Mayo GAA Discussion Thread

Fowler87

Some match preview content for Sunday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9In3bD0D4n8

Link to Mayo News podcast>>http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20283:audio-football-podcast-2014-3-connacht-final-preview&catid=87:sport-football-podcast&Itemid=100166

Ascii

surprised not to see Freezer....would have liked him to start. Surely Dillon wont spend the game in the corner...likes to roam in my opinion...will surely set up for a 2 man full forward line with AOS dropping back to help midfield against the two big Galway lads

flasher0030

ColeTrain wrote: »

It's a mystery why he's out in the cold because after the first two league games he stood out, he even got MOTM on the Mayo Gaa Blog I'm sure.
Diarmuid O'Connor got a start in the first two Championship games without making any impact in the league and he's not bulked up either. Only Horan knows the reason for this..

Maybe because O'Connor and Horan are both from the same club.

I'm just saying, like.

davegrohl48

ColeTrain wrote: »

It's a mystery why he's out in the cold because after the first two league games he stood out, he even got MOTM on the Mayo Gaa Blog I'm sure.
Diarmuid O'Connor got a start in the first two Championship games without making any impact in the league and he's not bulked up either. Only Horan knows the reason for this..

Diarmuid O'Connor needs another year of gym work. Lacks power and speed off the mark. James Mccarthy is the type of half back you need to be able to compete with. I had thought Mayo were the kind of setup now where everything was being looked at. Being physically at the level required should be the first thing that rules you in or out from match day panel. Until a player is physically ready should be purely on development path.
Against Kildare/Tyrone Gallagher was our stand out forward.
Had one bad game in the corner against Westmeath when those further outfield were scoring for fun and then Mayo went completely out of the game for a long spell. Against Kerry was an okay game for him as I remember.
Gallagher looked significantly more able for the tough stuff than Diarmuid OConnor, appeared faster anyways. This is no slight on Diarmuid OConnor he is after all just out of minor grade!!

GBXI

davegrohl48 wrote: »

Diarmuid O'Connor needs another year of gym work. Lacks power and speed off the mark. James Mccarthy is the type of half back you need to be able to compete with. I had thought Mayo were the kind of setup now where everything was being looked at. Being physically at the level required should be the first thing that rules you in or out from match day panel. Until a player is physically ready should be purely on development path.
Against Kildare/Tyrone Gallagher was our stand out forward.
Had one bad game in the corner against Westmeath when those further outfield were scoring for fun and then Mayo went completely out of the game for a long spell. Against Kerry was an okay game for him as I remember.
Gallagher looked significantly more able for the tough stuff than Diarmuid OConnor, appeared faster anyways. This is no slight on Diarmuid OConnor he is after all just out of minor grade!!

Would you give over about Adam Gallagher, if he's good enough he'll get picked, same as everyone else. He missed the rest of the league games through injury and it's not as if he's the second coming of Brian Dooher or something.

SeanJ09

Good to see Chris Barrett back in the starting 15. Hopefully he can replicate his form from last year for the remainder of the championship. Disappointing to see Freeman dropped and Gibbons not included. Real lack of mobility in that midfield two of Moran and SOS. AOS at number 11, hasn't worked before and can't see it working this time. Would loved to have seen Horan wield the axe on AOS, has been in and out of games, continuously carrying the ball into the tackle and generally been in sh**e form since the Donegal game last year.

ColeTrain

GBXI wrote: »

Would you give over about Adam Gallagher, if he's good enough he'll get picked, same as everyone else. He missed the rest of the league games through injury and it's not as if he's the second coming of Brian Dooher or something.

Calm down, no need for the hyperbole. It's a discussion thread, there will be occasional discussion at times.

seligehgit

Fowler87 wrote: »

Some match preview content for Sunday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9In3bD0D4n8

Link to Mayo News podcast>>http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20283:audio-football-podcast-2014-3-connacht-final-preview&catid=87:sport-football-podcast&Itemid=100166

Thanks for the heads up on those links,damn good.

davegrohl48

What could be good might be Kmc Aos Dillon Andy being out around half forward. Cillian n Doc inside. Don't think Doc been used too much recently in the corner. He'd be first to the ball with good ball sent to the corner. Turn n run at the defender. One of our quickest forwards. I like the idea of having that half forward line, 3 ball winners, 1 midfield support, 3 passing, 3 good tacklers. Experienced heads that could dominate.

yop

tickets are shocking. is this what lads who go to the fbd and league matches are rewarded with.

Defiler Of The Coffin

Minors are looking sharp. Hanley missed a few but is starting to come in to it

Defiler Of The Coffin

yop wrote: »

tickets are shocking. is this what lads who go to the fbd and league matches are rewarded with.

Where you seated?

Defiler Of The Coffin

Mikey Murray is having a blinder

WesternZulu

Can't ask for much more than that!

Cosmo Kramer

OK then - about as expected, we did what we needed to do and didn't ever really have to go up the gears. The half back line and half forward lines, as well as O'Connor of course, stood out for us. It definitely felt like we left plenty in the tank for Croke Park which is good to see as you couldn't be 100% sure after the Roscommon game that it was just a bad day out on a bad pitch for us back then. I think it is fairly clear now that that was actually the case though.

I heard a few people after the match and on the radio noting some improvement in Galway, I must have been watching a different game because I thought they were bloody useless once again. Still wide open at the back, cleaned in midfield and a few very weak forwards on show. They probably only had three of four operating anywhere near Mayo's level. It's kind of sad to see. If our lads had brought the same level of intensity that we brought to Salthill last year it could honestly have been another massacre. I couldn't believe it when Lee Keegan found himself in 20 yards of space right in front of their goal in the second half, it was like the first half last year in Pearse Stadium all over again. They seemed years behind Mayo both mentally and physically.

yop

section 108. inside the 21.
minors played well. Hanley looks a great player.
seniors did what we had to. coc is incredible to watch. off either foot. aos played well as did doc and Vaughan.
galway are not a bad team. Some nice players.
Great crowd. Some awful referreing decisions.



refferinf

seligehgit

yop wrote: »

tickets are shocking. is this what lads who go to the fbd and league matches are rewarded with.

Thought the seats we were allocated as season ticket holders were despicable,yeah it just shows what the powers that be think of season ticket holders.:mad:

Utopia Parkway

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

They seemed years behind Mayo both mentally and physically.

That's because they are. They had 8 recent U-21's playing. Mayo are a seasoned experienced outfit with years of strength and conditioning behind them. That gap takes time to close.

homewardbound11

I think we as supporters really need to refocus our thoughts on this team. Today was another step towards a Crome park double header. I don't know what it was like on the tv but good points were.
Cillian had a master class without really pushing it.
McLaughlin was immense and covered miles of ground.
Aiden Oshea got a decent amount of ball and did work very hard.
Doc put in a god shift
The roving role really suited Donal. V Vaughan today.

Bad points
The ease of the Galway forward to get 3 clear goal chances.
Barrett did get a bit of a run around with cummins for the first 20 mins.
Colm oboyle and Keith Higgins did carry into tackles a bit too much and lastly
We tried to walk the ball int the net at times.

Overall happy for the opposition we played today. There was some progress but I am starting to beieve they prepare for the opposition one match at a time. Hopefully as people are saying there is more in the tank and the can turn it on when the really need it.

Fowler87

We did what we had to do today and played some good stuff at times. Our big players put in solid performances with COC exceptional. Question marks remain still but better to go into the quarters now compared to the unopposed challenges faced last year. Galway and Ros gave us something to think about and focus on.

Fair play to our minors today too. Mighty footballers brewing in the younger ranks. Akram looks a star in the making.

3 weeks we go again. Maigh Eo Abu

naughto

So we play the winners of cork/Sligo is that right?

Blackjack

Can't complain about that result. All players put in an honest shift. There were a few unforced errors and missed passes but overall, we clearly had another gear with plenty on the bench at all stages of the game.

Was very impressed with Doherty today - he won a lot of ball in midfield and his goal was top class.
Cillian was also immense - made escaping from his man look too easy at times. We're blessed to have someone like him, he's such an intelligent player, if ever proof was needed his pass to Keegan for his goal was a prime example of that.

Thought Barry Moran was a bit quiet in midfield but he did bag a great goal, and his black card was largely irrelevant as he was about to be subbed anyway. If he knew that was the case, then you'd have to say that was a clever enough way to get a black card. Could have been dangerous had Galway scored the penalty as that would likely have given them a lift, but Hennelly did very well to save it which will do his confidence the world of good too.

All in all - we're now even on the head to heads with Galway and ahead on the number of Connacht titles. long may that continue.

davegrohl48

Good result for minors. Brian Reape 1-6 from play, 1-3 with the game on the line. He's a quality player.
Also good to see Gary Boylan in a Mayo jersey, have seen him for Belmullet n thought he had plenty skill n accuracy.
Cillian was quality today. Scores from play n assists.
Galway shouldn't have left Danny Cummins so isolated n then kicked in high ball to a short player!! Galway can't seem to get quality backs together.

djPSB

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

OK then - about as expected, we did what we needed to do and didn't ever really have to go up the gears. The half back line and half forward lines, as well as O'Connor of course, stood out for us. It definitely felt like we left plenty in the tank for Croke Park which is good to see as you couldn't be 100% sure after the Roscommon game that it was just a bad day out on a bad pitch for us back then. I think it is fairly clear now that that was actually the case though.

I heard a few people after the match and on the radio noting some improvement in Galway, I must have been watching a different game because I thought they were bloody useless once again. Still wide open at the back, cleaned in midfield and a few very weak forwards on show. They probably only had three of four operating anywhere near Mayo's level. It's kind of sad to see. If our lads had brought the same level of intensity that we brought to Salthill last year it could honestly have been another massacre. I couldn't believe it when Lee Keegan found himself in 20 yards of space right in front of their goal in the second half, it was like the first half last year in Pearse Stadium all over again. They seemed years behind Mayo both mentally and physically.

At the same time, if Galway kept out the goals and converted the penalty they were in with a chance.

They kicked some horrendous wides. It's hard to believe players train multiple times a week yet can't kick a ball over the bar from 20 yards.

Mayo are by far the better team. Galway, although gradually improving, still have 5 or 6 players who are no where near good enough for Intercounty football.

Blackjack

djPSB wrote: »

At the same time, if Galway kept out the goals and converted the penalty they were in with a chance.

They kicked some horrendous wides. It's hard to believe players train multiple times a week yet can't kick a ball over the bar from 20 yards.

Mayo are by far the better team. Galway, although gradually improving, still have 5 or 6 players who are no where near good enough for Intercounty football.

Ah now, if Galway had kept out the goals and scored the Penalty then Galway would have won by 5 points. They didn't, and that was the result.

The rest I agree with, but the first part of the post is definitely Aunt-with-balls-is-Uncle stuff.

yop

djPSB wrote: »

At the same time, if Galway kept out the goals and converted the penalty they were in with a chance.

They kicked some horrendous wides. It's hard to believe players train multiple times a week yet can't kick a ball over the bar from 20 yards.

Mayo are by far the better team. Galway, although gradually improving, still have 5 or 6 players who are no where near good enough for Intercounty football.

And if Hickey reffed the game without "touch a tribeman get a free" then Galway would have had about 5 points less. If's never made it.

Fr Tod Umptious

That was just what the doctor ordered.

A comprehensive, convincing win, with Mayo in control from start to finish.
No drama.

O’ Connor was brilliant, great distribution, kicked some nice points from play and once again solid from frees.
Though both Dillon and A. Moran did well also

The A side of the draw is very weak, so we now play Cork, Sligo or Tipp in the QF
Mayo are head and shoulders above those teams.

Kerry are a possibility in a SF, and no matter how well they did in the Munster final; I still think that Mayo are better than them.
So the route to a final is there, let’s hope they keep up, and improve on, the good work.

djPSB

yop wrote: »

And if Hickey reffed the game without "touch a tribeman get a free" then Galway would have had about 5 points less. If's never made it.

Ifs never made it but;

- Mayo will have to be better when they reach Croker. Mayo won't get goals as easy against better teams.

- Galway pretty much bet themselves, soft goals, missed easy points, missed penalty etc.

- At the end of the day, it ended 17 scores to 16. Mayo should have won this one a lot easier.

Edit; I think Alan Mulholland summed it up fairly well.

"Goals win games and it was 17 scores to 16. But we conceded three goals and didn't score any ourselves and that's the difference between the sides."

yop

djPSB wrote: »

Ifs never made it but;

- Mayo will have to be better when they reach Croker. Mayo won't get goals as easy against better teams.

- Galway pretty much bet themselves, soft goals, missed easy points, missed penalty etc.

- At the end of the day, it ended 17 scores to 16. Mayo should have won this one a lot easier.

Mayo beat what was in front of them, Mayo got a lot of goals during the league this year and championship last year, against better teams.
Both teams had many chances, neither converted them.
At the end of the day we won by 7 points, regardless of if it was with 10 scores or 17 scores. 7 points is a comfortable win and we probably had another gear or 2.

Cosmo Kramer

djPSB wrote: »

Ifs never made it but;

- Mayo will have to be better when they reach Croker. Mayo won't get goals as easy against better teams.

- Galway pretty much bet themselves, soft goals, missed easy points, missed penalty etc.

- At the end of the day, it ended 17 scores to 16. Mayo should have won this one a lot easier.

Sometimes you can't win either way though. If we had restricted them to 7 or 8 scores the concern would be that we were showing our hand too early or peaking too soon. When you are in as much control of the game as Mayo were yesterday it is common to ship a few extra scores in defence as the intensity is just not there. There was nothing to be gained from Mayo dishing out another 17 point thrashing yesterday but at the same time we were able to make it obvious that this game was never a contest at any stage.

I expect Cork to grind out an ugly victory over Sligo but I think they might have one more kick left in them this year - we will need to be on our guard in the quarters against an ambush.

kupus

A good result, nothing fancy against a second division team. I still have my reservations and none of those were addressed yesterday.
Goals were not leaked like all through the league campaign, players didnt over carry the ball going into tackles, losing it in the process, and backs were not caught out leaving other backs exposed when going forward. Still a bit of pussy footing around the 30-40 line, but not as bad as in other games. But this all boils down to the quality of the opposition and galway are another few years away from competing with Mayo unfortunately.
looking forward now to the quarters.

davegrohl48

kupus wrote: »

A good result, nothing fancy against a second division team. I still have my reservations and none of those were addressed yesterday.
Goals were not leaked like all through the league campaign, players didnt over carry the ball going into tackles, losing it in the process, and backs were not caught out leaving other backs exposed when going forward. Still a bit of pussy footing around the 30-40 line, but not as bad as in other games. But this all boils down to the quality of the opposition and galway are another few years away from competing with Mayo unfortunately.
looking forward now to the quarters.

Until Galway solve their backs problem they won't be able to compete with Mayo. If the backlines had been swapped yesterday I'd be sure that Galway would be seriously in the hunt for the win.
Galway also gave Danny Cummins an impossible task often facing him with a 1 v 2 and kicking him high ball. Twas better to have at least one big man in support near him. To play defensive football like they attempted you need a foundation of 4/5 quality backs. Which they don't have right now. I think they were better off presenting Mayo with more of a problem in Mayos own half. Try and isolate Walsh on Ger Cafferkey in a 2 man with Cummins. I'd be surprised if a goal wouldn't come off that.
Great win all the same and I'm sure the team have plenty scope for improvement. Great to see Jason Doherty playing well. Great if he can maintain form.

blinding

I thought Jason Doherty did very well and thats very good to see.

Cilian O' Connor also very good. He has great vision and seems to manufacture time for himself.

Kevin McLaughlin was back to what we expect from him.

James Horan seems to lack a bit of belief in Alan Freeman but he can be good on his day and has height and strength to his advantage. I though he was very good in some of the games last year.

Loafing Oaf

yop wrote: »

Mayo beat what was in front of them, Mayo got a lot of goals during the league this year and championship last year, against better teams.

They seem to have integrating goalscoring better into their overall play: last year they seemed to be forcing the chances, esp against London. Maybe that was a phase they needed to go through to get players into the groove but yesterday they were taking the chances when they came up. Galway were doing the same even though they surely had to chase goals in the second half, suggesting they were just to keep the scoreline respectable.

kippy

A good result against an improving Galway side.
Some good performances all over the pitch.
Galway hit the crossbar and had a peno saved as well as missed a few pointable chances at some key monents in the match. It could have ended much tighter but all in all decent.

They started in the same vein as the Rossies did but weren't physical enough to keep it up I thought.
There'll be tougher challenges ahead.

ColeTrain

kippy wrote: »

Some good performances all over the pitch.
Galway hit the crossbar and had a peno saved as well as missed a few pointable chances at some key monents in the match. It could have ended much tighter but all in all decent.

TBF, Keegan also hit the bar and could have had a penalty, so I think the scoreline was just about a fair reflection.

Wolf Club

Boyle, Barrett, Keegan, Higgins, AO'S, CO'C and KMcL all looked good yesterday, I thought. One thing that still concerns me though is Horan's use of subs. It worked against Roscommon, fair enough, but that's more the exception than the rule. Bringing Conroy on instead of Freeman was a very strange move and I think he probably would have brought on Varley as well had he been available. It was fine yesterday as we were so dominant but I feel if we come up against a team with a tactically superior manager to Horan his use of substitutions could be out downfall.

SeanJ09

Wolf Club wrote: »

Boyle, Barrett, Keegan, Higgins, AO'S, CO'C and KMcL all looked good yesterday, I thought. One thing that still concerns me though is Horan's use of subs. It worked against Roscommon, fair enough, but that's more the exception than the rule. Bringing Conroy on instead of Freeman was a very strange move and I think he probably would have brought on Varley as well had he been available. It was fine yesterday as we were so dominant but I feel if we come up against a team with a tactically superior manager to Horan his use of substitutions could be out downfall.

Very strange move indeed. Conroy, bar a few league games, has contributed little to the panel the last two seasons IMO. Same goes for Varley.

Oldtree

Mayo looked good to me yesterday, big improvement and not so tired at the end and best of all people stepping forward. Bit of passing troubles but not as many wides as previously. Galway have a ways to go. The ref has forebears from Galway Deffo, a dissapointingly very light hand really leading to a lot of frustration but the team handled it well I thought. And what a save, we have the safest hands in the west now

yop, you think your seat was bad I got a pole right in front of me. over back over back just to see what was happening. Who ever designed that roof on the stand clearly hasn't been in a football stadium with poles. and don't get me started on the seat colour choice for our county stadium (blue) :rolleyes:

mayo.mick

Oldtree wrote: »

Mayo looked good to me yesterday, big improvement and not so tired at the end and best of all people stepping forward. Bit of passing troubles but not as many wides as previously. Galway have a ways to go. The ref has forebears from Galway Deffo, a dissapointingly very light hand really leading to a lot of frustration but the team handled it well I thought. And what a save, we have the safest hands in the west now

yop, you think your seat was bad I got a pole right in front of me. over back over back just to see what was happening. Who ever designed that roof on the stand clearly hasn't been in a football stadium with poles. and don't get me started on the seat colour choice for our county stadium (blue) :rolleyes:

€18.2 million spent and not a blade of grass touched! Healy park is one of the best stands I've been in, could have done that around the 3 sides and leave McHale road side as is, for half the money spent!

Oldtree

mayo.mick wrote: »

€18.2 million spent and not a blade of grass touched! Healy park is one of the best stands I've been in, could have done that around the 3 sides and leave McHale road side as is, for half the money spent!

I can see you point "clearly", but in fairness they must have used some sort of modern new fangled tech in Healy Park back in 2001 that is not yet available here in Mayo. and it was only through a major search initiative on my part that I managed to find one of the engineering firms involved:

http://www.seanjordanengineering.com/portfolio.asp



And look at the seats

Barlett

Yeah overall they did a poor job with the stand, badly designed and blue seats...definitely not value for money

padd b1975

The surface looked first class yesterday, shame about the restricted views from the stand.

Unacceptable really in this day and age.

Frankie Lee

The stand in the Athletic Grounds in Armagh was done very nicely and looks a fair bit more modern than Healy park.


I really do like the terrace in Tullamore too, the main stand is blighted with poles but I've never been stuck behind one yet.


Celtic Park is nicely done too, very small stand though.



Planning permission should not have been granted to McHale park, purely on the poor quality of the design. Maybe the stadium would look presentable if the benches were replaced by blue seats or terracing at the ends but there won't be any money available for that I presume.

If Kildare ever get around to developing Conleths I hope they follow the example of Armagh, Derry and Offaly and build a respectable looking ground.

ColeTrain

padd b1975 wrote: »

The surface looked first class yesterday, shame about the restricted views from the stand.

Unacceptable really in this day and age.

Thought the pitch looked great too.

The stand isn't perfect but I've always found it fine, it's a great size tbf and while the seats are the wrong colour, they're comfortable.

Defiler Of The Coffin

My only gripe with the stand in McHale park is the support beams. Otherwise it's a fine stand.

Oldtree

Frankie Lee wrote: »

. Maybe the stadium would look presentable if the benches were replaced by blue seats or terracing at the ends

Funnily enough I like sitting on the benches and prefer to be there rather than in the stand, unless there is a deluge. I like to be close to the action so to speak and there is more freedom for the kids there and they have a better view. I don't find the benches uncomfortable but I wouldn't want standing terracing like they have in Galway. On a roasting hot Connaught Final a few years back it was an aful experience to have to stand for it all, and for the children too.

The kids like nothing better than to do a pitch invasion at the end of a match and get their jerseys signed. I have to mention (again) that even after the Mayo lads have finished a gruelling match they always have the time for their smaller fans and I find that a very admirable quality.

mayo.mick

Frankie Lee wrote: »

The stand in the Athletic Grounds in Armagh was done very nicely and looks a fair bit more modern than Healy park.


I really do like the terrace in Tullamore too, the main stand is blighted with poles but I've never been stuck behind one yet.


Celtic Park is nicely done too, very small stand though.



Planning permission should not have been granted to McHale park, purely on the poor quality of the design. Maybe the stadium would look presentable if the benches were replaced by blue seats or terracing at the ends but there won't be any money available for that I presume.

If Kildare ever get around to developing Conleths I hope they follow the example of Armagh, Derry and Offaly and build a respectable looking ground.

Yeah, the Athletic grounds in Armagh was the other one, I couldn't think of the name. The likes of those would have been more suitable I think. Pitch was in brilliant condition, fair play to the groundsmen!

seligehgit

Link to an excellent interview with Aidan O Shea....defo seems to be indicated that the training schedule is been tailored for performance to peak in the business end of the season(not the quarters).
http://www.newstalk.ie/player/podcasts/Off_The_Ball/GAA_on_Off_The_Ball/58504/1/aidan_oshea_interview

neiphin

i hear castlebar have beaten louisburg this evening in the junior championship