Ciaran McDonald not named in Mayo panel

[rosnarun]

any talk of under age prowess really is a red herring after a player has started playing senior. a good under age career means you deserve a shot in the senior team but then you start with a clean sheet same as every one else. cunnuffe best game for mayo  V deery was at corner back but as looked a disaster at CHB  last sunday looked well out of his depth.
a bit pointless brining new names into the equation at this point and anyway cafferkey has not looked any thing like a senior player yet .
wheres  kevin loughlin from ? what sort of player is he

[Farrandeelin]

Knockmore rosnarun. He is a very good player for the Knockmore team and will probably make the Mayo panel at least next year. Nice tidy player but he has a bit of filling up to do yet.

[moysider]

any talk of under age prowess really is a red herring after a player has started playing senior. a good under age career means you deserve a shot in the senior team but then you start with a clean sheet same as every one else. cunnuffe best game for mayo  V deery was at corner back but as looked a disaster at CHB  last sunday looked well out of his depth.
a bit pointless brining new names into the equation at this point and anyway cafferkey has not looked any thing like a senior player yet .
wheres  kevin loughlin from ? what sort of player is he

Myself I would nt have had Cuniffe as a starter this year anyway. My preferred hb line would have been Howley, Heaney and K Higgins. But I would nt have f**ked him around by trying to make him into a corner back, what was that about? You seem to think he s bunched and not up to it and my fear is that he ll be ruined for good. I would have seen him in the short term as cover and late impact sub for no. 5 mainly.  I take your point about stepping up to senior but God help us if our better players are not being nurtured through to senior. Outstanding u21 v Kerry championship to Senior is not too big a leap. Guaranteed he d be doing it in other Counties.
I see a lot of Cafferkey and we ll just have to disagree on his quality. Thought he should have been in the panel and considered for no. 4. You say its pointless bringing in new names now but its also pointless continuing with things that are not working. We re limited enough for fb line without robbing the half back line to paper over the cracks that are there. With Howley out they have an opportunity to bring in and work with a lad that has a future in the full back line. Also you suggest they might be thinking of Barry Moran for ff. Not a new name but Cafferkey is hardly either and Barry Moran has hardly been a regular. Moran is a player we needed to have come through by now or soon anyway and I rate him very highly but they have nt played him ff since Celtic Park 9 months ago! Are they just goin to throw him in again? It might confuse the opposition but it was also evident last year that Conor and Andy Moran were confused by his presence as well and in one case unable and in the other more unwilling to come to terms with what he was trying to do. Surely if he is in their plans he needs to be properly integrated into the team in league and challenge games so the fellas he is playing with can establish some kind of understanding with him.

[RedandGreenSniper]

We are no further on from this time last year wondering about the fullback line. You'd think after all the chopping and changing that we could have gotten somebody. Or maybe all the chopping and changing is the problem, not allowing players growing into the position. McLoughlin is a year off the panel yet R&GS imo anyway. He's only 19. However, I do agree with you about Cafferkey. Johnno is under a lot of pressure to deliver something this year. And flooting around with the fullback line won't get us anything.

I agree, I wasn't suggesting to bring him in. You could hardly go from being an Under 21 sub (rightly or wrongly) to a senior panellist. But I've seen him at close quarters over the past three years and I think he has all that it takes in terms of speed, tackling, reading of the game, attitude to go all the way. I agree with ya, he probably could do with filling out a bit but he's not one bit weak either.

But until we get the likes of him involved and until Cafferkey is considered good enough by JOM, our full-back line will be square pegs for round holes.

Only Aidan Higgins and Trevor Howley (injury notwithstanding) are as comfortable in the full-back line as the half-back line. After that the options are BJP - God knows what the poor lads best position is; Kieran Conroy, a midfielder; James Nallen, a centre-back past his best, by how much only time will tell; Colm Boyle, Tom Cunniffe and Keith Higgins - all attacking wing-backs. And then poor David Heaney . . . Its a tale of woe really. I'd just hope we can paper over the cracks.

To my mind, as I said earlier, Nallen and Aidan Higgins either side of Conroy or maybe BJP could be the best option. But you could draw up ten different realistic options and still be wrong . .

[AZOffaly]

Lads, I believe Offaly beat Mayo in a challenge match last night in the Hyde. Any reports by any chance?

[Maradona]

Some of ye are really critical about recent team selections, some say young players should be in, others say they shouldnt. A few observations:

1. Is it not clear that we are not just getting the players coming through of top inter-county standard? Ye talk of the likes of Cunniffe as if he should be wrapped up in cotton wool because he is such a good prospect! - my opinion is that the likes of him and cafferty stand out because we are so bereft at the moment. Both have potential to make the senior grade yes, but I have seen both players cleaned out on occassion also, so to suggest they are anything but good prospects is silly

2. Ye are critical of JOM moving Cunniffe about the place - well the majority of 'central' defenders come in to a senior team in the corner or wing in order to start the learning curve. Dont see anything wrong with that. Nallen started in the corner and worked his way to CHB.

3. There is a lot of mention of the great abundance of wing backs we have - but is the reason for this not that they are all more comfortable in a line where you can get away a bit more with defending and play a looser game?

4. We are seriously short of quality at the moment - management can only pick from whats available. Putting aside the potential some of our youngsters have, In my mind we only have 1-2 or potentially 3 players that any of the top 6 or so teams would really want or indeed consider putting in their team - Conor Mort and possibly Heaney, Higgins or Dillion. That is the fact unfortunately

[moysider]

Not true. Clarke, Howley, McGarrity, Trevor and Parsons are also good enough clearly.

[Maradona]

my point being, say which one of the top 6 teams (say for arguments sake Kerry, Dublin, Cork, Tyrone, Armagh, Derry), would want any of the Mayo players in their team?
Youd hardly say those players would as most of them are not gaurentees on a struggeling Mayo team at the moment. You can argue either way, but the best team in the country would propably pick none, that is the reality

[AZOffaly]

Lads, I believe Offaly beat Mayo in a challenge match last night in the Hyde. Any reports by any chance?

No word on this lads?

[the Deel Rover]

just talking to a lad there Az mayo lost by 6 well thats what he said

[AZOffaly]

On the face of it, for what it's worth, that's a good result for Offaly. What sort of team did Mayo have out I wonder?

[moysider]

my point being, say which one of the top 6 teams (say for arguments sake Kerry, Dublin, Cork, Tyrone, Armagh, Derry), would want any of the Mayo players in their team?
Youd hardly say those players would as most of them are not gaurentees on a struggeling Mayo team at the moment. You can argue either way, but the best team in the country would propably pick none, that is the reality

The best team in the Country [ Kerry] would hardly want anybody from any other county either. McGarrity would be picked to partner O Shea imho. Could nt see any Dublin player make the Kerry team and maybe 2 from current Tyrone team. Lots of Mayo lads would make the Cork, Tyrone, Dublin Armagh and Derry teams.

[moysider]

On the face of it, for what it's worth, that's a good result for Offaly. What sort of team did Mayo have out I wonder?

Yeah, Mayo lost to Offaly. Did nt hear the team but heard ' there was some lads missing' . Whatever that means? I m sure they had 15 fellas from the panel togged.

[the Deel Rover]

i  was told from midfield up was Mc Garritty, Parsons, Pat Harte, Alan Dillon, Aidan Kilcoyne, Conor Mort, Austie o' Malley and Moran  he didn't tell me the backs   

[AZOffaly]

Cheers Deel.

That seems like a fairly strong front 8? Would it be close enough to championship forwards and midfield?