Mayo Football and Hurling - Discussion pages

[Mister_Mayor]

..... He must make significant progress in the next 2 years (which won't happen imo) for him to be seen as a successful manager in many peoples eyes.

I agree farrandeelin, but how do we characterize progress? IMHO, he must at least get to the final in 2010...win if possible, but absolutely must win it inside two years. My feeling is, that is we flop in the C'ship next year, he's out and MOD is in.   

[AbbeySider]

Dempsey is wearing number 15 at the top of the picture slugging it out with Coyle, the bollocks. Dempsey can be accused of many things, but backing down is not one of them.

http://sportsfile.com/id/069353/

Coyle and another at the same time.

It was Fat Larry who took a nap in the middle of the scrap.

And Casey who looked around him, didn't like the heat of the kitchen, and hit the ground. Very funny if you're not from Mayo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWdn6Gmrkz8
2nd Second, Larry takes one (was it a handbag?) and hits the ground... (a stampede ensues) 
11th to 17th second on the top of the picture you can see Dempsey taking a bit of a skelping from 2 Meath players... he disappears off to the right after that but ill give him the benifit of the doubt 
34th second, Casey getting attention from no less than 5 medics...

[FL/MAYO]

Dempsey is wearing number 15 at the top of the picture slugging it out with Coyle, the bollocks. Dempsey can be accused of many things, but backing down is not one of them.

http://sportsfile.com/id/069353/

So Dempsey should have been sent off with Coyle instead of McHale, can we blame Dempsey for the loss then?

[Mister_Mayor]

So Dempsey should have been sent off with Coyle instead of McHale, can we blame Dempsey for the loss then?

I don't think so, we really lost it the first day...I'd rather not roll over these coals again..

[stephenite]

Care to tell us ur club mister mayor?

What's the obsession about where people are from?

PS
: Welcome to the board

[Mister_Mayor]

What's the obsession about where people are from?

PS
: Welcome to the board

Cheers Stephenite...its great to have a place to talk about the ga.
Cant get enough of it and can't wait for Sunday's minor match.

[Tubberman]

My feeling is, that is we flop in the C'ship next year, he's out and MOD is in.

Mick O'Dwyer! 

I would very much doubt that will be the next mangerial appointment. JOM has another 2 years left on his 'contract' so it's premature to be talking about it, but I can't see Mayo county board going after a man in his 70s to lead us!
I'd imagine they'd be thinking along the lines of Dempsey, Holmes/Connelly (wouldn't be my choice) or Mickey Harte if he's called it quits with Tyrone by then 

[ballinaman]

Heard the news there that Tom Cunniffe is heading to college in England this year. He was a savage loss in this years championship in fairness and really hope that he'll continue playing ball for Mayo, will take a huge effort by him to keep training and get back for matches.

Also,really hope Kerry knock seven shades of shite out Meath this weekend and then Cork do the same to Kerry. I shall be at the minor match this sunday, i'm sure our friends from Meath will only have nice things to say about my jersey!

[Barney]

Well there is zero chance of Mick O'Dwyer. And personally I wouldn't be in favour of his appointment. We have a bad experience with a Kerry man already that cost us a lot of money. Longer term appointments are the way to go. Connelly, Dempsey, Forde are the calibre of men we should be looking to. All 3 would be perfect!!

Mickey Harte? Sadly no chance. He has built Tyrone football from minor upwards and won't be leaving any time soon, and I could not see him looking to get involved elsewhere.

[mrhardyannual]

One of the problems we have in Mayo is that there are too many senior clubs who are not of a sufficiently high standard. In the 1960s and 1970s we had no more than eight senior clubs. The present contingent of 16 allows for a good championship on paper but the quality teams are few. It is a tribute to the work done in these few clubs that we have contested so many All Ire club finals.
Someone commented on junior and intermediate players being overlooked on the county team and contrasted it with the number of non senior club players on the Cork team. The comparison is not valid. In Cork (as in Kerry) all junior and intermediate club players are free to play with their divisional teams in the senior championship and with their own club at the lower level. In this way players are constantly playing at the highest level and against the strongest opposition and their worth can be better appraised.
In Mayo the better players in smaller clubs are constantly being played out of position and outside of their age groups because they are the most gifted. Because of this, most dont get to specialise as e.g. a cnr fwd as they will be wanted in midfield. Also we allow too many large clubs play at underage football at B and C levels when they have the numbers to play at higher levels, In this way we see outstanding performances against weak opposition leading to young fellows getting reputations they havent earned. When they play against better opposition at colleges level they are shown up as the big fish in small ponds who struggle in the sea.

Eight senior clubs and eight divisional side would give a stronger championshipat senior level and allow more players from smaller clubs to promote themselves.
Underage competition needs a major overhaul. That we get games played within time and according to a fixtures programme should not be the sole determinant of how well our underage programme is organised.
Rant over. Spleen vented. Feling much better

[AbbeySider]

Great post there mrhardyannual... your making a lot of valid points. Welcome to the board btw!

One of the problems we have in Mayo is that there are too many senior clubs who are not of a sufficiently high standard. In the 1960s and 1970s we had no more than eight senior clubs. The present contingent of 16 allows for a good championship on paper but the quality teams are few. It is a tribute to the work done in these few clubs that we have contested so many All Ire club finals.

Regarding that bit in bold... I dont agree that having only 8 teams in a straight knockout system was better than the system in place now. Its certainly not better for the county as a whole....
Was it not the case that in the 60's 70's 80's and most, of the 90's you had a straight knockout championship competition ??
I dont see how playing one game rather than a group system could make teams any better. In the past a great team might get caught on a bad day under bad circumstances and lose a match by a point and not play championship again for a whole year. Hence there would be no improvement in that team.

Mayo teams have won 12 Connacht Club championships since 1970.
10 of those were won since 1992.
7 of which were since 1999 (in the last 10 years)

Our 2 club All Irelands came from Ballina in 2004-05 and Cross in 2001-02. Im not sure what system was in 2002 but the group stages system seems to bring teams on more than previously.

...
In Mayo the better players in smaller clubs are constantly being played out of position and outside of their age groups because they are the most gifted. Because of this, most dont get to specialise as e.g. a cnr fwd as they will be wanted in midfield. Also we allow too many large clubs play at underage football at B and C levels when they have the numbers to play at higher levels, In this way we see outstanding performances against weak opposition leading to young fellows getting reputations they havent earned. When they play against better opposition at colleges level they are shown up as the big fish in small ponds who struggle in the sea.

Thats an interesting point. Its probably more of a problem in smaller clubs that lack numbers in positions, but playing players out of their natural positions is rampant at Inter County level in Mayo and it has to stop. Forwards being put in the backs and backs being put in the forwards a minor and U21 county level is a Joke

Eight senior clubs and eight divisional side would give a stronger championshipat senior level and allow more players from smaller clubs to promote themselves.

Sounds good in theory. I would be in favour of getting North Mayo (amalgamated Junior teams) back into the championship to see how it goes. But it did fizzle out after a bit... I cant remember why exactly that happened.

Underage competition needs a major overhaul. That we get games played within time and according to a fixtures programme should not be the sole determinant of how well our underage programme is organised.
Rant over. Spleen vented. Feling much better

What do you mean by overhaul? Do you see it failing at Bord Na nOg level?
I know you mentioned earlier about not allowing bigger teams to play down the divisions and I agree.

I also think that the likes of U-16 county "development" panels should be scrapped because it is very rare that a player makes it from U-16 (so called) development panels up to U-21 or senior level. I heard a statistic that only one player made it from the U-16 development squad to a recent U-21 team in Mayo. County vocational schools teams also need to be considered for the chop.
These type of teams only give young impressionable lads the idea that they have it made because they get the county shirt too early.
I would be much in favour of a Mayo North, South East and West competition where more guys get a chance and it keeps competitive. 

[AbbeySider]

Did anyone else hear the rumour that Noel Connelly is joining John O Mahoney's management team as a replacement for Kieran Gallagher? I heard it last week from a couple of sources.

He will make a good addition id say. A good talker in the dressing room and a good motivator.
He always had the Mayo U21 lads in good shape too so he has a lot to offer.

[ballinaman]

Did anyone else hear the rumour that Noel Connelly is joining John O Mahoney's management team as a replacement for Kieran Gallagher? I heard it last week from a couple of sources.

He will make a good addition id say. A good talker in the dressing room and a good motivator.
He always had the Mayo U21 lads in good shape too so he has a lot to offer.

That would be great news. He'll add a bit of fire anways! Speaking of which, Dempsey was supposed to have grabbed each player one by one by the jersey at half time in the minor semi and given them the old "hair dryer treatment". Some man, will need that again before the final!!

[the Deel Rover]

Not a surprise


O'Mahony staying with Mayo

Mayo manager John O'Mahony
04 September 2009


John O'Mahony has confirmed that he will be remaining in charge of Mayo for a fourth year.

The Fine Gael TD has decided to remain at the helm, despite Mayo's shock All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Meath last month.

He explained to the Irish Examiner: "Last autumn, I was given an additional two years as team manager by the Mayo county board and I've decided to take up the option of the remaining 12 months in the position.

"Understandably, everyone was very disappointed with the result against Meath, but I feel that we can learn from that experience and do better in next year's championship.

"Despite our failure to get past the All-Ireland quarter-final this year, I feel the future is very bright for Mayo football. It's very encouraging that the county achieved a clean sweep of Connacht titles this year. As well as the seniors, the minor and under 21 sides also won provincial titles.

"Of course, the minors were in last year's All-Ireland final and took Tyrone to a replay and are in this year's All-Ireland final. The under 21s only lost narrowly to Down in this year's All-Ireland semi-final, who were only beaten by a late goal by Cork in the All-Ireland final.

"Lads from the under 21 team like Donal Vaughan and Tom Parsons have already made the breakthrough to the senior team as has, of course, Aidan O'Shea, who was on last year's minor team and this year's under 21 team."

[Farrandeelin]

Not a surprise


O'Mahony staying with Mayo

Mayo manager John O'Mahony
04 September 2009


John O'Mahony has confirmed that he will be remaining in charge of Mayo for a fourth year.

The Fine Gael TD has decided to remain at the helm, despite Mayo's shock All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Meath last month.

He explained to the Irish Examiner: "Last autumn, I was given an additional two years as team manager by the Mayo county board and I've decided to take up the option of the remaining 12 months in the position.

"Understandably, everyone was very disappointed with the result against Meath, but I feel that we can learn from that experience and do better in next year's championship.

"Despite our failure to get past the All-Ireland quarter-final this year, I feel the future is very bright for Mayo football. It's very encouraging that the county achieved a clean sweep of Connacht titles this year. As well as the seniors, the minor and under 21 sides also won provincial titles.

"Of course, the minors were in last year's All-Ireland final and took Tyrone to a replay and are in this year's All-Ireland final. The under 21s only lost narrowly to Down in this year's All-Ireland semi-final, who were only beaten by a late goal by Cork in the All-Ireland final.

"Lads from the under 21 team like Donal Vaughan and Tom Parsons have already made the breakthrough to the senior team as has, of course, Aidan O'Shea, who was on last year's minor team and this year's under 21 team."

Really, was Vaughan actually that good against Meath? Was Parsons?? No both of them got cleaned and O'Mahony says they've settled in well. It's easy to settle in against Roscommon (this year) and a Galway team who were lacking real leadership on Connacht final day. We must start a bit of ruthlessness in the team after winning Connacht titles. Hopefully O'Mahony will start  to drill this in next year.