Mayo GAA Discussion Part 2

Fr Tod Umptious

seligehgit wrote: »

Article in today's Indo outlining Tom Cunniffe's views on the rights and wrongs of the players coup which ousted Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/we-were-unfair-on-managers-mayo-star-regrets-player-revolt-35274707.html

I know December is very much the bottom of the barrel when it comes to GAA news but this is cat.

Roll on the FBD.

Westernyelp

JulietJones wrote: »

Got one of the regular season tickets.. Been trying for a few years so am absolutely thrilled!!

I snagged one too. very small window, just a fluke That I checked emails

Fr Tod Umptious

JulietJones wrote: »

Got one of the regular season tickets.. Been trying for a few years so am absolutely thrilled!!

Westernyelp wrote: »

I snagged one too. very small window, just a fluke That I checked emails

Well done, hopefully you can get a good years use out of it like others have over the past few.

seligehgit

Castlebar Mitchels forward Neil Douglas was named as the Mayo Senior Football Championship Player of the Year.

Westport defender Kevin Keane was named as the Intermediate Championship Player of the Year,Louisburgh’s Kevin Gibbons won the Junior Championship equivalent, while Stephen Coen from Hollymount/Carramore was the winner of the Young Player of the Year accolade.

Ballintubber’s Cillian O’Connor won the Golden Boot award for Top Scorer in the Mayo Senior Football Championship while Shrule/Glencorrib’s Mark Ronaldson was the Intermediate Championship Golden Boot winner.

Footballer of the Year Lee Keegan was presented with a ‘Special Achievement’ award, while Michael Solan was chosen as the ‘Personality of the Year’ after managing the Mayo under 21 football team to the All-Ireland title.

Two-time All-Ireland medal winner Paddy Prendergast was inducted into the Club Stars ‘Hall of Fame’.

The ‘Hurling Recognition’ award winner,Stephen Broderick from Westport also received an award for years of service in promoting hurling in Mayo.

The joint Managers of the Year award winners were Louisburgh’s John Kelly and Westport’s Damian Loftus.


Mayo News/O’Neills Club Stars 2016 Team:
1 Rory Byrne (Castlebar Mitchels)
2 Donie Newcombe (Castlebar Mitchels)
3 Ger McDonagh (Castlebar Mitchels)
4 Kevin Keane (Westport)
5 Sean Ruttledge (Knockmore)
6 Brendan Harrison (Aghamore)
7 Paddy Durcan (Castlebar Mitchels)
8 Barry Moran (Castlebar Mitchels)
9 Kevin McLoughlin (Knockmore)
10 Andy Moran (Ballaghaderreen)
11 Cian Costello (Castlebar Mitchels)
12 Keith Ruttledge (Knockmore)
13 Liam Irwin (Breaffy)
14 Neil Douglas (Castlebar Mitchels)
15 Cillian O’Connor (Ballintubber)

Replacements
16 Aidan Kilcoyne (Knockmore)
17 Ray O’Malley (Castlebar Mitchels)
18 Gerry Jennings (Breaffy)
19 Fergal Durkan (Castlebar Mitchels)
20 Lewis Cawley (Westport)

seligehgit

Mayo GAA Senior Relegation Playoff:

Ballinrobe 1-11 Ballyhaunis 0-06.

Ballinrobe will play senior football in 2017.

Call me Al

So, according to tonight's article in the Indo by Martin Breheny, apparently now is the time for Holmes and Connelly to speak out. They held the whisht last year so as not to interfere with preparations of th team,and they feel that now is the time to issue the letter they sent to the county board to the media.
What with Cunniffe last week, and this, not to mention the stoking here, I'm done with it, and more especially them, at this stage.

Kristopherus

Call me Al wrote: »

So, according to tonight's article in the Indo by Martin Breheny, apparently now is the time for Holmes and Connelly to speak out. They held the whisht last year so as not to interfere with preparations of th team,and they feel that now is the time to issue the letter they sent to the county board to the media.
What with Cunniffe last week, and this, not to mention the stoking here, I'm done with it, and more especially them, at this stage.

Not the letter, but a full-blown interview with Martin Breheny.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/egos-need-to-be-checked-or-mayo-wont-win-allireland-ousted-joint-managers-break-silence-on-player-revolt-in-explosive-interview-35300966.html

wirelessdude01

Nothing good can come of this interview. I can just imagine the crap that will be raked up again. As a people we don't know just when to leave things be.

Fr Tod Umptious

Call me Al wrote: »

So, according to tonight's article in the Indo by Martin Breheny, apparently now is the time for Holmes and Connelly to speak out. They held the whisht last year so as not to interfere with preparations of th team,and they feel that now is the time to issue the letter they sent to the county board to the media.
What with Cunniffe last week, and this, not to mention the stoking here, I'm done with it, and more especially them, at this stage.

No problem with any of this coming out, as I said before December is a dead zone for GAA news so MB and the Indo have to earn their keep some way.

But the notion that there are too many egos and outside influences would have a lot more impact had the 2016 Mayo gone out early and not lost the All Ireland to Dublin after a replay.


If this "explosive" stuff does have traction then I hope it makes the current squad even more determined to prove they were right.

On the face of it I thought it was a bad move at the time to ditch H&C, and even more so after the Galway game, but the players more than stood up for themselves after that.

This story would have been good 12 months ago, but the horse has certainly bolted at this stage.

ixus

Reading the article, it would suggest to me that the players influenced the goalkeeper change for the Final replay based upon the previous year. Purely guess work.

I also found it odd at the time that players were allowed to do the Toughest Trade thing mid-season. Can understand the attraction of doing it but no way management would want it mid-season.

Obvously, two sides to the story and it's a fine line between keeping players happy and bowing to their demands.

I've something to talk to the inlaws about at Christmas Dinner now anyway!

Slattsy

Embarrassing stuff.

You'd think the players had actually won something of relevance in their careers with a letter like that.

Dyr

Slattsy wrote: »

Embarrassing stuff.

You'd think the players had actually won something of relevance in their careers with a letter like that.

tbh I said it at the time that you cannot have players dictating to management. Players will always look to do whats right for themselves above all else, it's toxic in the medium term.

Given that they've won f**k all since the coup are they willing to apply the same logic to themselves as they did to the previous management team?

Are they f**k.

PressRun

Why don't the county board release the mediators report and let people know what went on under Holmes and Connelly's management and how they actually got appointed to the job in the first place?

They were never the right people for the job and this proves it.

Supernintento Chalmers

PressRun wrote: »

Why don't the county board release the mediators report and let people know what went on under Holmes and Connelly's management and how they actually got appointed to the job in the first place?

They were never the right people for the job and this proves it.

All that has been proven is that there are a right bunch of arseholes within that team.

Astral92

PressRun wrote: »

Why don't the county board release the mediators report and let people know what went on under Holmes and Connelly's management and how they actually got appointed to the job in the first place?

They were never the right people for the job and this proves it.

Absolutely agree. The whole appointment stunk of nepotism.

Astral92

What I'd love to know is why are they STILL pulling the arse out of this story?

Call me Al

Astral92 wrote: »

Absolutely agree. The whole appointment stunk of nepotism.

This is what was embarassing.
I don't blame the players one bit for the coup. I never rated H&C after the semi-final Dublin games and I was glad to see them go.
What I do take issue with in the current set-up is any undue influence over Rochford by certain parties. If there was pressure to change goalies he may have learned his lesson and go with his own gut in future. Expensive lesson to learn.
But what good is there in rehashng all this in the Independent at this stage.
Let them write to the county board but to me the rest just stinks of spite.

PressRun

Completely spiteful, imo. The appointment stank from day one and they know it themselves. Plenty of people know at this stage what went on within the camp under their charge, and all I'd say is good riddance.

km79

PressRun wrote: »

Completely spiteful, imo. The appointment stank from day one and they know it themselves. Plenty of people know at this stage what went on within the camp under their charge, and all I'd say is good riddance.

Proud county men would have left well enough alone .........

Coillte_Bhoy

PressRun wrote: »

Completely spiteful, imo. The appointment stank from day one and they know it themselves. Plenty of people know at this stage what went on within the camp under their charge, and all I'd say is good riddance.

Actually, no we dont, why dont you enlighten us?

Coillte_Bhoy

Astral92 wrote: »

What I'd love to know is why are they STILL pulling the arse out of this story?

Who are they?

manofwisdom

Some had their doubts at the time but todays article especially the official letter confirms without any doubt that player power was used to remove H&C after just one year where a Connacht title was won and only lost to Dublin in the semi final after a replay.

It now seems player power also played a part in the goalkeeper change in this years All Ireland final replay. If so lessons must be learnt and Rochford the manager should be allowed to manage.

naughto

manofwisdom wrote: »

Some had their doubts at the time but todays article especially the official letter confirms without any doubt that player power was used to remove H&C after just one year where a Connacht title was won and only lost to Dublin in the semi final after a replay.

It now seems player power also played a part in the goalkeeper change in this years All Ireland final replay. If so lessons must be learnt and Rochford the manager should be allowed to manage.

If that is the case the players should be giving the road with a kick up the hole.
I did hear a LOT about the younger O'Shea brother not being part of the panel this yr till his brothers had a word

happyoutscan

O'Shea, Vaughan and Dillon were 3 of the ring leaders.

km79

happyoutscan wrote: »

O'Shea, Vaughan and Dillon were 3 of the ring leaders.

According to .........
Can't believe we are talking about this again.
What have Holmes /Connolly got to gain from this ?

djPSB

km79 wrote: »

According to .........
Can't believe we are talking about this again.
What have Holmes /Connolly got to gain from this ?

I'm sure they got paid for the interview.

seligehgit

I am not too sure why at this stage Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes decided to offer their perspective on the saga as I thought they had said they were never going to do same.

It is true to say that the whole fiasco that gave rise to their appointment stank to high heaven.Indeed the article mentions that neither man was willing to take the role on solo.

TBF to both men they have been wonderful servants of the green and red.The article does give an insight into the oft discussed rumours of certain players attempting to exert an influence on how the team is managed.The Jim Gavin's and Eamonn Fitzmaurice's of this world would not tolerate such antics and rightly so.

From the get go there were rumblings re disharmony in the camp and it seemed to come to a head after the apparent big bust up post our thrashing by Dublin in the league in McHale Park.The saga with regard to Conor O Shea's position on team/panel was an incessant rumour.

The semi final against Dublin was marked by much discussion re the management decision to give up the Cluxton kick out.Arguments can be made re whom made the decision to drop David Clarke.I'm inclined to believe Connelly and Holmes re the background to the change.Yet we were four points up with fifteen minutes to go.I believe the loss could be come to many factors..Seamus O Shea's silly black card,fatigue after two great battles..the crazy depth of the Dublin panel.The line had a role too but as in other big games with victory in our grasp the game was primarily lost on the pitch with a mental brittleness.The players must take a long hard look at themselves.

I found the article informative,I hope Stephen Rochford next year will not tolerate any player power.The omens after the goalkeeper switch in this year's All Ireland final are not good if this was a case of player power?

The saga was a sorry one but nobody comes out of it unblemished.

ChikiChiki

Feel sorry for the two lads. The whole episode seems to have caused them a huge amount of distress.

I think player power ultimately cost Mayo the All Ireland this year.

blinding

ChikiChiki wrote: »

Feel sorry for the two lads. The whole episode seems to have caused them a huge amount of distress.

I think player power ultimately cost Mayo the All Ireland this year.

I'd say that it was probably Dublin having a better team than us (certainly in the replay)...........

NabyLadistheman

Hard to feel sorry for the pair imo..there is a lot of sensitive info regarding the short-comings of the team revealed in that article. You can tell the smugness of Beheny in his last line. It's very disappointing for Mayo GAA overall

MaroonAndGreen

Laughable claiming they gave this interview for the good of Mayo GAA. It was to serve their own egos. Nothing short of a disgrace to have that letter printed, I mean did they actually hand a copy of that to a journalist?!?! This coming from men with Mayo's best interests at heart? Nah not buying it lads, Pat and Noel ye have done yourselves a disservice with this interview.

Also, maybe the players didn't want to publicly air some of the problems before, but they are well entitled to reply here and Noel and Pat have left themselves wide open here too.

washman3

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Laughable claiming they gave this interview for the good of Mayo GAA. It was to serve their own egos. Nothing short of a disgrace to have that letter printed, I mean did they actually hand a copy of that to a journalist?!?! This coming from men with Mayo's best interests at heart? Nah not buying it lads, Pat and Noel ye have done yourselves a disservice with this interview.

Also, maybe the players didn't want to publicly air some of the problems before, but they are well entitled to reply here and Noel and Pat have left themselves wide open here too.

Is that you Aidan..??

Prop Joe

To be fair the players had the balls to stand up and give them the heave ho,Now they should have the balls to take the truth as it has come out.From reading the article it seems Aidan & Seamie carry an awful lot of clout within the group and pushed for the little brother to be on the panel and their clubmate Hennelly.

Interesting how the vote ended up 27-7 with so many new faces they brought in that year

franklyon

Really disheartening stuff for Mayo people to read. I just hope Rochford listens to his gut for next year. Any players causing problems should be fcked off the panel.I don't care who they are

StewartGriffin

blinding wrote: »

I'd say that it was probably Dublin having a better team than us (certainly in the replay)...........

Ah, but who forced the change in the team to make that happen? Many were shocked to see Hennelly replace Clarke on the day

StewartGriffin

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Laughable claiming they gave this interview for the good of Mayo GAA. It was to serve their own egos.

If they wanted to serve their own ego they would have come out straight after the heave when media attention was at the peak. They didn't. They waited a long time to give their side of the story.

How dare you or anyone else say they are not entitled to give their side of the story?

Your attitude says more about the state of Mayo GAA than anything else published this week.

MaroonAndGreen

StewartGriffin wrote:

How dare you or anyone else say they are not entitled to give their side of the story?

Their side of the story? It's clear that the players spared them plenty of embarrassment by not listing their shortcomings to the public. These two have left nothing to spare, went for the throats of the players. It smacks of bitterness tbh. It's laughable that they are claiming this was done for Mayo GAA's best interests, clearly not.

fullstop

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Laughable claiming they gave this interview for the good of Mayo GAA. It was to serve their own egos. Nothing short of a disgrace to have that letter printed, I mean did they actually hand a copy of that to a journalist?!?! This coming from men with Mayo's best interests at heart? Nah not buying it lads, Pat and Noel ye have done yourselves a disservice with this interview.

Also, maybe the players didn't want to publicly air some of the problems before, but they are well entitled to reply here and Noel and Pat have left themselves wide open here too.

Wow, butthurt much? Some serious arrogance in that Mayo team, and they have no reason to be arrogant. When they have won something, maybe their opinions should be respected, but until that time let management do their job.

naughto

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Their side of the story? It's clear that the players spared them plenty of embarrassment by not listing their shortcomings to the public. These two have left nothing to spare, went for the throats of the players. It smacks of bitterness tbh. It's laughable that they are claiming this was done for Mayo GAA's best interests, clearly not.

You could be right maybe it's time the players but there're side of the story as th why it was so bad under homes/ con. We have all heard stories of what went on the main one the armature set up they brought to the team unlike Horan and his back room team

blinding

blinding wrote: »

I'd say that it was probably Dublin having a better team than us (certainly in the replay)...........

StewartGriffin wrote: »

Ah, but who forced the change in the team to make that happen? Many were shocked to see Hennelly replace Clarke on the day

That was a mistake alright but Dublin are still a better team than us and would probably beat us 3.5 times out of 5 :eek:

Dyr

blinding wrote: »

That was a mistake alright but Dublin are still a better team than us and would probably beat us 3.5 times out of 5 :eek:

How many of, say.. the last 10 encounters with Dublin have Mayo won?

PressRun

seligehgit wrote: »

TBF to both men they have been wonderful servants of the green and red.The article does give an insight into the oft discussed rumours of certain players attempting to exert an influence on how the team is managed.The Jim Gavin's and Eamonn Fitzmaurice's of this world would not tolerate such antics and rightly so.

The Jim Gavins and Eamonn Fiztmaurices of the world also wouldn't carry on the way Holmes and Connelly did throughout their management. 5,000 words in that article and not one word about their own failings. All this talk about passing the buck, but that's exactly what they do in that article themselves. No mention of the bullying tactics and outdated training methods, nothing about having no room on the team bus for players because Pat and Noel wanted to bring hangers on, nothing about them bringing their friends and children of friends into the dressing room before big matches, nothing about the refusal to offer support to certain players facing problems within the game. If a Dublin player went to Jim Gavin about a game-related issue, do you think he'd just point blank refuse and turn his back on them? No way. He'd defend them to the hilt, as a good manager would.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg without even getting into how they were appointed to the position and other carry on behind the scenes. Nothing was ever publicly said about them, their appointment or what went on under their management, which could have been embarrassing for both of them and the county board. I've very little sympathy for either of them or members of the county board who enabled all of this. They want to have the last word on the matter without admitting any blame themselves and the county board care not a jot about the fallout of underhandedly appointing people to positions they're not up to. And then to say that they're doing all this for the good of Mayo football? Are they hell.

Do I think there are problems within the team? Yes. But Holmes and Connelly are no victims and the notion that it's all on the players and nothing to do with them is manifestly untrue. The team were incredibly united and had a very tight bond under James Horan. While he wasn't perfect, he brought them on immensely. Do people really think that problems just emerged out of nowhere for no reason other than "egos"? The cracks noticeably emerged under Holmes and Connelly and there are reasons for that. Those cracks found their roots in carry on from the county board, who were also at the heart of James Horan's decision to leave.

I'm glad Holmes and Connelly are gone. I only wish they'd brought half the county board with them. If Mayo ever win an All-Ireland, it'll be in spite of those on the county board, not because of them.

djPSB

PressRun wrote: »

The Jim Gavins and Eamonn Fiztmaurices of the world also wouldn't carry on the way Holmes and Connelly did throughout their management. 5,000 words in that article and not one word about their own failings. All this talk about passing the buck, but that's exactly what they do in that article themselves. No mention of the bullying tactics and outdated training methods, nothing about having no room on the team bus for players because Pat and Noel wanted to bring hangers on, nothing about them bringing their friends and children of friends into the dressing room before big matches, nothing about the refusal to offer support to certain players facing problems within the game. If a Dublin player went to Jim Gavin about a game-related issue, do you think he'd just point blank refuse and turn his back on them? No way. He'd defend them to the hilt, as a good manager would.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg without even getting into how they were appointed to the position and other carry on behind the scenes. Nothing was ever publicly said about them, their appointment or what went on under their management, which could have been embarrassing for both of them and the county board. I've very little sympathy for either of them or members of the county board who enabled all of this. They want to have the last word on the matter without admitting any blame themselves and the county board care not a jot about the fallout of underhandedly appointing people to positions they're not up to. And then to say that they're doing all this for the good of Mayo football? Are they hell.

Do I think there are problems within the team? Yes. But Holmes and Connelly are no victims and the notion that it's all on the players and nothing to do with them is manifestly untrue. The team were incredibly united and had a very tight bond under James Horan. While he wasn't perfect, he brought them on immensely. Do people really think that problems just emerged out of nowhere for no reason other than "egos"? The cracks noticeably emerged under Holmes and Connelly and there are reasons for that. Those cracks found their roots in carry on from the county board, who were also at the heart of James Horan's decision to leave.

I'm glad Holmes and Connelly are gone. I only wish they'd brought half the county board with them. If Mayo ever win an All-Ireland, it'll be in spite of those on the county board, not because of them.

You're full of excuses, just like the players.

Horan, C&H, and Rochford have failed to deliver Sam with this group. The players being the one constant.

ProudDUB

Some of the reasons for the player dissatisfaction seem ridiculously petty. The switch in medical personnel and physios I get....but Palm Sunday Mass running late, or the bus going via Donegal Town on the way to a league match Derry, seriously ?

awaywithyou

PressRun wrote: »

The Jim Gavins and Eamonn Fiztmaurices of the world also wouldn't carry on the way Holmes and Connelly did throughout their management. 5,000 words in that article and not one word about their own failings. All this talk about passing the buck, but that's exactly what they do in that article themselves. No mention of the bullying tactics and outdated training methods, nothing about having no room on the team bus for players because Pat and Noel wanted to bring hangers on, nothing about them bringing their friends and children of friends into the dressing room before big matches, nothing about the refusal to offer support to certain players facing problems within the game. If a Dublin player went to Jim Gavin about a game-related issue, do you think he'd just point blank refuse and turn his back on them? No way. He'd defend them to the hilt, as a good manager would.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg without even getting into how they were appointed to the position and other carry on behind the scenes. Nothing was ever publicly said about them, their appointment or what went on under their management, which could have been embarrassing for both of them and the county board. I've very little sympathy for either of them or members of the county board who enabled all of this. They want to have the last word on the matter without admitting any blame themselves and the county board care not a jot about the fallout of underhandedly appointing people to positions they're not up to. And then to say that they're doing all this for the good of Mayo football? Are they hell.

Do I think there are problems within the team? Yes. But Holmes and Connelly are no victims and the notion that it's all on the players and nothing to do with them is manifestly untrue. The team were incredibly united and had a very tight bond under James Horan. While he wasn't perfect, he brought them on immensely. Do people really think that problems just emerged out of nowhere for no reason other than "egos"? The cracks noticeably emerged under Holmes and Connelly and there are reasons for that. Those cracks found their roots in carry on from the county board, who were also at the heart of James Horan's decision to leave.

I'm glad Holmes and Connelly are gone. I only wish they'd brought half the county board with them. If Mayo ever win an All-Ireland, it'll be in spite of those on the county board, not because of them.

Looking in from outside.... The sooner Aidan o Shea is left at home the better for Mayo football.... He just loves the media too much.. Playing basketball now to get the photo in the paper...

Watching all Ireland this yr... For me it was dublins day when John small took down cillian connor.. Cillian looked to linesman.. No action... He punched the ground like a pure child when nothing was done.... The o se's wouldn't have done that when the played with Kerry... Either would galvin.... Those boys looked after those things themselves.... There were what you call MEN.... I'm heading to a north Kerry football final shortly.... The ref will throw in the ball and blow the whistle for half time and full time.... Each player will be expected to look after themselves while the game is on..... And if you can't you shouldn't be there..... Mayo lads would want to take a good look at themselves.... And I couldn't give a ****e if they never won a match again...... No ones fault only there own they ain't winning the big prize....

PressRun

djPSB wrote: »

You're full of excuses, just like the players.

Horan, C&H, and Rochford have failed to deliver Sam with this group. The players being the one constant.

Oh blah. There was a lot more to this story than a one-sided article.

PressRun

ProudDUB wrote: »

Some of the reasons for the player dissatisfaction seem ridiculously petty. The switch in medical personnel and physios I get....but Palm Sunday Mass running late, or the bus going via Donegal Town on the way to a league match Derry, seriously ?

Funny that those are the "issues" they take care to mention in the article and not the myriad of other problems going on.

blinding

blinding wrote: »

That was a mistake alright but Dublin are still a better team than us and would probably beat us 3.5 times out of 5 :eek:

Bambi wrote: »

How many of, say.. the last 10 encounters with Dublin have Mayo won?

The problem is we are playing this Dublin team now (well ya know what I mean)

This Mayo team would beat a lot of those Dublin teams but the present Dublin team are better than us .I'd say that if you asked the supporters of other teams which was the better team then the resounding answer would be Dublin....

There is only one way to change that and obviously I hope it happens this year .

WesternZulu

awaywithyou wrote:

He punched the ground like a pure child when nothing was done.... The o se's wouldn't have done that when the played with Kerry... Either would galvin.... Those boys looked after those things themselves.... There were what you call MEN....

This the same Galvin for Kerry that knocked a notebook from a referees hand when a decision didn't go his way?

Muahahaha

For me this is the damning part-

Why? Holmes and Connelly believe it arises from an unwillingness on the part of the players to take responsibility for their part in the team's persistent failure in big matches. They note that when, after taking over, they asked senior players why they felt Mayo had come up short in recent seasons. The players, "told us match-ups were wrong, opposition analysis was poor, there was a lack of adaptability and they had no defensive plan. They also highlighted some errors for goals and also occasions when they had turned over the ball too easily."
Holmes and Connelly observe that this meant the players were largely blaming "factors outside their control" for their underachievement. In fact, they were implicitly blaming the management of James Horan, something which seems to give the lie to the argument that player objections to the new duo were founded on a perception that there had been a drop-off in standards since Horan's time

And then the letter shows how the team were operating behind the scenes.

On one level this is an unlovely saga. The player letter sent to the Mayo County Board is an unpleasant mixture of self-praise - "We the players have set extremely high standards in the context of our individual and collective approach . . . The experience and knowledge gained by the players . . . will be an invaluable asset to the County Board teams" - and veiled threat: "We wish to avoid making the resolution of these issues any more public or rancorous than it needs to be and we encourage the County Board to try and deal with this matter in private and not in the public arena." This request that the stab in the back be carried out in the dark rather than the daylight is not much of a tribute to the characters of the people who signed the letter.

Not only that they issued the threat of a players strike if Holmes/Connolly were not removed from their positions within a deadline of four days.

If that isnt player power I dont know what is. You wont win All Irelands with the players dictating who will and wont be on the panel. If anything the opposite may be true- Mayo lost the All Ireland final because certain players were dictating who should be in goal, a decision that proved the difference between the sides.

IMO Holmes/Connolly were right to come out with this for the good of Mayo football. And perhaps they will be proven right if it is revealed the decision to play Hennelly was as a result of player power. Because if it was then it is obvious that the malaise and disrespect for management that existed under Holmes/Connolly has now carried over to Rochford. And if that is the case I cant ever see Mayo winning an AI when the players are running the show.