Mayo GAA Discussion Thread

manofwisdom

keane2097 wrote: »

Little preview one of the lads did up on Mayo for the season ahead here if ye're interested lads:

http://www.livegaelic.com/features/mayo-football-a-season-preview-for-2013/

Isn't Dillon 30 Andy Moran 29 now? Cafferkey,Higgins; C Barrett, T Cunniffe,Boyle; S O'Shea, B Moran,M Conroy,Varley etc were all part of the 2006 U21 All Ireland winning team making most of them 26-27 now. Conor O'Shea,O'Connor,Regan etc will lower the average age of the panel however, most of Mayo's key players are at their peak age.

keane2097

manofwisdom wrote: »

Isn't Dillon 30 Andy Moran 29 now? Cafferkey,Higgins; C Barrett, T Cunniffe,Boyle; S O'Shea, B Moran,M Conroy,Varley etc were all part of the 2006 U21 All Ireland winning team making most of them 26-27 now. Conor O'Shea,O'Connor,Regan etc will lower the average age of the panel however, most of Mayo's key players are at their peak age.

Dillon was born in '84 as far as I know which makes him 28/29. I didn't write that particular article so you may well be right.

Panrich

manofwisdom wrote: »

Isn't Dillon 30 Andy Moran 29 now? Cafferkey,Higgins; C Barrett, T Cunniffe,Boyle; S O'Shea, B Moran,M Conroy,Varley etc were all part of the 2006 U21 All Ireland winning team making most of them 26-27 now. Conor O'Shea,O'Connor,Regan etc will lower the average age of the panel however, most of Mayo's key players are at their peak age.

Cafferkey, Cunniffe, Barrett and O'Shea were on the U21 team of 06 and were only a year out of minor so they are all 26 this year. B Moran would be 27 this year, Conroy 28. Dillon would be 31 this year as he was u21 in 2003 and A Moran will be 30 as he was on the 2004 team.

Caiseoipe19

yop wrote: »

Colm Boyle came into the side, it was hard to gauge who actually took his position, I think Feeney seemed to cover it.

I would actually have Feeney in there in the backs instead of Vaughan, when we have Dillon back then that could move Richie back. Vaughan was our weakest link last season, too many fumbles which we didn't need. He may have had a bad run of it but if Cunniffe can keep his progression then Vaughan will be under pressure.

Aye, I saw Colm Boyle was brought in but wasn't sure if they'd move him out the wing to his regular position and one of the other lads move into the centre. Gin by the team named for Sunday, they are willing to try him out in the centre though! Kevin Keane in for Shane McHale the only change. Cathal Freeman getting another run at wing-forward.

Team names, courtesy of MayoGAA on facebook:
1) David Clarke - Ballina Stephenites (Capt.)
2) Kevin Keane - Westport
3) Ger Cafferkey - Ballina Stephenites
4) Keith Higgins - Ballyhaunis
5) Tom Cunniffe - Castlebar Mitchels
6) Colm Boyle - Davitts
7) Chris Barrett - Belmullet
8) Aidan O'Shea - Breaffy
9) Seamus O'Shea - Breaffy
10) Lee Keegan - Westport
11) Richie Feeney - Castlebar Mitchels
12) Cathal Freeman - Aghamore
13) Kevin McLoughlin - Knockmore
14) Jason Doherty - Burrishoole
15) Michael Conroy - Davitts

davegrohl48

Interesting to see how Colm Boyle goes at centre back. He's pacy and a decent passer of the ball. If we can sort out that position we will have one of the better defences around.
Mayo will have four converted defenders upfront!! Keegan, Feeney, C. Freeman and McGloughlin. I'm assuming McGloughlin is just given licence to roam out to half forward. I can't see him winning tight ball 1 on 1 in the corner. He's usually much better roaming around the middle.
Saying all of that Tyrone could be a big shock to the system for some of the more inexperienced players. There is a myth that Tyrone are a bit past it, they have plenty good young players coming through.

Barlett

A frustrating performance, had loads of the ball but kept handpassing it around, exactly what Tyrone wanted. They only played direct in the first and last 10 minutes of the game. Still was expecting a few flat league performances...big test in Croke Park next.

Fr Tod Umptious

That's a pain, 4 PTS before heading to Dublin would have been great.

Fowler87

Real sickener to lose that after a great comeback. What a goal from Higgins, came out of nowhere! Very below par performance overall though which is strange considering we bossed midfield and full back line were good . Alot of work to do for Dublin. Championship buzz felt in those last 10 mins

ColeTrain

Hard to know what to make of that game. We done well for the first 10 minutes and the last 10 but were very ordinary besides. Tyrone kicked some good scores in the 2nd half whereas we struggled with our shooting. We found it hard to break them down and lacked ideas. Conroy, Higgins and AOS were probably our best. Also good to see Dillon return.

Fowler87 wrote: »

Real sickener to lose that after a great comeback. What a goal from Higgins, came out of nowhere! Very below par performance overall though which is strange considering we bossed midfield and full back line were good . Alot of work to do for Dublin. Championship buzz felt in those last 10 mins

Yeah it was exciting stuff at the end! It was some turn around. I'd say there was a few who missed our late revival, there was a lot leaving with 5 mins left plus added time. I didn't get a clear look at the penalty but in fairness to the ref he gave us a chance for the equaliser and Vaughan had to take it on but was unlucky. A draw would have been fair in the end but what can you do.

Always_Running

Having played poorly for 60 minutes Mayo were within seconds of beating Tyrone at their defensive best and that has to encouraging. The half backs in the half forward line isn't working Varley,Dillon,O'Connor should all start the next game and Barry Moran,Aidan O'Shea is still the better midfield pairing than the two O'Sheas.

I think the penalty was probably the right call.

Defiler Of The Coffin

Very disappointed but that's how it goes sometimes. At least we weren't badly beaten. We'll need to up the ante for the Dubs, they are on a high now

GBXI

Always_Running wrote: »

Having played poorly for 60 minutes Mayo were within seconds of beating Tyrone at their defensive best and that has to encouraging. The half backs in the half forward line isn't working Varley,Dillon,O'Connor should all start the next game and Barry Moran,Aidan O'Shea is still the better midfield pairing than the two O'Sheas.

I think the penalty was probably the right call.

Yeah there are positives to be taken for sure. I think it's clear enough Mayo are the better team but Tyrone played very well today and mayo found it awful hard to break them down.

Barry Moran was excellent in the 2nd half and no doubt is the man to partner Aidan at mid-field. We still miss Andy, Alan, and Cillian for their ball winning ability in the ff line.

I expect us to give the Dubs a good game, especially if Dillon starts.

tacofries

Well we lost but for me that doesn't matter.

With this match I wanted to see if we had a team that has the ability to win Sam. And with this match I have come to the conclusion that we could do it if we fixed some parts of the team.

Mcloughlin is wasted in ff,... half forward suits him way more. Keegan is not a ff or even a hf. He just doesnt have the vision for it. He's a back and always will be.Kevin Keane isn't strong enough at the moment in my opinion, he let his marker roam free for a lot of the first half. If he was more disciplined and stuck closer to his man he would be a great defender but just gives them too much room. Doherty had a decent game but his free taking looked way too casual. At one stage he barely looked at the goal before he kicked the ball, ultimately sending it wide. Also conroy was left so unused today. There were so many times when conroy had broke away from his marker and was absolutely screaming for the ball but too no avail!


A lot of these criticisms are positive in a way as they can be fixed with a bit of re-jigging and discipline. Couple that with good passing (awful passes today for a long period of the game) into the half forwards and full forwards and we have a brilliant team! For those last ten minutes we absolutely dominated the game, and if we can do it for ten minutes we can do it for 75.

Great to see the atmosphere in mchale park and I thought the music at half time was a great bonus to keep the buzz going. Great match to be at and I am very hopefull of whats to come!

yop

Agree with Tacofries there, speaking to the other 2 "amigos" with me who trot to everything that involves a Mayo jersey and the conclusions are the same.
McLoughlin, who was close to been player of the year last season, taken out of his position and lost in the corner. Hence why we seemed to lose so much breaking ball.
Keegan, took a nice score, totally out of his depth besides.
Barratt, ok he needs his chances, but himself and Cunniffe are not there yet, BUT I remember Richie Feeney and he seemed like a rabbit in headlights, in fairness to him he is nearly our most consistent performer now.
Keane, only back to needs time, a shocking lack of pace though. Time will tell.
Freeman, I might be harsh here, but did he do anything in the last 2 games?
DOC and Conroy, tore Tyrone to strips but I think the change of tact in the rest of the game to this over passing (or non passing at times), negated their potency.


Ok, it was pissng off today, you have to win your games at home, Tyrone are on a rebuild, we should be an 80% project and looking at tweaks. Nothing seemed to go right for us today. It will take the cockiness out of now after last weeks Kerry win, a team who went 56 minutes today at home without a score.

I think Horan has had a chance to experiment, personally I think its failed, get back to the "old" system and tweak what didn't work last year.
I still think centre half back isn't resolved. Should we look at have Richie there all the time, with McLoughs in the centre forward position, they would be like 2 hoovers!!!!

Anyway, we will see how it goes, made it a little harder to achieve ensuring our Div 1 status.

Onwards and upwards.

NabyLadistheman

I think Horan is just protecting Kevin Mc by playing him inside for a few league games. No doubt in my mind that he will be brought out for the bigger tests ahead. It's a long year and he doesn't need him picking up any unnecessary injuries.

We fell into the trap tactically yesterday against a very typical Tyrone defensive set-up. Christ there was stages in the second half there were 2 people marking Doc & Conroy. Torturous for any inside forward against that system. Eventually our defense pushed up and we got the goal. Thought Vaughan looked sharp when he came on & should possibly have gone for goal when he got the equalizer.

I agree with the consensus that the Keegan experiment has not worked. It's a shame as we really do have an abundance of wing-backs who can do a job there. Barrett, Cunniffe, Feeney, Vaughan, Boyle all in the shake-up.

Keane looked very immobile for me yesterday. Like a man that has had a bit to much of the gym over the winter. Hopefully he was just a bit rusty yesterday it as we need his physicaly in defense.

eljoker

I was a Mayo fan a few years ago but after years hoping they would win in Croker i have given up. Chokers big time. No neutral supports them anymore

Fowler87

eljoker wrote: »

I was a Mayo fan a few years ago but after years hoping they would win in Croker i have given up. Chokers big time. No neutral supports them anymore

That's a killer blow to our hopes this year now

NabyLadistheman

eljoker wrote: »

I was a Mayo fan a few years ago but after years hoping they would win in Croker i have given up. Chokers big time. No neutral supports them anymore

Ya coz Mayo haven't won in Croker in years!! Thanks for your nugget of wisedom

ColeTrain

eljoker wrote: »

I was a Mayo fan a few years ago but after years hoping they would win in Croker i have given up. Chokers big time. No neutral supports them anymore

Good, we don't want clowns in our support

davegrohl48

Surely it's time to move Lee Keegan to centre back? He was our most valuable half back last year. Has the size, hands, stopping ability, good counter attacker. If not going so well at half forward seems a natural move.

JayReale

eljoker wrote: »

I was a Mayo fan a few years ago but after years hoping they would win in Croker i have given up. Chokers big time. No neutral supports them anymore

Heartbreaking to read. We're ashamed of ourselves to have disappointed you so. Is there anything we can do to change your mind? Anything?

eljoker

Get players with balls that don't choke. I had a laugh when i read the report on the Tyrone game, choking at home already. I laugh every year at the fact that all the farmers spend a fortune going to Dublin from Mayo and to then go home disappointed in traffic on one of the worst roads in the country. You might be better playing the hardy bucks.

Defiler Of The Coffin

eljoker wrote: »

Get players with balls that don't choke

We have another Mick O'Dwyer here folks

Barlett

He reminds me of that eejit from Limerick that used to troll here two years ago. Pathetic.Worry about your own team and leave us to worry about ours. Good Lad.

MaroonAndGreen

Paddy Power's take on this year's club championship:

Ballintubber - 5/2
Ballaghaderreen - 4/1
Castlebar - 9/2
Knockmore - 13/2
Crossmolina - 7/1
Breaffy - 12/1
Ballina - 14/1
Charlestown - 14/1
Westport - 16/1
Shrule/Glencorrib - 20/1
Davitts - 22/1
Garrymore - 22/1
Claremorris - 22/1
Ballinrobe - 28/1
Aghamore - 40/1
Tourmakeady - 66/1

Group Stage draw on Monday night I think.. The 25th of February

ColeTrain

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Paddy Power's take on this year's club championship:


Charlestown - 14/1

Very decent bet each way^

MaroonAndGreen

ColeTrain wrote: »

Very decent bet each way^

Agree with ya there! They are being underestimated by Paddy Power..

Bit surprised by Breaffy and Ballina being so high up the list..

Also Shrule/Glencorrib, Garrymore and Claremorris' odds should be alot closer to 40/1 than 20/1 IMO.. Cant see them threatening really!

Caiseoipe19

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Agree with ya there! They are being underestimated by Paddy Power..

Bit surprised by Breaffy and Ballina being so high up the list..

Also Shrule/Glencorrib, Garrymore and Claremorris' odds should be alot closer to 40/1 than 20/1 IMO.. Cant see them threatening really!

Whatever about Garrymore and Claremorris, Shrule/Glencorrib should definitely be way down the list.

Can't see Ballaghaderreen doing it again...although I didn't give them much of a chance going into the final last year and Andy Moran will be a huge difference.

Breaffy at 12/1 despite finishing bottom of their group last year and so are 4th seed?

Ballina finished bottom of theirs as well last year although under new management they might sort themselves out this year.

MaroonAndGreen

Cygnus wrote: »

Whatever about Garrymore and Claremorris, Shrule/Glencorrib should definitely be way down the list.

Can't see Ballaghaderreen doing it again...although I didn't give them much of a chance going into the final last year and Andy Moran will be a huge difference.

Breaffy at 12/1 despite finishing bottom of their group last year and so are 4th seed?

Ballina finished bottom of theirs as well last year although under new management they might sort themselves out this year.

I think thats its between 'Tubber, Mitchels and Ballagh' again..

My bet is that its going to be Mitchel's year!

For relegation its between Tourmak', Aghamore, Shrule and Ballinrobe id say? Maybe even Breaffy or Garrymore too.

Fr Tod Umptious

Interesting team for Saturday's game v Dublin

Barrent gone into corner back, Keegan returns to wing back, Gibbons and Moran in midfield and AOS at half forward.

Looking forward to seeing how that midfield play, a lot of talk about Gibbons over the past yaer or so.

Would also like to see how Varley and Donerty do in the forwards, they are two guys who really need to step up in 2013

Mayo XV to play Dublin in Allianz FL at Croke Park on Saturday 2 March, throw-in 7.00pm:

1 Kenneth O'Malley, 2 Chris Barrett, 3 Ger Cafferkey, 4 Keith Higgins, 5 Lee Keegan, 6 Donal Vaughan, 7 Colm Boyle, 8 Jason Gibbons, 9 Barry Moran, 10 Kevin McLoughlin, 11 Aidan O'Shea, 12 Richie Feeney, 13 Enda Varley, 14 Jason Doherty, 15 Michael Conroy

Always_Running

Can't see O'Shea playing at 11 probably a third midfielder. Doherty needs to take all the frees and keep Varley away from them. Dillion becoming more of squad player than starter? i don't see the point of selecting Feeney a defender instead of him.

SomethingElse

Always_Running wrote: »

Can't see O'Shea playing at 11 probably a third midfielder. Doherty needs to take all the frees and keep Varley away from them. Dillion becoming more of squad player than starter? i don't see the point of selecting Feeney a defender instead of him.

He's out injured at the moment http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/football/2013/0227/369797-mayo-still-without-dillon-and-oconnor/

threebeards

Always_Running wrote: »

Dillion becoming more of squad player than starter?

Nonsense. He has a slight injury. Come the business end of the league he'll be to the fore and will be a key player come championship time, as will Andy Moran

Caiseoipe19

According to rte sport, Dillon is injured and not training.
Don't know about O'Shea at 11...not agile or fast enough I think. He can also be very bad for running into trouble and turning over possession. His strong point is his height, which is utilised much less if he stays at 11. Just can't see that working.

keane2097

Nah if anything O'Shea has moved onto a different level again this year and is certainly now in the very top tier of footballers in the country, wouldn't be in the slightest worried about him at CHF.

This could be a really great game, two of the strongest teams in the country coming up against one another, probably two of the top three at the moment.

Fowler87

Gonna be interesting seeing O'Shea in the forward role again as the last time he played 11, he was raw enough and somewhat clumsy at times on the ball. But he's improved a fair bit since and his passing range has come on alot too. As a couple said already, the benefit of a 3rd midfielder instead of bringing a corner forward back for the breaking ball should help the attacking numbers too. We lacked depth in full forward the last day

Syferus

I'd be careful about thinking about it as a three-man midfield until I see them line-up - a lot of times managers play silly games and name a midfielder at 11 and play him exclusively in the middle while one of the named midfielders drops back to be a sweeper. With gibbons being the added man you'd expect a three-man midfield but who knows? Aidan O'Shea at 11 is odd enough - 14 would seem to be the obvious spot for him if you are really moving him out of the middle - so there could be anything in store.

seligehgit

Anybody heading to Croker?Heading up,I reckon there could be a decent crowd.Pretty worried that the Dubs might give us a bit of a beating.Really can't see how we are in the top 3 teams in the country at present on the basis of current form,having said that it is quite early in the season.

Fireball07

keane2097 wrote: »

Nah if anything O'Shea has moved onto a different level again this year and is certainly now in the very top tier of footballers in the country, wouldn't be in the slightest worried about him at CHF.

I'd disagree there. O'Shea is a good player but I definitely don't think he's in the very top tier of footballers in the country, he still has plenty of flaws in his game. Mayo have a good few players better than him.

Fr Tod Umptious

I think the main point of the change of O' Shea from midfield to half forward is more to do with seeing Gibbons at midfield than it is to do with seeing what O' Shea can do at half forward.

As I said earlier there has been a lot of talk about Gibbons over the past few months, by all accounts he had Barry Moran in his pocket during the Ballintubber v Castlebar quarter final in August, a time when Moran was the talk of the nation as a result of his performances for the Mayo senior team.

O' Shea has been predominately a forward before Horan too over in 2010/2011. But he has not been as effective there as when he was a minor. As minor he was the biggest guy on the filed and would have 2 or 3 backs hanging on to him as he barged through all before him.
He could not do that at senior.
I think he is better at midfield and as I have just said the experiment now is to see who is the best partner for him

By the way , I think this game on Saturday is an All Ireland final preview.

keane2097

Fireball07 wrote: »

I'd disagree there. O'Shea is a good player but I definitely don't think he's in the very top tier of footballers in the country, he still has plenty of flaws in his game. Mayo have a good few players better than him.

Not really, O'Shea is by far the player whose loss would hurt Mayo the most at the moment and that's even accounting for the decent depth Mayo have at midfield.

That's not a slight on the likes of McLoughlin or Doherty either who have become very good players, but no way do Mayo have "a good few" players better than AOS.

manofwisdom

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

By the way , I think this game on Saturday is an All Ireland final preview.

Bold prediction so early in the season.

keane2097 wrote: »

no way do Mayo have "a good few" players better than AOS.

I would say Keith Higgins,Alan Dillion,Andy Moran,Ger Cafferkey are all better players than AOS currently however, O'Shea is younger than all of them and in the years ahead he could be Mayo's most important player.

seligehgit

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

By the way , I think this game on Saturday is an All Ireland final preview.

Yip very bold prediction,I hope you are right.

ColeTrain

manofwisdom wrote: »

I would say Keith Higgins,Alan Dillion,Andy Moran,Ger Cafferkey are all better players than AOS currently however, O'Shea is younger than all of them and in the years ahead he could be Mayo's most important player.

The thing is though if all of the players above were guaranteed to be on top form but you could only choose one, who would you go for? For importance to the whole team, I'd go with AOS because when he's at the top of his game he can really dominate the middle.

manofwisdom

ColeTrain wrote: »

The thing is though if all of the players above were guaranteed to be on top form but you could only choose one, who would you go for? For importance to the whole team, I'd go with AOS because when he's at the top of his game he can really dominate the middle.

Mayo's main strength is their defence Keith Higgins drives the team forward Ger Cafferkey is one of the best defenders around if those two were missing Mayo would struggle to replace them.

AOS can still blow hot and cold i think needs a good partner in midfield to bring out the best in him (probably Barry Moran) of course it doesn't help when managers choose to move him around the field, he's at age now that he should have settled position in the team.

ColeTrain

manofwisdom wrote: »

Mayo's main strength is their defence Keith Higgins drives the team forward Ger Cafferkey is one of the best defenders around if those two were missing Mayo would struggle to replace them.

AOS can still blow hot and cold i think needs a good partner in midfield to bring out the best in him (probably Barry Moran) of course it doesn't help when managers choose to move him around the field, he's at age now that he should have settled position in the team.

There is certainly arguments to be made that Higgins and Cafferkey are more important but we've lacked a dominant midfielder for a while now. Even take the Sligo game last year, we struggled in there that day and when a half fit AOS came on it seemed to turn the game for us.
Hopefully we can keep all of our best players fit for the season ahead.

Blackjack

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

By the way , I think this game on Saturday is an All Ireland final preview.

I agree. However regardless of the result this weekend, I would have to tip Dublin based on results so far to be lifting Sam. Hope I'm right on the first part but wrong on the second.
Very early days yet, but if Paddy Power was taking money now on a Mayo v Dublin final, I'd be putting my money there....

Syferus

manofwisdom wrote: »

Bold prediction so early in the season.



I would say Keith Higgins,Alan Dillion,Andy Moran,Ger Cafferkey are all better players than AOS currently however, O'Shea is younger than all of them and in the years ahead he could be Mayo's most important player.

Well he said right now so Andy and Dillion are out the window in this debate.

I agree Keith Higgins is a better player but Aidan O'Shea is a more important one. Andy Moran is about the only player on the fully-fit panel that exerts more influence on how well the Mayo team play right now, O'Shea's ability to win ball alone can swing games Mayo's way and he's obviously become much better taking shots from distance and going forward with the ball.

Fr Tod Umptious

manofwisdom wrote: »

Bold prediction so early in the season.
.

Not that bold a prediction

Probably belongs in another thread but here goes

Genuine contenders are few in the first place

Even with the likes of Gooch etc back Kerry really lack depth and are not genuine final contenders this year

Donegal will do well to reproduce the intensity of last year, and have a very tough opening to 2013 v Tyrone.

Not sure what Cork are up to.

That leaves Dublin and Mayo who will avoid each other if they both win their provinces.

manofwisdom

Syferus wrote: »

Well he said right now so Andy and Dillion are out the window in this debate.

If he said right now i'm sure he meant the season ahead and not few league games played in February.

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Not that bold a prediction

You reckon?

If Mayo win Connacht again and reach another All Ireland semi final they will likely face the Ulster champions probably Tyrone or Donegal to be honest i would fancy both of those sides to defeat Mayo. On the other side of the draw Dublin could end up playing Cork or Kerry and going on last year form they will do well to progress past them and reach a final. (remember Donegal had to at their best to beat both Kerry,Cork.)

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Genuine contenders are few in the first place

Agreed only a few. Mayo wouldn't be one of them IMO.