Messages

Former Olympic coach Jim Kilty is likely to be involved with the Mayo footballers in the coming season.

New Mayo boss John O'Mahony is keen to recruit Kilty, who would not be involved on a full-time basis but would attend training once a week. O'Mahony has already named Kieran Gallagher and Tommy Lyons as his selectors, while RTE analyst Martin Carney will act as a statistician and video analyst.

Kilty served as athletics' director of coaching for a 10-year period and was also the Irish squad's track and field coach at the Olympic Games in Seoul (1988) and Atlanta (1996). These days, he is better known as coach to top Irish hurdler Derval O'Rourke, who won a silver medal at this year's European outdoor championships in Gothenburg.

Kilty has also worked with the Leinster rugby team as well as the Tipperary and Wexford hurlers. When Tipp won the All-Ireland title in 2001, Kilty's SAQ methods were credited with playing a big part in their success. He was also aboard when Wexford won the Leinster title in 2004.

Wow, JOM bringing things to a new level of preperation already it would seem.

Just a small thing, should we start a new thread/rename this one, now that we have our man and preperations are underway for new season?

That'll learn him Pietas 

Seriously though Stephenite, you do seem a bit over-sensitive to people disagreeing with you. Doesn't bother me as much as others though!

Some great news on Joe Deane. Planning on a very quick comeback to hurling

Cork hurling star Joe Deane is on the road to recovery after undergoing an operation for testicular cancer.

While rumours about his illness have been circulating in GAA circles for several weeks, the three-time All-Ireland winning corner forward has refused to confirm the nature of the illness until now.

"Over the last few weeks, rumours abounded that Joe had testicular cancer. Sadly, let me confirm he has, or more precisely, he had," said RTE GAA commentator Marty Morrissey, who Deane revealed the news to at last Saturday's coaching conference in Croke Park.

Morrissey added: "About a month ago, Joe went to Dr Con Murphy, the Cork team doctor, and he quickly arranged to meet a consultant. After exhaustive tests it was discovered a little surgery was required and thankfully the news this week was quite positive."

The Killeagh sharpshooter, who is a huge favourite with Cork fans, has taken a break from his job as a bank official to help his recovery. Deane will now miss Cork's team holiday to California and Mexico next month, but hopes are high that he will be able to resume playing hurling when the new season gets underway in February.

When rumours of his illness reached Tipperary, manager Michael 'Babs' Keating arranged for the entire panel to sign a card wishing him well.

Cork chairman Mick Dolan was happy to report that Deane was winning his cancer battle.

"He's in great form now and he expects to be back in full training come February or March," Dolan said.

"He has had a minor operation. Naturally these day there are preventative measures and he will be going through whatever he has to do."

Lads, the GPA said they support the continuation of the International Rules - what's the problem???
You don't have to deride EVERY statement the GPA comes out with. The GAA hierarchy are going to recognise them as the official players representatives, so they're here to stay.

I was never a fan of Martin McHugh's brand of pundity i.e. bitch, bitch bitch.
But that Kilkenny comment is just ridiculous. Fool

Interview with JOM in this week's Western. Very positive, but realistic I think. I can't wait for the new season - record attendances for the FBD I'd say 

WHAT was another four or five weeks, one wondered, when Mayo football had waited fully 15 years for the return of its Prodigal son? But ever since last month's departure of Mayo manager Mickey Moran created a vacancy in need of filling, while most supporters were prepared to allow obvious choice John O'Mahony the time to arrive at whatever decision best suited himself, others appeared to be getting more and more anxious, with every passing hour, that their first preference may once again opt not to assume managerial control of their beloved Green and Red.


The doubters need not have worried as one year on from declining an initial opportunity to resume inter-county football duties on home territory, the former double All-Ireland winning Galway manager last night (Monday) accepted the challenge to revitalise a team that has as good as taken up permanent residency in the school of hard knocks since his self-imposed exit (because of a much-publicised dispute with county board officials) from the same job in 1991.


At that time, O'Mahony felt he had no other option but to step down from his position after a four-season term in charge. Six managers and four All-Ireland senior final appearances (but no wins) later, the county welcomes back the retired schoolteacher whose mission is to spearhead a campaign that ultimately, might one day result in Mayo football being considered top of the class once again.


"I'm excited about the challenge," beams the Ballaghaderreen clubman who has been handed an initial three-year reign.


"I feel I have a fair handle on what needs to be done in the long term but it's not about instant success, it's about creating the right structures, putting in the right systems and getting together the ambitious play-ers that want to progress Mayo football.


"If the new management did nothing more than lay that foundation, I wouldn't mind if somebody else came afterwards and got the benefit of it. I'm not talking about winning twos or threes in a row in the immediate future, I'm just on about getting things right with everybody moving forward together. That's the challenge that excites me most because if, for once, that can happen, then we'll see what the possibilities bring," continued the Fine Gael General Election candidate, before explaining why, just 12 months after turning down the same job, now was the right for him to become Mayo manager once again.


"Big things have happened in my own personal circumstances since then. Basically I had had seven very intensive years in charge of Galway and that was the longest span I ever had in management, so I felt I needed more time out. I had just started up a lot of other things in my life be it writing for the Western People, working on the Sunday Game with RTE or presenting on Mid West Radio, all of which I enjoyed. I also got back involved with my own Ballaghaderreen club both on and off the field. I had taken up some of those things just a short time before the vacancy arose last year so I was enjoying them and wanted to continue them. That would have been a major reason why I didn't take the Mayo job then.


"However, a lot has since changed. I have retired from teaching at St Nathy's College where I taught for the last 31 years and that has given me flexibility and of course I have now entered the Political arena having been nominated last June. That is something I hadn't envisaged 12 months ago when I didn't go forward for the Mayo job but it is now another challenge I have taken on. I was surprised when the Mayo job became vacant again but I made it very clear last year when I didn't take up the job, both publicly and with the Mayo county board, that I would never rule out the possibility of taking it some time in the future.


"When this vacancy came about, I would have initially thought that Pat Holmes and his management team, whom I gave some small help to this year during the under 21 campaign, would have moved up to senior and that if it was required that I could work in some consultancy role with them. I'm not saying that the position was ever put to Pat but it was just a scenario that went through my own thoughts.


"But my name was then linked to the job, perhaps inevitably once I wasn't involved in team management, and while I would always do all that I could to further advance Mayo football, I wanted to make sure that I was able to give the time, commitment and energy alongside the other big thing that I have on which is of course the Political campaign.


"That's why this process of appointing a manager took so long but I want to assure everybody that I am fully committed to the Mayo football job otherwise the answer would have been 'No' again," explained O'Mahony, the man who in 1994, guided Leitrim to their first Connacht senior title in 67 years.


Mayo will enter the 2007 season on the back of another All-Ireland final defeat in what was the first year of Mickey Moran's supposed two year term in charge. However, on October 17 last, the Derry man departed his position under a cloud of suspicion - despite the apparent mutual agreement between manager and county board.


Just what the circumstances were behind the whole 'Moran affair' may never become public knowledge, but John O'Mahony himself is only too familiar about having to cut ties as Mayo manager, his experiences of 1991 perhaps prompting him to enquire as to the reasons that led to Moran's recent exit, therefore enabling him and the county board to iron out any similar potential problems and difficulties that could, if allowed to go unchecked, have hindered their future working relationship.


"I would have had private and confidential discussions with the county board and I have discussed all those topics," confirmed the new manager.


"I'm not taking this job lightly. I was as surprised like everybody else that the management stepped down after what I would have seen as quite a successful year but to a certain extent that is water under the bridge now and I'm happy that I and my management team will take Mayo football forward.


"What needs to be clarified is that I left Mayo very reluctantly in 1991 and I was only ever going to go back once I was convinced that it was for the good of Mayo football and that I would be able to play that role, knowing that I had the full confidence and full backing of everybody.


"Past problems that I had were referred to last year when I first declined the job offer but I would have found a gradual assurance this year both through working with Ballaghaderreen and to a lesser extent with the Mayo under 21s, that I could work with the county board. I've had good discussions with James Waldron, Sean Feeney and others and I'm happy that past difficulties won't be a factor because if they were I wouldn't be part of it because the only thing that counts here is the advancement of Mayo foot-ball."


Announced as selectors to John O'Mahony at Monday night's press conference in Castlebar were Tommy Lyons from Ballina and Swinford's Kieran Gallagher, the latter serving as a selector under Mickey Moran for the past season.


O'Mahony, working in an advisory capacity to Ballina Stephenites, became familiar with Lyons who managed the Moysiders to All-Ireland club honours in 2005, and with the FBD Connacht football league only a matter of weeks away, Mayo's new supremo says that it's straight down to serious business for the trio.


"The first thing that'll happen is that myself, Tommy and Kieran will meet and begin the process of drawing up a new panel but the biggest thing that is needed to be done quickly is to talk to the players, to lay out plans, for management to give their intentions to the players and for the play-ers to give their intentions also.


"I'm well aware that some teams are already back training but we were lucky in the sense that Mayo were in the All-Ireland final. Even if there had been a manager all along it would be unlikely that the team would be back training yet but the new state of the art gym that was recently installed in An Sportlann by Elverys is a major bonus.


"We'll also have to start the process where new play-ers are brought in. Mayo have played in a number of under 21 and Minor finals in recent years but the trawl for talent won't just be confined to players from those teams. We'd be hoping that players who have shown fine form but for one reason or another weren't in panels in recent years, might come through also.


"There needs to be a short-term plan and long-term plan. The short term plan will be to get up and running as quickly as possible and win as many games as quickly as possible but the long term plan would be to create structures for future players."


It's clear from speaking to O'Mahony, who is also busy preparing Roscommon club team, St. Brigid's, for their upcoming Connacht final showdown with Corofin, that when addressing the subject of possible goals and ambitions that he may hold for his upcoming tenure, rather than identifying a specific date and time when 'Sam Maguire' or other major honours might just happen to make an appearance West of Frenchpark, he prefers to talk about creating the right environment where success could be made possible.


"I think what's important is that supporters be realistic. This is not going to be a quick fix or an overnight solution to all of the problems in Mayo football. I think GAA President Nicky Brennan hit the nail on the head a couple of weeks ago when he suggested that Mayo can sometimes be too negative in the aftermath of a defeat. In the short term, there needs to be a bit of positivity and a bit of dusting yourself down to get going at it again," he concluded"


Somehow John, I don't think Mayo fans will have too much difficulty in managing that!

Best or most talented? Big difference.
The best player is the one who contributes most to the team over the span of their career surely. In that case, I think it's hard to look past Jimmy Nallen.
For pure talent, C McD is a legend and is without doubt the most talented Mayo player I have ever watched.

Would Sean Og De Paor not deserve a nomination? I always rated him very highly, I thought he was one of Galway's greatest players

Brilliant!! 
That removes any lingering doubts. Great news for all Mayo supporters. Let's hope it's not just a 1 year agreement, that's not much use really

I reckon it will be today as well. A sports journalist from one of the local papers said it will be announced today.
Then you'll have JohnO exclusive in the Weshtern tomorrow 

Yes, Tourmakeady won their Connacht Championship match. I'm not sure of the score though. I couldn't find any report of it either, just heard that they won. Was it the Connacht final? I thought it was a semi-final.

I agree with Mayo4Sam - I don't think JOM has any ulterior motives for the delay.
He should be given the time to make his decision. Remember that Kerry are still awaiting their new manager as well, but there aren't pages of discussion on that. We really need to give JOM and the co board space to get the deal done.
There seems to be huge pressure on JOM already - and he hasn't even said yes/no yet.

While it's disappointing and frustrating to hear that it will be at least a week before JOM makes a decision, I think it will turn out to be worth it.
If JOM had no intention of taking this job, I'm sure he wouldn't be dragging it out like this; he would only be damaging his reputation further.
In my opinion, he is being very cautious for good reasons. He has been burnt by our co board before and has seen how they treated M&M this year. I'd imagine he is laying down his conditions in great detail to ensure the co board can't change tack and start bitching halfway through the year.
He knows the co board want him, and are under pressure from the Mayo public to get him; so this is the perfect opportunity to get his managerial setup exactly as he wants it.
If he gets what he wants, the wait will have been well worthwhile - be patient!