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Messages - Barney

#31
GAA Discussion / Re: Mayo v Galway 26.6.11
June 15, 2011, 08:54:59 AM
QuoteGood to hear SOS might be back

Seriously lads do we really expect SOS to come into the team, grasp a game from midfield without a winter's training and only game time against Monaghan?

And we can really expect to go anywhere when the management do not have a clue of their team, their styloe of play, and fitness allowing are likely to play Geraghty, Vaughan, and Trevor again all of whom have only a few weeks training and little or none county football this year?

The whole thing smacks of a shambles and a story being made up as we are going along. The only thing is that Galway may be in as big a mess - but then again they may not because they are going about their business very quietly.

Do we think we could heading for a record low attendance in recent memory for a Mayo/Galway game. 10,000ish could test it.

And another thing - are Mayo heading the way of Offaly hurlers when you see the issues arising now over a e2m debt. And yet the Mayo debt is multiples of that and I know which is the nicer venue after the money being spent.
#32
GAA Discussion / Re: Mayo v Galway 26.6.11
June 03, 2011, 02:11:54 PM
QuoteWho does the free taking for Mayo these days?

Aidan Campbell, Alan Dillon, Andy Moran, Alan Freeman, Jason Doherty, Robert Hennelly and Aidan O'Se

QuoteI'm sure we'll welcome the openness, accountability and transparency that the Mayo Taoiseach has brought to the nation bring brought to the humblest of the nation, the Mayo County Board.

Not sure Leo Varadkar would agree
#33
GAA Discussion / Re: Mayo v Galway 26.6.11
June 01, 2011, 03:36:57 PM
QuoteWe may aswell forget this year now and re-focus on oh12.

That is what was said last year, and in 2007, and in 2008 and in 2009 before that.

When are we actually going to grab the bull by the horns?

There is little that will be achieved while the current County Board are in place. They are the GAA equivalent of Fianna Fail. They have destroyed the games within the county, have been there too long, and are not wanted by the general Mayo GAA community. However those with the power i.e. the clubs will not or cannot stand up to the Board. And even if they were to who would actually want to come in and take over a voluntary role managing an astronomical debt as well as what happens on the pitch.

The feared and sad reality is that James Horan will walk the plank if a Connacht title is not delivered this year. And then we will be back to another embarassing circus like last year in attempting to replace him in a job that nobody wants.
#34
Wow!! We are some mess. We hoped a new management might bring some sort of order to things but they look like they have made things worse. Have any of our problems really been addressed. And then you read Andy Moran in the Mayo News today (note in particular the highlighted bit):

QuoteMAYO players aren't working hard enough and they must face up to their shortcomings in the coming weeks if they are to improve. That was the forthright view of the team's vice-captain, Andy Moran, in the aftermath of Sunday's close shave.
Speaking to The Mayo News shortly after Mayo came within a whisker of being the first team to lose to London in the championship for 34 years, the Ballaghaderreen forward admitted that big question marks now hang over the county squad again.
"Of course the question marks are going to be there, especially when you come down to London and you draw with them," he began.
"It's proper order that the question marks should be there and the question marks are there in our heads. We've to sort out these problems ourselves within our camp.
"I think, as players, myself and Alan [Dillon] need to pull lads together and we need to get this thing sorted. At the minute we're not doing what we want to do and we're not playing the way we want to play so we need to get it sorted.
"I don't think we're doing the work we should be doing," he added. "At training it's alright doing it but away from training you need to be looking after yourself. "I think we need to be in the pitch shooting, like Maurice Sheridan, out at night yourself, taking your strikes. When you get a chance, be it from a free or from play, against better teams and you don't take it, you're in trouble."
One of the issues being pondered on Sunday evening as the sun set on Ruislip was whether this was better or worse than last year's defeats to Sligo and Longford?
In terms of the result, obviously better, but Moran conceded that the fact that London had only won one game in Division 4 of the National League (against Kilkenny), certainly helped Mayo get over the line.
"It looked like Longford all over again really," he said. "Last year at this stage we got Sligo and they are a better team, a Division 2 team, than London who are a Division 4 team.
"They [Sligo] killed us off whereas this year we got a few cracks and breaks and it helped us. Fair play to Trevor Mortimer and Aidan O'Shea and Kevin McLoughlin, they really helped out when they came in and they're the reason we're still in the Connacht championship really."
The straight-talking Moran also confessed that defeat on Sunday could have ended his inter-county career, and that of a few others, but argued that this performance didn't make Mayo a bad side, merely an inconsistent one.
"You saw us in the league against some of the best teams, the Downs, Corks, Kerrys. . . 
"I think we can compete with the best of them, we just need to start doing the basics right, get our skill-sets right, start winning hard ball and just pushing on, playing championship football.
"At the minute we're too inconsistent. We can't slip to levels like we slipped to today. We need to be clinical in front of goal, we need to be the best we can be every day we go on the field. Today we weren't but we got away with it, thank God.
"Going out on the field myself I don't worry about results, it's performance and we didn't perform. We didn't perform against Monaghan, we performed against Antrim in a challenge and didn't perform against Offaly. There's definitely something wrong there and we need to get it right.
"I suppose when you're going from a base level of today there's only one way and it's up. That's the way we'll be looking at it."

How much do some of these fellas want to play for Mayo. The vast majority are extremely dedicated but do they go the extra mile. Yes I know they are amateurs but a lot of people give them support both emotionally and finacially and they should realise that they are privileged to be good enough to wear the jersey.

So what if we beat Galway? So what if we beat Roscommon or Leitrim? We know there is another dose of humiliation coming our way at some point. And there is even a lethargy in the support of Mayo. We have taken so many knocks that people are giving up on the concept of a Mayo team. The core support has reduced significantly now. Even the anger has subsided after painful defeats - we are greeted more by a resignation of where we stand. And then when a plan for the way forward is put out there it is rejected by the cosy cartel that is our County Board.

It looks like we are set for a generation of Mayo GAA being bankrupt both on and off the pitch.
#35
I have voted for Liam's.

yet again our County Board has ensured that we remain in the dark ages.

however the Committee Report cannot be 100% perfect and I think they were stupid with their all or nothing approach.
#36


This fella worships Sir Alex Ferguson.

What's the story with the Dennys?
#37
Anybody in Ballintubber on Saturday.

Are backs are a massive worry! The chopping and changing at this stage is the kind of thing I hoped we would move away from. Very uncertain few weeks ahead.
#38
The GAA hierarchy are destroying their games/competitions and price is only one factor.

I see on the Connacht Council website that entry for the Sligo v Leitrim game on next Sunday is €30 for the stand or €20 for the Terrace. Compared to other events that might look good value. But this is an amateur association which is supposed to be for the benefit of the community and we are going through very difficulty times in this country currently. How many will be at this match between a team that was relegated to Division 3 and a team that had a mediocre league in Division 4? 5,000 I would say. You could take it that any Connacht Championship game would attract 10,000. The Final anything from about 20,000 to 30,000 depending on how teams are going.

We keep being told the League doesn't matter so the crowds going to that are dwindling.

The Championship used to be do-or-die and now teams seem happy enough to try their chances in the back door. The luke warm supporter now waits for the bigger days and if they don't come so-be-it.

When it does get to the back-door only the really interested supporters know the games are on and will go if they can.

And even for the Quarter Finals the type of crowd that will travel can be uncertain enough.

Is it a generational change? The hard-core support in Mayo is certainly dwindling, I'm not sure about other counties but even the likes of the Ulster counties seem to bring much fewer travelling supporters. Do people see it as a day out, and just entertainment rather than a hunger to succeed?
#39
RGS I forgot about McLoughlin - he started 7 league games - he will definitely start the big championship matches.

He has natural footballing ability but I do worry about his physique. He has been bullied a bit too much and tends to give away a lot of fouls.

So what are people's expectations/aims for the season. For me, a Connacht title and a good show in a Quarter Final would be progress. If we lose in Connacht I would hope for a mature attitude to the qualifiers and reach the Quarters that way.
#40
Decided to come out of retirement for the Championship.

It's giong to be a big Summer and an interesting Summer for Mayo.

Very hard to know where we are at. I think we are better placed than last year, I also think that management are gearing everything towards a serious shot at the Connacht Championship and so we were not as sharp in the league as a result.

Assuming we beat London the Galway game is a massive one for both counties. Two years without a Connacht Final appearance would be a blow for either. Whoever wins gets the opportunity to start repairing the damage of last year and building new momentum. Mayo should have the edge in midfield and our forward are doing ok but if we do not gain that foothold in the middle Galway will create chances and are backs are a worry. Thankfully in the Cork game in the league we ended the practice of backs haring up the pitch to get in on the attacking action. I hope this becomes standard come the Summer. Given our problems the one thing we need to ensure is that there are six lads back at all times because it is hard work that will benefit us.

Team for the Championship likely to be something like this -

Hennelly

Tom Cunniffe
Feeney
Higgins

R Feeney
Cafferky
Vaughan

McGarrity
Kilcullen

Dillon
Aidan O'Se
Andy Moran

Campbell
Freeman
Doherty

The backs are definitely a cause for concern. It will be interesting to see how the Feeneys do in championship football but it is hard to see that unit being good enough to cope with one of the better teams in Croke Park. It is too late for the likes of Vaughan, Howley or Geraghty to be coming in, I don't think Hallinan is good enough; James Burke is a bit too loose for my liking, Gardiner appears to be off the boil and I don't think he is what we need right now but I would be surpised to see Lee Keegan make a late push for the number 7 shirt.

#41
Just in the door still fuming from that farce.

No we won't win Connacht and Galway with a fullset of forwards will beat us. Then a half decent team will knock us out come July. This is the reality we must live with.

These problems in defence have been there for at least 7 years now. Whatever about personnel a new management has come in and we still play the same stupid football. What is the plan? Follow the ball?

And talk of 'it's only the league', trying fellas out etc is another ready made excuse we are fartoo willing to easily hang to in the hope that without fresh thinking or hard work we can break through and consistently challenge. We got luck in 04 and 06 to travel to where we got to. We put ourselves on a different plane while those outside knew the realities. Nobody within Mayo has yet to address those realities. I know I will be laughed at again here and muppet will call me negative but where are the signs of going forward?

We are at our lowest ebb since 1995 and the next few years look stale with players plateauing at the age of 22/23 instead of thriving. We need a hungry bunch but a management set-up that come up with a style of play to get over our weaknesses. I don't want to be here in2/3 years time raising the same points but seems probable right now.
#42
moyside I'm kinda suprised with how positive you are on that game yesterday.

To me it was very worrying. It was the game we had to win to stay up - now we are in a serious battle that you would expect we will not win. Galway look down, and unless we beat one of Cork or Dublin we may even be relegated by the time it comes to the Monaghan game. I think it was a bad mistake of management to drop two of our most effective players in the league - Hennelly, Richie Feeney and McGarrity - and showed an arrogant and unfounded complacency that we are all too often prone to showing. The performances of each of their replacements can only be described as substandard. 

The good points from the managements point of view is that most of the players that they are bringing in are looking good - Richie Feeney, Campbell, Doherty especially. Cunniffe is doing well in the corner. Cafferkey is growing in the centre. Personally I do not think Hallinan and Gibbons are up to the standards of county football. It is also pleasing that different combinations are being tried. We are not sticking with a team from day 1 in the league and letting that carry us through for the year.

What is worrying are the recurring issues and some failures to address some issues that are ongoing problems -
- there is no discernable gameplan which would short up our weaknesses.
- we continue to start games slowly.
- there is no real effort at finding a reliable and consistent freetaker. It was embarassing the number of fellas that had a go yesterday.
- the failure to close out a game - 1 point down playing against the wind with 10 minutes to go and we bottled it again. Its all too predictable and we must be the easiest team in the country to play against. Someday you would just love to be suprised.

We are an average team and James inherited a group without any foundation or confidence. But the future is looking quite bleak - odd Connacht titles and disappointing qualifier days would appear to be our level.

#43
General discussion / Re: Man Utd Thread:
March 03, 2011, 10:37:23 AM
God Johnny Giles hates "Ferguson" (note very rarely uses his full name) more than he hates United.

A bitter little man - the RTE analysts lost all credibility for constantly lambasting Ronaldo. Grumpy old men.

As for United it amazes me how they have stayed ahead for so long and things do appear to be catching up now. Midfield is a disaster and every away game is a potential defeat. Arsenal's run in means they may not be able to avoid falling over the finish line as winners
#44
Strange how rare it is for these two teams to play especially since the two teams consistently challenged in all competitions throughout the 90s.

Last game was a league semi-final in Croke Park after a postponement in Roscommon. Stevie McDonald went to town on our full-back line and the Orchard County won comfortably by 5 points.

Other than that when did we last play in senior football? It must have been the 90s?
#45
Boy did this thread go very quiet very quickly and without much review of the game.

Good win- some improvements, concerns about the defence still and especially the ability of the opposition to run through the centre. Galway were abysmal and we are now going through a bizarre run of wins against them with Galway not having turned us over since July 2008. The other strange thing is the ease at which those wins have come - two big league wins over the past two years; a Galway collapse in Tuam 3 years ago giving us a league win, and the Pearse Stadium Connacht Final win coloured by a late Galway fightback. As well all know these games are so often nip and tuck and turns are taken to win them.

For the Summer ahead it means diddly squat. Galway will have the Joyces and Meehan fit and raring to go and so will be far more formidable. Both teams are quite average and so it could go either way but right now whatever about Mayo it is hard to see Galway having a long Summer. Peter Forde was criticised for his role as manager but given some of his results maybe he was treated harshly?