Mayo GAA Discussion Part 2

PressRun

km79 wrote: »

He shouldn't be
He needs to be 100% this year
He was nowhere near last year

Agreed. It's not something that should be rushed. Aside from the fact that it's not worth risking further injury to him, it's no harm to try and manage without him.

padd b1975

naughto wrote: »

Any one no when coc is back we badly need a free taker it could be as big as us staying up or going down

Evan Regan is doing ok, prone to missing a few scoreable ones admittedly, I would give him a bit of latitude as this is his first year getting a consistent run in the team.

He's certainly a better option than Mcglaughlin or Doherty.

Fr Tod Umptious

Caught a bit of DOC on Radio 1 after the game.
He mentioned that he may not be available (for next week I assume) because of u 21 championship commitments.

We could do with him next week, its a winnable game.

Fr Tod Umptious

Rawhead wrote: »

The monkeys next door are on a high again. Can't wait to give them the hammering they're due......

I know I shouldn't but I can't stop sniggering at them.

Fair enough they may be safe in Div 1, as I predicted they would in another thread, but right now you have no idea about how this will pan our for the championship.
Will Ross be competitive in Connacht, they certainty will, but that's about it.
Beating Cork or Kerry in spring is one thing, beating them in HQ in August is another thing completely.

PressRun

Roscommon have the fairly nifty forwards we're lacking and they seem to have bought into the new management. I think they have a Connact title in them. Don't know if it'll be this year, but soon.

I hope Diarmuid can make the Kerry game next week. I think we'll really need him.

As an aside, don't know if anyone has caught much of Tyrone so far, but they're looking quite impressive. Mickey Harte has done a great job of bringing through young players who seem to be coming into their own now.

yop

Great win away. Was surprised we got it to be honest. Was racing all weekend so missed it.
Is it on TnaG later on tonight?

Can't argue with Rossies, ya they are hyper, but I'd prefer to be safe in their position than in ours at the moment. We don't need to go down a division.

Always_Running

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I know I shouldn't but I can't stop sniggering at them.

Fair enough they may be safe in Div 1, as I predicted they would in another thread, but right now you have no idea about how this will pan our for the championship.
Will Ross be competitive in Connacht, they certainty will, but that's about it.
Beating Cork or Kerry in spring is one thing, beating them in HQ in August is another thing completely.

Beating Kerry maybe but Cork? they bombed out of the championship last summer against Div 3 Kildare and could yet be relegated from Div one.

I see alot of similarities with Monaghan and Roscommon. Both have small populations,both were Div 3 teams and both are now holding their own in div one. Should be applauded for the improvement they have made not sniggered at.

Blackjack

Always_Running wrote: »

Beating Kerry maybe but Cork? they bombed out of the championship last summer against Div 3 Kildare and could yet be relegated from Div one.

I see alot of similarities with Monaghan and Roscommon. Both have small populations,both were Div 3 teams and both are now holding their own in div one. Should be applauded for the improvement they have made not sniggered at.

I can see both sides to this. I can't say I'm a big fan of SOME Roscommon fans but you can't blame them for being quite chuffed with themselves for the moment. They're fairly assured of Division 1 next year and have a very good chance of a semi final spot.
Compare that to ourselves, who the very same Rossies that I tend to hold my disdain for would love to see us relegated.
They were expected to struggle and have managed to do exceptionally well so far.

Fr Tod Umptious

Always_Running wrote: »

Beating Kerry maybe but Cork? they bombed out of the championship last summer against Div 3 Kildare and could yet be relegated from Div one.

I see alot of similarities with Monaghan and Roscommon. Both have small populations,both were Div 3 teams and both are now holding their own in div one. Should be applauded for the improvement they have made not sniggered at.

Cork are schizo.

One minute they are a badly taken 45 away from beating Kerry in Killarney for the first time in 20 years, the next they are losing by 8 to Kildare.

One day they are getting their holes handed to them in PUC against Kerry, the next they are giving Mayo the scare of their lives in a QF.

Like the other poster said, there would be a certain element of Ross support that would love to see us go down while they get to a SF.
But my God it would make it all the more fun if we beat them in a Connacht final in Castlebar, which I would fully expect us to do.
They can have their fun now but summer is a different story.

seligehgit

Lads FYI Aidan O Shea is on The Toughest Trade tonight @ 9.55 on RTE 2 trying his hand at American Football whilst ex NFL star Roberto Wallace heads to Breaffy.It should be interesting.I've seen the promo,Robert Hennelly togs out too in McHale Park.

Brendan Maher the Tipperary hurler swaps places with the fine ex English seam bowler Steve Harmison.


EDIT ACTUALLY HE'S NOT ON UNTIL NEXT WEEK

mayo.mick

seligehgit wrote: »

Lads FYI Aidan O Shea is on The Toughest Trade tonight @ 9.55 on RTE 2 trying his hand at American Football whilst ex NFL star Roberto Wallace heads to Breaffy.It should be interesting.I've seen the promo,Robert Hennelly togs out too in McHale Park.

Brendan Maher the Tipperary hurler swaps places with the fine ex English seam bowler Steve Harmison.


EDIT ACTUALLY HE'S NOT ON UNTIL NEXT WEEK

Yeah, they had it first advertised that Aido and Roberto would be on tonight. Only seen it there now that the hurling and cricket are on tonight instead

seligehgit

Kerry mean business on Sunday,very strong line up.Pretty much a championship team.

1. Brendan Kealy Kilcummin
2. Marc Ó Sé An Ghaeltacht
3. Mark Griffin St Michaels/Foilmore
4. Shane Enright Tarbert
5. Peter Crowley Laune Rangers
6. Aidan O’Mahony Rathmore
7. Fionn Fitzgerald Dr Crokes
8. Kieran Donaghy Austin Stacks
9. Bryan Sheehan (C) St Marys
10. Johnny Buckley Dr Crokes
11. Paul Murphy Rathmore
12. Donnchadh Walsh Cromane
13. Darran O’Sullivan Glenbeigh-Glencar
14. Colm Cooper Dr Crokes
15. Stephen O’Brien Kenmare

mayo.mick

Rossies after giving our minors a bit of a trimming, 2-20 to 1-02 in Bekan. We didn't score at all in second half I think.

seligehgit

Mayo team named

Robert Hennelly
Brendan Harrison
Ger Cafferkey
Chris Barrett
Lee Keegan
Colm Boyle
Shane Nally
Tom Parsons
Seamus O Shea
Diarmuid O Connor
Aidan O Shea
Kevin McLoughlin
Evan Regan
Jason Doherty
Conor O Shea

Fowler87

Still can't get my head around that thumping Mayo got against Ros. Its pretty worrying

davegrohl48

Fowler87 wrote: »

Still can't get my head around that thumping Mayo got against Ros. Its pretty worrying

It would nearly warrant a county board EGM. Not joking. But completely non-competitive has never happened ever within Connaught for Mayo. It is no exageration to say it is a record low for minor. So what is the rescue plan for next year? How to even just lower the margin of defeat this year?

seligehgit

We didn't do a heck of a lot better last year against Galway in McHale Park,deeply worrying.There is a lot riding on the under 21s shoulders this year.

Syferus

davegrohl48 wrote: »

It would nearly warrant a county board EGM. Not joking. But completely non-competitive has never happened ever within Connaught for Mayo. It is no exageration to say it is a record low for minor. So what is the rescue plan for next year? How to even just lower the margin of defeat this year?

What? Ye've won plenty but I can instantly think of times Mayo weren't even close to being at the races in Connacht at a given grade. 2014 in U21 we gave ye a trimming in McHale, for example.

I seen the last two sets of Mayo U16 teams and they were average at best. We at least made the Webb final two years ago (hammered by Galway) and won the Webb Shield last year.

Galway and to a much lesser extent Sligo with their Summerhill and St. Mary's players back will be the teams to beat in Connacht minor.

davegrohl48

Syferus wrote: »

What? Ye've won plenty but I can instantly think of times Mayo weren't even close to being at the races in Connacht at a given grade. 2014 in U21 we gave ye a trimming in McHale, for example.

I seen the last two sets of Mayo U16 teams and they were average at best. We at least made the Webb final two years ago (hammered by Galway) and won the Webb Shield last year.

Galway and to a much lesser extent Sligo with their Summerhill and St. Mary's players back will be the teams to beat in Connacht minor.

Did 2014 u21 in anyways compare to yesterdays result or last years result versus Galway? No. Mayo have rarely been beaten by even 10 point margins at u21 and minor which is around the mark of non-competitive.
The last two minor results are completely non-competitive and you will not find (confident on this) Mayo minor, U21 or even senior results to compare. Cork 93 defeat by 20 pts is the last result like this. Then the Cork league game at Senior this year. Then these two minor results. Other than that these big margins of defeat do not happen to Mayo minor or U21 teams (until now at minor).

Just back from the game. Absolutely terrible forward performance again, they look clueless. Is there nobody in the county that can kick a ball over the bar from 20 yards ??

RD10

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Just back from the game. Absolutely terrible forward performance again, they look clueless. Is there nobody in the county that can kick a ball over the bar from 20 yards ??

Whole team performance was very poor. Very open at the back and kerry strolled through a number of times with ease.
But the forwards really are giving a very poor return. Apart from diarmuid (who was a little off today) none of the other forwards are contributing much scoring wise.
In first half Diarmuid scored a brilliant point from over near sideline but faded after that. Aidan got a point, which could have been a penalty? Apart from that did anyone else even have a proper shot at goal? Conor o'shea blasted a kick into the air but it didnt even end up near the goalposts.
Kevin mcloughlin to me is very unreliable on free kicks. Bad wides when they were scorable eniugh kucks. his striking of the ball looks very odd to me.

PressRun

Poor performance from the forwards our undoing yet again. We don't even have a reliable free taker, nevermind having anyone who can score from play. The amount of wides from very scorable frees was shocking. We looked very ponderous and lacked urgency when moving the ball up the field too, I thought.

AOS was ineffective and I just don't think he even looks comfortable up front. He looks like he doesn't know what he's supposed to be doing up there. We really need to figure out what we're doing with him.

Diarmuid scored a wonderful point from play, but he did fade and looked a bit frustrated there at the end with the second yellow. There has been rather a lot of responsibility heaped on him recently. It's easy to forget he's still a kiddo really. I think he's allowed to have an off-day.

Hennelly still makes me nervous in goal.

Tom Parsons gave a good account of himself and from a Mayo perspective, he was probably our best player.

From a Kerry perspective, I thought O'Mahony was great and worked hard. Colm Cooper was impressive too.

naughto

The rossies will have there hole out to bury us in two weeks time.
We will need a major upgrade from today's performance.
I no I said it before u will nothing with out free taker a lot of pressure on coc when he's back to preform.
Will doc get any suspension for the cards today

PressRun

I think Diarmuid will get a one match suspension for the two yellows.

padd b1975

PressRun wrote: »

I think Diarmuid will get a one match suspension for the two yellows.

Nothing for two yellows as far as I'm aware.

km79

RD10 wrote: »

Whole team performance was very poor. Very open at the back and kerry strolled through a number of times with ease.
But the forwards really are giving a very poor return. Apart from diarmuid (who was a little off today) none of the other forwards are contributing much scoring wise.
In first half Diarmuid scored a brilliant point from over near sideline but faded after that. Aidan got a point, which could have been a penalty? Apart from that did anyone else even have a proper shot at goal? Conor o'shea blasted a kick into the air but it didnt even end up near the goalposts.
Kevin mcloughlin to me is very unreliable on free kicks. Bad wides when they were scorable eniugh kucks. his striking of the ball looks very odd to me.

For the second free mcloughlin missed the ball was left with nobody near it for almost a minute
Any free taker worth their salt would have been all over it
He didn't want it
He is not a free taker and I wish management would stop putting him on them at any stage
Just cos he is left footed does not mean he is a good free taker from that side
Sure it was that easy we would have no problem with frees from either side !
It's a specialist skill.
Few lads used to get plenty of abuse before for being "just " good free takers !
They are worth their weight in gold

charlie14

padd b1975 wrote: »

Nothing for two yellows as far as I'm aware.

Perversely it appears two yellows carry the same penalty as a black card other than no replacement player being allowed.

PressRun

padd b1975 wrote: »

Nothing for two yellows as far as I'm aware.

Yeah, I wasn't sure on it myself. My dad said he thought it was one match suspension and I just took his word for it!

yop

Poor again, ran out of steam and ran out of ideas. Return in poor and sideways football. Why do we persist with Hennelly taking frees, 2 of of 7 isn't a return and then taking probably the guts of 90 seconds to 2 mins per free.
We are well of the pace and I can't see any arguement for us not been relegated after another poor performance.
We will get hockied in Roscommon and rightly so.

The Buster

Completely agree re Hennelly. He looses accuracy outside 45 metres. Much better option would be someone else looking for a man or even drop it in around the square. Of the 5 frees Hennelly missed I guess we would have generated 2 points with other option

What was more frustrating was the lack of ideas going forward and players reluctant to take a shot on.

mayo.mick

Some match photos uploaded now. Very depressed this evening after todays performance, I'm heading for the pub I think....

http://michaelmaye.com/project/mayo-v-kerry-13th-march-2016/

homewardbound11

Who is our forwards coach . I thought macentee and Buckley were defensive . Rockford is more defensive orientated .

While loosing today was poor form . I hoped that again we would see improvement . Kerry had a very strong panel and we didn't show respect to that in our line up . Just my opinion .
Of our remaining options for free taking neither Regan or freeman were tried .

Looking forward to 2,weeks I can't see Roscommon going any way but another loss at this late stage . That will end our division one campaign for the first time in our history .

Will the lives be out o hope not but pressure will surely be on .

RD10

Just watched mayo kerry hilights bak on league sunday. Missed the actual incident at the match due to my view being blocked but im rather baffled and annoyed as to why diarmuid was awarded a second yellow card for a mere bloody push on fionn fitzgearld after he kicked the ball away. What annoys me more is the referees different interputations of fouls and colours of cards dished out. fitzgearld also received a yellow card for grabbing o'connor up around the neck and throwing him to the ground. Now im quite sure ppl will clearly remember our semi final replay last year where seamie o'shea got a black card for the exact same thing on jonny cooper and wasnt allowed play any further part in the match... today it was deemed a yellow card offence and fitzgearld got to play on. Very frustrating. The refs need to be consistant.
Also while im on a role another thing that annoyed was when donnaghy got sent off andy moran jumped up and took the free kick from over near the sideline quickly and it went harmlessly wide. Since when is andy the free taker? Who's supposed to be taking them from that side. did andy take a shot at goal cause ther was nobody else to take it? Like someone else said it seemed today like others didnt want responsibilty of it and they werent fully sure wat their roles were. Nobody was too bothered about standing up and leading the way. Now i really do love andy and hes great for getting the crowd going, and jes if he had scored that it would have really lifted everyone but just bit daft i taught.

padd b1975

charlie14 wrote: »

Perversely it appears two yellows carry the same penalty as a black card other than no replacement player being allowed.

There's an anomaly there right enough as regards the ruling.
A player could be totting up yellows right left and centre without having to serve a suspension while a mistimed tackle that could easily draw a red brings a one match ban (in theory) and possibly more if another red is shown within a certain time frame.

Probably something that needs to be looked at.

seligehgit

What a disappointing day at the office after some decent performance progression culminating in last week’s win.Pretty similar setback to that we received against Dublin on the Saturday of St. Patrick’s weekend last year.
We seemed a tad nervy from the get go and a very strong Kerry team could have built up a decent lead only for a wonder point from Diarmuid O Connor and some uncharacteristically off key freetaking by the grand old maestro Bryan Sheehan.

Very disappointing miss by the referee on a blatant penalty for the pull back on Aidan O Shea.Johnny Buckley’s goal at the death of the first half undid so much of the good work our possession and four point lead deserved.

Having said all that Kerry were a different beast in the second half,some of the footpassing,movement and scoretaking was a joy to behold.The much malaligned Kieran Donaghy was outstanding today,Cooper and Johnny Buckley take a bow.Lots of other decent supporting roles Darran O Sullivan,Bryan Sheehan,Aidan O Mahony was imperious at the back.The second goal courtesy of an unfortunate error from Robert Hennelly was a real killer blow.

We continue to lack a cutting edge up front…our principal ongoing failing.It was a tad surprising that Shane Nally was called ashore,I thought he’d a decent first half in spite of Buckley’s 1-1.Tom Parsons continues to excel,by a country mile our best player on the day.

Aidan O Shea is struggling,having to cope multipile markers and taking too much out of the ball.Why everything has to be channelled through him ala Kieran McDonald I do not know?It oftentimes slows any impetus from the attacks.I could'nt understand for the life of me why he was'nt in around the square for Hennelly's longer distant frees that were likely to drop short.He certainly as a big man gets totally inadequate protection from officials.I’ve really no idea at this stage where it’s best to play him?

In general our build up play is far too ponderous and we are sadly lacking in top quality forwards.Even the mercurial Diarmuid O Connor had an off day.The dearth of new scoring forwards coming to the fore is a worry yet again for the summer.

I found it strange young Evan Regan did’nt start,he appears to have the makings of a decent free taker from the right side of the pitch.Poor Kevin McLoughlin does not want to be taking those frees and rightly so.He simply has neither the quality nor consistent reliability to be taking same,ditto Robert Hennelly.He’s at best a 50/50 bet taking same since he took on this duty for the longer distant ones.It really should’nt be the case that we are relying on our goalkeeper to kick frees.

12 wides to 3 tells a story but the relative ease with which the two teams scored from play tells a greater story.

2 weeks until a do or die game against Roscommon who blazing a trail.It’s going to be an uphill task winning in the Hyde,it appears our only hope of survival is if Monaghan win at most only one of their last two games against Kerry at home and Donegal away.If we both finish on 4 or 6 points we will stay up based on the head to head.Cork will beat Down and will stay up if we both finish on 6 points based on the head to head.Down appears to be our only guaranteed two points at this stage.

The sooner a fit and healthy Cillian O Connor returns for the championship the better,here’s hoping the Mitchels can give us something to cheer about on St. Patrick’s day after a very disappointing day.Their squad has much to offer us defensively,most especially Patrick Durkan.We are really spoiled for half backs and midfielders but here’s hoping the likes of Danny Kirby have something to offer to give us a badly needed injection of potency up front.

PressRun

I remember after last year's drawn semi final against Dublin I was listening to the radio and whoever was commenting on the match was saying that it almost seemed like an AOS rule had been brought in that allows defenders do whatever they like to him without being penalized. He certainly gets very little from referees but he also has a bad habit of running into the tackle and trying to take on too many men. It's one dimensional and predictable. I also think he just looks a bit laboured and frustrated sometimes in his current role.

yop

seligehgit wrote: »

What a disappointing day at the office after some decent performance progression culminating in last week’s win.Pretty similar setback to that we received against Dublin on the Saturday of St. Patrick’s weekend last year.
We seemed a tad nervy from the get go and a very strong Kerry team could have built up a decent lead only for a wonder point from Diarmuid O Connor and some uncharacteristically off key freetaking by the grand old maestro Bryan Sheehan.

Very disappointing miss by the referee on a blatant penalty for the pull back on Aidan O Shea.Johnny Buckley’s goal at the death of the first half undid so much of the good work our possession and four point lead deserved.

Having said all that Kerry were a different beast in the second half,some of the footpassing,movement and scoretaking was a joy to behold.The much malaligned Kieran Donaghy was outstanding today,Cooper and Johnny Buckley take a bow.Lots of other decent supporting roles Darran O Sullivan,Bryan Sheehan,Aidan O Mahony was imperious at the back.The second goal courtesy of an unfortunate error from Robert Hennelly was a real killer blow.

We continue to lack a cutting edge up front…our principal ongoing failing.It was a tad surprising that Shane Nally was called ashore,I thought he’d a decent first half in spite of Buckley’s 1-1.Tom Parsons continues to excel,by a country mile our best player on the day.

Aidan O Shea is struggling,having to cope multipile markers and taking too much out of the ball.Why everything has to be channelled through him ala Kieran McDonald I do not know?It oftentimes slows any impetus from the attacks.I could'nt understand for the life of me why he was'nt in around the square for Hennelly's longer distant frees that were likely to drop short.He certainly as a big man gets totally inadequate protection from officials.I’ve really no idea at this stage where it’s best to play him?

In general our build up play is far too ponderous and we are sadly lacking in top quality forwards.Even the mercurial Diarmuid O Connor had an off day.The dearth of new scoring forwards coming to the fore is a worry yet again for the summer.

I found it strange young Evan Regan did’nt start,he appears to have the makings of a decent free taker from the right side of the pitch.Poor Kevin McLoughlin does not want to be taking those frees and rightly so.He simply has neither the quality nor consistent reliability to be taking same,ditto Robert Hennelly.He’s at best a 50/50 bet taking same since he took on this duty for the longer distant ones.It really should’nt be the case that we are relying on our goalkeeper to kick frees.

12 wides to 3 tells a story but the relative ease with which the two teams scored from play tells a greater story.

2 weeks until a do or die game against Roscommon who blazing a trail.It’s going to be an uphill task winning in the Hyde,it appears our only hope of survival is if Monaghan win at most only one of their last two games against Kerry at home and Donegal away.If we both finish on 4 or 6 points we will stay up based on the head to head.Cork will beat Down and will stay up if we both finish on 6 points based on the head to head.Down appears to be our only guaranteed two points at this stage.

The sooner a fit and healthy Cillian O Connor returns for the championship the better,here’s hoping the Mitchels can give us something to cheer about on St. Patrick’s day after a very disappointing day.Their squad has much to offer us defensively,most especially Patrick Durkan.We are really spoiled for half backs and midfielders but here’s hoping the likes of Danny Kirby have something to offer to give us a badly needed injection of potency up front.

Some headscratching stuff for sure. Donie VAughan looked leaden footed, yet a much fitter and effective Nally was hauled off. Midwest said he was the "Cause" of 1.2, but Vaughan, from my own viewpoint, was completely ineffective and not able to track.
As per Donegal and Dublin, the Kerry team walked through the middle, where has our core gone to and why aren't we swarming the centre.
We used 4 free takers, and AOS, but I don't think he took a direct shot. We missed I'd guess 8-9 point off that.
So DOC was our standin last year and in fairness did well. And Regan on the bench. You'd have to question what is going on there, do we not practise frees?

Agree totally with the AOS as focal point, we can't be relied on that much, its too much to put through him and he is too slow to move away from the backs, not his fault though.
Labor of play is something I can't figure, 9 times out of 10 we slow the game down, why? We upped it twice and we cut straight through them. How many of our frees went backwards?

At one stage I counted 6 Mayo players in our 1/2 and no Kerry man, this was with 5 minutes to go.
Agree re the penalty, umpire could see it and the Sunday Game even hightlighted the abuse he gets, if that was Gooch, what would the result be???

Anyway, onwards and upwards.... I can see no progress and I think for the 1st time in 20 years we are going to Division 2, though are we just having a blip or are we finally running out of legs and steam? ?Have these players gone back to the well too many times?
Time will tell but this more than any game over the last few has me scratching my head.

PressRun

Does anyone know what the story is with Alan Freeman? Is he fit?

seligehgit

He was there today togged out in a Mayo tracksuit...Not too sure what the story is with him.I believe he's fit for action.

It does appear to be the case that Aidan O Shea is not particularly comfortable in his current role.

No Conor Loftus today either??

PressRun

Is Loftus with the U21s?

finisklin

Why didn't Evan Regan start? Injured?

He was named in program.

Kevin

km79

finisklin wrote: »

Why didn't Evan Regan start? Injured?

He was named in program.

Kevin

He took a full part in warm up
Bad decision in hindsight as he prob would have kicked a few frees .......but I suppose the new manager needs to try everyone in the league and was happy with what he has seen from Regan ?
Don't think Carolan put in a great shout for a start in the summer yday. Or Jason doc for that matter

Fr Tod Umptious

yop wrote: »

……………………………….
Anyway, onwards and upwards.... I can see no progress and I think for the 1st time in 20 years we are going to Division 2, though are we just having a blip or are we finally running out of legs and steam? ?Have these players gone back to the well too many times?
Time will tell but this more than any game over the last few has me scratching my head.

The bit in bold it what concerns me most.

Is it a blip or something more terminal?
I have always felt that the two All Ireland losses in ’12 and ’13 would knock the stuffing out of this team and that they would fade away.

We have seen it before, ‘96/’97 two losses then a 7 year layoff, ‘04/’06 two losses then a 6 year layoff.

But in ’14 and ’15 this team were competitive; they did not fade away like in ’98 or ’07.
And after the events of September last year I had almost turned 180 degrees on my assessment, i.e. this team had a lot more to give and a lot more fight in them for ’16.

But it’s hard to know now if they do or not. I have always said that league form is a good indication of Championship form, you are what you are, and right now Mayo are not good.
But they have players to come back and one would hope that this NFL is purely a bedding in period for Rochford and co., and to be fair with the exception of the Cork game they have been well in all the other games they lost.

They will have home games in the Championship if they progress, and the London game could be seen as another league game, a chance to get things right.

As for the remainder of the league we could do with Cork pulling away and leaving it up to ourselves and Monaghan, whom we win the tie breaker over.

Cork have Down and Kerry next, Down they should win and you never know about Kerry.

Monaghan have Kerry and home and Donegal away, I can’t see them winning both but they could win one.

We could get away with losing to Roscommon and beating Down and hoping Monaghan lose both their games but at the same time winning both Roscommon and Down does not guarantee us anything if it’s a 3 way tie with Cork and Monaghan.

Div 1 relegation has been decided by the kick of the ball more than once in the last few years.

Oldtree

I thought the first half was a solid performance, apart from the wides. Good teamwork, accurate hand/kick passing and retention of the ball, accurate kickouts by Hennelly leading to a lot of possession to work up the field with. I also felt there was rapid responses to developing play with excellent marking. The Kerry tactic of the using the one two three handpass to get deeper into the defense was firmly put out of commission, good to see that. Perhaps getting a bit too excited and missing those 2 goals was our downfall there, pity.

Looking at AOS in particular, he has recently bulked up a lot on top and so had a few others, their focus on this aspect in training may have lead to a bit of tiredness in the legs in the second half, in that the legs arn't as fit as they should be, yet. I have no doubt that will come.

Hennelly taking the long frees could pay off but I think the job should be shared around a bit. He is a very accurate kicker, all be it with the ball falling short on a few kicks rather than wide. We should have been more ready for those dropping balls in front of the goal.

Cant take away anything from Kerry, they didn't buckle under pressure with the red card and has to be said when their forwards take a shot at a point, it can be poetic to watch, nomatter the angle or distance.

Was wearing the black jersey was a tactic?

Overall to my eye we looked like an improving team with a bit more to do to get championship ready, so I remain positive for the Roscommon game.

PressRun

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I have always said that league form is a good indication of Championship form, you are what you are, and right now Mayo are not good.
But they have players to come back and one would hope that this NFL is purely a bedding in period for Rochford and co., and to be fair with the exception of the Cork game they have been well in all the other games they lost.

I agree that the league can be great for some teams to build confidence and momentum going into the summer (particularly teams that are new to the top flight), but I think other teams are championship teams and the league is just used as a platform for trying things out and seeing what works and what doesn't. Tyrone and Kerry would be two teams that spring to mind as teams that have still had good championships without doing particularly well in the league (Tyrone made an AI semi-final last year after being relegated from Div 1, Kerry won the AI in 2014 after just avoiding Div 1 relegation). Success or poor performances in the league doesn't necessarily guarantee anything going forward, especially when it comes to top tier teams.

So while it's entirely possible that Mayo have just run out of steam this year, I think it's equally (if not more) likely that minds are firmly on the summer and to have things coming together for the championship. They definitely still have a lot of work to do to catch up to where other teams are in terms of fitness levels and they're still missing a couple of very important players, not to mention they're probably still in an adjustment period getting used to a new managerial style, new personalities getting to know each other, etc. Instant gratification was never likely under the circumstances.

That isn't to gloss over the poor performance yesterday (or rather the poor second half performance more than anything). There are serious issues that need addressing in the coming weeks/months, particularly the ponderous nature of the forwards, accurate free-taking and how to get the best from AOS. I also thought DOC looked a wee bit knackered yesterday and might be due rest?

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that while there is clearly a way to go and vast improvements to be made, I wouldn't be willing to make any definite judgements on where we are or where we're ultimately going based on a sketchy league.

Btw, does anyone think that Cillian O'Connor is perhaps going to be captain for the year?

BKWDR

seligehgit wrote: »

He certainly as a big man gets totally inadequate protection from officials.

PressRun wrote: »

I remember after last year's drawn semi final against Dublin I was listening to the radio and whoever was commenting on the match was saying that it almost seemed like an AOS rule had been brought in that allows defenders do whatever they like to him without being penalized. He certainly gets very little from referees but he also has a bad habit of running into the tackle and trying to take on too many men. It's one dimensional and predictable. I also think he just looks a bit laboured and frustrated sometimes in his current role.

I had read this numerous times exclusively from mayo supporters regarding AOS and it really irks me. He plays a great role under the high ball and at times up front in the square on his own. Yes he fields the ball well but what do you expect but to come down to multiple defenders legally challenging for the ball when you are left there on your own. Aside from that he has a habit of just barging once he does land which i think refs are now looking out for.

No i know it can be seen through mayo tinted glasses but the same happens for every team that has a player that plays that role. Murphy , Donaghy, Michael Dara McCauley.

I dont know why AOS should expect 'protection' from officials.

I agree when you watch him play, you can tell he at times looks out of sorts like he's being played out of position.

yop

BKWDR wrote: »

I had read this numerous times exclusively from mayo supporters regarding AOS and it really irks me. He plays a great role under the high ball and at times up front in the square on his own. Yes he fields the ball well but what do you expect but to come down to multiple defenders legally challenging for the ball when you are left there on your own. Aside from that he has a habit of just barging once he does land which i think refs are now looking out for.

No i know it can be seen through mayo tinted glasses but the same happens for every team that has a player that plays that role. Murphy , Donaghy, Michael Dara McCauley.

I dont know why AOS should expect 'protection' from officials.

I agree when you watch him play, you can tell he at times looks out of sorts like he's being played out of position.

Have a watch on the Game On Sunday last night, Ciaran Whelan and Dermot Earley, neither from Mayo and their take on that. Neither had Mayo tints on.

BKWDR

yop wrote: »

Have a watch on the Game On Sunday last night, Ciaran Whelan and Dermot Earley, neither from Mayo and their take on that. Neither had Mayo tints on.

In fairness i do have it recorded i will watch tonight but again it does seem to be exclusively from mayo supporters, like AOS is the only one whos game is impeded because he gets isolated under the high ball.

PressRun

yop wrote: »

Have a watch on the Game On Sunday last night, Ciaran Whelan and Dermot Earley, neither from Mayo and their take on that. Neither had Mayo tints on.

I've heard it mentioned more than once from non-Mayo people. The radio bit that I was referring to above was mentioned by the lads on Newstalk, who certainly wouldn't have any reason to be wearing "Mayo tints". They've mentioned it in relation to other high-profile players too.

BKWDR

PressRun wrote: »

I've heard it mentioned more than once from non-Mayo people. The radio bit that I was referring to above was mentioned by the lads on Newstalk, who certainly wouldn't have any reason to be wearing "Mayo tints". They've mentioned it in relation to other high-profile players too.

I did hear them talk about that, but it was in the context of how many frees are given against AOS then they went on to make the point how refs are nearly told to watch for behavior from certain players, Donaghy, McCann, mcmahon etc

It seems that a high ball given into the lone forward in the square is 9/10 going to result in a free against and more commonly in AOS's case it's catch, turn, barge or go to ground. What does a ref have to do? Give a free against a defender for legally putting the hand in?

Granted i know because he's such a skilled threat he gets more attention but I don't see why that should really in him being protected by officials