bridge Street Bar and the famous Mick Byrnes (if you want football talk) are all in the same area.

Its a bonus this game isnt on telly,there will be a big crowd.

I have a soft spot for Cavan and hope you enjoy your time and the craic in Cbar.

Yep that about covers it.

He's just the type of manager Mayo need but will probably never get based on past appointments.

For me it was Horan who is the closest in his first stent in particular. Horan changed so much over the period he was manager. He found the players and brought us to the top table. McGuiness did to Cassidy what Horan did to Mortimer. This set a standard and everyone knew the ask. Bold moves by both managers that drove a very different agenda to what went on before. The only difference is that MuGuiness got one and we let a few fall through our fingers.

Any of the folks nationally (especially up-and-comers) catching your eye so far this year?

Can't think of too many names that jump out with big experience or success behind them, so a fresher face might be a good direction at the moment for teams (ourselves or others) looking for a change.

- Ger Brennan will be an interesting one to watch with the rest of Louth's season, certainly has potential. Seems to be pencilled in already for the Dublin job in the future where a good showing in the Group Stages might advance that a few years.

- Andy Moran another having a good year so far, after the rocky one last year. You'd imagine would be high on lists for a lot of teams if/when they go looking. I'd be surprised if he isn't right in the middle of the battle whenever the next Mayo role does come up.

- Tony McEntee doing a smashing job with Sligo at the moment. The whole setup down there seems to be moving in a really positive direction, with McEntee seemingly providing a nice steadying hand at the front of the ship (his years around the Mayo setup all came with really positive words from the lads). You'd be surprised if he doesn't take a step-up the divisions in the near future.

Beyond that it starts getting challenging. You're probably looking at folks like Mark Fitzgerald moving up in level, older hands like Malachy O'Rourke or James Horan going back to the pump again, or someone like a Kieran Donaghy or Mark McHugh (both huge potential) making the switch over from coaching roles.

I have no evidence of this, but I think Tony McEntee was the one who made Stephen Rochfords Mayo team so good. SR was mediocre at best when involved with Donegal and while the season is not over, I see very little progression in this Mayo team over 2 seasons or even any clear template of what they are trying to do.

I dont think he'd get involved with us again

Anyway, unfortunately I think we are wasting away the last days of Cillian O'Connor, Aidan O'Shea maybe even Paddy D and Diarmuid O'Connor with the current management team. They are pretty much guaranteed to be around for year 3 unless there is some mad implosion over the 3 games in the group stage, and even then it would have to be something like 3 losses for the CB to get rid of them.

He wont be coming to Mayo.

Who would your first choice be?

Why would Oisín McConville be a runner?

I think we dont do enough to develop our coaches. Sean Deane should have been involved in U20s this year, not necessarily as head coach. Yes they lost the final that perhaps we should have won, but he developed players who played an excellent brand of football and should have had the opportunity to continue that development. It as instructive that after all appointments had been made for this year he stated he was stepping away this year due to "work commitments", which strikes me as a bit of him potentially not fitting in the inner circle so he stepped away to save face but not burn any bridges