Mayo GAA Discussion

Cillian hasn't even played a full game this year when you add up all his minutes. Against Roscommon we were 7 points down when he came on.. we then conceded direct from the next two kickouts so 9 points down. It's mad the amount of stick he has gotten in the last few weeks.

He wasn't involved at all last year and we had a dreadful season by any metric.

John heslin was brought back into the Westmeath panel to good effect and is the exact same age as Cillian.

John Heslin is clearly in great shape and is shooting the lights out for his club while Cillian hasn't been able to stay fit enough to play regularly for Ballintubber the last few years. There's no comparison.

I dont agree with any disrespect towards him but his race is surely run at this level and I'd rather see a young player get 10 or 15 mins championship experience than a great servant who just cannot reach the levels anymore.

No one is putting the blame for the Roscommon loss solely on Cillians shoulders. But he is one of the players that won't be part of any 3 year plan. Its more of a criticism of management to bring him back along with other players past their best. I don't buy into the idea that it was worth trying and it didnt work. Andy and Boyle should have realised we had to move on. I said this when he was appointed and nothing has changed.

Plenty of players have to shoulder the blame from the Roscommon game but most of those are much younger and arent breaking down under training loads. Some will have to be dropped, some will be selected again with along with new faces hopefully.

I think people are a bit over sensitive here. Every player has to go at some point. Keegan, McDonald, McHale, Nallen all great servants reached the end and made way for others but kept playing with their clubs.

Read my last 2 comments again. I said I didnt agree with any disrespect towards him and I disagreed with any suggestion that he was smouldering all the blame. I stand by each of thise points. He isnt like a bad smell but Andy shouldn't have convinced him to return. I actually think he wanted to stay retired but Andy is a very convincing character.

I don't think there was a lot of criticism for COC, AOS, Hennelly etc. The criticism was laid at management. I think it is poor judgement by management to expect them to deliver performances that they could do in their mid 20s and even go as far as to leave them exposed - this had to be evident in training. I can understand that they may want to wait on, but ultimately management need to understand what they can do and more importantly what they can't do. This is why they are there and its time to move on and try to find new leaders. This is not been disrespectful but part of life and getting older.

Yet he broke down yet "again".

Unlike Heaslin , his body simply cannot cope with the demands.

When Andy got the job there was alot of people(including myself) that were worried he would be too attached to the older players that he played with and not be able to make the difficult decisions that that alot of people(including myself) think need to be made. Bringing Cillian back and giving him game time is game time that another player could be getting and developing. Just like sticking with Hennelly and Aiden as well.

You can't play football forever and these lads had their time and gave us some great days, but in the end they weren't good enough in their peak so its time to move on and look to the future. So in my opinion, its not just about Cillian. If there had been a clear out and more faith put in younger developing players and Cillian still there as an impact sub then it wouldn't be such a big deal at all!

But Cillian was an impact sub, and barely that, he only played a handful of minutes, so I don't see how he impacted other players - Beirne and McHale played the whole league between them

David Coldrick named to ref. Doesn't really do Mayo any favours.

Yes you plan for the future, but you also try to win every day you go out.

Andy decided Cillian still had something to offer. I didn't see the evidence for it tbh based on club form, but if he thinks a player can offer something for the year, he's right to bring him in. If a younger player is better, he'll get in ahead of him.

The youth didn't cover themselves in glory against Roscommon. No fight in them. 2nd to every breaking ball.

If we're good enough to win then it doesn't matter who the ref is!

It was stated after Tyrone beat Roscommon that Malachy O Rourke used the last six weeks very well to get Tyrone into the shape that they could defeat Roscommon in The Hyde minus the two Canavan brothers, how well did Andy use the last six weeks?,we will know on Sunday, is he able to put a bit of fight and determination into the Team, O Rourke said refering to his team"Thers a great spirit among them".Will we show any spirit on Sunday?

I wonder how accurate this will be. Id be surprised to see so many postional changes, even if justified

https://www.con-telegraph.ie/2026/05/27/moran-set-to-make-sweeping-mayo-changes-for-tricky-clash-in-clones/?fbclid=IwY2xjawSEI71leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA80MDk5NjI2MjMwODU2MDkAAR703S4VQF3GmTBRaKoup8Com0njVi2Cyz_LBCn-rp3tEbjE_bzwo8-hkcb0nA_aem_7juX6cjxAhluhiZVucx_Hg

Aiden Henry wrote that.

Enough said.