Mayo GAA Discussion

km79

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121680491#Comment_121680491

Basically what I was trying to say

HBC08

I listen to Ah Ref all the time but lets be honest, Enda is a halfwit.

You can't magic up players and pretend they have the necessary S & C.

When a load of new players represented Mayo in the FBD they got bullied by London.

I maintain that if Mayo can keep their most important 20-22 players fit they can go far.

I don't expect a win tomorrow because I feel Galway will want it more.They need it more aswell as we bet them in the league final,FBD (if you want to count that) they couldn't beat us in the league and we knocked out them of the championship.

TsuDhoNimh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121680287#Comment_121680287

Anyone saying the management should be injecting 'new blood' and failing to name specific players sounds a bit disingenuous. At best.

Other than Evan Regan who I'd make a strong case for myself (not exactly 'new' and would likely get a similar reaction to Fergal being back) who's missing?

Staunton, McGlynn and Joyce at Kilmeena had great years and wouldn't be out of place (a little disappointed in Keaveney and Ryder this year in the games I caught, had expected them to push on a bit more and break into the squad but still a bit short imho). Reape at Moy Davitts was very solid (he and young Clarke looked a real handful together all year). Hopkins from Knockmore looked a serious option in a few games, could be a great backup to Aidan if we wanted an alternative while keeping a big man inside (more natural forward than just pushing in Tuohy/Carney there). Neary from Breaffy with a lot of potential. A few of the Mitchell's lads you could potentially make a case for (Fahy, Dolan, J Tuohy, Morahan, Heneghan, Cunningham and Gibbons) and similar at Ballina/Westport. With plenty of others at that type of level around the county.....

No glaring omissions there though.

Lads that could do a job if called and plenty with the potential to go on and become serious ballers but nothing you'd be overly upset at either not being on the panel this year or not being selected for the 1st team.

We've a really young panel with potential throughout it. The team named has 1 player over 30 and an average ago of ~25. We've a tonne of exceptional young talent coming through too at 21s and below so will see plenty of new faces coming through in time. This screaming for new faces at the weekend for the sake of new faces is a little baffling to me (from Enda or anyone else).

[This coming from someone who very much sees the league for experimenting with, especially this year. I'd actually love to see us relegated so we can throw in some of the current u19s at a slightly lower intensity in Division 2 next year.]

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121681068#Comment_121681068

I don't see anyone on here screaming for new blood or suggesting players are not being given a chance. Theres just disappointment that players have been tried and are obviously not at the standard yet. Theres general acceptance of that fact. I didn't hear what Enda said. Maybe he's screaming.

Being realistic a connacht title and more experience for the likes of Touhy and any other young players that can come off the bench is what we should be expecting now. The likes of Ronan Clarke and James Mahedy will hopefully come through in time and maybe get a few minutes here and there. I see little point in going back to Evan Regan, Reape, Boland or Conor OShea when they all got plenty of chances previously.

MacDanger

I'm happy enough seeing Boland back, I think he adds something different to the hf line

irishgeo

Hopefully some of the naivety of the young players from last season will be gone. The Dublin goal springs to mind when our lad was caught on the ball trying to let it go out.

flasher0030

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121681551#Comment_121681551

Fergal is a puzzle. He's been there or thereabouts for several years, but then suddenly you wouldn't hear his name mentioned for a year. And then all of a sudden, he's back again, and straight onto the starting line-up. He's obviously a good player, so is it ultimately that he doesn't have enough strength for intercounty? I think the last time I saw him play was when Kerry knocked Mayo out of the Championship almost 2 years ago. And he played very well that day. He may have come on as a sub. He was one of the only ones to come out with a decent performance that day. I would really love if he could put some consistency together, and put in a good year, and get his chance if he deserves it. But I fear it will end like other years, and he will be off the radar when we come to championship.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121681584#Comment_121681584

He's a great lad in terms of effort and gets some nice scores with the outside of the boot. But the modern game demands a lot of power and stamina tracking back and going forward. Defences are even more packed now and that doesn't suit him. That why I think its only as a sub he can feature, when games open up a bit.

Davel32

Fergal? Bit back to the future for me... He maybe able to knock it over the bar at club level or in a friendly, but he doesn't have the physicality for championship level.

HBC08

I've two tickets if anybody needs them.

eastie17

I’m still struggling with the fact that we went with a manager who we bate the shite out of when the chips were down.

also think the behind the scenes video was really poor judgement, even if they needed money bad there are other ways not to have that distraction and all it brings

i know, he’s there for the year anyway and beyond so get behind him but unless we see major progress in developing lads and style of play I’d say good luck and thanks

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121683913#Comment_121683913

He went through a lengthy rigorous appointment process, won the league and got to AI quarter final against the eventual champions in his first year and you are already talking about his removal. I think he deserves a full second term before any such discussions about his future.

eastie17

Fair points.

however I’m looking at it from the point of view of winning the all Ireland. I manage a club team and have been doing that for a good few years in different clubs. I analyse games and patterns of play. Don’t have access to every mayo game but the ones I have looked at in detail raise the concern in that last year there were 3 distinct ways it appeared mayo were trying to play but none really stuck, and the execution was poor for the most part.

imho he should be going in with a clear idea on the way he thinks he can get the best out of the group of players he has and all the work should be about trying to embed that style of play. If you have gaps in execution see if you can find players to fit the plan in the county. He has the luxury of being able to pick any player in the county who is willing to commit.

So if he won nothing last year but you could see what they were trying to do and they were making incremental progress which you could see might lead us to winning an all Ireland I would be happier than current state even after the fact of winning the league as enjoyable as that was.

but yeah ur right, let’s see what the second year is like and what we’re at. I’m sure they did plenty of thinking and planing since the 200 plus days we were last in competitive action

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121684294#Comment_121684294

I think the big issue last year was it was a new format and most counties were unsure how to approach a shorter season. Mayo seemed to peak early and will have learned from that. I've no doubt they have a clear idea of what way they want to play. But all the plans in the world are matterless if the players aren't at the level needed. It will take time until the younger guys come through. I see it as a full 3-4 year project and today is only the beginning of year 2. Any talk of all irelands is premature.

HBC08

I've two tickets free to any Mayo supporter,pm me

MacDanger

Reid in at MF for Coen

Comer not starting

Green&Red

Great first half

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121684946#Comment_121684946

Yea, I thought they were excellent going forward, less lateral passing around the 45 and more taking on their men and running at them, and plenty of runners in support.

Out of curiosity, which way is the wind blowing?

PARlance

The only question mark about Boland is why wasn't he involved last year.

Not saying he's a definite starter, but he certainly adds something to the team / squad.

MacDanger

Should be further ahead really

Boland involved in most of our good moves although he coughed up possession a couple of times

Callinan doing v well

MacDanger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121684969#Comment_121684969

We have it in the 2nd half

Westernview

Pretty solid win. Good to see some fresh faces. A lot of players seem to have bulked up.

Galway quite poor. Joyce will be struggling for excuses.

MacDanger

Good win but Galway were v poor and missing Comer & Kelly. Should really have shook them off earlier than we did

Green&Red

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685206#Comment_121685206

Ah I wouldn't write him off just yet, PJ can find an excuse for every occasion

km79

Time to book the hotel

Blackjack

I had a load of time for PJ as a player, he really was an exceptional talent, and to that end I’d keep some amount of respect for him. But he’s an awful lad for talking through his hoop in the post match interviews and not taking responsibility for his own players or his decisions.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685268#Comment_121685268

Yes I always felt he never had much regard for Mayo but he's had a good few losses to us now. The early days of him patrolling the sideline with the collar up seem to be long gone.

Barlett

A good win for Mayo , hopefully we will keep foot passing it in the summer - Galway I don’t really know what to think . You look at the panel & think they’ve got to compete but they were as bad as I’ve seen in recent years & like how many times have Mayo beaten them now with PJ as manager , the attitude seemed off.

MacDanger

Touhy and Brickendon both v good I thought.

Tommy C poor enough

PressRun

You wouldn't know what to think. They looked fluid enough and solid at the back, but they also looked decent all through the spring last year and then championship arrived and they weren't able to keep up with teams who timed their peak for mid-summer.

HBC08

Great stuff from Mayo.

Lovely game management in the first half running down the clock with possession football,also to note it was confident possession football not the chaos heart attack stuff we have seen in the past.

Great pace,quick movement and running off the shoulder particularly in the 1st half.Also good kick passing inside when it was on.Could have used the wind a bit better in the 2nd half but managed the game out well in the end.

Paddy, jordan and Eoghan mac played very well and best of the established guys.

Fergie B was excellent and my motm.

Callinan,Brickenden,Reid,Touhy,Carney,McBrien were the stand outs of the newer lads.

Towey and Daire Duffy did very well when they came on.

Mattie Ruane,Enda Hession,James Carr,Diarmuid O Connor all to come into that team/squad.

Things are looking pretty OK.

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685250#Comment_121685250

And back the draw!

km79

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685491#Comment_121685491

I thought today was going to be a draw so I’ll stay away from any bets

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685416#Comment_121685416

Yeah it's very early days.

Good to start the league with a win and two points.

Winning or top two would be good but survival while trying new players and game plans would do just as good.

spakman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685484#Comment_121685484

Daire Duffy more of a soccer head ;)

diarmuid Duffy did well though, pity he couldn't finish either of the goal chances

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685869#Comment_121685869

Yep sorry,got my Duffys mixed up.

He looked confident and eager,pity he didn't finish off that chance.

TsuDhoNimh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121685304#Comment_121685304

Tommy worked hard but yeah, poor enough by his standards. Not really the type of day for his talents to shine I guess but hopefully as the sod dries we see him start to fire. Odd how often we were hitting him under the high ball. They must have thought the Galway back had a weakness to exploit.... mistakenly, perhaps.

Tuohy, Brickenden, Coyne, McBrien and Carney got through an absolute mountain of the messy work that seldom catches the eye. Really impressive stuff defensively from 1 to 9 (helped with a severe lack of Galway pace, in body or mind).

Callinan stole the show for me (a couple of sloppy possessions make it unlikely he'd get the MOTM pick but that ignores how often he turned it over, all while keeping Walsh in his backpocket) and Boland with the type of comeback against neighbours that you'd dream you.

Some nice flashes from young Diarmuid Duffy, winning the penalty a nice way to round out a debut. Another game or two to settle those nerves and he'd be walking away with two goals. Conor Reid did plenty to build on recent performances. Could see him (understandably) tiring towards the end but he put in a great shift around the middle for a first day out. Nice to have another high fielding option there and looks to be one with potential (Be nice to see Murphy from Ballinrobe get a run out there too at some point).

Great to see the pace, willingness to kick, support running off shoulders/in groups clicking so early in the year. Nothing you'd be getting carried away by but plenty of positives to show the lads what they're working away at is going in a positive direction. We looked far higher paced & fitter than Galway, thought they were incredibly lucky with a few of Hurson's calls to keep 15 on the field at all times, so be interesting to see how it looks later in the year when we all hit top gear.

Blackjack

Some will cop the below is tongue in cheek. Some won’t but here we go.

Overall that was a good enough display against moderate opposition, but I felt we really didn't get going as we should have. I wouldn't be too worried, 1st game of the league. Galway had a strong team out and we were off the pace, put Ruane, Hession , Diarmuid and O’Donoghune back into that team and it changes it but still alot of potential to do more to better teams. I thought Flynn was solid and Reid has alot of potential. No harm to give the neighbours a bit of a kick in the hole and for Neighbours to downplay their defeat so as to keep the feeling they are contenders still again in January.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121686571#Comment_121686571

I see what you did there!

PARlance

Anyone catch McStays interview after the match? It was Michael D/MidWest asking the question, but I picked it up on Newstalk. Assume it was on MidWest as well.

Michael D asked him how he thought the new players got on. McStay kind of deflected it by saying that the couple of new guys did well but that the main improvement this year will be seen from the guys who are in their 2nd and 3rd years.

It makes a lot of sense and goes back to the talk on here about where are the new faces... 1. There aren't a huge amount of new faces out there that remain to be discovered and 2. S&C has come on so much that it takes a few years for most newer players to really get up to speed (there's the very rare talent who can burst onto the scene obviously).

There's a big chunk of the team that you would expect to see push on and improve from last year just through having a solid year or two under their belts.

Reid aside, from the starting 15 yestrrday, the below group of 8 could be classed as a group that should all show improvement this year.

Colm Reape, Sam Callinan, Rory Brickenden, Jack Coyne, David McBrien, Jack Carney, Jordan Flynn, Bob Tuohy,

The below 5 are around long enough where much improvement isn't going to be expected.

Paddy Durcan, Eoghan McLaughlin, Aidan O'Shea, Ryan O'Donoghue, Fergal Boland.

Tommy Conroy would fall in between both imo, more so due his injury etc. I think there's improvement there to be expected.

Not sure what my point is other than I would agree with McStays take on it.

Galway were very poor yesterday, its hard to judge how good we were... and even harder to know if we want them to be good at this stage of the year.

TsuDhoNimh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121689080#Comment_121689080

A lot of the deflection (and don't get me wrong, McStay is more than media savvy enough to avoid the premise of a question he doesn't like or reframe it to his suiting.... which is a nice positive) was due to the wording of the question. "A lot of new guys" and then (inaccurately) name-dropping Fergie specifically as a new player.

A nice positive interview. A lot to like about it.

https://twitter.com/MayoGAA/status/1751638625501007890

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121689506#Comment_121689506

That was the one! I thought it was a point very well made.

A subtle low blow about Galway's decision to play with the wind thrown in for good measure as well perhaps.

popeye mchuge

Are they charging U16's into McHale Park Saturday night?

If so, is it a charge at the gate?

Thanks

TsuDhoNimh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121691442#Comment_121691442

Free in for juveniles/u16s and don't require a ticket according to Ticketmaster.

irishgeo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121692765#Comment_121692765

But mayogaa voted against that as there was too many issues with young people invading the pitch etc.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121693273#Comment_121693273

But that was then overruled by Croke Park I heard. So free in again.

The invasions will probably continue unfortunately.

km79

Kids were kicking around the pitch at HT in Salthill too.

If the solution is to price kids out of going to matches then there is something very wrong

Blackjack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121693677#Comment_121693677

I'd agree that it sets a bad tone charging kids but I think the issue that the MCB had is Kids getting in and being allowed to roam free with no parental supervision. Stewards have enough to be doing without adding parenting to their voluntary roles.

HBC08

This is what the was put out in November.

Stupid,reactionary, backwards,counter productive over the top nonsense to a minor annoyance.

https://www.mayonews.ie/news/home/1339309/anti-social-behaviour-forces-mayo-to-charge-children-for-admission.html

I'm glad Croke Park told them to cop on.

irishgeo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121694616#Comment_121694616

Until one of the darlings slips and falls on the pitch and gets injured..