Mayo GAA Discussion

I think he must have judged the talent that is there and decided it wasn't at the required level to win the main prize. He is leaving on a high. McStay put a positive spin on him coming back, which looks a bit odd in hindsight.

We are gradually declining on the quality of players we have at our disposal unless McStay pulls some serious players over the league. I think a few more should depart as well and we start fresh and see where the cards fall as I don't see what AOS, McLoughlin and Doherty offer anymore. They just have too much mileage on the clock and don't have the legs for CP.

He is 33 years old which is on the older side for GAA players. The level he played at is a factor as well. Watched him last year in the league in Killarney and his pace was gone.

Great footballer in his day but his best days were behind him. Probably considers it will take 3+ years to overtake Galway again and for Mayo to become an effective force.

You don't rate leeroy off league games.

Plenty of years I thought he was past his best watching him in feb/mar only for him to come back and be Mayos best player that summer.That includes this year where Mayo were nowhere in the championship and only got one all-star nomination, guess who that was?

He's a very fit 33 and as others have said he had at least 2 season left at elite level,he retired for other reasons.

The last time I saw Keegan he was pushing a buggy up the street in Westport.

So fair play to him I say, get out at a time that suits you and those closest to you.

It has been a pleasure to see him play for so long and he owes us mere mortals nothing.

As for Mayo in the shorter term they have a lot of fixing to do at the back.

If, and it a big if, they can get the fully forward line back in decent shape it takes some of the pressure off the backs, in that the backs can concentrate on defending and not be relied on as much to do the scoring, but the full back line needs work.

I don't think there is any great gulf in class between Kerry and the rest.

Galway had Kerry on the rack, Dublin had Kerry on the rack, Galway scraped passed Armagh and Mayo, Dublin are coming from Div 2, plus the new system gives plenty of scope for making mistakes and fixing them.

An All Ireland must certainly be the goal for Mayo in 2023, no reason why it should not be.

I think the last two years he was absolutely wasted being played in the back line, as was Oisín!

In McStays time as a pundit, he often said Connacht is not the goal for this Mayo team and it hasn't been for years. So I don't see why that would change with his Mayo team. The goal has to be an All Ireland, McStay isn't giving it a go to try and win Connacht championships, nor is his wider team. Although i'm sure Rochford would like to bury that hatchet!

seri Respect for lee keegan. With a goalie like David Clarke behind you. It’s a waste of a trip to Croker 😁😁😁

I think we need at least 3-4 lads who have "potential" to really make progress this year towards being consistently good / very good. If you think back to Horan's first year or so in charge, the likes of Boyle, Keegan, McLoughlin, Cillian, AOS all nailed down starting positions.

In the last 2 seasons, it's only really Jordan Flynn who has made progress in terms of being a definite starter, maybe McLaughlin also? Even at that, McLaughlin needs to add a few scores to his game. I think the likes of Plunkett, Brickendon, Walsh, Orme, McHale, McDonagh, Carr, Hession, Carney and others have a massive opportunity now to grab one of several starting places that are available

Throwing a GPS at an opposition player who was attempting to take a free at a crucial stage of an All Ireland final is about as far from class as you can get. His pathetic excuses to explain it away, to justify it to the media and the public in the aftermath of his and Mayo’s defeat were suitably embarrassing…both for him and his county..a talented footballer certainly… but his conduct on and off the pitch…neutrals would have more respect if he just came out, apologised, “heat of the moment, lost the head” type of stuff. He admitted he was in the wrong but only when pressed much later.

that said, I think he’s the only player in the history of Gaelic Football to win 5 All Stars without winning an All Ireland, so let him look back fondly in his retirement (at the All Stars), and that GPS ( if he kept it )….

Me and you bucko have different views on this. We as in mayo have been far too soft for many a year and when I see a guy doing all he can to succeed and I also remember him on his knees with the jersey over his head in tears, I see a complete mayo man who gave it all he had, showed his passion and drive. He is the perfect mayo player... Truly brilliant on the pitch and very modest off it. No flaws in him in my eyes ...best mayo player in my 40 odd years watching mayo. Every mayo kid should look to him as the perfect Mayo Gaa role model as nobody is perfect but he is the closest Mayo player I have witnessed

The tracker was not his finest moment but there was no point blaming Rock for a position Mayo got themselves into.

Did he give out to Vaughan for his actions that were more the actual cause of them losing that final.

I remember a club match in hurling 10 years ago. A young lad got send off for reacting to a belt he got. He was a HF. The CB over seventy yards away could be heard shout 'stupid Mike stupid stupid stupid''.

A couple of parents were giving out but another parent said the CB was dead right. His point was the same young lad had being doing the same thing since U10. Gifted player but hard to keep on the field.

That team went on to win a minor football title that year. The HF never again got send off in a match for a long time.

Mayo people and players need to look into there own actions if they want to win

No shortage of trolls coming out from their sewers I see.

Kieran Donaghy reckoned it was genius my Lee Keegan to pull out the GPS and fling it towards the ball, as an attempt at distraction.

Johnny Doyle from Kildare said fair play to him, that it was great thinking.

Dean Rock said he couldn't care less.

Yet poor Strumms is still having sleepless nights over it. 😱

It was great thinking in fairness. If GPS trackers were around when I was playing, and if I were the one who had thought to use it to gain a small advantage, I'd be fierce proud of myself. Still playing a bit of junior. I am going to keep the idea in mind should a last minute free scenario arise. Won't have a tracker, so will have to be a glove. Fill it with a bit of muck and fling it.

As a Dub, no problem saying Keegan was by and far head and shoulders above a lot of players in the country. He will be missed and if i was mad about the GPS thing, it was momentary and couldnt have cared if he said a decade of the rosary or wrote rock a letter, he tried to do something to help his team, and it didnt work. Personally I remember the giddy excitement of the replays or how the story of him versus Connolly was the pinnacle of excitement on the lead up to a game. Was a great player , but albeit he is young, and has his family now, i think him and players like him have a lot of miles on the clock.

But can i ask, why is there an asterisk beside any of the AI's Dublin won?

(i would minorly concede an asterisk point on the 6th in a row, down to no crowds and covid, but the history books wont care)

I think it's a great idea to have it in the Dome,it'll the the biggest indoor crowd ever at a GAA match and will be a great occasion.It should be a fast paced game too (like the one behind closed doors on telly last year) there's be less chance of injury and a much better chance for the management to assess players.

The big crowd FBD games are probably a thing of the past now with the condensed season and anybody that wants to see Mayo and galway slugging away in the muck can see it before the end of the month in the league.

I didn't get on it quick enough to get a ticket myself but an happy enough to stream it for a tenner,great option to have.

Carlow vs Laois which was due to take place this evening is being postponed due to the pitch in Stradbally being waterlogged. I recall the Mayo Galway game in Jan 2018 being called off late in the day due to a Frozen pitch and lots of folks being up in arms about that too. The same day the Leitrim Sligo game was postponed and had to be played at a later date.

As regards Ballyhaunis and Ballinlough not being suitable, that was before the ability to stream games which the Connacht Council can now do.

Certainly having the games outdoors would allow more people but the general rule is that if the competition has one game indoors then all games must be indoors, so it's either play them all in the dome or run the risk of some potentially being postponed as had been encountered in previous years.

I'd have Boland ahead of either wing forwards named for today

As a Gaa person from outside Mayo I cannot say I have ever really noticed him as a player. I never remember him playing in the business end of champions.

He is 27 at present so I presume 28 sometime this year, he is not a championship players or serious sub that you bring in its unlikely he ever will. McStay has to look at this long term. As it is he has a number of serious older players. His is a 3-4 year project he needs to look at. Good players 30 and over that he has are unlikely to be starters in 3 years time. It's similar with 26-30 year old that are not starting at present in championship.

It's was one of the reasons Kerry football took so long to recover. Fitzmaurice refused to start integrating 22-23 year old into the squad from 2016 on. After winning the 2017 Alliance Football league in which a number of young players played significant roles Fitzmaurice reverted to type and bought back in older players in there 30's which set is back and similar in 2018

While you do not want to throw the baby out with the bath water and need to remain competitive to stay in D1 of the league you need to look at where you will be in three years time

Darren Coen another. I see a few on the blog complaining .

he has lots and lots of chances. He is too slow . End of story.