Mayo GAA Discussion

He wasn't useless. On the contrary, he got Mayo to punch above their weight. Out of nowhere, we were heading to Croke Park on an annual basis, and for many of those years, it was to finals. I don't think the Tyrone management did anything special that they outfoxed the Mayo management. The reason they won the final was that their players gave everything, had no fear and played really well. Our boys (after a magnificent semi-final) seemed to freeze on the day, didn't have much intensity, and basically didn't really want to get on the ball for the 70 mins.

Double post

Maybe not start O'Shea or take him off when it was obvious he wasn't going well?

As per https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117879742/#Comment_117879742

Clearly within Horan's remit and was called out by multiple people at the time.

Also the obvious McShane one.

People really need to be reminded what Horan gives you.

We all give Horan credit, myself included.

Its just on AI final day he loses the plot and has nothing to offer.

And agreed all those managers did the same, particularly Rochford in 2016.

Which is why someone else needs to be given a shot.

Horan set serious standards for Mayo football and increased conditioning levels to match the top teams, which is probably what Mayo were missing in 04 and 06. He promised to 'take the bullshit out of Mayo football' and went a long way towards doing that apart from being too influenced by the Breaffy element in the squad. As mentioned Aidan should have been taken off in some games and he repeatedly played Hennelly despite recurring mistakes in big games. Also Conor OShea was given many chances despite clearly not county standard.

Horan has a lot to offer as an underage coach or director of football but no we can't go back to him as senior manager for a 3rd time.

Horan inherited a squad that were broken….lets be real here….we lost to Longford. There is no point glossing over it. We went from that to been a serious contender and rocking through teams in Connaught. It was a serious achievement in such a short space of time. As someone else said he took the BS out of Mayo and if you want an example "Mr Jackson", the conditioning, the pace and intensity of our play, tackling, turnovers. We were right up there with the best of teams.

Horan made some mistakes, but he mostly made good calls. He is without doubt our best and most successful man to lead Mayo since 51. In the final of 21, what we witnessed was the start of the decline of the team and it has continued on. i don't blame him for that… some of the players were done at the final and hung around for a few years.

I hope it stops with the new guy. I have serious admiration for Horan, but at the same time I agree that his time is over as manager…… However, it all depends on who comes forward for the position. I can understand the appeal of Horan considering where we stand and if you are not getting a high-quality candidate… then you are faced with - who is better

I wouldn`t agree that the responsibility for a lose is always down to the manager. Injuries or players having an off-day can often be the main reason. With Horan, for me anyway, in certain games while I would have questioned his loyalty to some starters and his reluctance to substitute them at times, to me he had this tendency to just go with a game plan and stick with it regardless of what the opposition were doing.

In 2012 it was widely known that Donegal in training for the weeks leading up to the final were working on isolating Murphy on a one-on-one for a long ball in. Even if Horan didn`t know, there were a few earlier attempts by Donegal that did not come off, but the danger was obviously there and he still did nothing about it until it was too late. That 2012 Donegal team played to a system that once the got their noses ahead they were virtually impossible to catch, and that goal by Murphy was a dagger to the heart leading to futher scores by them in a short period.

2021 lost to the most limited team Tyrone have won an All Ireland with managed by two rookie managers. Mayo looked like rabbits caught in headlights totally unprepared for what Tyrone brought with management with no ideas as to countering it.

"We knew Mayo wouldn't change what they were doing" Jim McGuinness on their plan to put Murphy at the edge of the square in 2012.

Billie Joe Padden who now resides in Armagh wrote after last years final, that Kieran Mc Geeney improved every player

individually in the Armagh squad, that is what a top class Manager should do with a county squad. Looking back to the

Final in 21, Mayo had five goal chances and took none, lack of composure was the reason for the misses according to

the Newspapers on the Monday morning after the Final. Why was the Team not properly prepared mentally for the Final? Look at the record Caroline Currid has with winning teams (Tyrone, Tipperary Hurlers, Dublin Footballers and Limerick Hurlers). Teams that that are properly prepared mentally play to their max on the big day and win tight finish games. It is the one area that we have fallen down on, over the years and it has cost us greatly. Young Mayo Players will never reach their full potential unless they are properly mentally prepared. Austin O Malley has a background in Psychology and High Performance - it is just what Mayo NEED now in a Manager.

McGeeney was a former Armagh captain and AI winner. There's no comparison between him and Austin OMalley.

If the board go for OMalley I hope it's based on a lot of behind the scenes work and conversations with players and officials who worked alongside and under him. Same for Andy and any other candidates.

Appointing them based on the Cuala win and Andys time with Leitrim and Monaghan is not enough to go on.

I find it a bit strange the admiration for Kieran McGeeney here. If he had been judged on results during those ten years similar to Mayo managers in that period, (and prior), he would have been shown the door long before that.

It wasn`t results on the pitch that kept him in the Armagh job, or the Kildare job as long as he did. It was both counties being in financial trouble when he was appointed, and him taking charge of fund raising that resulted in both getting into the black.

Could be an interesting summer with Mayo, Dublin, possibly Kerry, Galway and others all changing manager

Well done Meath!