Mayo GAA Discussion Thread

realweirdo wrote: »

Well that has to be the way clear for McStay so.

It's a 3 year project for any manager who comes in anyways. The first year will be a case of getting to know the players and vice versa. I know they know each other well at the moment, but it will be in terms of style of play.

I know Buckley is gone, but these players shouldn't struggle with fitness or conditioning and are familar with the Buckley methods anyways.

What is needed is a tactically astute manager. And a full back who can deal with the high ball into the big man, something that has cost us over recent years.

Any ideas ?

washman3 wrote: »

But we're not playing premiership soccer, we're playing Gaelic Football.
Cant compare these guys and the pussycats/cheats that play that.
He is not up there with Kerry's Moran,McCauley/McCarthy, any of the Donegal 'big 4'
Much the same way as James Horan is not up there with the likes of McGuinness,Fitzmaurice,Gavin,Jack O'Connor etc., if you get my drift.

Totally disagree with you...Aidan O Shea is as good a footballer as you'll see anywhere in the country.His injury/concussion severely affected his ability to perform to his peak level on Saturday.He literally dragged Mayo back into the game the first day out with his second half performance.

David Moran was without doubt the MOTM on Saturday but I'm not so sure if a pre injury Aidan O Shea if moved to midfield would'nt have significantly reduced his influence.

seligehgit wrote: »

Care to elaborate?The brother in law??

someone has to be nominated by the clubs in order to get an interview/

Finally got around to watching the game back on tv. Hadn't really written much about the game before this.

The below is split into 1st half, 2nd half and extra time. Took random notes throughout each of the 3 sections and wrote the comments below on them after each one, without listening to any analysis from the panel or whatever.

Posted them in bullet points just because they are a bit all over the place. Might spark a bit of discussion in any case.

1st half
- Hard hitting, physical game. Few complaints from any players about this.
- Some bad wides from both teams; Kerry in first 15 mins and Mayo after they got their goals.
- Marc O'Se really steadied things in the Kerry back line (shouldn't have had a chance to come on for Enright - see below)
- Mayo won 1 kickout (I think) in the entire half, a breaking ball in the 34th minute. Kerry lording it here. Few clean catches but very aggressive at the breakdown. Good strong and hungry play.
- Long balls in to Donaghy causing a bit of panic but coping well so far. 50/50 man handling and tussling between him and Cafferkey every time; no frees either way. They won 1 free each, Donaghy picked off the ground and Caff held Donaghy back at one stage. No complaints from either man besides. Battle is well reffed so far. Having a great battle.
- Higgins is doing brilliant on O'Donoghue. He scored 1 great point, got 1 assist for a point and set up the goal. Higgins took the ball from him 3/4 times. Very unlucky for the goal; recovered brilliantly and got a great block in. Caff slipped as he was back on the line covering and that allowed Donaghy to throw a boot at it.
- Lots of additional time played, which allowed Kerry a point on 39 minutes. But there were a few delays during injury time so no real complaints there.
- Ref is missing a lot of cynical and dirty play on both sides and it's beginning to boil over. 4 players should have got black cards: Enright (dragged O'Connor down for penalty & body checked Aidan O'Shea); Doherty (hand trip); Donncha Walsh (think it was a drag down, can't remember exactly); McLoughlin (drag down). Geaney (can't remember exactly, think a bit of messing during a scuffle) and Fitzgerald (holding Seamie O'Shea down by the throat) should both have got yellow.
- Overall, bad decisions probably close to evening out, with the exception of Enright. After he got his first yellow, he dragged O'Connor down, body checked Aidan O'Shea and pushed Dillon in the back. 2 are black card offences. Should therefore have been sent off on 2 occasions. When he wasn't, it allowed them to bring in Marc O'Se for him who really steadied things after that.
- Enjoyable game to watch but tempers starting to fray. Players kicking it away and holding onto the ball when frees are awarded is frustrating the opposition. Reilly needed to be more decisive running in, taking the ball and giving 13 metres or warning of yellow cards at the beginning which may have stopped it. Now players know they can get away with it. Maybe slightly biased, but I feel Kerry are more guilty of this than Mayo.


2nd half

- 2 soft yellows before the throw in; nothing in it.
- Black card on Fitzgerald was correct but not consistent with previous decisions
- Bad wides on all sides at beginning of half; very tense opening
- 1st penalty for Kerry was questionable; O'Donoghue had hand in Boyle's face and kinda threw himself to the ground but forward would usually get benefit here so no major complaints.
- Mayo midfield getting cleaned again.
- Very soft goal conceded by Kerry when they were getting on top of Mayo. Great perseverence by McLoughlin.
- While Cafferkey was outmuscled in the air by Donaghy, he cleaned up in every ball that came in low.
- Alan Dillon is anonymous
- Very physical in 2nd half again but (credit where it's due), was reffed fairly well.
- Soft 14 yard free for Donaghy under dropping ball when Mayo had just gone 2 clear. Turning point? Same tussles as had been going on all day but inexplicably a free given this time. If anything, the least deserving of any ball that has gone in between Donaghy and Caff all day.
- Jason Doherty very accurate. 2 good scores in 1st half and again in 2nd when pressure was on.
- Seamus O'Shea and David Moran both immense in middle of the field. Not catching many clean balls but getting through mountains of work and carrying the ball very effectively.
- Advantage call for BJ Keane was correct as I see it. Know it was a contentious point but was correct to call it back. That's what the advantage rule is there for.
- Correct 2nd penalty call; lunged in with the feet. Perhaps should have held back and trusted Hennelly as he's a great shot stopper.
- Good response by Mayo; got a score straight away.
- Tommy Carr doesn't understand the black card rule or the advantage rule; it's disgraceful from an analyst.
- O'Shea forearm into O'Donoghue was accidental. Just protecting himself in the collision. Every player does the same, unfortunate.
- Few soft frees given around middle of the park for both teams between 66 and 69 minutes.
- 2 bad wides for Kerry in injury time.
- Soft free for Mayo to get a chance to kick last score. Had it gone over, Kerry would have a right to be fuming. Donaghy did very well to palm it away. No complaints about blowing it up as soon as it was broken away, as time was up.


Extra time

- Mayo started off very well. Big goal chance for Keegan if he could have held it; could have finished Kerry off.
- Very soft 2 frees for Donaghy and Keane. Given the way the game was reffed and in the circumstances, really really soft.
- Parsons very good in 1st half
- Mayo needed to be ahead at half time in extra time; should have been and might have driven them on.
- Kevin Keane did really well on Donaghy when he came on; although Donaghy was probably getting tired though.
- Donaghy needed to be carded for holding on to the ball consistently.
- 3 great scores by Kerry in 2nd half; really well worked and finished off.
- Mayo out on their feet, never looked like getting a goal at the end.
- Fight due to frustration from Mayo. Maher lying on Freeman after free was given, ball kicked away again, and the fact that they probably knew the game was gone from them.
- Maor Foirne lucky not to be flattened; had no place there in the middle of things; seemed to extend the fight further.
- O'Connor's red was deserved.


Overall, can't really complain with the end result. Nothing between the teams over the 2 days and extra time, Kerry just had enough in the end to drive on. Congrats and best of luck in the final.

I wonder will Gavin Duffy be committed to Mayo next season?

Cheers for that in depth review Padkir. Have still not come around to watching it yet.. My head is still having flashbacks of Robbie' perfectly accurate hit injury time free going over the bar, only to realise as I turn around from celebrating the 'butterfly effect' kicking in as it dropped short:( Il get around to watching it at some stage though

seligehgit wrote: »

Totally disagree with you...Aidan O Shea is as good a footballer as you'll see anywhere in the country.His injury/concussion severely affected his ability to perform to his peak level on Saturday.He literally dragged Mayo back into the game the first day out with his second half performance.

David Moran was without doubt the MOTM on Saturday but I'm not so sure if a pre injury Aidan O Shea if moved to midfield would'nt have significantly reduced his influence.

Agree, AOS is a good footballer, nobody debating that.!! but nowhere near the level that some people have put him at. His finest display was last year V Donegal, a very deflated Donegal at that. The Donegal team that played on Sunday were a completely different animal altogether. Virtually anonymous in last years final V Dublin. Poor in the first half of the drawn game V Kerry. Had a very good 15 min spell in second half but faded completely when the game was in the melting pot.
I still don't buy this 'concussion' excuse last Sunday. Was he also concussed for the first 17mins of the game when he failed to actually touch the ball.
And the fact that he wasn't tried at midfield again proves my point that Horan is well behind the top managers in the game.
Doubt if he would come even near to matching David Moran's mobility anyway.

Fowler87 wrote: »

Cheers for that in depth review Padkir. Have still not come around to watching it yet.. My head is still having flashbacks of Robbie' perfectly accurate hit injury time free going over the bar, only to realise as I turn around from celebrating the 'butterfly effect' kicking in as it dropped short:( Il get around to watching it at some stage though

No problem; read some amount of rubbish written about the game over the last few days so said I'd go into it in a bit of detail to see if the more regular posters here agreed.

It was tough watching alright. We were right behind the flight of that ball; we were certain it was going to carry! :-(

jibber5000 wrote: »

I think he has served his apprenticeship well to be honest..He was a key figure in the Donegal renaissance and has made a big impact with Kilcar already (perfecting a running game which I think would be ideal for this Mayo team).

Fermanagh wanted him as manager and I know the players were devastated when he refused to take it. I feel that coming in with a clean slate is a huge advantage and at the very least he would deserve an interview.

The number of potential candidates for the job mentioned so far - bar Gallagher - have had zero experience being part of an all ireland winning set up and there's no way this should be a straightforward process for McStay.

Ah thanks again for posting Rory.
But there is no need to.
We will stay local for the time being and see how it goes.

If its fails we might get back to you.

That is of course if you have actually achieved anything yourself without Jimmy or if Jimmy actually falls flat on his face without you in the meantime.

But sure we'll see, thanks again for posting.

Great post by Padkir on the breakdown of the game.
No way I could rewatch it at all, let alone in such detail.

But the one thing that struck me was that eventhoug Mayo were cleaned out in the middle (their supposed area of strength), had AOS and COC suffering from the clash of heads and had Donaghey getting the better of Caff. in the air, they still were in the game until the very last.

Sadly that only confirms for me that it was such a missed opportunity.

And it also confirms to me that Kerry are not that good and are in the final by virtue of the soft side of the AB system.

By the way Mayo have of course benefited from that soft side also.

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

But the one thing that struck me was that eventhoug Mayo were cleaned out in the middle (their supposed area of strength), had AOS and COC suffering from the clash of heads and had Donaghey getting the better of Caff. in the air, they still were in the game until the very last.

Sadly that only confirms for me that it was such a missed opportunity.

Agree with this. Cleaned out of midfield in the entire 1st half and went in 3 points up. Kerry having only scored 1-4 (or was it 1-5?) with almost all the possession around the middle.

Shows a combination of how well Mayo defended and how poor Kerry's finishing was. But it also showed that the Mayo forwards are a lot more clinical than people give them credit for.

I heard a lot of nonsense in the lead up to both games that Mayo would need to win 60%+ possession around the middle to be in with any chance, given how their forwards aren't good enough and Kerry's forwards were so clinical. Sort of threw that argument out the window.

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

If you came here pimping Jimmy himself then I'd entertain the suggestion.

No way. Jim would probably alienate the best players. You know what he's like. It's his way or the highway. Mayo need a better manager than that fella. His ego is too big for Mayo.