AIF 2021 -- Maigh Eo vs Tír Eoghain

[knockitdown]

Anyone able to post Brollys full analysis from the independent?

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No more excuses please from football's great time wasters

Joe Brolly
Mayo is full of cliques and favourites as culture will not change under Horan who made Tyrone's job easy

September 11 2021 10:08 PM
Time wasters. A lot of other counties would give their right arms to be here. The people of Mayo put their heart and soul into their team. And this is what they get?
A manager on the sideline making choices based on political considerations. A protected captain who does not lead and never will.

Substituting Pádraig O'Hora in the 51st minute after he had surged forward to win a free inside the Tyrone half and had been taking the game to Tyrone? Leaving passengers on the field?

It was embarrassing and enraging, even if it was inevitable. The shame is that with a high-performance culture based on merit, Mayo could be so much more than this. I got a text from Pat Gilroy on the final whistle. It said "culture".



At the highest level, the best culture wins. Which is why, in the end, a middling Tyrone team still learning their trade won easily. They are serious.

With Dooher, Logan and Peter Canavan leading the group, there is a merciless search for success. No passengers. No favourites. Winning big games, as they know, is war without guns.

The six in-a-row Dubs might have been highly skilled, highly conditioned, and expertly coached, but they would not have won without bringing war. Tyrone were up for it. Mayo, with a few exceptions, were not. How could they be? They have too many distractions.

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The game was finally over in the 25th minute. Aidan O'Shea was presented with the easiest goal chance I have seen in a final. The Tyrone keeper was caught out and had left his goal empty, chasing back fearing the worst.

His life must have flashed before his eyes. He needn't have worried. "Oh for f**k sake" the Mayo man beside me said. My brother Proinsias texted me, "As I said our boy".

When there are individuals who are undroppable and a manager has favourites, cliques form and it is not a team.

The players know this, and the true bonds of loyalty and togetherness that are compulsory for success are missing.

The manager talks a good game but it is merely talk. I feel bad for Mayo and its people and its wonderful clubs but until this malaise is rooted out, this will continue to be their reality.



Straws will be clutched at. Mayo missed a penalty when they were two points down. But when everything isn't right, nothing is right.

The feeling of liberation at the absence of Dublin and the hope that Mayo might perform was soon replaced with a feeling that nothing has changed. Tyrone, all calm and composed and ruthless when it came to it, won by five points.

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It could have been worse, if for the second game in a row, the 'Son of God' hadn't missed what for him was an easy goal chance.

I have watched him with excitement since he was a teenager and have never seen him miss a goal chance. It must be the Carrickmore in him. He has his first Sam Maguire already. His father, who did not win his first until he was 33, must be well pleased.

I wrote last week that what happened in the last quarter of the Dublin game and in extra-time was not a game plan. It was a crazy, unpredictable, emotional energy that an underdog sometimes taps into.

Tyrone, meanwhile, gloved Kerry, with a miraculous performance from David Clifford keeping Kerry in it. Finals are unsentimental affairs. It is kill or be killed. It is culture v culture. And when one team's philosophy is not based on the principles of logic and merit, defeat is inevitable. The back-to-the-drawing-board bull* does not cut it.

Good culture is the backdrop for the decisive contributions that are required to win an All-Ireland. I think of the Meath team of Colm O'Rourke, all loyalty and stubbornness and refusal to accept defeat, winning All-Irelands against better teams on paper.

Or the 2008 Tyrone team. Or Down of 1991. Or us in 1993. Or the Dubs from 2011 onwards. Mayo's manager will say, "We lost by a point" or "we missed a penalty" or "we couldn't repeat our semi-final performance" but this is just bull*.

Tyrone, a team picked on merit, with a culture of heads down, no commercial distractions and playing for the people of Tyrone, easily won. Two expertly-taken goals will be the headline, but the truth is that their culture is a world away from their opposition's.

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There were any number of moments where we turned to each other and said, "Well that's the end of that", but the truth is that this contest was over before it began.

Tyrone came in at half-time two up, after O'Hora had surged forward defiantly to win a 20-metre free that Ryan O'Donoghue easily converted. But the wheels of this sentimental, public-relations merry-go-round came off altogether in the second half.

McShane came on and fisted a superb goal from a terrific long diagonal ball. The 'Son of God' came on shortly afterwards and played with the precision and expertise one would expect from a Canavan.

The inevitable second Tyrone goal followed, a thrilling long kick-out from Morgan leading to an expertly-taken finish. Calm, precise, serious. Just what you'd expect from a serious team.

Thing is, Tyrone did not expect to be All-Ireland champions at the start of this season. But when they got Mayo in the final, they knew, and we knew, that it was going to happen. In the end, it is a question of culture.

Under this manager, Mayo are time wasters. Soul destroying for good footballers and good clubs. Soul destroying for the people.

Thank you sir

[sid waddell]

Tyrone were worthy winners. Shot selection/decision making/skill levels were piss piss poor form Mayo while Tyrone made their chances count.

What did Mayo work on in training all season. The pressure came on today and the Mayo forwards were embarrassingly bad . Didn't want to know and  when pressure came on tonight.

Serious questions need to be asked of Horan and his mangement team. Shambolic is the only way to describe that Mayo performance and once again Aidan O'Shea scores nothing on All Ireland finals day when the pressure osoon

The dynamic between Horan and especially one of his management team younger fella black hair was bad during the match with Horan turning away in near disgust after the other fella had been very strongly putting points (or giving out). They destroy themselves. The thing is curses only work if you believe them and Mayo, in the back of their minds, clearly do believe that 'curse'.

Ridiculous statement about the curse.
I'm of a certain age and for the first forty years of my life the curse didn't exist, it's a modern invention, spurred aging by a headline grabbing media.

The veracity or otherwise of Mayo's "curse" doesn't matter. The truth is everybody in Mayo including the players and management now has a massive mental block from losing all these finals and that is going to be very difficult for them to overcome. The idea of winning an All-Ireland has taken on such an enormity that it sends brains haywire and turns legs to jelly. It weighs like a ton on them. That is a curse.

[clarshack]

Was there a meal etc after the match, if so where was it held?

Armagh City Hotel

Seriously?

2 different people told me they were going there.

[RedHand88]

Was there a meal etc after the match, if so where was it held?

Armagh City Hotel

Seriously?

2 different people told me they were going there.

Teamtalk have a video on their Facebook of them entering the hall.

[Blowitupref]

Well Done Tyrone! Who would have thought earlier on in the year!

The better team won today and Mayo Posters need to such it up and move on.

Talk of the worst team ever to win an AI is poor form.

This team has won the AI on merit. Talk of how great they are lies in the years ahead.

But today they are the best in Ireland.

Once again well done Tyrone and enjoy the celebrations into the new year.

That's real class From the Bunker, fair play to you.

Still hard to believe for me. I called for Mickey to go in recent years because I believed - despite his fantastic service and huge knowledge - that his conservatism and micro management was holding a good team back. But I never believed that simply changing management would sort everything and I felt any new manager would need time to implement their ideas. For Logan and Dooher and co to have done this in a hugely shortened season is incredible.

Small margins again but I do think we deserved it. We'll enjoy this first and who knows what the future holds, but tantalising to think what we could do with a fully fit McShane at full forward after a run of games and likewise Canavan properly bedded in and a role found for McKenna that maximises his considerable talent. This team can still be better.

My condolences to Mayo. Form guide was so limited that it was hard to be sure what to read into the semis. I did wonder were Dublin 2021 really not that great. Maybe not, but today did suggest Mayo were perhaps over rated on the back of that win. I wish Mayo all the best though and I hope their day comes very soon.

To everyone associated with Tyrone: congratulations 

Coming into this game, I had a feeling of 2012 all over again. We beat reigning champions Dublin with a young team that year.

That 2012 final closed out pretty much like yesterdays game.

Not a dig at you Bunker but this is narrative by plenty about this current team before and after this final.

The average age of Mayo starting 15 yesterday was 27, only 3 are under 25. O'Donoghue, Conroy, Mullin.

[rodney trotter]

Oisin Mullin has a few offers from AFL Clubs,he might not be around next year. Talks were put on hold under after the All Ireland

[Main Street]

I hope this is just a one-off for Tyrone, a sequence of Sams would be an unbearable proposition.
I wouldn't begrudge them this deserved AI title but like all the rest of Ulster, would look forward to them being knocked off their perch next year.

[Peter LaFleur]

[seafoid]

I think that Brolly article is on the ball. The fans deserve an explanation

[CK_Redhand]

Brolly best ignored. It seems like every text he receives is perfectly appropriate for that situation. What about the hundreds of texts and whatnot he gets that are wide of the mark. A great man for hindsight is Joe.

[Whishtup]

Funny how any of the teams who Tyrone have beat have all had bad games, been flat, didn't get the rub of the green, didn't get going, etc. The managers of these teams need to ignore that strain of commentary, realise that Tyrone were better, regroup and improve for next year. To say that you had a bad game is a dangerous thing. Looking forward to the  'new' versions of Dublin, Kerry, Mayo, Monaghan, Donegal next year. On cloud nine and proud of how these Tyrone players have conducted themselves.  Morgan has given some very honest interviews. Great to finally put voices to the players! Big Kennedy did Derrylaughan proud!

[Cunny Funt]

Brolly best ignored. It seems like every text he receives is perfectly appropriate for that situation. What about the hundreds of texts and whatnot he gets that are wide of the mark. A great man for hindsight is Joe.

Absolutely. He's a desperate attention seeker. Was finally kicked off RTE for a good reason.

[RedHand88]

Some scenes in Ballygawley and Omagh. They're going to Coalisland for 5.

[BennyCake]

Brolly best ignored. It seems like every text he receives is perfectly appropriate for that situation. What about the hundreds of texts and whatnot he gets that are wide of the mark. A great man for hindsight is Joe.

Absolutely.

Mayo dethrone 6 in a row Dublin by 3, but sure  it's just a fluke. Tyrone beat Kerry by 1, and it's miraculous? Aye, right Joe.

Funny how all his columns he knew the match was over before it even started. As for this culture bullshit... feck off joe ya gobshite.

Canavan seems  a decent player. Not as good as his da, but was the Carrickmore thing meant as a joke or a belittling ?  And he's   never seen Canavan miss a goal chance? He missed one v Kerry. Or maybe that don't count because it ruins his argument.

[dublin7]

Tyrone were worthy winners. Shot selection/decision making/skill levels were piss piss poor form Mayo while Tyrone made their chances count.

What did Mayo work on in training all season. The pressure came on today and the Mayo forwards were embarrassingly bad . Didn't want to know and  when pressure came on tonight.

Serious questions need to be asked of Horan and his mangement team. Shambolic is the only way to describe that Mayo performance and once again Aidan O'Shea scores nothing on All Ireland finals day when the pressure osoon

The dynamic between Horan and especially one of his management team younger fella black hair was bad during the match with Horan turning away in near disgust after the other fella had been very strongly putting points (or giving out). They destroy themselves. The thing is curses only work if you believe them and Mayo, in the back of their minds, clearly do believe that 'curse'.

Ridiculous statement about the curse.
I'm of a certain age and for the first forty years of my life the curse didn't exist, it's a modern invention, spurred aging by a headline grabbing media.

The veracity or otherwise of Mayo's "curse" doesn't matter. The truth is everybody in Mayo including the players and management now has a massive mental block from losing all these finals and that is going to be very difficult for them to overcome. The idea of winning an All-Ireland has taken on such an enormity that it sends brains haywire and turns legs to jelly. It weighs like a ton on them. That is a curse.

Dubs got slagged for years for getting caught up in the hype and getting carried away about how good they were. Gilroy and then Gavin got rid of all that. Being the capital city players can get away from the build up that players from counties like Mayo can't. They must get people constant recognizing them, bringing up the game and mentioning the curse. The senior players have lost so many finals now it has to have an impact on their psychology.

Dub hurlers were pushing in Leinster and couldn't make the breakthrough until Anthony Daly was appointed. He was a winner and brought a huge difference to the team's mentality. I wonder would Jim McGuinness get involved with Mayo.