Ciaran McDonald not named in Mayo panel

[stephenite]

Rosnarun - can you confirm if O'Mahoney left him out or because Ciaran didn't attend the training match that others had to attend? If he attended and was left out it's a different story to him not being considered because he didn't make himself available for selection, JOM can't be blamed if he wasn't making himself available.

[Lar Naparka]

My brother taught Ciaran for a spell at second level.
He told me Ciaran was a lovely youngster - but only when you got to know him. He was always an individual of few words but he always thought a lot about what he would say or do.
They do meet up from time to time and, as always, their conversation is short and to the point. Sean never brings up Ciaran's future plans and the man himself never refers to them either.
But if he trusts you, he likes you. He does an awful lot of good work, especially for kids with special needs, such as autism. He certainly keeps this side of his life private.
Crossmolina posters probably know what I'm referring to.
Two things he has mentioned that have hurt him deeply are the amount of dirty play he has had to endure at club or county level and the failure of referees to give him protection -and also being used by management.
Being told to get on in Derry when the cause was lost and the game in a league against Galway one time, when his hand was strapped up and he was sent in as a last, desperate gamble. In one case he felt he should have started the game and in the other he was in pain when he shouldn't have been sprung off the bench either.
During the early stages of the 2006 run, he took a lot of abuse from players and fans for sticking to Mickey Moran's instructions.
All in all, he seems to have brooded a lot.
Other than the above, I haven't any knowledge of Ciaran or his future intentions and I'd be only speculating to go into the reasons.
If he is finished with Mayo, I'll wish him the very best; he owes us nothing. If Johnno has left him out of the plans or didn't go far enough to entice him back, I'm sure he is full sure of the potential backlash. I'll wish both the very best and hope there is no animosity between them.

[groundlie]

Different class...and a lovely fella too!!

[Maradona]

Jaysus, an awful lot of BS written here.

McDonald - always one of his biggest fans - for the glamour and the unexpected - but not as a dependable leader like a Joyce or a Canavan. Of course it is very sad if he has played his last game for Mayo, but surely we need to be moving on and building from youth. It is really a young mans game and it is becommintg more and more difficult to have the fitness levels at 30, never mind 33. Ideally we would see him in the panel, but I dont Ciaran would do the sub thing.

Always thought there is a bit of a thing in Mayo to make heros of players often before it was earned and often as young as minors - not any particular player, but in general. Only served to give many a fan and player false illusions of greatnedd. Just my opinions.

But Lads, its a joke the way some are going on about O'Mahony - jaysus give the man a chance. Someone said he took over AI finalists lastyear - are you having a laugh??? We were humiliated in 2006 - we were lucky anyone wanted to tog out last year at all!!!

Looking back no one expected us to get to the 04 and 06 finals - now it is clear we were not prepared. Think we now need to build properly so that we have a team capable of making a realistic and sustainable push for honors in a year or so

[moysider]

Jaysus, an awful lot of BS written here.

McDonald - always one of his biggest fans - for the glamour and the unexpected - but not as a dependable leader like a Joyce or a Canavan. Of course it is very sad if he has played his last game for Mayo, but surely we need to be moving on and building from youth. It is really a young mans game and it is becommintg more and more difficult to have the fitness levels at 30, never mind 33. Ideally we would see him in the panel, but I dont Ciaran would do the sub thing.

Always thought there is a bit of a thing in Mayo to make heros of players often before it was earned and often as young as minors - not any particular player, but in general. Only served to give many a fan and player false illusions of greatnedd. Just my opinions.

But Lads, its a joke the way some are going on about O'Mahony - jaysus give the man a chance. Someone said he took over AI finalists lastyear - are you having a laugh??? We were humiliated in 2006 - we were lucky anyone wanted to tog out last year at all!!!

Looking back no one expected us to get to the 04 and 06 finals - now it is clear we were not prepared. Think we now need to build properly so that we have a team capable of making a realistic and sustainable push for honors in a year or so

[/b]

We were humiliated in Sept 2006 but we were AI finalists also. Of course this could have been avoided if we had lost earlier. Would you have been happy with that. I would nt. I think a team should go as far as it can in any given year. Our downfall in final was as much due to tactical niavity  [I explained this in an earlier post] as lack of quality. Anyway last year s defeat in Celtic Park was as humiliating but it was nt live  on tv and only a hardcore Mayo crowd there, so that was alright so.

We might not have been prepared in finals in 04 or 06 but we were there and we should have built on the experiences rather than shoot those who were seen to be mostly responsible for final day shortcomings. And is there a better way to prepare for an All Ireland final than to have been there before. What do you mean by build properly exactly? How can we make a realistic and sustainable push for honours and what do you mean by that exactly and how would you ensure that if we got to another final against Kerry the same thing would nt happen? Of course if we dont get there there ll be no humiliation. So if current Management never get to a final and so wont be humiliated is that something we should be grateful for, better than Maughan and Moran? Will not getting beat on the big day in the next 3 years qualify as  a realistic and sustainable push? I would nt think so but you tell me? Not sure i understand how this works as you understand it?

Apart from maybe one poster nobody on here is giving O Mahoney a hard time. Questioning a few things maybe but that is not slagging off or having a go. His supporters will have to acccept that he is going to be criticised same as those went before him. MM only got one year and was not given the opportunity to rebuild. The team he  brought to AI in 2006 were lads he never worked with before. Maybe he could have tweaked a few things if he stayed on and got closer. Fellas played for him that have not produced the same form since. I ll give you Harte and Dillon for two. Now it might be injury or form in they re case. Make of it what you will. Anyway it s unlikely anything we or anybody else have is capable of beating Kerry.

This is just my opinion but I m not a great believer in 2,3 or 5 year building plans. You can not plan to win something in X numberof years imho. Every year and every championship match has to be played on its own merits. You get the best players on the pitch available  each year and only form, not age, is the criteria. That is the best way to build. You can not pick this years team leaving out lads that you think might be too old when we re going to win the AI in 3 years time. There are too many variables for that kind of rebuilding to work. Injuries, loss of form, Aussie rules, drink, pregnancies,  and another teams emerging better tend to spoil all plans. I heard of a club chairman that has drawn up a 5 year plan to win a club all Ireland. They have nt won a county in nearly 40 years and judging  by the way they re goin they wont win a south county cup within the 5 years. Silly stuff. Play each year on its own merits and the breakthrough is as likely to happen due to others' inadequacies and/or misfortune as your own brilliance. Anybody who has ever managed  teams will tell you that. The year that you think you re great somebody is better, and you can often win with a team you did nt really think were that special but neither was anybody else that year. Whatever people might think of Clive Woodward and Rugby Union he got 1 thing right. He stuck with players like Neil Back and Jason Leonard for World Cup 2003 when the conventional wisdom was they would be too old and he should have been breaking in new blood. There s a simple rule in team sports. Don t replace a player until you re sure you have better to replace him with.

[Barney]

Moysider I don't think anybody has put any kind of time-frame on this transition.

What really has to be done is concentrate on developing the talent that is coming through while each year pushing to go as far as possible.

For the first time in a long time there is a lot of realism in Mayo football. I think it is frustrating but people are willing to be patient. The manager is not being hounded but is open to constructive criticism. Last year was such a disaster that he has to win back faith this year. He is still the best man for the job but any talk of an All Ireland is way off the mark until we have two top-class forwards who will shine on the big days. I would have hoped that Hanley and Campbell could grow into those roles but............

[AbbeySider]

Moysider I think you are expecting way to much too soon. The fact is that we dont have the players at the moment to win an All-Ireland. End of story. That is nobody's fault. To think anything else, like we can make a serious challenge this yeur, you are just dreaming.

The quality is not there up front. We only have (at the most) two top class forwards. We still are in major trouble in our full back line and IMO our midfield is over rated. I fail to see where you think Mayo can win an All-Ireland. We would be lucky to be in the top 5 or 6 best teams in the country. 

Im with Maradona when he talks about the BS and naivety written here. In 2004 and 2006 we were not good enough. Just because we made it to the final does not mean that man-for-man we were the second best team in the country.

[mannix]

Moysider,
you hit the nail on the head.
Another thing, Mayo need to be more physical against the big boys, not like the dubs are but more like tyrone and kerry.

[the Deel Rover]

Jaysus, an awful lot of BS written here.

McDonald - always one of his biggest fans - for the glamour and the unexpected - but not as a dependable leader like a Joyce or a Canavan. Of course it is very sad if he has played his last game for Mayo, but surely we need to be moving on and building from youth. It is really a young mans game and it is becommintg more and more difficult to have the fitness levels at 30, never mind 33. Ideally we would see him in the panel, but I dont Ciaran would do the sub thing.

ok went to see Cross v's Ballaghadreen on sunday and firstly must admit that i got the facts about mc scoring wrong he only scored nine points and he was on fire 4 of his scores coming from play as good as any that he has scored during his carreer. No sign on an injury and to tell you the truth he looked like one of the fittest on the pitch, there is not a pick on him he is like a butchers greyhound anyway i knew this all along as i have seen him training with the club since january so there appears to be no problem with the back. Just going on your post there maradona you  say thats its a young mans game fair enough but you also say that mc is not a leader ( which i don't agree with by the way but everyone is entitled to their opinion) like canavan or joye well just wondering what age was canavan when he scored the goal against Kerry in 2004  33   i think he was not a young man but a player with loads of experience who was not discarded by the manager because no matter what spin o' mahony puts on it thats what he has done he has discarded a player of immense talent and having seen his display on sunday he has to be at least the 10th or 11th best forward in the county , imagine if mickey harte had ommitted canavan fron his panel in 2004 there would have been uproar.  
Now as i said before i'm glad that Mc isn't on the panel it suits Cross better however that does not hide the fact that someone who has given their all for mayo has been treated shoddily in my opinion by management not just this year with the squad but also last year, hopefully he might one day let us know his side of the story but if mc still thought he had something to offer mayo ( and judging by the way he played on sunday he still does) the way he has been treated by management is a disgrace ( am i allowed to say this about the great john o' )
There were 5 senior players on the panel last year who were involved since 1996-1997 , 2 of them are on the panel 2 have retired and 1 player who management have decided is not good enough for a place in the squad.
Moysiders last sentence makes sense don't replace a player till you have a better one to replace him have we a better forward than Mc in the county well according to John o we have 12      

[stephenite]

Deel - do you know if he had made himself available for Mayo or has he told JOM he's not interested? If he didn't tell JOM that he's not interested, did he attend any of the training matches that were held?

[Davitt Man]

McDonald doesn't make cut

Mayo to carry on without Crossmolina forward

Daniel Carey

MAYO have named a 29-man panel for the forthcoming championship which includes veteran defender James Nallen, but not his Crossmolina club-mate Ciaran McDonald.
The apparent end of the 33-year-old attacker's inter-county career was the major talking point at club matches over the weekend, as the man himself finished as leading scorer in the Deel Rovers' victory over Ballaghaderren on Sunday.
McDonald has not started a game for Mayo since the All-Ireland final defeat of 2006, though he did make cameo appearances against Galway and Derry during an injury-plagued 2007.
"Ciaran McDonald was invited to join us for some ... games [earlier this year] and didn't take up the offer," John O'Mahony told The Mayo News. "I admire very much Ciaran's input over the years, and he has been one of Mayo's greatest servants. But all we can do is invite people to participate."
Nallen did not play in any of Mayo's league matches but did feature in a trial match in Ballinrobe last month. After an 'extended break', the college lecturer is back in harness for the summer, and O'Mahony feels he'll be a 'great influence' on his colleagues.
"We have a big changeover in the squad, a lot of young players in there, and I think there's no one more respected for what they have done and can still do – not just on the playing field but in the sense of an influence and advice for young players," he said.
Chris Barrett looks certain to miss the championship with a groin problem and has not been named in the squad.
The Belmullet clubman has sustained an osteo-pubis injury, similar to that which kept Ballina's Ger Cafferkey sidelined for 10 months. That makes the Mayo U-21 captain's participation in the senior competition most unlikely.
"It could be fairly long-term," O'Mahony confirmed. "Having said that, we've kept the door open, in case there's any dramatic improvement in the next few weeks.
"But I suppose the fact that we didn't name him, we feel on medical advice that it's not going to happen. As I would see it, Chris Barrett [has] a long career ahead of him for Mayo, and we don't want to put that at risk."
Others who have been omitted from the final squad include Crossmolina's Brian Benson, Burrishoole's Conor Moran, Enda Varley of Garrymore and Achill's Colm Cafferkey.

[stephenite]

McDonald doesn't make cut

Mayo to carry on without Crossmolina forward

Daniel Carey

MAYO have named a 29-man panel for the forthcoming championship which includes veteran defender James Nallen, but not his Crossmolina club-mate Ciaran McDonald.
The apparent end of the 33-year-old attacker's inter-county career was the major talking point at club matches over the weekend, as the man himself finished as leading scorer in the Deel Rovers' victory over Ballaghaderren on Sunday.
McDonald has not started a game for Mayo since the All-Ireland final defeat of 2006, though he did make cameo appearances against Galway and Derry during an injury-plagued 2007.
"Ciaran McDonald was invited to join us for some ... games [earlier this year] and didn't take up the offer," John O'Mahony told The Mayo News. "I admire very much Ciaran's input over the years, and he has been one of Mayo's greatest servants. But all we can do is invite people to participate."Nallen did not play in any of Mayo's league matches but did feature in a trial match in Ballinrobe last month. After an 'extended break', the college lecturer is back in harness for the summer, and O'Mahony feels he'll be a 'great influence' on his colleagues.
"We have a big changeover in the squad, a lot of young players in there, and I think there's no one more respected for what they have done and can still do – not just on the playing field but in the sense of an influence and advice for young players," he said.
Chris Barrett looks certain to miss the championship with a groin problem and has not been named in the squad.
The Belmullet clubman has sustained an osteo-pubis injury, similar to that which kept Ballina's Ger Cafferkey sidelined for 10 months. That makes the Mayo U-21 captain's participation in the senior competition most unlikely.
"It could be fairly long-term," O'Mahony confirmed. "Having said that, we've kept the door open, in case there's any dramatic improvement in the next few weeks.
"But I suppose the fact that we didn't name him, we feel on medical advice that it's not going to happen. As I would see it, Chris Barrett [has] a long career ahead of him for Mayo, and we don't want to put that at risk."
Others who have been omitted from the final squad include Crossmolina's Brian Benson, Burrishoole's Conor Moran, Enda Varley of Garrymore and Achill's Colm Cafferkey.

Well there you are - good luck to him in his retirement but spare me any more conversations about how well he is playing at club level, he has made his decision not to be involved, time to let those that are involved get on with things without having a will he or won't he sideshow continuing on throughout the build up to, and during the championship.

[Tubberman]

McDonald doesn't make cut

Mayo to carry on without Crossmolina forward

Daniel Carey

MAYO have named a 29-man panel for the forthcoming championship which includes veteran defender James Nallen, but not his Crossmolina club-mate Ciaran McDonald.
The apparent end of the 33-year-old attacker's inter-county career was the major talking point at club matches over the weekend, as the man himself finished as leading scorer in the Deel Rovers' victory over Ballaghaderren on Sunday.
McDonald has not started a game for Mayo since the All-Ireland final defeat of 2006, though he did make cameo appearances against Galway and Derry during an injury-plagued 2007.
"Ciaran McDonald was invited to join us for some ... games [earlier this year] and didn't take up the offer," John O'Mahony told The Mayo News. "I admire very much Ciaran's input over the years, and he has been one of Mayo's greatest servants. But all we can do is invite people to participate."Nallen did not play in any of Mayo's league matches but did feature in a trial match in Ballinrobe last month. After an 'extended break', the college lecturer is back in harness for the summer, and O'Mahony feels he'll be a 'great influence' on his colleagues.
"We have a big changeover in the squad, a lot of young players in there, and I think there's no one more respected for what they have done and can still do – not just on the playing field but in the sense of an influence and advice for young players," he said.
Chris Barrett looks certain to miss the championship with a groin problem and has not been named in the squad.
The Belmullet clubman has sustained an osteo-pubis injury, similar to that which kept Ballina's Ger Cafferkey sidelined for 10 months. That makes the Mayo U-21 captain's participation in the senior competition most unlikely.
"It could be fairly long-term," O'Mahony confirmed. "Having said that, we've kept the door open, in case there's any dramatic improvement in the next few weeks.
"But I suppose the fact that we didn't name him, we feel on medical advice that it's not going to happen. As I would see it, Chris Barrett [has] a long career ahead of him for Mayo, and we don't want to put that at risk."
Others who have been omitted from the final squad include Crossmolina's Brian Benson, Burrishoole's Conor Moran, Enda Varley of Garrymore and Achill's Colm Cafferkey.



Well there you are - good luck to him in his retirement but spare me any more conversations about how well he is playing at club level, he has made his decision not to be involved, time to let those that are involved get on with things without having a will he or won't he sideshow continuing on throughout the build up to, and during the championship.

Have to agree with Stephenite. I've held off on commenting on this saga until there were some quotes from at least 1 of the parties involved.
So it seems Ciaran has decided to call an end to his inter-county career. He is, and has been for 10 years, a legend of Mayo GAA. The most naturally gifted and exciting player I've ever watched in the Green and Red.
I wish him all the best in his remaining club career and whatever he does after that. He has given me some fantastic memories:
- his AI performances for Cross, especially their second appearance (03 I think)
- the day he nearly got the hat-trick against Galway in 98
- the connacht semi against Galway in 04 when we came from 6 points down to win by 6. He hit an outside of the boot wonder score and threw both arms into the air,  we knew we had it then
- the 04 quarter-final against Tyrone
- his 2 huge huge points in the 04 AIF
- and of course, the greatest match I've ever attended, the 06 semi-final, I still get a tingle down my back when I think of that whole day, and Supermac's winning point in particular. 

But he has retired now, and there shouldn't be any more speculation about him coming back. It's time to enjoy the memories, and start moving on to allow the current panel concentrate on getting the most out of themselves this summer.

[AbbeySider]

McDonald doesn't make cut
Mayo to carry on without Crossmolina forward
...
"Ciaran McDonald was invited to join us for some ... games [earlier this year] and didn't take up the offer," John O'Mahony told The Mayo News. "I admire very much Ciaran's input over the years, and he has been one of Mayo's greatest servants. But all we can do is invite people to participate."

Ciaran Was availible for selection.

As regards to his return . I know for a fact he is fully willing to return but has NOT been invited back to training.
...JOM get down off his high horse.

Ros you are full of sh!t as usual 
I've also held off on commenting on this until there was some definite information.
The above extract proves that McD was asked back.

[moysider]

Moysider I think you are expecting way to much too soon. The fact is that we dont have the players at the moment to win an All-Ireland. End of story. That is nobody's fault. To think anything else, like we can make a serious challenge this yeur, you are just dreaming.

The quality is not there up front. We only have (at the most) two top class forwards. We still are in major trouble in our full back line and IMO our midfield is over rated. I fail to see where you think Mayo can win an All-Ireland. We would be lucky to be in the top 5 or 6 best teams in the country. 

Im with Maradona when he talks about the BS and naivety written here. In 2004 and 2006 we were not good enough. Just because we made it to the final does not mean that man-for-man we were the second best team in the country.

Never mentioned winning an All Ireland. All i expect is to be as competitive as possible and get our best team out each year and see what happens instead of talking about longterm rebuilding  rebuilding programmes. I suggest you read the piece again and not be putting words into my mouth.