James Horan Appointed Mayo Manager 2011

[Barney]

Yet another post-mortem after another gutless defeat.

To lose playing to potential is one thing. To put in such a clueless pathetic display is another.

5 seasons ago Mayo were in an All Ireland Final. Somewhat luckily but bar the two All Ireland Finals against Kerry when our weaknesses were exposed cruelly at the highest level we were competitive, proud, organised and had our passionate supporters were full square behind the team.

Mickey Moran and John Morrison were convenient scapegoats for a County Board who saw a man on the sidelines who had all the answers in print and who was lined up to run in a General Election. The rest is history as we know and politics came before football and we have paid for those decisions ever since.

What we have seen in the intervening 4 years has been pathetic. 5 Championship wins - over New York; over pathetic Sligo, Cavan and Roscommon teams, and last years Connacht Final. Thrashings to Galway and Derry in year one; capitulation against Galway and Tyrone in year 2 when the game was there for the winning; destruction by Meath in year 3 and now we are a pathetic bunch in Sligo in year 4 with no future for 2010. I don't think that anybody could point to one positive development for Mayo football by this management team, or one player that they have improved and that is a serious indictment of their tenure.

Fans have been told to be patient. These are players that have won Connacht underage titles for fun but have not been improved at senior level and supporters are unreasonable to demand even a provincial level of decent performance and success. Yes they have their flaws. They are not good enough to win Sam but they are good enough to compete with all bar the very best  if given a structure gameplan with a consistent approach and selection. Each season players have been allowed to take winters off but yet can walk on to the team come Summer. Yesterday the only solution to a crisis was Billie Joe Padden. We started with a team that had never played together. With a centre half back that was out for 14 months.With a full back line that failed last Summer against Meath. With a captain who has been off the pace for the past 6 months at a minimum. With a hollow "superstar" anointed by some Mayo supporters two years ago that saunters around the pitch with his hands on his hips. And with no game plan.

The bunch of players that are there can be better. And Mayo football now needs its pride back. The inevitable is coming so John, please for the good of Mayo football do the decent team and step down today. .

The solution for this Summer is to try and win a few games and inject some pride. The players may respond to a new voice. They will escape a lot of the criticism because of the pathetic managerial performance. You just wonder what the hell money is being spent on fitness training, on strength and conditioning etc etc because there is no discernable improvement.The whole plan put in place has been a massive massive failure and the word has been out for some time that the players do not like and are not responding to the manager.

The solution long-term - I don't know.

For this Summer though - the response could be a threesome of Forde, Connelly, and Brady. Men who embody steel, commitment and passion for the green and red and who could get this players on a right step to hopefully a brighter future.

There is so much more that you could say about an organisation in the Countythat is rotten to the core but why bother.... The same faces have run the show for 30/40 year sand until the clubs stand up for change and somebody puts themselves forward to change things that will all stay the same.

[mannix]

I agree with all said here, JOM has to go. The thing is that he will not willingly go I imagine. You see what that ass managing limericks hurler done, he was more important than the pride of a county and its best players, we will have the same here.
The new man would need to be tactically tuned in, and the likes of brady and dempsey along with him would make some of our stars sit up and take notice.
T mort and t parsons are shells of what they should be, aos and mcgarrity have regressed to the point of being pasengers. Only Andy and freeman made any impression on the game, andy throughout was busting his ass and was exactly what all Mayo players should be.
The playerst are unsure because the manager is unsure, t mort and co are finished as long as this crowd are running the show.

[Barney]

Summed up far more eloquently than I could ever do by An Spailpin:

http://spailpin.blogspot.com/

[Farrandeelin]

The most eloquently piece put together by anyone on here regarding Mayo football Barney. Where werre all the Mayo fans yesterday? Oh yes, Johnno has managed to do one thing and that was dampen expectation.

[joemamas]

I agree with all said here, JOM has to go. The thing is that he will not willingly go I imagine. You see what that ass managing limericks hurler done, he was more important than the pride of a county and its best players, we will have the same here.
The new man would need to be tactically tuned in, and the likes of brady and dempsey along with him would make some of our stars sit up and take notice.
T mort and t parsons are shells of what they should be, aos and mcgarrity have regressed to the point of being pasengers. Only Andy and freeman made any impression on the game, andy throughout was busting his ass and was exactly what all Mayo players should be.
The playerst are unsure because the manager is unsure, t mort and co are finished as long as this crowd are running the show.

A very depressing morning after. I do not believe in kicking someone when they are down, but as the old saying goes, "you can delegate authority, but not responsibility)

I did observe one thing, the body language of quiet a few players was terrible, it was almost like they did not care, an indicment not just on the manager but also the coaching staff. (there is as little confidence in them as there is in their boss)

when your centre back, centre forward, and two midfielders are as poor as they were yesterday, then no team can win a game. I said it at half-time yesterday that the kicking of trev mortimer and Mcgarrity was atrocious. That is a basic skill, how on earth can you have players with such obvious weaknesses be pivitol players on your team. Aiden Higgings on a bad day would have probably been better at corner back.

Will the return of Dillion, Barret, Kilcoyne, Howley, a fully fit Barry Moran (an oxymoron), a fit Aiden O Shea and whoever I missed, save anything from this season. I personally doubt it. If it was me I would not call another traing session before the 1st qualifier and let the chips fall where they may.

[From the Bunker]

O'Mahoney's decline since 2001 AI win with Galway.

with Galway


2002
Beat Roscommon
Beat Mayo
Beat Sligo
Lost Kerry


2003
Beat Roscommon
Beat Leitrim
Beat Mayo
Drew Donegal
Lost Donegal

2004
Beat London
Lost Mayo
Beat Louth
Lost Tyrone

with Mayo

2007
Lost Galway
Lost Derry

2008
Beat Sligo
Lost Galway
Lost Tyrone

2009
Beat New York
Beat Roscommon
Beat Galway
Lost Meath

2010
Lost Sligo

Wins 12 Lost 10 Drew 1 (two of the wins have been against New York and London)

Louth only county beaten outside Connacht.

[Farrandeelin]

Mayo managed to beat Cavan in 2007 FtB. Not saying that's any great statistic either.

[From the Bunker]

Mayo managed to beat Cavan in 2007 FtB. Not saying that's any great statistic either.

missed that one thanx 

[moysider]

A few people around last night expressed the view that the team should be taken out of the qualifiers - the women's team were taken out for less. there is no point continuing with this charade and embarrassment.

At one stage yesterday when Clarkey collected a ball dropping short about 6 players who should have been looking for space to take the ball off him turned their backs on him. That was with 20 minutes to go and no urgency, no moral courage, only fear and cowardice. I have little sympathy for most Mayo fans to be honest. Most wanted this appointment and have defended it even though it has been clear from the start that it was going to dumb us back years. When the inevitable happens in a few weeks it will take some rescue project to turn things around. He left Galway in a poor state, but by God we are going to be at a lower level entirely.Several players are for the scrap heap - and it wasn't All Ireland maulings that put them there. Hanley was lucky he got away to Australia _ otherwise he would have been moping about Markievicz Park as well yesterday.

[RedandGreenSniper]

Agree Barney. Time for him to go.. If the clubs feel strongly enough about this, they can change things. Or everyone can sit on their hands again and allow clems to make stupid decisions or to play to their own agendas. People have to decide if they care enough to change. If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.

I would hope JOM has enough cop on to go now and make things easier. But I'm not foolish enough to expect that.

[From the Bunker]

A few people around last night expressed the view that the team should be taken out of the qualifiers - the women's team were taken out for less. there is no point continuing with this charade and embarrassment.

ah, i can see/feel your hurt but there is a level of gamesmanship you have to adhere to. What would you think if Waterford, Carlow pulled out of the championship cause they seen no point in it. There has to be losers, and at the moment we are in this bracket. As a matter of responsibility O'Mahoney has to stay on untill we are out of the championship. God knows i'd say he would have packed it in after the League Final v Cork, but what use would that have been so late in the year.

[moysider]

I know. I know. But this has been a disaster. At the very latest he should have gone after Meath last year. Preferably after the Derry game 2007. Ideally should never have been there at all. Writing off another Summer just isn't good enough. The board needs to appoint a caretaker manager for the next game. As regards his responsibilities, he has abdicated his responsibilities throughout his tenure. It has been as arrogant and selfish a stewardship  of any boss in a sport that i can recall.

[Barney]

moysider you are spot on.

I would never have been one of those calling for JOM to take charge of Mayo but I did hope that when he did that it could be a positive given especially that he appeared to be a lucky general.

But it was very much a political project by a County Board that has focused on either Padraig Nally, Fine Gael or their own internal battles. What hope have we when the people leading the organisation in the county have no idea where they are going, where they want to go or how they are going to get there.

And it was known that our first game would come in the middle of a General Election. And on the day before Johnno was on the news with canvassing with birds of prey in Ballina with Enda Kenny. And we were humiliated but yet the people of Mayo still bought the guff and returned him to the Dail!! Well the vultures are definitely circling now/

He will go at the end of this Summer and us supporters will be laughed at by outsiders in the press who only tune into Mayo GAA when it appears that there could be blood on the dancefloor.

And even by last year and the capitulation against Meath there was no shake-up of selectors despite no leadership on the line; no change in fitness coaching despite us lagging late in games. And that is why we are where are we are today. A project destroyed. A generation of talent lost. And facing a debt-laden future of mediocrity. No matter who comes in now it is hard to see where the dramatic change can come from. Fellas that had big ability have had their spirit broken and have missed crucial years of development but sadly are not strong enough personalities to develop and improve from now.

Just one example of the cluelessness can be easily seen.

In Year 1 his answer to the big problem centre half back - Billie Joe.

In Year 2 we had a problem at full back - Billie Joe.

And still yesterday Billie Joe was his only answer.

[Lar Naparka]

I have just ignored considered medical advice to avoid stress at all costs and sat through a rerun of that game, courtesy of RTE Sport. I share one characteristic with John O'Mahony; I also ignore reality on a frequent basis, oblivious of the considerable cost involved and the torrents of criticism directed at me.
Well, okay, the costs are of a financial nature as I sit and listen to a pack of hoors who never followed Mayo football and the criticism/abuse/ thinly veiled threats hopped off me are coming from those near and dear to me- who really should know better.
But I really feel that Johnno is a far bigger basket case than me as he seems quite ready to face up to all of civilisation as we know it and keeps his face straight and his voice unwavering as he blathers into the nearest microphone about the need to sit down reassess the situation; regroup; reform, redress and every other effing re you can think of –with the unfortunate exception of retire.
So, with a marked lack of enthusiasm I launched the RTE Player. It took dedication of Sligonianic proportions to the cause to hang in and watch the entire debacle. I knew in advance what I would be looking for; the body language of the players and spectators and the comments of the commentators.
We were a beaten docket from the throw in.
I have never, ever seen Mayo fans in such subdued form; it was as if they were listening to a speech lecture from Enda Kenny. Even the good Enda himself would appear positively animated in comparison to the majority of the players on show.
"...and their old failings have come back to haunt them," was a comment from Tony Davis as Connoreen blasted another yet another easy chance wide.
"While Sligo are growing in stature, Mayo are hiding; they are not showing for the ball," was another observation as yet another attempt at an attack broke down.
The bould Davis wasn't quite finished yet. "It's a very different Mayo team from the last Connacht Final; I'll tell you that," sez he as the ref mercifully called a halt to proceedings.
His overall, damning assessment of Mayo's display was, "They are just not good enough, Dara."
Anyone care to take issue with Tony Davis? Unfortunately, I can't because I'm not quite that much detached from reality but Johnno's take on the game is another matter.
"We'll regroup, we'll see where we are, we'll move on," somehow sounds the alarm bells for me.
I honestly thought he was making progress with his latest team building plans and maybe he was as he just cannot hang on to the Old Brigade indefinitely but I honestly can't see anything other than spectacular implosions from his team, followed by irrational reactions from himself if things continue in present fashion.
I am conscious of the considerable strain on his time and resources that double jobbing entail and I have no doubts whatsoever about his good intentions but maybe he should pay heed to the opinions of Tony Davis and reflect on the parting one. Maybe he, like his team, just isn't good enough.

[Hardy]

Five star post, Lar.

By the way, forget about expecting Johnno to go. Irish politicians don't resign.