Mayo GAA Discussion

I too would have been skeptical about him and his ability to be objective about his former teammates and friends, not to mention his inexperience. He didn't exactly set the world alight with Leitrim. That said, the current group of players have plenty of shortcomings that I think even Jim Gavin would struggle to get them beyond a QF (and that's probably being generous).

I for one definitely wish we still had Cillian O'Connor from 2016, not 2026. He's past it is the point everyone is making.

Aidan's best years are behind him, well behind him! He doesn't fit in the same bucket as Cillian imo, but if push came to shove, I'd take Aidan from 2014/2015, not 2026. I actually would have started Cillian ahead of him at the weekend if I had to pick between them. Aidan is not a scoring threat, he's not a running threat, he's good for a tackle if the opposition get close enough to him.

You're missing the point people are making on these players. The fact that Cillian is the all time top scorer for championship and that he was our best ever forward doesn't mean he still is.

Hennelly was never the answer sadly, I was waiting for those old shortcomings to reappear and they did sadly. I was hoping I would be wrong about that.

Yes the players are no world beaters but they are certainly good enough to put up a better fight against that Roscommon team. Sloppy passes and little intensity in tackling is a big indictment of players and management. Andy gives the impression of being everyone's best friend but that may lead to player complacency. I wonder what the fierce warrior Colm Boyle thought of it all. Any self respecting management would read the riot act to the squad afterwards and drop at least 4 players for the next game.

Nonsense. Mayo fans might yearn for the day of the 2011-2017 versions of both players to be in the team, but let's be honest, both players are a million miles from that now.

This might seem incredibly harsh but I remember watching COC against Kerry in a qf in 2022 thinking he should be finished then at inter count level and AOS in a semi final against the dubs in 2021- it's now 2026 and I don't think what I have seen since from both players have contradicted that.

I'm not questioning his work rate. I'm saying mother time has caught with him (and probably had a few years ago). 'Work rate' alone doesn't cut it at full forward, especially with the new rules.

He looked short of confidence I thought this eve.

I dunno, I think the belief in Mayo teams seems to be very low. Ros, like their seniors, were ravenous for the ball. They made plenty of mistakes as did we, but they just seemed to have more drive. I don't know what it is, but we'd need to get a handle on it fairly quick.

Mayo football is not in a good place right now.

I didn't see the game but maybe we have a problem picking the correct players from the panel and who should be starting. I am not surprised they conceded five goals because of this imo, but because we have loads of talent up front, I did think they would win.

He is also responsible for developing the centre of excellence and strategic planning. This will have a big impact on funding for more coaches and facilities. A strategic plan will have to incorporate resources needed for a coaching officer, player development and how it is most effectively spent. With the debt of MacHale park already hanging over the board decisions will have to be made on the tradeoffs in pumping money into Bohola at the possible price of less money for resourcing coaching. So his influence will permeate throughout the system.

the contrast in Roscommon is stark . big players dropped .

Absolutely, I mentioned this last week on the underage development, it is not taken on properly and regional setups need to be held on for longer and further up the grades. Some people think we are doing regional setups at underage level but we are not really doing it at a level that bring the benefits to the county and club. It maybe goes on for six weeks or so, they pick a panel and the regional set up is gone and all these lads who didn't make it but are decent footballers go back to playing club football. The money could go towards running these regional setups for longer, building in proper strength and condition, educating these players. It could be something so basic as once a week meetup on a saturday, each region play each other over the period and the winners play the county team, link in with out counties etc. It keeps a big bunch of players close to the set up and can be constantly monitored, playing at a very good level.

We also need to be more strategic on who is managing our underage teams. There are too many rookies and past players with no experience or lack of proper experience getting these managers jobs. Managment is a different beast to playing and it needs to stop. There has to be good club managers out there at the grades rather than rookie ex players.

I am only putting out ideas and your approach is valid and at least it is proactive in this space. While the club approach is generally good, it does mean the clubs need to buy into it and implement it. I would worry that the better players at each club are not playing at a decent level for a sustained period through the club. Some clubs play down the grade just so that they can win a county title. I do think it needs to be properly run by Mayo GAA and monitored whatever they decide to do or not do