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Seconds out - Round 1  ;D

Disappointed with the attitude to the FBD League - there are always benefits that can be gained by going out and winning matches.

Judgement is reserved though. The last two years have been extremely disappointing and JOM must start to regain the confidence of supporters from Sunday week.

Its not going to be easy to survive in Division 1 but four home games, and a trip to Galway mean that the fixture list has been kind. An opening win is a must.

It is very hard to know what to expect from Mayo this year. Based on the performances over the last two years, and the continuing uncertainly over who'll fill key positions on the team, it will be a more subdued and cautious outlook from Mayo supporters this year I think.
JOM is obviously frustrated at not being able to pick from a full deck for the FBD. He has a point, but his dismissive attitude to the competition surely wasn't lost on the players - you'd imagine it would have been more beneficial to the squad if every game was approached as must-win. But it is very much a bottom rung competition, and will be forgotten by Sunday week.
I'm not sure if the Derry game is must win. It will be the first serious outing of the year, and there is bound to be a lot of rustiness. The McKenna cup is far more competitive than the FBD, so Derry may be more up to speed. However, Mayo usually start the league fairly well and the fact that the match is in Ballina, a club ground, should be worth a couple of points.
I'll be travelling to Ballina hoping for a win, but not really expecting one.

These are two teams that usually do well in the league and this should be a good game, home advantage will swing it for Mayo i think and I expect them to do quite well this year. I've said this before but i think Mayo posters are being far too harsh on JOM, if anything I think he is doing a very good job and I would expect Mayo to show improvement on the last two years. The problem with Mayo IMO is not the manager but the players, they simply don't have the extra bit of class up front to beat the top 4 in championship. And they aren't so far ahead of the other teams in the top 10-12 that they couldn't be beaten on any given day. It might be no harm for Mayo to go all out and try and win the league as they won't win Sam next year IMO.

Quote from: Zulu on January 20, 2009, 09:53:59 AM
These are two teams that usually do well in the league and this should be a good game, home advantage will swing it for Mayo i think and I expect them to do quite well this year. I've said this before but i think Mayo posters are being far too harsh on JOM, if anything I think he is doing a very good job and I would expect Mayo to show improvement on the last two years. The problem with Mayo IMO is not the manager but the players, they simply don't have the extra bit of class up front to beat the top 4 in championship. And they aren't so far ahead of the other teams in the top 10-12 that they couldn't be beaten on any given day. It might be no harm for Mayo to go all out and try and win the league as they won't win Sam next year IMO.

I disagree with you there Zula as regards us been harsh on o' mahony. yes some of us have questioned his decisions and whether he is fully focused on the mayo job but these are legitimate questions. Its funny that in mayo you seem to think that the manager is not the problem but the players while in cork its the opposite ;)

I wouldn't think we'll be any more up to speed than Mayo.  the McKenna cup panel won't bring too many faces to the National League so there will be alot of boys that haven't played competitive football.  Looking forward to the match, probably more interested in what the team will be more than anything.  Some changes being made by Cassidy and it will be interesting to see what direction he takes us in.

I wouldn't be too bother about non performance, in fairness theres not a lot of point in having must win games in January, i would say its a lot better to get a look at some players
Same for the league, lets face it if we win 3 games we will probably stay up and for me it would be more important to find players to tie down key positions

Quote from: the Deel Rover on January 20, 2009, 10:10:39 AM

Quote from: Zulu on January 20, 2009, 09:53:59 AM
These are two teams that usually do well in the league and this should be a good game, home advantage will swing it for Mayo i think and I expect them to do quite well this year. I've said this before but i think Mayo posters are being far too harsh on JOM, if anything I think he is doing a very good job and I would expect Mayo to show improvement on the last two years. The problem with Mayo IMO is not the manager but the players, they simply don't have the extra bit of class up front to beat the top 4 in championship. And they aren't so far ahead of the other teams in the top 10-12 that they couldn't be beaten on any given day. It might be no harm for Mayo to go all out and try and win the league as they won't win Sam next year IMO.

I disagree with you there Zula as regards us been harsh on o' mahony. yes some of us have questioned his decisions and whether he is fully focused on the mayo job but these are legitimate questions. Its funny that in mayo you seem to think that the manager is not the problem but the players while in cork its the opposite ;)

Ah now DR I said it's the CB who are the problem in Cork not Gerald :). But in all seriousness, JOM has an impressive record and IMO has done quite well in his two years, after all if Mayo showed a bit more composure or a had a bit more class in front of the posts last year ye probably would have beaten Tyrone. And IMO Tyrone would have a better squad than Mayo at the moment, so that was no mean feat. Anyway I won't hijack a thread about this national league game any further, I wish ye the best of luck this year and as a native of a primarily hurling county, Mayo are always my football county of choice.

any reason why you like to follow mayo Zulu ?

There's a few reasons DR, first off ye haven't won an AI in a long time, secondly ye usually play a nice brand of football, thirdly I've met a good few Mayo lads and generally found them to be dead on and finally and most importantly, ye are fanatical about yer football and seem genuinely passionate about the game. You could probably say the same about some other counties and I'd support those teams as well if they had a chance of winning the All Ireland but I've always had a particular gra for Mayo. Indeed I'll be looking for a new job soon and Mayo will be top of my list location wise (if I can get a job in Ireland that is).

I'd fancy Mayo to win this game, we're going to be very experimental throughout the league this year, if we avoid relegation I'd imagine the new management team will be delighted, if not, I don't think they'll be too worried.  We have a pile of injuries, but that aside I think we'll be working on developing a game plan.  If we stay within 5 that might be a result ;)

well is there many of ye Derry lads coming down for the match . It could be a good time for a few of the derry and mayo posters to meet up for a few scoops

Quote from: the Deel Rover on January 20, 2009, 12:07:17 PM
well is there many of ye Derry lads coming down for the match . It could be a good time for a few of the derry and mayo posters to meet up for a few scoops

wheres a good spot for scoops in Ballina?

There is no shortage of pubs whiskeysteve , all these bars would be a five minute walk to the pitch. Liam Mc Hales pub Mcs Bar, The broken Jug , Brennans Bar to name a few 

I'm not sure what we should be expecting from this game and the league in general.

If we were to field a team like this:
Clarke
A Higgins D Heaney L O'Malley
P Gardiner J Nallen T Cunniffe
R McGarrity T Parsons
B Padden A Dillon T Mortimer
C Mortimer A O'Malley A Moran

We might actually do well in the league and achieve some decent enough results but we all know thats not a team thats going to cut it in the championship.

Therefore we need to look at experimentation imho and while results will be important, I would not worry about going far in the league. Keep our Division 1 status and bring in new players who will be ready for championship, that would be the ideal.

For the Derry game I'd like to see a team like the following picked

D Clarke
K McLoughlin G Cafferkey S Drake
P Gardiner P Kelly D Vaughan
B Kelly T Parsons
A Moran A Dillon T Mortimer
C Mortimer B Moran M Sweeney.

Its an inexperienced defence, I'd agree, but that's the area where we need most surgery. Perhaps someone like Aidan Higgins or Liam O'Malley could be slotted into the full-back line for some experience but I'd be willing to give the three I've picked a go. Not sure what the story is with Nallen and Heaney but there's no rush with them yet anyhow.
Ger Cafferkey deserves an extended run at full-back, McLoughlin is the real deal, I reckon he'll be there for championship and Drake has definitely earned a shot, lets see how he goes.
Cunniffe is another option at wing-back. Chris Barrett too, when he's fully fit. While Trevor Howley is the other option at centre-back at the minute, but he's still injured.

McGarrity is just back from honeymoon, leave him on the line for a while. Billy Joe could easily start instead of Andy at 10, but I'd see how Andy gets on first. Dillon and Trevor will prob starts in these positions in championship. Inside I'd be a fan of Mikey Sweeney and he's definitely worth a go. Barry Moran has been showing up well in training games/challenges at full-forward. Try him there for an extended run and see how he gets on (why its only happening now is beyond me). Conor and Sweeney would be two perfect men to play off a big man.
Perhaps I'm leaving players out, I would hold Aidan O'Shea back yet, as with any of the minors from last year (except Robert Hennelly, different rules about overuse apply to goalkeepers). Let them play Under 21 and then maybe look at them.

Kenneth O'Malley is back playing football, though I'm not sure if JOM has been in contact with him yet. He is a fine keeper though and well worth a place on the Mayo panel IMO.

QuoteKenneth O'Malley is back playing football, though I'm not sure if JOM has been in contact with him yet. He is a fine keeper though and well worth a place on the Mayo panel IMO.

Really!? That's great news if he is. I remember reading the interview with him in The Mayo News (below) and I thought he'd never be able to play again. He lost half his kidney - it's an horrific story. 

Quote
Keeping the faith 
Tuesday, 11 March 2008 
Keeping the faith

Kenneth O'Malley suffered an horrific injury but is looking to the future now

Feature
Mike Finnerty

HAVE you ever wondered what happened to Kenneth O'Malley? Remember him? The goalkeeper from Ballinrobe who made his senior league and championship debut for Mayo last year. Great shot-stopper, wonderful kick-out, good temperament. Ring any bells? He was being talked about as being the next great white hope of county goalkeeping. The next Murphy or Cluxton and the man who was about to battle with David Clarke for the number one jersey for years to come.
How quickly some of us forget.
You see, in case you didn't hear, Kenneth O'Malley hasn't kicked a football since November 15 last year. It was a Thursday in case you're wondering. A random Thursday afternoon when he boarded the University of Limerick team bus and headed off to Templemore for a run-of-the-mill Higher Education League quarter-final against the Garda College.
Eleven months had passed since he was called into the Mayo senior panel. Forty-four weeks of club games, county matches and training sessions. U-21 and senior. A constant regime of togging out and doing the business. He was looking forward to the end of the season.
A few hours later, as Kenneth O'Malley lay on the cold, wet pitch in Templemore, he knew his year was over. In fact, he feared it was an awful lot worse. The pain in his chest was unbearable and he could feel himself losing consciousness. He was afraid. Something was wrong.
Now, almost four months on, he knows exactly what was wrong. His kidney was severed in two when a Garda College forward collided with him. One half of the organ died instantly while the fate of the other half won't be known fully until the end of next month.
And in the meantime, Kenneth O'Malley tries to get back to some kind of normality. His football career and life in general has been stopped in its tracks.

MF What's the up to date situation on your injury?
KOM The last time I spoke to my doctor he told me that there was only 50% of my kidney there. He doesn't know if that's working or not at the moment, he's hoping that it will regenerate over time. In about two months I'll know for definite if the remaining 50% is going to work again.

MF How is it affecting your everyday life?
KOM I wouldn't have even have 50% of the energy that I had in the past. College is tough going, I have to make up for everything I missed, and having to do double the work with only half the energy is tough. I'm just hoping that I'll be able to catch up.
I wouldn't stay up past 10 o'clock anymore because if I do the next day is practically ruined. I can't even jog across the road at the moment because of the impact and I just feel tired all the time. I've been told it's part and parcel of having a kidney problem.

MF How are you feeling mentally now?
KOM At the start I wasn't willing to accept it. I just kept telling myself that I'd be fine. But I attempted to drive down to Limerick shortly after Christmas but had to give up when I got to Galway. I just have to accept it now. I can't do the things that I was able to do so it's a case of not not fighting your body. You can deal with it or let it eat you up. It was a very unfortunate thing to happen but how I deal with it is going to make me or break me. It was an accident and now I have to get on with it.

MF What do you remember about what happened?
KOM We were losing by ten points early on in the game but I had saved a penalty from Denis Glennon. We ended up going back level and it was getting exciting going into injury-time. One of their lads took a shot from about 40 yards out that was going over the bar. If it did, they probably would have won the game.
I jumped up over the crossbar but couldn't catch the ball, I just managed to knock it down. The ball was just off the ground so I dived straight out onto it, a Superman dive I suppose you could say. One of their forwards came rushing in, with his knees up to protect himself, my whole body was open. He hit me straight into the side with his knee and I knew straight away I was in trouble.
I thought I was winded initially because I couldn't breathe. But then the pain started coming... I can't even describe how bad it was. I was in and out of consciousness. I was told since that I went pure white and I knew something was seriously wrong.

MF Can you describe what was going through your mind?
KOM I was very afraid. I won't pretend I wasn't. I couldn't breathe, there was so much pressure on my chest. Everything and anything was going through my head. I couldn't breathe anyway but then I started panicking too. That didn't do me any good either.
An ambulance was called and had to come from Nenagh. Our team physio thought initially that I had broken some ribs but I wasn't so sure. I had pain everywhere. Then they thought my lung had collapsed and I was given some morphine to try and ease the pain.
I spent about six hours in Nenagh Hospital. They did tests on my lungs and were trying to calm me down. It was a bad time. I had calmed down a little because the pain had eased off and I was told that there was no damage to my lungs. I was told I was free to go.
I was actually walking out the door when one of the doctors stopped me and asked me for a urine sample. It was just pure chance. It turned out that I had internal bleeding and if I had left the hospital and gone home, while bleeding so much, who knows what could have happened...

MF How long did you spend in hospital altogether?
KOM I was in Nenagh for three to four days while they figured out exactly what was wrong with me and whether or not they could deal with it. I was transferred from there to the urology department in Limerick and it was there that they discovered that my kidney was sliced in two. They told me that half was dead and the other half was badly damaged. I spent another nine days in hospital there... It wasn't a good time.

MF When did the seriousness of it all dawn on you?
KOM It happened on a Thursday and I was transferred to Limerick the following Monday. They did the tests on me all day and the following morning, at around 8am, the doctor did his rounds and told me the news.
I was on my own at the time. It was a relief in one sense. I knew there was something wrong but nobody could tell me what was wrong. It was almost a relief then that they had figured it out and I could get my head around it.
When I come back playing again, I'll appreciate it.

MF What was the lowest point?
KOM I was totally bed-ridden in hospital. I wasn't allowed out of the bed at all for nine days. For me, as an active person, that was very difficult. I was completely helpless. It was demoralising. I had to get help doing absolutely everything and I had some very bad days.
About two days after being admitted I lost all concept of who I was and where I was. I don't know if was the medication or my body reacting or what but it was very frightening. I remember sitting up, looking around me, and seeing my name on the bed behind me. Things started to come back me at that point and it passed off.
Getting home allowed me get back to normal a little bit. I had my parents around, I wasn't alone with my thoughts, and I had a lot of friends and people from the club calling.
THE new year brought a new start for Kenneth O'Malley and he returned to college in Limerick last month. There is a lot of catching up to be done as last semester was effectively lost and he notices that it is not as easy to concentrate and absorb information when lacking so much energy.
But the affable young sportsman has come a long way in a short time. Only last Saturday night he celebrated his 21st birthday with family and friends in Ballinrobe. He is also back driving again and can at least walk from A to B of his own free will. None of this was possible during Christmas so he is drawing strength from the positives. As for the future, well that will have to take care of itself.

MF Have you thought about the 'worst case scenario'?
KOM I don't like to hear that kind of negative talk. Some people have advised me to stay away from football in the future. I could end up in a situation or an accident where I end up damaging my other kidney and what happens then? It's all ifs and buts. You could drive yourself mad thinking all that could go wrong but there's just no point.

MF How are you looking at your football career now?
KOM It's impossible to set myself any targets at the moment. When I'm ready to even start coming back my first instinct will be to get my body right. I've lost all strength in my body so that will have to be built up again. So will that ability to go 100% into a tackle again. I don't want to be worrying about what happened before so as soon as I'm able to be back, I will.

MF Has it changed you?
KOM That's a good question...I made my senior debut for Mayo last year and this was going to be the biggest year of my football career so far. I was going to use last year as a foundation to build on. But that obviously won't happen now.
Football has been my life but, realistically, I wouldn't have huge hopes for my football career this year. I'm prepared for the specialist to tell me that but I just have to wait and see.

MF Does something like this teach you a lot about yourself?
KOM It makes you appreciate what you have, how good things were, and how good they will be again.

Yeah he played in goal for UL against Waterford in the McGrath Cup semi final and I'd say he'll be in goal for the final this Saturday against Cork. He played very well against Waterford by the way.

Good to hear he's back. He got an awful doing that time. It was a dirty enough challenge by all accounts too. Will be serious jostling for the Mayo number 1 jersey this year so between Kenny, Clarke and Robbie Hennelly. Clarke probably holds the edge at the moment

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 20, 2009, 01:41:39 PM
...
Therefore we need to look at experimentation imho and while results will be important, I would not worry about going far in the league. Keep our Division 1 status and bring in new players who will be ready for championship, that would be the ideal.

For the Derry game I'd like to see a team like the following picked

D Clarke
K McLoughlin G Cafferkey S Drake
P Gardiner P Kelly D Vaughan
B Kelly T Parsons
A Moran A Dillon T Mortimer
C Mortimer B Moran M Sweeney.

Id agree with most of your sentemants there R&GS but I dont think JOM has the balls to make the big decisions and play the young lads.
We will probably see Heaney back I reckon, maybe even Nallen.

Id like to see what Barry Regan can do in there somewhere, perhaps instead of Sweeney. Maybe slot in L O malley and A Higgins for some experience in the defence. Also K Higgins when he gets back and fit; will be raring to go.

This should hopefully be one of the most entertaing games in the opening round of the National League.  Fancy Derry to shade it as Mayo have shown nothing so far this year, albeit its the FBD League

Derry by 3

Higgins will be a shoo-in Abbeysider. I dunno will Heaney and Nallen start though, I don't think they've even started back training with the squad but I am open to correction on that.
Barry Regan deserves a go too but I'd say Sweeney is ahead  of him at the moment and deserves the start. Regan will get game time though I think. With regard to the forward line we're looking at guys to put their hands up for the full-forward spot (Barrys Moran and Regan and, at a push, Trevor or Aidan O'Shea) and top of the left (Mikey Sweeney, Regan, if not at 14 and, well I can't think off too many more.
We'd be fairly settled on Conor at 13 and Dillon at 11. Trevor more than likely to operate on one wing and then a battle royale between Billy Joe, Andy Moran and Pat Harte for the other wing spot.
McGarrity, if he regains his form pre '07, and Parsons, on the proviso he keeps going from where he left off in 2008, will be at midfield but its the defence where the major surgery will be.
If you were to look forward to championship the only players who we can say with any certainty that have nailed down positions are Gardiner (5), Parsons and McGarrity in the middle, Dillon and Trevor in the half-forward line and Conor at 13 so the league has to be experimental (Keith Higgins will also start but no guarantee as to position)

if you think Mayo are still experimentin, then Derry are re-inventing !

A whole plethora of new lads were mostly played inthe McKenna cup and its a tall order for any continuity to follow on from that.
New manager Cassidy has to try things out at some stage so this was his chance to do so over the past couple of weeks.

Doesnt prepare the starting XV for the League, most likely Mayo will be in much the same boat, but there will be a lot of the FBD lads plus the knowledge of playing under much the same system under JOM in prev years which puts it up to Cassidy's Derry.
A game too early for us for it to be anything other than a lottery on the day imo.

Wont be going up to Ballina. Would not be welcomed in that neck of the woods these days due to v acrimonious family reasons.
Otherwise would have loved to have the craic with Deel rover and a couple more of you.

No one likes losing, but oth sides will have their eye on the bigger picture of the championship season ahead and the games to win are the last couple withclose to your first XV to start momentum for the summer.
Result a toss of a coin.

ah feck it Lynchbhoy i thought you would definately have been down for the match

Quote from: Off The Fence on January 20, 2009, 04:14:20 PM
This should hopefully be one of the most entertaing games in the opening round of the National League.  Fancy Derry to shade it as Mayo have shown nothing so far this year, albeit its the FBD League

Derry by 3

I don't think anyone in derry has a clue what sort of team Cassidy will pick, including the players. A lot of new faces were trialled this year. Any prediction would be a complete shot in the dark.

Derry to win by 10.

LB could ye not bury the hatchet or go in disguise?

Quote from: whiskeysteve on January 20, 2009, 04:29:24 PM
LB could ye not bury the hatchet or go in disguise?

Quote from: the Deel Rover on January 20, 2009, 04:27:54 PM
ah feck it Lynchbhoy i thought you would definately have been down for the match

thats the problem, if I came face to face, it would be hard not to use my black belt in Gaelic football to great effect.
I'm not avoiding the game because of fear of what will happen to me, quite the opposite!

heading to see dubs v tyrone on Sat night anyhow and bringing two 'nephews' with me (converting them from soccer to football :))

So you're taking them to a stadium full of 80,000 Dubs and Tyronies???  Not exactly showing us in our best light LB! ;)

And your use of 'nephews' makes that statement sound slightly sinister! :-X

Any word on if the new rules are going to be extended into the league season? I'm sure i seen somewhere that they were thinking of modyifing them. If not, i'd safely predict a competitive and high scoring league. The likes of Mayo, Derry, Donegal and Kerry would do very well with more open football. Can't see Westmeath surviving the top flight this season.

Quote from: Blue and Navy on January 21, 2009, 01:41:00 AM
Any word on if the new rules are going to be extended into the league season? I'm sure i seen somewhere that they were thinking of modyifing them. If not, i'd safely predict a competitive and high scoring league. The likes of Mayo, Derry, Donegal and Kerry would do very well with more open football. Can't see Westmeath surviving the top flight this season.

They will, and they will be a disaster IMO. All well and good saying they work in the intensity-free zone that is the FBD League etc.

I'd expect this thread to reach 20 pages by the time the game is actually played. :D

Quote from: Tim Buzaglo on January 20, 2009, 04:56:38 PM
So you're taking them to a stadium full of 80,000 Dubs and Tyronies???  Not exactly showing us in our best light LB! ;)

And your use of 'nephews' makes that statement sound slightly sinister! :-X

I brought the oldest one to that qualifier loss to monaghan in clones last 'summer'
and if that didnt faze him, then croker wont.
It will be a good night for them, fireworks, burger /chips/pizza - whatever they want and oh yes, a match being played - which will almost be incidental.
Just good to get them rationalising and equating Gaa matches = a good time out !
They will get hooked on the football thereafter.

(they are the wife's nephews, so tech not mine - which is why I have that in brackets - by suggesting I bring them along to this game, I also be default got my easy way to see the game myself with no protest from the missus as shes mad about the nephews! Same reason why I brought the lad to clones last summer - tactics !)

still think that division will be a bit of a lottery, and Derry will potentially be in danger of relegation as Cass tries a few things with the ulster championship foremost in his mind. I'd agree with him. Relegation means feck all if we get to and win the ulster final!

Normally i'd definitely be down for the game, usually like to go come down the night before a league game for a few scoops but lost the job just before Christmas. Now it's a case of seeing if I can cadge a lift down on the day which shouldn't be a problem but the pintage is no  longer an option. Still it's nice to watch a game without a hangover.

Quote from: fer fox ache on January 21, 2009, 03:54:04 PM
Normally i'd definitely be down for the game, usually like to go come down the night before a league game for a few scoops but lost the job just before Christmas. Now it's a case of seeing if I can cadge a lift down on the day which shouldn't be a problem but the pintage is no  longer an option. Still it's nice to watch a game without a hangover.

sorry to hear that fox
best of luck in getting a new one...

Quote from: Sonny Joe on January 21, 2009, 04:14:01 PM
Derrys problem is that the 4 Queens players are still with Queens, they play the semifinal on thursday night, and another with St Marys, and haven't been with Derry. Muldoon, Mc Cusker, Lynch and Mc Cloy all injured. Plus add in a host of new faces and what you get is a balls up created by the gaa hierarchy which prevented teams from training in December and a team like Derry with a new manager is left to piuck up the pieces.

Are Collie Devlin and Kevin McGuckin not injured aswell?

Its going to be a very new look side against Mayo.. missing those 4, hinphey in austrailia, the 4 ballinderry boys that were left out and possibly Paddy Bradley and Gerard O'Kane not fit enough to start.

Is Paddy Bradley home from Oz? I met him in Sydney and he said he wasn't coming back until towards the end of February!

Anyone find out he Panel yet? What 4 from Queen's are in? Kielt, McBride, O'Kane and who else?

I don't see Mayo doing much in the League this year.....I think we are lacking a lot of leaders in key areas of the park (apart from Clarke in goals of course) and this was very evident in our last proper match against Tyrone.....

Should be a decent match all the same...by the sounds of previous Derry posters they are re-building too...

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 20, 2009, 01:41:39 PM
I'm not sure what we should be expecting from this game and the league in general.

If we were to field a team like this:
Clarke
A Higgins D Heaney L O'Malley
P Gardiner J Nallen T Cunniffe
R McGarrity T Parsons
B Padden A Dillon T Mortimer
C Mortimer A O'Malley A Moran

We might actually do well in the league and achieve some decent enough results but we all know thats not a team thats going to cut it in the championship.

Therefore we need to look at experimentation imho and while results will be important, I would not worry about going far in the league. Keep our Division 1 status and bring in new players who will be ready for championship, that would be the ideal.

For the Derry game I'd like to see a team like the following picked

D Clarke
K McLoughlin G Cafferkey S Drake
P Gardiner P Kelly D Vaughan
B Kelly T Parsons
A Moran A Dillon T Mortimer
C Mortimer B Moran M Sweeney.

I d go along with that Sniper. I d like to see Colm Cafferkey get a shot in a league match as well. He s always done well any time I ve seen him but never seems to get a chance outside FBD. Now I even know an Achill man who s not convinced he has the quality but I m not so sure. He s earned a shot anyway. Pat Kelly s best position is probably 6 but its also probably Ger Cafferkey s best position. A bit like Heaney in the past. I hope he s not ruined at full back( he does nt have the size for the really big forwards). Remember he s yet to play a senior competitive game and there s an expectation out there that he ll solve everything. My concern is he may struggle at fb, lose confidence and end up ruined. As a half back he wold be a top player but like Keith Higgins and Heaney before him we might not have the luxury of playing him there. I still hold out great hopes for Barry Moran either as ff or mf. Andy has it all to do this year. Barry Regan should improve options in ff line.

Quote from: m@yoman on January 21, 2009, 09:49:15 PM
I don't see Mayo doing much in the League this year.....I think we are lacking a lot of leaders in key areas of the park (apart from Clarke in goals of course) and this was very evident in our last proper match against Tyrone.....

Should be a decent match all the same...by the sounds of previous Derry posters they are re-building too...

The 'word on the street' is that Mayo are in fact going to push very hard for the whole shooting match in the league. Maybe Johnno is expecting a summer election and wants something to wave in front of the electorate.

The team started the 'run until someone pukes' sessions with Kielty in the new year. While Pat Flanagan back in Kerry and Tyrone management will be gearing training so the team peaks  late Summer,( Tyrone s trick is to survive playing harder games without peaking too soon - they know if they peak early they ll be flat and gone in August anyway) Mayo will be flying in league and dead on their feet come Summer. It s happened last two years yet the same training personnel and methods continue to be used. Compare Andy Moran s Spring and Summer form. Now in his case the problem was confounded by Sigerson training as well, I accept that. He appears to have learned his lesson. But we seem to be using a training programme that is no longer... how can I put this nicely...... cutting edge in the world of athletic preparation.

Peaking?
Kerry are able to win sam and the league in one year so peaking must be a kerry thing.

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 21, 2009, 07:09:32 PM
Is Paddy Bradley home from Oz? I met him in Sydney and he said he wasn't coming back until towards the end of February!

They were summoned early, desperate times and desperate measures (though apparently it was the desperate measures that were the real problem, they were fed up drinking ;))

Quote from: mannix on January 22, 2009, 10:17:11 AM
Peaking?
Kerry are able to win sam and the league in one year so peaking must be a kerry thing.

not always
theres more competition around these days too !

Quote from: moysider on January 21, 2009, 10:42:38 PM

I d go along with that Sniper. I d like to see Colm Cafferkey get a shot in a league match as well. He s always done well any time I ve seen him but never seems to get a chance outside FBD. Now I even know an Achill man who s not convinced he has the quality but I m not so sure. He s earned a shot anyway. Pat Kelly s best position is probably 6 but its also probably Ger Cafferkey s best position. A bit like Heaney in the past. I hope he s not ruined at full back( he does nt have the size for the really big forwards). Remember he s yet to play a senior competitive game and there s an expectation out there that he ll solve everything. My concern is he may struggle at fb, lose confidence and end up ruined. As a half back he wold be a top player but like Keith Higgins and Heaney before him we might not have the luxury of playing him there. I still hold out great hopes for Barry Moran either as ff or mf. Andy has it all to do this year. Barry Regan should improve options in ff line.

I know what you're saying about Ger Caff moysider. I've seen him play wing-back and I don't doubt he could make a good centre-half back. But he has been performing well at 3 and needs must I guess. I'd say he'll get a run in the league and if it doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out. He's played all his inter-county football at full-back so he shouldn't be too daunted by it.
Colm Cafferkey might have earned a shot in the league alright but I think he's just shy of the standard. But a relevant question is - would he be a better corner-back than Colm Boyle? Yes!
Not sure about Barry at midfield but I believe he's doing well at full-forward and I'd hope that's the way forward with him. I reckon Andy got a shoe up the hole last year and its shit or get off the pot time for him.

Allianz National Football League Panel 2009 
Damian Cassidy names his panel for the upcoming Allianz National Football League campaign, which commences with an away game to Mayo, Sunday 1st February.
Sean Marty Lockhart embarks on a remarkable 15th league campaign, while nine new players get their first call up to the league squad, some on the back of an impressive McKenna Cup campaign.

Full squad
John Deighan  Limavady
Barry Gillis  Magherafelt 
Shane Mc Guckian  Loup St. Patricks GAC 
Eoin Bradley  Glenullin John Mitchell's
Paddy Bradley  Glenullin John Mitchell's
Patsy Bradley  Slaughtneil Robert Emmet's 
Paul Bradley  Slaughtneil Robert Emmet's
Seamus Bradley  Ballinascreen St Colm's
Eoghan Brown  Bellaghy Wolfe Tones
Paul Carton  Banagher St Mary's
James Conway  Balinderry Shamrocks
Colly Devlin  Balinderry Shamrocks
Ryan Dillon  Swatragh Michael Davitts
Joe Diver  Bellaghy Wolfe Tones
Fergal Doherty  Bellaghy Wolfe Tones
James Kielt  Kilrea Pearses
Sean Marty Lockhart  Banagher St Mary's
Mark Lynch    Banagher St Mary's
Enda Lynn  Greenlough St Oliver Plunkett's 
Brian Og Mc Alary  Kilrea Pearses
Dermot Mc Bride  Ballinascreen St Colm's
Kevin Mc Cloy  Lavey
Niall Mc Cusker  Balinderry Shamrocks
Barry Mc Goldrick  Coleraine Eoghan Roes
Sean Leo Mc Goldrick  Coleraine Eoghan Roes
Kevin Mc Guckian  Balinderry Shamrocks
Barry Mc Guigan  Slaughtneil Robert Emmet's
Chrissy Mc Kaigue  Slaughtneil Robert Emmet's
Enda Muldoon  Balinderry Shamrocks 
Brain Mullan  Glenullin John Mitchell's
Paul Murphy  Dungiven St Canices
Gerard O'Kane  Glenullin John Mitchell's
Joe O'Kane  Loup St. Patricks GAC 
Paul Young  Loup St. Patricks GAC

No Conleth Gilligan?

No Conleith Gilligan. Retired from inter county football. Good squad. A lot of unknowns at this level though

Quote from: moysider on January 21, 2009, 11:02:24 PM

Maybe Johnno is expecting a summer election and wants something to wave in front of the electorate.

You must be one of those cynics that I've heard about Moysider.  ;D

People ask me what to expect from Mayo this year and to be honest, I don't know what team JOM will have on Sunday or for the league campaign or championship so I'm not really expecting much from anything (league/championship) this year. I think JOM made a balls of the McD situation last year and while that's discussed on another thread (Mayo thread), I wonder if we will see Nallen this year? I haven't been Nallen's biggest fan over the past few years and I don't expect him to start on Sunday week. It's a long time since Mayo lost in Ballina so hopefully that will continue on Sunday. PS, does anybody know what is the story with Aiden Campbell?? And isn't it time we started bringing on members of the U-21 winning side from 06?

Quote from: Farrandeelin on January 24, 2009, 06:10:26 PM
People ask me what to expect from Mayo this year and to be honest, I don't know what team JOM will have on Sunday or for the league campaign or championship so I'm not really expecting much from anything (league/championship) this year. I think JOM made a balls of the McD situation last year and while that's discussed on another thread (Mayo thread), I wonder if we will see Nallen this year? I haven't been Nallen's biggest fan over the past few years and I don't expect him to start on Sunday week. It's a long time since Mayo lost in Ballina so hopefully that will continue on Sunday. PS, does anybody know what is the story with Aiden Campbell?? And isn't it time we started bringing on members of the U-21 winning side from 06?

Which ones do you suggest? Likes of Barrett, Ronaldson, Cuniffe, Howley, Higgins, Boyle, Kilcoyne, Conroy, Campbell, Barry Moran and O Shea have been in the senior team. Cafferkey would have been apart from injury. Of the 15 only Marcus Hannick and Dillon has nt I think. And they could do worse than look at Hannick imo.

Haven't seen Hannick recently but I wouldn't have thought he was of the standard two years ago. Campbell definitely seems to be off the hit list at the minute.

After that you have eleven of the starting team who will probably be in the Mayo championship squad this year - Kenneth O'Malley, Trevor Howley, Ger Cafferkey, Keith Higgins, Chris Barrett, Tom Cunniffe, Colm Boyle, Barry Moran, Seamie O'Shea, Aidan Kilcoyne and Mark Ronaldson. Campbell seems to be off the radar and Dillon and Hannick were always unlikely to make it. Michael Conroy has went backwards a bit unfortunately. But one of the subs is worth a mention. Enda Varley is flying with UL according to Redcol, he kicked seven points in the McGrath Cup semi-final. Given we have few quality inside men, he's worth a look

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 24, 2009, 11:51:22 PM
Haven't seen Hannick recently but I wouldn't have thought he was of the standard two years ago. Campbell definitely seems to be off the hit list at the minute.

After that you have eleven of the starting team who will probably be in the Mayo championship squad this year - Kenneth O'Malley, Trevor Howley, Ger Cafferkey, Keith Higgins, Chris Barrett, Tom Cunniffe, Colm Boyle, Barry Moran, Seamie O'Shea, Aidan Kilcoyne and Mark Ronaldson. Campbell seems to be off the radar and Dillon and Hannick were always unlikely to make it. Michael Conroy has went backwards a bit unfortunately. But one of the subs is worth a mention. Enda Varley is flying with UL according to Redcol, he kicked seven points in the McGrath Cup semi-final. Given we have few quality inside men, he's worth a look

Hmmmm. I ve this nag about Hannick. He played full forward on that team. He s a fine player and any senior club in my area would be glad of him. In fact he would probably be a linchpin. Unfortunately I think a lot of people see junior club and dismiss him. He s the main reason Killala are in A I semi. The few times I ve seen him this year he was outstanding but of course the county management were hardly around.
I saw all the matches in 2006 U21 campaign. I was one of about 10 Mayo people at the opening match in Carrick. Hannick was one of our most consistent forwards of the campaign and was always marked by a quality player. Kilcoyne was poor in every game except the final (e.g  he was hauled off v Leitrim) but a lot of people only saw the final and took that as the benchmark. Hannick acquitted himself well in the final and was only the width of the post from being man of the match contender. He s got qualities that we often yearn for in this county, size, brain, enough pace, can make runs and play as target. Good tecknique and can kick frees. What s not to like?

I always thought that Kevin Costello( another player affected by junioritis) was a classy footballer and how anybody thought that Dillon was a better 11 or anything else I ll never understand. Replacing Dillon with Cost. was the winning of the 06 AI but instead of commending the management on an enlightened substitution I would dismiss them for their flawed judgement throughout the campaign. The half forward line spluttered throughout with only the youngster Campbell holding his end up. I would nt put Dillon and Hannick in the same boat.

I would always have put Costello ahead of Varley but I have nt seen Varley in some time. Always capable of taking good scores. But we need lads who can win hard ball inside against evil corner backs. If he can do that I d pencil him in. I m begining to get a bit sceptical about third level form. Older lads show up well at this time of year - Mort, Ronaldson as well. But Andy Moran s been doin that for years and come Summer looks like he on a threadmill.

Quote from: moysider on January 25, 2009, 12:49:39 AM

Hmmmm. I ve this nag about Hannick. He played full forward on that team. He s a fine player and any senior club in my area would be glad of him. In fact he would probably be a linchpin. Unfortunately I think a lot of people see junior club and dismiss him. He s the main reason Killala are in A I semi. The few times I ve seen him this year he was outstanding but of course the county management were hardly around.
I saw all the matches in 2006 U21 campaign. I was one of about 10 Mayo people at the opening match in Carrick. Hannick was one of our most consistent forwards of the campaign and was always marked by a quality player. Kilcoyne was poor in every game except the final (e.g  he was hauled off v Leitrim) but a lot of people only saw the final and took that as the benchmark. Hannick acquitted himself well in the final and was only the width of the post from being man of the match contender. He s got qualities that we often yearn for in this county, size, brain, enough pace, can make runs and play as target. Good tecknique and can kick frees. What s not to like?

He probably is worth a look on the basis of what I hear was good club form last year but I'm just not convinced. I was at all the games for the Under 21's that year too but I just can't share you're appraisal of Hannick's input. He was decent the first day against Leitrim (played on Good Friday iirc) but the reality is that from then on he was hanging onto that full-forward spot almost as much as Dillon was hanging onto the number 11. Conroy and Ronaldson did very well in the corners and I think they were the forwards, along with Campbell, for whom we could be most grateful for getting us to the final. Kilcoyne was poor up to then but watched the final recently and in fairness he was class but sin sceal eile.
Can't see how Hannick could have been a man of the match contender. He badly missed a great goal chance and the point was kickable too, although under pressure. If I recall correctly he was only on the ball a handful of times and it was no surprise when he and Dillon were taken off.
But I did see him playing with Killala a good few times since and played against him (mainly during their first run to the All-Ireland semi-final) and he did look the business for them, but the level of football wasn't hectic. Still he was good under pressure. And he has improved so, as I say, maybe he's worthy of a look. All irrelevant now anyone cos there doesn't seem to have been any trawl of the county for players this year . .

Regarding Kevin Cos', a good player, very smart footballer who has a lot to offer. Size probably against him though but a good playmaker. Varley has strength, that's one huge facet of his game. He is very hard push off the ball. Third level form, who's to  say? But he certainly has put his hand up to be worthy of a look. He's left footed so wouldn't be 100% comfortable at 15 but that's not the end of the world either. He has a great kicking range too but needs to find consistency imho.


Looking around the country at the different counties and the amount of players they have tried out  to date. We haven't tried out half enough . . .

There's a delay naming the Mayo team until they see if Conor Mort can get his nose fixed after getting it busted. Conor can be trying on the nerves, but his scores would be badly missed.

http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5822&Itemid=39

Here's my stab at the team that'll play (not necessarily the team I'd like to see btw)

Clarke

O'Malley Ger Cafferkey Donal Vaughan
Gardiner Cunniffe Kelly

McGarrity Parsons

Harte Dillon Trevor Mort
Conor Barry Moran Mikey Sweeney

If Conor doesn't make it I'd say Andy Moran will get the call-up. Also I'd say he'll opt for Harte above BJP so that he can have a look at Harte while he's in the country. He obviously sees something in Tom Cunniffe, hope he's right

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 28, 2009, 01:09:31 PM
Here's my stab at the team that'll play (not necessarily the team I'd like to see btw)

Clarke

O'Malley Ger Cafferkey Donal Vaughan
Gardiner Cunniffe Kelly

McGarrity Parsons

Harte Dillon Trevor Mort
Conor Barry Moran Mikey Sweeney

If Conor doesn't make it I'd say Andy Moran will get the call-up. Also I'd say he'll opt for Harte above BJP so that he can have a look at Harte while he's in the country. He obviously sees something in Tom Cunniffe, hope he's right

I m expecting BJP Andy and Austin to start and maybe Barry Regan. What team would you like to see Sniper?

Quote from: moysider on January 28, 2009, 01:49:42 PM

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 28, 2009, 01:09:31 PM
Here's my stab at the team that'll play (not necessarily the team I'd like to see btw)

Clarke

O'Malley Ger Cafferkey Donal Vaughan
Gardiner Cunniffe Kelly

McGarrity Parsons

Harte Dillon Trevor Mort
Conor Barry Moran Mikey Sweeney

If Conor doesn't make it I'd say Andy Moran will get the call-up. Also I'd say he'll opt for Harte above BJP so that he can have a look at Harte while he's in the country. He obviously sees something in Tom Cunniffe, hope he's right

I m expecting BJP Andy and Austin to start and maybe Barry Regan. What team would you like to see Sniper?

I think Austie's place in the wider scheme of things is not what it was last year. Barry Moran seems to have started at full-forward in all the challenge games. He's college tied for the FBD but I reckon JOM is going to give him his head there for the league. A few of the Mitchels lads are adamant that's his best position too.
I'd like to see that full-forward line I've mentioned above start but I wouldn't mind either if Ronaldson started in front of Sweeney. Both are similar players - clever, eye for goal and a handful to mark but failings are size and a shooting range. I reckon Harte, Dillon and Trevor is our best half-forward line but BJP would be very close to that also.
Personally I'd like to see Barry Kelly in midfield, see how he gets on and don't rush McGarrity back in.
In defence I'd sooner see Vaughan at wing-back than the corner - he offers an awful lot going forward and may be too light yet for the corner (although that could be said about wing-back too). I'd like to see McLoughlin in too but the fact that he's been away for the FBD means he might not be high up the pecking order yet. Vaughan definitely seems to be JOM's more popular choice for the corner.
Maybe JOM sees Tom Cunniffe as his centre-back for championship. I still think Trevor Howley is the best option. While he is out why not try someone new there - Pat Kelly - rather than playing someone like Cunniffe whose form in that position we know.
Has JOM had to name a squad for the league?

This would be the team I'd prefer
Clarke
O'Malley Ger Caff Kevin McLoughlin
Gardiner Pat Kelly Vaughan
Kelly Parsons
Harte Dillon Trevor Mort
Conor Mort Barry Moran Mikey Sweeney

Anthony Hennigan makes a stab at a team in the Western:

http://www.westernpeople.ie/news/story/?trs=eycwqlkfgb&cat=sport

Quote

Impossible though it is to select the full team, likely starters would look to include goalkeeper David Clarke, defenders Liam O'Malley, Peadar Gardiner, Pat Kelly and Tom Cunniffe, Tom Parsons and perhaps Billy Joe Padden at mid-field, with the Mortimers, Conor and Trevor, Alan Dillon, Andy Moran and Austin O'Malley in attack.

If any journalist in the county has Johnno's ear it must be Hennigan after their time together on the radio show. Like Moysider, Austin seems a more likely pick for Johnno at full-forward than Barry Moran to me, based on the manager's previous selections. Whether that's right or wrong, well, who knows, really? We'll just have to wait and see.

don't want to butt in lads, but O Malley was blessed to be starting for vincents last year and will be under pressure this year. I wouldn't see him as a cast iron automatic starter for vincents. I don't know how that translates to inter county but there you have it.

Quote from: INDIANA on January 28, 2009, 02:54:46 PM
don't want to butt in lads, but O Malley was blessed to be starting for vincents last year and will be under pressure this year. I wouldn't see him as a cast iron automatic starter for vincents. I don't know how that translates to inter county but there you have it.

Don't worrt INDIANA that comment will be very popular with a few of the anti-Austie brigade here! I think he has had his chance and is just not a runner and if JOM persists with him then I'd be worried

Austie's time has passed - he just doesn't have it at this level. Unfortunate but true.

I think JOM will go along the lines of the team that played against Cork.

The central spine of Cafferkey, Cunniffe, McGarrity, Parsons, Trevor and Barry Moran looks a positive start to build a team around.

Looking forward to seeing Vaughan and hopefully McLoughlin.

Liam O'Malley has disappointed on many occasions. He is too loose and will have to convince that he deserves another season of chances.

I don't think Pat Kelly is the answer. He has the physicality and is good going forward but once the ground hardens he will be in bother.

Up front I'd like to see something different. I don't think Sweeney has any answers and is much of a muchness to others on the panel. Barry Regan deserves some kind of chance.

What I would like to see over the league is:

A. A development of a team for championship football.

B. A more commonsense tactical approach including some attempt at a defensive game plan.

C. Players taking responsibility on the pitch and digging in when the going gets tough with a never-say-die attitude.

D. A strong performance in Salthill/Tuam to lay down a marker for the Connacht Championship.

If we get those kind of things a lot of the likely sins we will see can be accepted.

Quote from: Barney on January 28, 2009, 07:53:24 PM
Austie's time has passed - he just doesn't have it at this level. Unfortunate but true.

I think JOM will go along the lines of the team that played against Cork.

The central spine of Cafferkey, Cunniffe, McGarrity, Parsons, Trevor and Barry Moran looks a positive start to build a team around.

Not sure about Trevor at centre-half forward. I'd prefer Dillon but could be worth a go too. I've said my piece about Tom Cunniffe, the rest I'd be very confident about.

Quote from: Barney on January 28, 2009, 07:53:24 PM

Looking forward to seeing Vaughan and hopefully McLoughlin.

Liam O'Malley has disappointed on many occasions. He is too loose and will have to convince that he deserves another season of chances.

I don't think Pat Kelly is the answer. He has the physicality and is good going forward but once the ground hardens he will be in bother.

Up front I'd like to see something different. I don't think Sweeney has any answers and is much of a muchness to others on the panel. Barry Regan deserves some kind of chance.

Think Liam O'Malley is still worth a go. Perhaps its as much to do with the lack of corner-backs as anything but I still think he's a solid option. I'd prefer Aidan Higgins in there but JOM doesn't see this for whatever reason. Either way with Ger Cafferkey at full-back and possibly Vaughan/McLoughlin in the other corner, someone with a bit of experience is needed for now.

Pat Kelly perhaps not an option at wing-back because of pace, I'll agree with ya there. I'll be curious to see how he gets on at centre-half back though.

Both Sweeney and Regan deserve a shot during the league. But I'd be more confident in Sweeney's chances at this point in time.

Quote from: Barney on January 28, 2009, 07:53:24 PM
What I would like to see over the league is:

A. A development of a team for championship football.

B. A more commonsense tactical approach including some attempt at a defensive game plan.

C. Players taking responsibility on the pitch and digging in when the going gets tough with a never-say-die attitude.

D. A strong performance in Salthill/Tuam to lay down a marker for the Connacht Championship.

If we get those kind of things a lot of the likely sins we will see can be accepted.

I agree 100%. Here's hoping . . .

we have to think of sunday as a new beginning for a lot of the younger player as they have had a year to develop . i was very much against playing cunniffe and boyle last year as i didnt think they were ready. but this year will be the real test for them.
If the like of Vaughan. o loughlin  and sweeney show promise then they should be used carefully and not exposed like cunniffe and boyle were last year . we have to accept that our plaer are not coming into the team ready made but they should be coming into a squad atmosphere where they can take their game to another level.  we must be patient
Except with AOM hes rubbish

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 28, 2009, 02:12:36 PMBarry Moran seems to have started at full-forward in all the challenge games. He's college tied for the FBD but I reckon JOM is going to give him his head there for the league. A few of the Mitchels lads are adamant that's his best position too.

Is that the big lad who played against Derry in the qualifier up in celtic park 2 years ago?  He caused panic every time the ball came in (against that year's Allstar full back too).

That is him alright, scored 1-2 that day. Goal coming off the Derry keper spilling a soft ball for a tap in.

Quote from: rosnarun on January 28, 2009, 10:53:35 PM
we have to think of sunday as a new beginning for a lot of the younger player as they have had a year to develop . i was very much against playing cunniffe and boyle last year as i didnt think they were ready. but this year will be the real test for them.
If the like of Vaughan. o loughlin  and sweeney show promise then they should be used carefully and not exposed like cunniffe and boyle were last year . we have to accept that our plaer are not coming into the team ready made but they should be coming into a squad atmosphere where they can take their game to another level.  we must be patient
Except with AOM hes rubbish

Jeez Ros I thought you were becoming very mild mannered there, then ya come out with that classic last line  :D
I don't think Cunniffe was exposed badly last year. He was decent, no worse, no better. Boyle was exposed badly BECAUSE he was played in the wrong position. Same with Kieran Conroy. Vaughan, McLoughlin and Sweeney all have the ability and, you''re right, we shouldn't expect the sun, moon and stars from them. But give them a few runs in the league, if they play well, leave them there and see if they can establish themselves for championship

I think everyone will welcome the fact that JOM is playing Ger Cafferkey at FB and Barry Moran at FF.
FB has been a problem position for years - Heaney was the most consistent and even he was uncomfortable playing there. Injuries have delayed Cafferkey's arrival into the team but he'll surely be given a run at FB for the league, and hopefully that will be one position we can say is sorted. 

Barry Moran showed great promise at FF when he played there against Derry a couple of years, so hopefully he'll claim that position for himself - we need some sort of target man in there. You'd imagine that the likes of Conor Mort would thrive off a big target man laying off the ball, and Moran is well able to take a score himself.
As others have said, Austie has been given his chance and is not going to make it as the main man in the full forward line.

I have always though Aidan Higgins is an excellent corner back or half back. He brings a bit of strength that Mayo are often lacking and I could never understand why he wasn't a regular starter. He's in his 30s now, but I'd say he has another couple of years to give yet. He's definitely worth his place while the likes of Vaughan and McLoughlin are bedding in. 

From reading the posts, it seems people are becoming more enthusiastic and optomistic as the match draws nearer  :D
There are a lot of individual performances that people will be keeping an eye out for on Sunday. Hopefully the collective performance will be something to whet the appetite for the year ahead as well, but I'd settle for a solid looking FB line for now!

Quote from: Tubberman on January 29, 2009, 10:30:30 AM
I From reading the posts, it seems people are becoming more enthusiastic and optomistic as the match draws nearer  :D

Will we book the hotels for september Tubberman  :D

Quote from: the Deel Rover on January 29, 2009, 11:11:28 AM

Quote from: Tubberman on January 29, 2009, 10:30:30 AM
I From reading the posts, it seems people are becoming more enthusiastic and optomistic as the match draws nearer  :D

Will we book the hotels for september Tubberman  :D

Get the reservation in early and stay in the same place as the team

http://www.citywesthotel.com/

;) :D :o

Finally O Mahoney is speaking with Optimism...


O'Mahony relishing Derry clash
Mayo manager John O'Mahony
29 January 2009

Mayo boss John O'Mahony has admitted he is looking forward to welcoming Derry to Ballina this Sunday for the first round of this year's National Football League.

The Ballaghaderren clubman says that his side will be approaching each game with a winning mentality, which he hopes can bring them back to the competition's decider, as it did in 2007.

"We'll be doing our utmost to win every game and see where that takes us," said O'Mahony. "Two years ago that approach took us all the way to the final, last season it delivered a relegation battle, but we'd hope to avoid that this time out."

O'Mahony has rated ace attacker Conor Mortimer as "extremely doubtful" for Sunday's meeting with the Oak Leafers, after undergoing facial surgery on a broken nose sustained while playing for DCU in the O'Byrne Cup. The Shrule/Glencorrib forward's brother, Trevor, is included in the panel along with several others who missed out in the FBD Leagu due to involvement with their colleges.

"Derry are a fine team and we only got together properly last weekend when we had the chance to look at the lads who were involved with their colleges in the various competitions. It's very hard to prepare for a competition in such circumstances, but we're looking forward to Sunday," added O'Mahony.

The two sides meet this Sunday, February 1, in the first round of the National Football League at Ballina, where throw-in is scheduled for 2.30pm.

Anyone know where the Donegal-Mayo match is being played ?

ballybofey as far as I know....on Valentines night!!! ::) ::)

Quote from: m@yoman on January 29, 2009, 10:38:47 PM
ballybofey as far as I know....on Valentines night!!! ::) ::)

Donegal is a great spot for a romantic weekend; just tell her you need 70 minutes to take care of some business

QuoteInjuries have delayed Cafferkey's arrival into the team but he'll surely be given a run at FB for the league, and hopefully that will be one position we can say is sorted.

thats the sort of thing im on about.  before he has played one serious match at intercounty level . you rate hime as having one of the most difficult positions in football  sorted. poor lad in on a hiding to nothing. and when he has a nbad game the usual suspect will be swift to condem with magical phrases such as ' not inter county level' 'short a yard of pace' 'needs to bulk up' or later in the same conversation 'has become mustle bound'
all complete ballix

I think the word 'hopefully' is key to Tubberman's argument there ros. But you're right, we do need to be patient. There's no guarantee of instant success, let him bed himself in over a few games and then assess

Quote
Injuries have delayed Cafferkey's arrival into the team but he'll surely be given a run at FB for the league, and hopefully that will be one position we can say is sorted.

thats the sort of thing im on about.  before he has played one serious match at intercounty level . you rate hime as having one of the most difficult positions in football  sorted. poor lad in on a hiding to nothing. and when he has a nbad game the usual suspect will be swift to condem with magical phrases such as ' not inter county level' 'short a yard of pace' 'needs to bulk up' or later in the same conversation 'has become mustle bound'
all complete ballix

As RedandGreenSniper pointed out, what I was actually saying is that after a run at FB in the league, hopefully he can sort out out our full back problems. I think that's fairly reasonable. Is that not the hope with any new player that is brought in - that they can find a settled position on the team?
I'm not trying to put any pressure on Cafferkey, nor am I assuming that he'll slot in to FB seamlessly. I haven't seen him play enough to make any judgements on whether he's the answer, and I know a lot of people think he's more suited to the half backs. All I'm saying is I hope that he turns out to be a solid full back, which we badly need. 

As for the rest of your post, I'm a bit lost. Who is the 'usual suspect'? Is it aimed at someone in particular or were you just having a bit of a rant?

Will Joe over on www.mayogaablog.com has posted up the team that will apparently start on Sunday against Derry. He in turn got it from the mid-west website. There is no team named on mayogaa.com but there hasn't been any updates to that site in a long time (due to our lack of a PRO I suppose!)

MAYO (v Derry, NFL, 1/2/2009): David Clarke; Liam O'Malley, Ger Cafferkey, Donal Vaughan; Peadar Gardiner, Tom Cunniffe, Pat Kelly; Ronan McGarritty, Tom Parsons; BJ Padden, Trevor Mortimer, Alan Dillon; Andy Moran, Barry Moran, Mikey Sweeney.

So if this is the team that lines out, it's pretty much as expected. I'll be particularly interested in seeing the new lads Cafferkey, Vaughan and Mikey Sweeney. It will also be interesting to see if Barry Moran can have a similar impact to the day in Celtic Park.
I would have liked to see McLoughlin instead of Liam O'Malley maybe, but it might be asking too much from 3 debutants in the FB line.

Just on Mid West now, Mayo team named, along expected lines, Mort obviously injured, could play yet though I'd reckon

1, David Clarke (Ballina)
2, Liam O'Malley (Burrishoole)
3, Ger Cafferkey (Ballina)
4, Donal Vaughan (Ballinrobe)
5, Peadar Gardiner (Crossmolina)
6, Tom Cunniffe (Castlebar)
7, Pat Kelly (Kilmaine)
8, Ronan McGarrity (Ballina)
9, Tom Parsons (Charlestown)
10, Billy Joe Padden (Belmullet)
11, Trevor Mortimer (Shrule/Glencorrib)
12, Alan Dillon (Ballintubber)
13, Andy Moran (Ballaghaderreen)
14, Barry Moran (Castlebar)
15, Mikey Sweeney (Kiltane).

Obviously JOM doesn't like the idea of Dillon as centre-half forward. Be interested to see how Trevor does there and Barry Moran inside.

A lot of eyes will be on the full-back line. Hope Vaughan does well because for me the corner is not his best position by any means

Decent team, be interesting to see how vaughan, GC and sweeney get on
some players on that i wouldn;t consider good enough to win an AI

Reasonably strong team.

Would have liked to see B Kelly in MF rather than McG. Also though we could have played someone else at wing back rather than Pat Kelly, not a bad player but I just think we have better options on the wing.

Who would have been the last Ballinrobe and Kiltane players to start for Mayo in a meaningful game? Prob one of the Careys from Kiltane?

Quote from: Mayo4Sam on January 30, 2009, 11:16:20 AM
some players on that i wouldn;t consider good enough to win an AI

Well, it's a good thing it's only the first game of the league so, isn't it? The All-Ireland isn't usually played until September.  ::)

That's not really the most helpful comment in the world Mayo4Sam, in fairness. Let's keep some perspective here.

Quote from: MacDanger on January 30, 2009, 11:30:19 AM
Reasonably strong team.

Would have liked to see B Kelly in MF rather than McG. Also though we could have played someone else at wing back rather than Pat Kelly, not a bad player but I just think we have better options on the wing.

Who would have been the last Ballinrobe and Kiltane players to start for Mayo in a meaningful game? Prob one of the Careys from Kiltane?

Last Ballinrobe player to start anyway would be Kenneth O'Malley, 2007 v Galway. Kiltane? Hmmn I dunno. Lindsay and Ed Barrett might have played FBD but that would be the height of it I'd say so probably Sean Carey

Quote from: IolarCoisCuain on January 30, 2009, 11:38:54 AM

Quote from: Mayo4Sam on January 30, 2009, 11:16:20 AM
some players on that i wouldn;t consider good enough to win an AI

Well, it's a good thing it's only the first game of the league so, isn't it? The All-Ireland isn't usually played until September.  ::)

That's not really the most helpful comment in the world Mayo4Sam, in fairness. Let's keep some perspective here.

What i mean is some tried and tested players, BJP and gardiner being 2, would prefer to see some new lads being used in these positions.
I agree there is a time and a place for both these players, eg tyrone last year but surely we need to be looking at alternatives

Didn't realise KO'M was Ballinrobe.

I wouldn't be looking for an alternative for Gardiner M4S, he has loads to offer. And Billy Joe has critics but he's one of our most underrated players imo. Outstanding in the 06 final when all others were caving in around him. I wouldn't be worried if we had him wing-forward for championship. You can't try out too many lads at once either, league points have to be won and its easier for newer lads to do well if they've old heads beside them.

Quote from: Mayo4Sam on January 30, 2009, 11:45:19 AM

Quote from: IolarCoisCuain on January 30, 2009, 11:38:54 AM

Quote from: Mayo4Sam on January 30, 2009, 11:16:20 AM
some players on that i wouldn;t consider good enough to win an AI

Well, it's a good thing it's only the first game of the league so, isn't it? The All-Ireland isn't usually played until September.  ::)

That's not really the most helpful comment in the world Mayo4Sam, in fairness. Let's keep some perspective here.

What i mean is some tried and tested players, BJP and gardiner being 2, would prefer to see some new lads being used in these positions.
I agree there is a time and a place for both these players, eg tyrone last year but surely we need to be looking at alternatives

I wouldn't like to a baby in your bathwater old stock.  :D

It's only the first game of the league. Plenty of time yet to move fellas in and out and around and about.

Well i think theres no good in saying in may we've no new blood in
I think after FB the area we need the most work in is the HF line, scoring HFs, we have enough workers on the team, we need another HF, IMO, considering we have Dillon defo and hopefully harte

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 30, 2009, 11:09:05 AM
1, David Clarke (Ballina)
2, Liam O'Malley (Burrishoole)
3, Ger Cafferkey (Ballina)
4, Donal Vaughan (Ballinrobe)
5, Peadar Gardiner (Crossmolina)
6, Tom Cunniffe (Castlebar)
7, Pat Kelly (Kilmaine)
8, Ronan McGarrity (Ballina)
9, Tom Parsons (Charlestown)
10, Billy Joe Padden (Claremorris)
11, Trevor Mortimer (Shrule/Glencorrib)
12, Alan Dillon (Ballintubber)
13, Andy Moran (Ballaghaderreen)
14, Barry Moran (Castlebar)
15, Mikey Sweeney (Kiltane).

At at glance I can see that JOM is going for a different style of play and attack.
Dillon at centre forward had a play maker role, sending in decent ball to the forwards instead of penetrating runs.
Having Trev at CF we should see more stinging attacking runs from him. Dillon and BJPs job will be to score or get on the end of attacks more.
Having a big target man will also give us the option of root one, first time, long ball attacks, which is what defenders hate. Its better to have that and having Andy Moran, Sweeney and Mort (when he gets back) having a target man to work off. I hope it works out... it should.

The backs look solid too. I have high hopes for Donal Vaughan and Ger Caff. No harm in having some experience in each line with O Malley in the FB line and Gardiner in the HB line.

The midfield picks itself. hopefully McGarrity will find form again. I liked what I read about his own performance last year in the papers. he seems hungry for it again. All in all an fine team for this time of year. Id have some confidence this time, although a lot will depend on fitness given the time of year.

Mhaigh Eo Abu  ;D

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 30, 2009, 11:09:05 AM
Just on Mid West now, Mayo team named, along expected lines, Mort obviously injured, could play yet though I'd reckon

1, David Clarke (Ballina)
2, Liam O'Malley (Burrishoole)
3, Ger Cafferkey (Ballina)
4, Donal Vaughan (Ballinrobe)
5, Peadar Gardiner (Crossmolina)
6, Tom Cunniffe (Castlebar)
7, Pat Kelly (Kilmaine)
8, Ronan McGarrity (Ballina)
9, Tom Parsons (Charlestown)
10, Billy Joe Padden (Claremorris)
11, Trevor Mortimer (Shrule/Glencorrib)
12, Alan Dillon (Ballintubber)
13, Andy Moran (Ballaghaderreen)
14, Barry Moran (Castlebar)
15, Mikey Sweeney (Kiltane).

BJ Padden (Claremorris) is this correct, if so when did he transfer?

Quote from: Mayo4Sam on January 30, 2009, 12:33:07 PM
Well i think theres no good in saying in may we've no new blood in
I think after FB the area we need the most work in is the HF line, scoring HFs, we have enough workers on the team, we need another HF, IMO, considering we have Dillon defo and hopefully harte

Cafferkey is new blood. Vaughan is new blood. Mikey Sweeney is new blood. And even though it seems like he's been around for ages Barry Moran really hasn't played that many games for Mayo.

The knock on O'Mahony isn't that he doesn't try new blood. It's the that the new blood hasn't been as good as the old blood, and maybe some of that old blood was dumped too early.

Willie Joe has done marvellous archive work at the Mayo GAA blog. You can see the 2006 team here, the last team O'Mahony didn't pick: http://mayogaablog.com/?page_id=427. Five survivors. Picking players hasn't been a problem. Getting them to play well has.

Quote from: IolarCoisCuain on January 30, 2009, 01:53:44 PM

Quote from: Mayo4Sam on January 30, 2009, 12:33:07 PM
Well i think theres no good in saying in may we've no new blood in
I think after FB the area we need the most work in is the HF line, scoring HFs, we have enough workers on the team, we need another HF, IMO, considering we have Dillon defo and hopefully harte

Cafferkey is new blood. Vaughan is new blood. Mikey Sweeney is new blood. And even though it seems like he's been around for ages Barry Moran really hasn't played that many games for Mayo.

The knock on O'Mahony isn't that he doesn't try new blood. It's the that the new blood hasn't been as good as the old blood, and maybe some of that old blood was dumped too early.

Willie Joe has done marvellous archive work at the Mayo GAA blog. You can see the 2006 team here, the last team O'Mahony didn't pick: http://mayogaablog.com/?page_id=427. Five survivors. Picking players hasn't been a problem. Getting them to play well has.

I ll go along with that Iolar.

I like the cut of this team for the opening round. Unless they play like a drain I m expecting a home win. If the 2 young lads in fb line settle in it would be a great boost.

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 30, 2009, 11:11:17 AM
Obviously JOM doesn't like the idea of Dillon as centre-half forward. Be interested to see how Trevor does there and Barry Moran inside.

A lot of eyes will be on the full-back line. Hope Vaughan does well because for me the corner is not his best position by any means

I'd be that way inclined myself. I think Dillon has done all his best work for the county on the wing. I think thats his best position

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 30, 2009, 11:50:21 AM
I wouldn't be looking for an alternative for Gardiner M4S, he has loads to offer. And Billy Joe has critics but he's one of our most underrated players imo. Outstanding in the 06 final when all others were caving in around him. I wouldn't be worried if we had him wing-forward for championship. You can't try out too many lads at once either, league points have to be won and its easier for newer lads to do well if they've old heads beside them.

I've no problems with BJP on the wing. As you said he was one of the few players to perform in the 06 final. I'd leave him there though he is not an intercounty FF, FB or midfielder.

Overall not a bad team I'd like to see the young lads settle in and get a decent settled defence before the end of the league. I think pretty much the best forwards we have have nailed down a position. Theres only really two spots open if you take it that Dillon, the 2 Morts and Andy Moran will start the championship. That leave the likes of BJP, Pat Harte and Kilcoyne fighting it out for a place in half forwards and Mikey Sweeney, Barry Regan and Barry Moran looking for a place inside

I wouldn't say Andy Moran is a sure starter for championship at all Kevmy. Conor, Trevor and Dillon are. Barry Moran will be if he does reasonably well at the edge of the square. Then they're looking for a 10 and a 15. Pat Harte and Billy Padden for 10 I reckon. A real fight for 15

We need a more solid freetaker as well.

Mort misses too many at crucial junctures.

On Sunday I presume Dillon will have the task - he can be hit and miss.

We have nobody for a 45.

For this reason alone Kilcoyne needs to stand up big time this year.

Not a bad team out.

Might rather see Liam O'Malley in the half line but at least some one else gets the FB poisoned chalice. Cafferkey couldl take a few years to develop into an inter-county FB so people need to be patient. He has done all that has been asked of him at minor and u-21 so hopefully he will continue to improve.

Barry Moran must be running out of chances. Time to deliver.

I'm not sure Andy Moran is a certain starter but if hits his best form he should be in.

Quote from: Barney on January 30, 2009, 05:08:09 PM
We need a more solid freetaker as well.

Mort misses too many at crucial junctures.

On Sunday I presume Dillon will have the task - he can be hit and miss.

I dont recall Mort and Dillo missing too many frees. In fact id say their ratio is pretty good. What crucial ones are you referring to Mort missing?
It works well, Mort taking them on the right hand side and Dillon taking them on the left.

Quote from: Barney on January 30, 2009, 05:08:09 PM
We have nobody for a 45.

For this reason alone Kilcoyne needs to stand up big time this year.

Agreed, this had been a problem we have not solved since Maurice Sheridan

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 30, 2009, 11:09:05 AM
Just on Mid West now, Mayo team named, along expected lines, Mort obviously injured, could play yet though I'd reckon

1, David Clarke (Ballina)
2, Liam O'Malley (Burrishoole)
3, Ger Cafferkey (Ballina)
4, Donal Vaughan (Ballinrobe)
5, Peadar Gardiner (Crossmolina)
6, Tom Cunniffe (Castlebar)
7, Pat Kelly (Kilmaine)
8, Ronan McGarrity (Ballina)
9, Tom Parsons (Charlestown)
10, Billy Joe Padden (Belmullet)
11, Trevor Mortimer (Shrule/Glencorrib)
12, Alan Dillon (Ballintubber)
13, Andy Moran (Ballaghaderreen)
14, Barry Moran (Castlebar)
15, Mikey Sweeney (Kiltane).

has he left vincents?

Quote from: ildanach on January 30, 2009, 05:34:18 PM

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 30, 2009, 11:09:05 AM
Just on Mid West now, Mayo team named, along expected lines, Mort obviously injured, could play yet though I'd reckon

1, David Clarke (Ballina)
2, Liam O'Malley (Burrishoole)
3, Ger Cafferkey (Ballina)
4, Donal Vaughan (Ballinrobe)
5, Peadar Gardiner (Crossmolina)
6, Tom Cunniffe (Castlebar)
7, Pat Kelly (Kilmaine)
8, Ronan McGarrity (Ballina)
9, Tom Parsons (Charlestown)
10, Billy Joe Padden (Belmullet)
11, Trevor Mortimer (Shrule/Glencorrib)
12, Alan Dillon (Ballintubber)
13, Andy Moran (Ballaghaderreen)
14, Barry Moran (Castlebar)
15, Mikey Sweeney (Kiltane).

has he left vincents?

He's living in Galway now and the transfer back to Kilmaine went through last week as far as I know

Quote from: ildanach on January 30, 2009, 05:34:18 PM

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 30, 2009, 11:09:05 AM
Just on Mid West now, Mayo team named, along expected lines, Mort obviously injured, could play yet though I'd reckon

1, David Clarke (Ballina)
2, Liam O'Malley (Burrishoole)
3, Ger Cafferkey (Ballina)
4, Donal Vaughan (Ballinrobe)
5, Peadar Gardiner (Crossmolina)
6, Tom Cunniffe (Castlebar)
7, Pat Kelly (Kilmaine)
8, Ronan McGarrity (Ballina)
9, Tom Parsons (Charlestown)
10, Billy Joe Padden (Belmullet)
11, Trevor Mortimer (Shrule/Glencorrib)
12, Alan Dillon (Ballintubber)
13, Andy Moran (Ballaghaderreen)
14, Barry Moran (Castlebar)
15, Mikey Sweeney (Kiltane).

has he left vincents?

yes 100%

Quote from: INDIANA on January 30, 2009, 06:00:04 PM

Quote from: ildanach on January 30, 2009, 05:34:18 PM

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 30, 2009, 11:09:05 AM
Just on Mid West now, Mayo team named, along expected lines, Mort obviously injured, could play yet though I'd reckon

1, David Clarke (Ballina)
2, Liam O'Malley (Burrishoole)
3, Ger Cafferkey (Ballina)
4, Donal Vaughan (Ballinrobe)
5, Peadar Gardiner (Crossmolina)
6, Tom Cunniffe (Castlebar)
7, Pat Kelly (Kilmaine)
8, Ronan McGarrity (Ballina)
9, Tom Parsons (Charlestown)
10, Billy Joe Padden (Belmullet)
11, Trevor Mortimer (Shrule/Glencorrib)
12, Alan Dillon (Ballintubber)
13, Andy Moran (Ballaghaderreen)
14, Barry Moran (Castlebar)
15, Mikey Sweeney (Kiltane).

has he left vincents?

yes 100%

Happy with that, though would have liked as a Knockmore man to see McLoughlin in there. Hopefully the 2 newboys in the full-back line will do the job and settle in, though it may take a few games. I don't rate Kilcoyne as IC standard though, people have been mentioning hi for the half-forward line etc. Getting more optimistic myself as I haven't seen any live football action since the minor replay, and having only seen the team now I am looking forward to this league campaign afterall! :)

Surprising really that more Ballaghadereen lads have nt made more of an impact but likes of Regan and Kelly will get game time in the league and make an impression yet. Hanley would be an automatic of course but is seems a sparse representation for a team that looked set to take over a few years ago.

Strange when you look at it, Ballina would be seen as a club who will struggle this year but they've three starting players here and Pat Harte would be damn close as well and then just the one from the county champions and one from the runners-up Charlestown. I suppose it shows you can have a load of players of above normal club standard in your club and do well but it doesn't mean that they're good enough for county. There's no certainty that Ballagh will have a player on the starting team in championship . . .

Quote from: muppet on January 30, 2009, 05:11:09 PM
Not a bad team out.

Might rather see Liam O'Malley in the half line but at least some one else gets the FB poisoned chalice. Cafferkey couldl take a few years to develop into an inter-county FB so people need to be patient. He has done all that has been asked of him at minor and u-21 so hopefully he will continue to improve.

Barry Moran must be running out of chances. Time to deliver.
I'm not sure Andy Moran is a certain starter but if hits his best form he should be in.

Correct me if I m wrong Muppet as I could be missing something but is this not a bit severe on Barry Moran?  Now I admit that I m biased here as I ve always had time for Barry Moran and always felt if he came through at senior he would be a major boost. In Summer 07 he was one of our few bright lights playing at ff and I thought most people thought he did well and it was a welcome development. He did nt feature last year and I assumed it was because he was hurt. So what chances has he passed up on?
If anything Andy has disappointed more and has been around probably longer. Now I also would have an on-form Andy on my team but his best form has been early in the year and he needs to produce in Summer this year or forget about it. Austin and Killer are another 2 who ve had more chances than Barry Moran.

Something I would like to see Johnno do this year is introduce a hard cull of players who have been coasting in the panel last few years. Not necessarily older players but there seems to be a few - not many - players who just appear to be there for the spin and are not progressing. You d wonder sometimes about the hunger of a few players or their ability to step up.

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 30, 2009, 11:25:59 PM
Strange when you look at it, Ballina would be seen as a club who will struggle this year but they've three starting players here and Pat Harte would be damn close as well and then just the one from the county champions and one from the runners-up Charlestown. I suppose it shows you can have a load of players of above normal club standard in your club and do well but it doesn't mean that they're good enough for county. There's no certainty that Ballagh will have a player on the starting team in championship . . .

They were my thoughts as well. I think Ballina could well have 4 starters come Summer. If Harte is around I would always have him in my team. He has the best scoring return of our midfielders/ halfforwards last few years. Always a goal threat. I d always find a place for him. In fact only for he was ill and had to be subbed at halftime v Tyrone we could well have won it. He needs to do some work on placed balls but is one option for long range frees and 45s for which he easily has the range. It needs some attention but it is something that could pay dividends. I dont understand how some people bracket him with Killer competing for a place. There s no comparison.

Cross having only one representative is also small but I would nt rule out Nallen yet. I expect him to be better than ever this year and he s had a good rest for the first time ever. He should nt be judged by normal criteria because he not a normal footballer, he s an athlete. When he does eventually give up football he ll probably break triathlon records or win the New York marathon.

Knockmore having nobody at all. I m a big Kevin McLoughlin fan and I m confident the young lad will feature but I think Johnno was right not to start too many rookies in the same back line. I
ts early days yet.

Getting back to Ballina though. 4 possible/probable starters but in an iffy situation as regards the clubs prospects. A lot of lads going overseas this year. Then there seems to be a bit of a gap with players coming through. There may be no one at all at county U21 level. We should have maybe 2 minors. On the other hand if the older lads give it another big push you d never know. likes of Sweets and Golden and Brian Ruane if they re interested. Likes of Clarkey, Ronan, Patrick and Gerard puts a serious backbone in a club team. Young O Hara if deployed in a role that suits him( corner forward does nt). Some of the lads going abroad may have lost a bit of appetite anyway and there are plenty lads who might step up now they ve the oportunity.

Quote from: moysider on January 31, 2009, 12:19:33 AM

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 30, 2009, 11:25:59 PM
Strange when you look at it, Ballina would be seen as a club who will struggle this year but they've three starting players here and Pat Harte would be damn close as well and then just the one from the county champions and one from the runners-up Charlestown. I suppose it shows you can have a load of players of above normal club standard in your club and do well but it doesn't mean that they're good enough for county. There's no certainty that Ballagh will have a player on the starting team in championship . . .

They were my thoughts as well. I think Ballina could well have 4 starters come Summer. If Harte is around I would always have him in my team. He has the best scoring return of our midfielders/ halfforwards last few years. Always a goal threat. I d always find a place for him. In fact only for he was ill and had to be subbed at halftime v Tyrone we could well have won it. He needs to do some work on placed balls but is one option for long range frees and 45s for which he easily has the range. It needs some attention but it is something that could pay dividends. I dont understand how some people bracket him with Killer competing for a place. There s no comparison.

Cross having only one representative is also small but I would nt rule out Nallen yet. I expect him to be better than ever this year and he s had a good rest for the first time ever. He should nt be judged by normal criteria because he not a normal footballer, he s an athlete. When he does eventually give up football he ll probably break triathlon records or win the New York marathon.

Knockmore having nobody at all. I m a big Kevin McLoughlin fan and I m confident the young lad will feature but I think Johnno was right not to start too many rookies in the same back line. I
ts early days yet.

Getting back to Ballina though. 4 possible/probable starters but in an iffy situation as regards the clubs prospects. A lot of lads going overseas this year. Then there seems to be a bit of a gap with players coming through. There may be no one at all at county U21 level. We should have maybe 2 minors. On the other hand if the older lads give it another big push you d never know. likes of Sweets and Golden and Brian Ruane if they re interested. Likes of Clarkey, Ronan, Patrick and Gerard puts a serious backbone in a club team. Young O Hara if deployed in a role that suits him( corner forward does nt). Some of the lads going abroad may have lost a bit of appetite anyway and there are plenty lads who might step up now they ve the oportunity.

Harte is someone for me who has been too inconsistent at inter-county level. However, when he is playing poorly, you'll still get effort and toil out of him which is more than can be said for some other hit and miss options.
Regarding Ballina, I can only go on what I hear here and around, but they do seem like a club that will be short a good few in the coming year. I think a major problem for the Stephenites, and one that will come home to roost in the coming years, has been their lack of players coming up in recent years. If we exclude Ger Cafferkey, the last decent county minor they had was Stephen Hughes in 2002, and then you'd have to go back to 2000 for Clarke (also 2001) and Devenney and Harte (who somehow didn't make the minor team). For a club with Ballina's pick and their underage success, there's a lot of barren years since 2002 without any gems coming through. Sure, players have come on stream that will do a job and offer something, but not lads that will fill the boots of Shane Sweeney, Brian Ruane, Eanna Casey or Ger Brady. I could be tempting fate, but I reckon it could be a right few years before they win another county senior title

lads why don't you take this whole discussion over to the mayo forum and stop talking like a bunch of ole woman?

Quote from: Oakleafer1993 on January 31, 2009, 01:16:59 AM
lads why don't you take this whole discussion over to the mayo forum and stop talking like a bunch of ole woman?

:D

Quote1, David Clarke (Ballina)
2, Liam O'Malley (Burrishoole)
3, Ger Cafferkey (Ballina)
4, Donal Vaughan (Ballinrobe)
5, Peadar Gardiner (Crossmolina)
6, Tom Cunniffe (Castlebar)
7, Pat Kelly (Kilmaine)
8, Ronan McGarrity (Ballina)
9, Tom Parsons (Charlestown)
10, Billy Joe Padden (Belmullet)
11, Trevor Mortimer (Shrule/Glencorrib)
12, Alan Dillon (Ballintubber)
13, Andy Moran (Ballaghaderreen)
14, Barry Moran (Castlebar)
15, Mikey Sweeney (Kiltane)

Is there anyone ciotóg to take a free at all on the team?
As someone said earlier, nobody to take a 45 either...

id be very worried about that full back line. wjhile ive great time for  omalley putting 2 complete greenhorns against what will be at leasta 'rugged ' derry team is a huge gamble . hpe fully sense will prevail and Vaughan will swap with kelly. at least till we see how the game is going. id be wile afraid that one or other of them would get a roasting.
As for ballina having so many players on the team it's not at all surprising ad it only a few years ago there were calls for 7 or 8 of the team to be brought on mass to the county team. most were tried and faile where as the ones who would have made it anyway stayed on the team and its ironic that the bext player to make it was not a member of that all irland winning team.
moral of the story if a player is good enough what club he plays for is irrelevant. remember gabriel irwin probably mayos best ever goalie toiled for years with glamorous glenamoy 

Quote from: Oakleafer1993 on January 31, 2009, 01:16:59 AM
lads why don't you take this whole discussion over to the mayo forum and stop talking like a bunch of ole woman?

Exactly. There s a fairly similar discussion taking place over there and I m getting confused where posted last and who I insulted last. It would help if Derry people took some interest and not have us beat ourselves up.

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 30, 2009, 11:42:35 AM

Quote from: MacDanger on January 30, 2009, 11:30:19 AM
Reasonably strong team.

Would have liked to see B Kelly in MF rather than McG. Also though we could have played someone else at wing back rather than Pat Kelly, not a bad player but I just think we have better options on the wing.

Who would have been the last Ballinrobe and Kiltane players to start for Mayo in a meaningful game? Prob one of the Careys from Kiltane?

Last Ballinrobe player to start anyway would be Kenneth O'Malley, 2007 v Galway. Kiltane? Hmmn I dunno. Lindsay and Ed Barrett might have played FBD but that would be the height of it I'd say so probably Sean Carey

Since Joe Lindsey id think John Conmy was the last kiltane man to start a championship match ( 94ish??). Ciaran Caery was knocking around the squad a few years, Ed Barrett and James O Donnell were the prob the next closest,were in the squad for a wee while without pushing on

Quote from: moysider on January 31, 2009, 02:09:14 AM

Quote from: Oakleafer1993 on January 31, 2009, 01:16:59 AM
lads why don't you take this whole discussion over to the mayo forum and stop talking like a bunch of ole woman?

Exactly. There s a fairly similar discussion taking place over there and I m getting confused where posted last and who I insulted last. It would help if Derry people took some interest and not have us beat ourselves up.

Theres no lack of Derry interest just no one has a clue and the leagues not as important this year!! Anyway heres the team, plenty of fresh faces...

Shane McGuckian;

Brian Og McAlary, Sean M Lockhart, Ryan Dillon;
Paul Cartin, Joe O'Kane, Chrissy McKaigue;

Fergal Doherty, Patsy Bradley;

Enda Lynn, Barry McGoldrick, Sean Leo McGoldrick;
James Kielt, Eoin Bradley, Seamus Bradley.

Subs: Barry Gillis, Kevin McGuckin, Barry McGuigan, Joe Diver, Brian Mullan, Eoghan Brown, Paul Young, Paddy Bradley, Paul Bradley

Dont have a clue how the game will go but hope the newer players have good games

Quote from: moysider on January 30, 2009, 11:30:34 PM

Quote from: muppet on January 30, 2009, 05:11:09 PM
Not a bad team out.

Might rather see Liam O'Malley in the half line but at least some one else gets the FB poisoned chalice. Cafferkey couldl take a few years to develop into an inter-county FB so people need to be patient. He has done all that has been asked of him at minor and u-21 so hopefully he will continue to improve.

Barry Moran must be running out of chances. Time to deliver.
I'm not sure Andy Moran is a certain starter but if hits his best form he should be in.

Correct me if I m wrong Muppet as I could be missing something but is this not a bit severe on Barry Moran?  Now I admit that I m biased here as I ve always had time for Barry Moran and always felt if he came through at senior he would be a major boost. In Summer 07 he was one of our few bright lights playing at ff and I thought most people thought he did well and it was a welcome development. He did nt feature last year and I assumed it was because he was hurt. So what chances has he passed up on?
If anything Andy has disappointed more and has been around probably longer. Now I also would have an on-form Andy on my team but his best form has been early in the year and he needs to produce in Summer this year or forget about it. Austin and Killer are another 2 who ve had more chances than Barry Moran.

Something I would like to see Johnno do this year is introduce a hard cull of players who have been coasting in the panel last few years. Not necessarily older players but there seems to be a few - not many - players who just appear to be there for the spin and are not progressing. You d wonder sometimes about the hunger of a few players or their ability to step up.

I agree with all in the first bold part.

The answer to the second bold part is difficult to know but I wouldn't lay all the blame at the managment.

Quote from: whiskeysteve on January 31, 2009, 04:17:46 PM

Quote from: moysider on January 31, 2009, 02:09:14 AM

Quote from: Oakleafer1993 on January 31, 2009, 01:16:59 AM
lads why don't you take this whole discussion over to the mayo forum and stop talking like a bunch of ole woman?

Exactly. There s a fairly similar discussion taking place over there and I m getting confused where posted last and who I insulted last. It would help if Derry people took some interest and not have us beat ourselves up.

Theres no lack of Derry interest just no one has a clue and the leagues not as important this year!! Anyway heres the team, plenty of fresh faces...

Shane McGuckian;

Brian Og McAlary, Sean M Lockhart, Ryan Dillon;
Paul Cartin, Joe O'Kane, Chrissy McKaigue;

Fergal Doherty, Patsy Bradley;

Enda Lynn, Barry McGoldrick, Sean Leo McGoldrick;
James Kielt, Eoin Bradley, Seamus Bradley.

Subs: Barry Gillis, Kevin McGuckin, Barry McGuigan, Joe Diver, Brian Mullan, Eoghan Brown, Paul Young, Paddy Bradley, Paul Bradley

Dont have a clue how the game will go but hope the newer players have good games

Any team with Fergal Doherty on it will be hard beaten. I think he's very under-rated and will be an interesting tussle with McGarrity if they square up against each other.

Quote from: Farrandeelin on January 31, 2009, 07:41:16 PM
Any team with Fergal Doherty on it will be hard beaten. I think he's very under-rated and will be an interesting tussle with McGarrity if they square up against each other.

I hadn't really thought about the Derry team but looking at the match ups now I'd be a tad worried. A heavy sod in a tight pitch like Ballina isn't set up for McGarrity and Parsons. Physically they could struggle against Doherty (a class player) and Patsy Bradley. As well as that Mayo have a physically light half-back line too and while Billy Joe will work hard, the only real abrasive presence around the middle is Trevor Mortimer, who could easily pick up an early yellow.

You'd have to think Derry will dominate possession and there will be a fair bit of ball coming inside. I don't know a thing about Seamus Bradley but Eoin Bradley will give Ger Cafferkey plenty of it. He reminds me of someone like Dublin's Conal Keaney - great talent, if only he could use his head more. James Kielt will give Donal Vaughan a serious work-out too in his first game for Mayo.

It will be interesting to see what sort of impact the new rules have on the game. They might come to Mayo's rescue with the advantage that they give to speed over strength. Not saying either that Derry don't have speed, but under the old rules they'd definitely be able to out muscle Mayo. I'd still be pesimistic enough. Time will tell.

Derry will be pacey enough if thats the line out. McAlary's a flyer and Dillon in corner back is a sticky marker. McKaigue could run for Ireland. Up front we actually have pace all over, with Kielt being the slowest in my opinion. But he wont play a natural corner forward role

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on January 31, 2009, 10:17:48 PM

Quote from: Farrandeelin on January 31, 2009, 07:41:16 PM
Any team with Fergal Doherty on it will be hard beaten. I think he's very under-rated and will be an interesting tussle with McGarrity if they square up against each other.

I hadn't really thought about the Derry team but looking at the match ups now I'd be a tad worried. A heavy sod in a tight pitch like Ballina isn't set up for McGarrity and Parsons. Physically they could struggle against Doherty (a class player) and Patsy Bradley. As well as that Mayo have a physically light half-back line too and while Billy Joe will work hard, the only real abrasive presence around the middle is Trevor Mortimer, who could easily pick up an early yellow.

You'd have to think Derry will dominate possession and there will be a fair bit of ball coming inside. I don't know a thing about Seamus Bradley but Eoin Bradley will give Ger Cafferkey plenty of it. He reminds me of someone like Dublin's Conal Keaney - great talent, if only he could use his head more. James Kielt will give Donal Vaughan a serious work-out too in his first game for Mayo.

It will be interesting to see what sort of impact the new rules have on the game. They might come to Mayo's rescue with the advantage that they give to speed over strength. Not saying either that Derry don't have speed, but under the old rules they'd definitely be able to out muscle Mayo. I'd still be pesimistic enough. Time will tell.

Would nt take Derry for granted. However I think we should be confident of winning this. If any venue in mayo is a fortress its this one with the crowd up tight it wont be something the Derry lads will relish. There s not many venues like this left on the league circuit. Fergal Doherty is a big midfielder in the Derry traditional way but we ve our first choice midfield out so if we struggle here it wont be a great sign of things to come. We should be able to win our own kickouts and break up theirs. Cassidy has also set out his stall to use the league as a trawl for new talent and I remember in the past Derry being disinterested in the league when they did well in it previous year. In fact I remember one year they showed up in Charlestown under Coleman with only 16 or 17 players.

Looking at the Mayo team who s missing that will start in Summer? Keith Higgins, Conor Mortimor and Trevor Howley. Heaney if he still wants to badly enough and possibly Patrick Harte. Could be forgetting someone? So we re close enough to a Summer team. So we should be expecting to win this one.

I don't know too many better midfielders in the country than Doherty though. He's up there with Darragh O Se. Ahead of Whelan. Wouldn't class Sean Cavanagh as a midfielder but Mayo will find it tough in the middle with him around. I hear a bit of surprise that Cassidy is going with Patsy Bradley over Joe Diver so maybe there's something to take advantage of there. Our midfield is very good, don't get me wrong. But there's a few players in the country I'd be worried about them coming against - Darragh O Se and Fergal Doherty would be uppermost in my thoughts. Our pair are much better against more mobile midfielders, who are less physical. As well McGarrity is just back from honeymoon and Parsons is in the difficult second season where it is easy to be complacent after so much going right in your debut season.

I know Ballina has a reputation for being a bit of a fortress. I hope this works to our advantage. It will in terms of atmosphere because I'd be expecting a good crowd. But our starting fifteen would be more suited to a more open field to use their pace.

The more I think about it the more I think we'll do well to win. Cassidy has spoken about championship being the only show in town. That would be what I'd hang the most hope on.

Yeah. I think if there s a type of player we lack its a Steven O Neill ( his performance tonight would cure depression) and somebody like Doherty. I agree, he s like a McGilligan/Twohill hybrid.

The pitch will be heavy but I think we have a better chance than say if the game was in McHale Park which feels like a neutral venue. If we re going to be a serious team we have to win these home matches even if we have to claw them out. Derry are a good side but if we cant win these games what chance would we have in say an away qualifier later in the year.

  A loss would nt be the end of the world either if the attitude is good and we ve good shape and fellas look interested.We ll be wiser by tomorrow evening.             

where can you listen to this at?

You'll get it on mid-west radio

http://www.midwestirishradio.com/mwr/radiomwr.htm

Good win for Derry 1-9 to 0-10.Disappointing start to campaign for Mayo

Quote
What are you insinuating there Muppet?

I'm not going to post negatively about a player, particularly a Mayo one. You'll have to figure it out.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/7863761.stm

Mayo 0-10 1-9 Derry 

A second-half goal from James Kielt proved vital as new Derry boss Damien Cassidy enjoyed a winning start in Division One of the National League.
Derry, the league champions, trailed by six points to five after playing against the breeze in the first half.
The influencial Paddy Bradley came on in the second period and helped set up underage star Kielt's crucial score.
Mayo level on 0-9 to 1-6 but Derry clinched victory with points from Paul Carton, Kielt and Paul Young.
Boss Cassidy was delighted with the contribution of the young players he had introduced to the senior set-up during the McKenna Cup.
"They certainly had a big bearing on this performance," said the Oak Leafers manager.
"It is great they have stepped up to show they have the quality to play at this level.
"It sends out a message to the other players that they have the hunger and it will increase competition for places."
Cassidy admitted they would have to look at a possible lack of discipline as four players had to be replaced under the new yellow cards rule during the game.

Have the BBC made mistakes yet again, I thought Seamy Bradley got the goal and one of the final 3points??

Quote from: Estimator on February 01, 2009, 05:25:58 PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/7863761.stm

Mayo 0-10 1-9 Derry 

A second-half goal from James Kielt proved vital as new Derry boss Damien Cassidy enjoyed a winning start in Division One of the National League.
Derry, the league champions, trailed by six points to five after playing against the breeze in the first half.
The influencial Paddy Bradley came on in the second period and helped set up underage star Kielt's crucial score.
Mayo level on 0-9 to 1-6 but Derry clinched victory with points from Paul Carton, Kielt and Paul Young.
Boss Cassidy was delighted with the contribution of the young players he had introduced to the senior set-up during the McKenna Cup.
"They certainly had a big bearing on this performance," said the Oak Leafers manager.
"It is great they have stepped up to show they have the quality to play at this level.
"It sends out a message to the other players that they have the hunger and it will increase competition for places."
Cassidy admitted they would have to look at a possible lack of discipline as four players had to be replaced under the new yellow cards rule during the game.

Have the BBC made mistakes yet again, I thought Seamy Bradley got the goal and one of the final 3points??

I think Kielt and Bradley were wearing the wrong numbers.

Kielt got the goal, set up by Bradley

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on February 01, 2009, 05:29:58 PM

Quote from: muppet on February 01, 2009, 04:35:52 PM

Quote
What are you insinuating there Muppet?

I'm not going to post negatively about a player, particularly a Mayo one. You'll have to figure it out.

But you have posted negatively about him, that's clear to see, you're just not being specific. Ya can't throw out a line like that about a lad.

Quote from: muppet on January 31, 2009, 06:22:14 PM

Quote from: moysider on January 30, 2009, 11:30:34 PM

Quote from: muppet on January 30, 2009, 05:11:09 PM

Barry Moran must be running out of chances. Time to deliver.
I'm not sure Andy Moran is a certain starter but if hits his best form he should be in.

Correct me if I m wrong Muppet as I could be missing something but is this not a bit severe on Barry Moran?  Now I admit that I m biased here as I ve always had time for Barry Moran and always felt if he came through at senior he would be a major boost. In Summer 07 he was one of our few bright lights playing at ff and I thought most people thought he did well and it was a welcome development. He did nt feature last year and I assumed it was because he was hurt. So what chances has he passed up on?

I agree with all in the first bold part.

The answer to the second bold part is difficult to know but I wouldn't lay all the blame at the managment.

I haven't. I just said time to deliver and he must be running out of chances.

You are trying to get to me post something I don't want to on one hand and then tell me I can't throw out a line like that on the other, even though I didn't say anything. Which is it?

Not a great result today and a very poor second half performance by mayo then  again having been only 15 yards away from that man who had that massive heart attack it puts football into perspective hopefully he will be ok fair play to the order of malta for their work in reviving him 

Its only the first of February but the alarm bells are ringing big time.

Have we learned anything since last Summer? I don't think so.

Whatever the reason there was no fight in the team today, they looked leaden footed and completely disinterested. 6 frees for touching the ball on the ground (it was hard to avoid with the conditions but then again maybe some fellas could have held on to it, or not have bounced it); no tackling (maybe that was because of the ridiculous new rules) and given a complete run around which leaves us in a completely perilous position in the league already when you look at some of the fixtures coming up.

For five minutes they kicked the ball into Barry Moran and things went well. THen the game plan went out the window. In the second half we struggled in midfield and being against the wind the ball wasn't kicked in to poor ould Barry. Why not bring him out?

My initial reaction today was that maybe it would be better for JOM and for Mayo football if there was an amicable parting even at this time of the year. His heart doesn't seem to be in it. His excuses during the FBD pissed people off and I'm sure he'll have similar sob stories about today. Of course it is too early to be talking like that but if there are more gutless displays like today he may not see Summer football.

Hope he is ok too, as I was 600 miles away I had to make do with a broken down midwest service. jesus that billy fitz always seems to be up for our opponent, "oh pat harte was lucky it went over the bar" versus "oh thats a good point there by bradley" he really should listen to a rerun of himself.Anyway , Mayo lose a close one, hope that they knuckle down and can win a few but the group is very strong, even dublin looked fairly good last night and tyrone seem to be able to pick up scores at will and will be hard beaten again this year by all.Ciaran whelan diving was the bright spot for me, hes a gas man.Some say Mayo were lifeless today, not sure what to think of it but that something positive has to happen this year or else. And the barry moran trial at ff according to midwest was ok but they stopped kicking it in on him, much like the championship game in 2007 in derry.

Your not too happy barney are you and i would agree with your analsis of the game like you said in the 2nd half we were been beaten at midfield yet there were no changes till late in the match when mort was taken off also you would wonder how conor was fit to come on but not to start

Quote from: the Deel Rover on February 01, 2009, 08:37:24 PM
Not a great result today and a very poor second half performance by mayo then  again having been only 15 yards away from that man who had that massive heart attack it puts football into perspective hopefully he will be ok fair play to the order of malta for their work in reviving him 

That was frightening, thank God the Order of Malta were able to work on him and fingers crossed he'll make a full recovery

Quote from: Barney on February 01, 2009, 08:52:30 PM
Its only the first of February but the alarm bells are ringing big time.


Whatever the reason there was no fight in the team today, they looked leaden footed and completely disinterested. ; no tackling ( and given a complete run around
My initial reaction today was that maybe it would be better for JOM and for Mayo football if there was an amicable parting  His excuses during the FBD pissed people off     if there are more gutless displays like today he may not see Summer football.

Reminds me of Ros and a certain Mayoman manager at this stage in 2008.... ::) :D ;D ;D ;D

It was surreal r and g i dont know how the game continued while the whole park knew that some man could be perhap s dying . My heart went out to the young lad that was with him his son perhaps

Its a tough one to know what to do in that situation but I wasn't concentrating on the match for the next ten minutes, I kept looking in that direction hoping the guy would be okay. I was near the tunnel so it was awful hard to know how bad it was but I saw someone giving him CPR so I knew it wasn't good. The response from the medical people at the ground seemed to be very good, fair play to them

Some quick thoughts on the game itself

- Very disappointing result. We faded alarmingly in the second half and brought the ball into so many cul de sacs. I'd be inclined to agree with Barney about the lack of heart but wouldn't rush to any judgements just yet. I noticed the Mayo huddle before the game lasted about ten seconds and there was just a murmur of a 'come on' whereas Cassidy had Derry in for about 3-4 minutes and they looked up for it for a team not meant to be too pushed about the league. Our first half display was promising but we left it inside at half-time.

- of the new lads, Ger Cafferkey saw plenty of ball come the way of his man but I reckon he got on top and now that he has the debut (I think) under his belt, he will be all the better for it. Donal Vaughan looked very shaky/nervous in possession and gave away some bad ball but he I wouldn't be too hard on him. He drove forward relentlessly near the end in fairness to him and I'd prefer to see him at wing-back. Mickey Sweeney was good imo. Not a pitch or day suited to him but his workrate is good and he will always ask questions of his man. Should have done better with the goal chance but he fielded the ball brilliantly in the first place.

- Midfield was very good in the first half, save for a couple of cheap turnovers but very poor in the second half, esp since Joe Diver came on. McGarrity looked rusty but showed a good attitude. The same can be said for Parsons. In defence our half-back line was shapeless enough. Gardiner often left a massive hole on our right wing with his bursts forward.

- Too often we engaged in short passing when a more direct route was needed. A few times we gave away cheap possession in this regard but, to be fair, there weren't too many targets up front as our half-forward line was also shapeless, with Dillon showing occasionally, Trevor hardly showing in the second half and Billy Joe back in defence.

- Barry Moran worked well at full-forward in the first ten minutes but then they stopped giving him the ball. He was a passenger in the second half. Also Conor Mortimer was definitely fit enough too start. Andy Moran looks short on confidence and far too many of our players were unwilling to shoot. Not a good sign.

- Bottom line, I was pesimistic about the game but I gave Derry too much credit. They weren't as good as I thought they would be. We, unfortunately, were worse than I imagined.

EDIT - Did anyone else think Clarke's kickouts were absolutely awful, esp in the second half? Perhaps he was injured, to be fair, but if he was he should have been taken off because they weren't clearing the '45 and were hanging in the air too

Howd the derry lads play?

Joe Diver made a big difference when he came on. Lynn looked good in the first half. Kielt really looks the part, kicked 1-3, took the goal well and kicked one savage point. Eoin Bradley was dangerous but, typically, picked the wrong option too often. Doherty was effective without killing himself. Brian Og McAlary was yellow carded and had his hands full with young Mikey Sweeney

I cant remember a worse Mayo display here, in what was always a banker venue for us. I was very disappointed.

 Hopefully that poor man will make a full recovery. Really he was fortunate. Unless that happened in a hospital it could nt have happened in a better place. Heard who it was but probably not right to say on here. Maybe the players were affected because we made a bright start and seemed to lose interest. Certainly the crowd seemed to be affected by it and never got into the game at all. Or maybe there s another reason because I ve never seen the place so quiet.

Could nt take many positives from that. Liam O Malley our best back. McGarrity could be good this year if those around him showed a bit of interest. Barry Moran had the winning of the game if we played him. The support was too slow getting to him as well. Do we have players that can follow a game plan? And a no.11 that can control the game and kick good ball in like Mc Guigan does and Blaney used to. Parsons has to be tried there as he appears to have the radar and skills necessary. No point playing a running, tackling , grafter there however good he is at those things. We did nt get out of our half in the start of the second half for 10 minutes. There was no outlet with BJP usually behind the ball and Dillon was curtailed. Dont think BJP was fit enough for the role he was asked to play today. I felt Kelly should be played at 6 with Cuniffe at 7 to carry ball. If we have a sweeping player we should be able to deploy our 5 and 7 as runners.
 Mikey Sweeney did ok. He won some hard ball but does nt seem to have the strength yet to go by a back and kept turning into the body of the defender. If the team is to be chosen from the same panel for next game this is the line- up I d like to see.

Clarke, O Malley, Caff, Vaughan, Gardiner, Kelly, Cuniffe, Mcgarrity, Harte, Dillon, Parsons, Andy Moran, Conor, Barry Moran, Trevor.

If we re to play a sweeping player I think we should sacrifice a corner forward because you ll have no shape like today if a half forward does so. Trevor is the man I d have playing that role and there is still a problem of getting support in  to Barry Moran. Dillon and Andy and maybe  a deep run from Harte will have to be worked on in this respect. As I see it most of our problems can be sorted by common sense coaching. What we need is not exactly rocket science. I saw Trevor launch a bit of a Garryowen today from a 55 metre free. What was that about? Who decided that? Everybody knows that Trevor is not a consistent kicker of the ball. He s great at some things but not that.  Personnel wise we re in decent enough shape . Conor will have to learn how to support a target man and that should keep the coaching staff busy for a while because the last time they played together Conor clearly was nt interested in being nominated  for a supporting role to anybody.

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on February 01, 2009, 08:07:08 PM
I'm not asking you to throw something out you don't want to. I'm saying you shouldn't hint at something which casts a slur and then say you don't want to give details because you don't want to post negative about a player, when you've already done that in the first place. Your initial comment was loose imho. I reckon it'd be better if you said nothing at all in the first place

Firstly what are you on about?What slur?

Secondly this is a National Board. I will say things to Mayo supporters that I wouldn't say outside the county. All I suggested about Moran was time to deliver and you seem to have jumped to his defense.

I think Barry has too many people like you around him.

i was in the company  one of the doctors who attended the man who had the heart attack and he called the hospital after the game and was told the man was in a stable condition so hopefully he will be alright.
regarding the game it was a pretty dire performance lacking any real conviction or obvious game plan. as other posters have pointed out when they gave the ball to Barry Moran he did well but after the first 10 minutes they made no attempt to play him. the second half was all Derry and they should have won by more.

Disappointing today

Clarke - Poor kickouts and dodgy fist out in 1st half
O'Malley/vaughan - ok nice mopping up, poor passing out
Caff - Beaten to the ball a lot but defended well after a first 5mins that looked like he would get wiped out
Kelly - Was just thinking that i hadn;t noticed him at all when he carrys into the tackle loses it and gives a goal away, for such a big lad lost the ball constantly in tackles, wouldn;t want to see him again
Cunniffe - solid, got a lot of ball and went forward well, impressed
Gardiner - nowhere defensively, like i said before the match not good enough
Parsons - Very poor, didn;t win ball or breaks and seemed slow to move into positions to catch kickouts, would put it down to early season
McG - won a lot of kickouts and broke a lot but cannot, at all pass the ball, this low on the ball shite sickens me, really poor and needs to work on it
BJP - had a good 1st half, won a lot of breaks and worked hard, was the only one able to kick the right ball into moran, a high dropping ball, seemed to tire and go out of the game
TMort - again worked hard but tired, good 1st half
Dillon - not great
AMoran - was it just me or does he just run around headless, on several occasions he ran in front of Bmoran, could be generous and maybe needs to time his run better and get there after the ball is sent into barry but for me ruins other players runs by making one across them
Bmoran - did great on anything that came into him, needed more to go into him
Sweeney - Won a lot of ball but carried into tackle and is too light for that
Harte - Did ok after he came on
CMort - won a free straight after he came on and blazed it over the bar, Why? Put the last free over the bar as well, Why?
Aiden O'Shea - Got a lot of physical attention from derry, for me a little lazy in tackling back, thought this in the minors last year and noticed it again today. Looks a big man even at this level

Seemed to die in the last 10, no reason why?
Passing was shocking today, hand passes not going to a man 2 yards away, 5 yard hand passing hitting the ground before getting there and putting us under pressure

Derry were poor and stayed in it cause we were doing nothing up front, got 1-3 from us losing the ball in the half backs and another point from the ref when he pulled back a quick kickout to take a sub. Fair play to derry they pulled it out in the last 5-10

Ref was very poor, yellow carded a derry lad for a foul on barry moran when i thought the free was harsh, let mort away with 4 fouls in the 1st half with no black, pulled o'shea for touching the ball on the ground when it was clear he lied on it, the ref was right beside this one. Poor but prob in favour of mayo

Very poor start to the league, we'll struggle to retain Div 1 status I'd say.

Very good start to the game but it all fell apart badly after the first ten minutes.

Our main problem was that we had no link between the backs and the half forward line in the second half. When the backs won the ball and looked up, there was nobody to give it to. They ended up short passing it around until they lost it (usually with a simple pass). The blame for this has to lie with the midfield and half forwards (and JOM for not remedying it).

Parsons was anonymous, should have been taken off earlier. Dillon was no better. McG tried hard and was the one who brought us back into it in the 2nd half but he lacks basic footballing skills, particularly poor passing - got a v good point though.

The backs were so-so considering the pressure they were under, an unreal amount of soft stray passes though. Cunniffe did well but he lost the ball softly for the Derry goal. A Moran improved when he moved out to the 40 but he needs to learn to let it off. B Moran must have been fairly p*ssed off, he won any good ball that went into him and won a couple of crap balls into him too. No point in having him in there if we're not going to use him - JOM has to take responsibility for this.

Need to improve big time in the next few matches but you might be overreacting Barney with calling for JOM's head! Sacking the manager after a 2 point loss to the reigning league champions despite the poor performance would make us a laughing stock. Who would you replace him with?

Very glad to hear that the man who collapsed is in a stable condition, sorta put me off the game after seeing that.

Tame enough game but entertaining nonetheless.  Positive for derry considering we were missing Enda Muldoon, Paul Murphy, Mark Lynch, Niall McCusker, Kevin McGuckin, Kevin McCloy and Paddy Bradley (who came on for last 10).  Good to see a few others stepping up to take some of the responsibility.

I'd go along with the comments made so far - the match itself was overshadowed by the man who collapsed, it was very worrying to see CPR being performed on him. Glad to hear he's in a stable condition.
As has been said already Mayo made a bright start with Barry Moran winning all the ball that was played into him. It was a winning tactic that was then ignored for the rest of the match - made no sense (particularly when we had the wind in the first half).
I thought Cafferkey did fairly well. His man always seemed to be first to the ball, but Cafferkey defended well and didn't let him past too often. Liam O'Malley played well, Vaughan looked shaky but it was his first game so I wouldn't judge him too harshly.
I thought the half back line were falrly anonymous, provided little resistance to Derry when they were attacking in the second half.
McGarritty played well, Parsons made a couple of good bursts forward and got 1 or 2 points, but didn't win much ball in the middle. The more the match went on, the less influence we had in midfield.
In the half forwards, Dillon looked a bit off the pace and didn't really do anything of note apart from the frees. Trevor Mortimer looked like he hadn't touched a football at all this year. His handling was very poor and he seemed to be constantly tripping over himself and falling - very frustrating. In the second half he took a free from CHF position and send a garryowen down on top of Mikey Sweeney, the smallest player on the pitch. That would drive anyone mad, when Barry Moran at 6'5" or whatever height he is was in at FF. Billie Joe won a few balls but also faded out of the game. He'll always win possession and has a bit of drive about him so I'd keep him on the team.
Andy Moran did a lot of running and got on a fair amount of ball, but there was no end product. Once he had the ball, he ran with it but didn't seem to have any plan of where he was going. Barry Moran looks to have bulked up considerably and was a real threat, but ball stopped going into him (why JOM allowed this I don't know).
Mikey Sweeney was impressive. His handling was very good and he showed for a lot of ball in the first half, but his small stature is obviously a disadvantage. Definitely worth another couple of games though.
Conor Mort made a big difference when he came on - he really is the only consistent scoring forward we have, and has been for years.

To me, there seemed to be no intensity or even enthusiasm from Mayo which is worrying. The fact that they faded out of the game so badly could also suggest that we were one of the few counties that actually adhered to the ban on training in Nov and Dec. I'm hoping that is the case, and that we'll improve as the league progresses.

A poor start to the season, and if the performance level doesn't go up, we'll go down!
But there are positives to take from the overall sense of pessimism - Cafferkey made a fairly solid debut in FB, McGarritty looked to have some of his old form back, Mikey Sweeney looks lively and could nab a few scores. And the main one for me is that if it is drilled into the midfield and half forwards to let quick ball in high to Barry Moran, and the corner forwards have the sense to be available for the knock down, we have our own Donaghy.

Quote from: SidelineKick on February 02, 2009, 08:20:42 AM
Very glad to hear that the man who collapsed is in a stable condition, sorta put me off the game after seeing that.

Tame enough game but entertaining nonetheless.  Positive for derry considering we were missing Enda Muldoon, Paul Murphy, Mark Lynch, Niall McCusker, Kevin McGuckin, Kevin McCloy and Paddy Bradley (who came on for last 10).  Good to see a few others stepping up to take some of the responsibility.

According to the Irish News Sean Lockhart and Kevin Mc Guckian were also missing due to family committments

Quote from: Maximus Marillius on February 02, 2009, 09:49:13 AM

Quote from: SidelineKick on February 02, 2009, 08:20:42 AM
Very glad to hear that the man who collapsed is in a stable condition, sorta put me off the game after seeing that.

Tame enough game but entertaining nonetheless.  Positive for derry considering we were missing Enda Muldoon, Paul Murphy, Mark Lynch, Niall McCusker, Kevin McGuckin, Kevin McCloy and Paddy Bradley (who came on for last 10).  Good to see a few others stepping up to take some of the responsibility.

According to the Irish News Sean Lockhart and Kevin Mc Guckian were also missing due to family committments

Missed Sean Marty. Have Kevin, his wife had a wein.

So we are off to a bad start yet again in the league. It was very disapointing yesterday, worringly a lot of players didn't look to be that up for the game. Our back line is still a disaster area, is this back line really the best the county has to offer. Lets be under no illusions this Derry team we played yesterday are no world beaters by any strech. Most of the other posters have pretty much nailed each players performance. Mc Garrity almost dragged us back into contention in the second half, Andy Moran ran around like a headless chicken yet again, Aidan o Shea was totally off the pace of the game when he came on. Unfortunatly there were a lot more negatives than positives. We are still treading water as regards progress with this team.

We are no world beaters that is true, but what is very positive for us is the new players coming in, missing 8 regular starters and still coming away with the points.  I'm quietly optimistic this year, Derry have had the players for this past 3 or 4 years but fail to produce the goods at the business end of the year.  I, along with most of Derry, would be satisfied with staying in Division 1 this year, and give Ulster a good rattle. We're in the tough side of the draw so therr will be no excuses, its all or nothing and we'll have to beat the big guns on the way if we are to win it.

Quote from: Sonny Joe on February 02, 2009, 10:42:32 AM
Sideline, Joe O'kane was FB from the start with Barry Mc Guigan starting at CHB.

Apologies Sonny Joe I was at the far end of the field so was unable to see the action properly in the first half, in terms of who was who.  Would agree with you that he'll be pushed out to half back.

Quote from: An Gaeilgoir on February 02, 2009, 10:39:33 AM

Our back line is still a disaster area, is this back line really the best the county has to offer?

With likes of HigginsX2, Nallen, Howley and Heaney unavailable or gone it s probably as good as it gets as regards personnel. But the performance can be much better. Yesterday we could nt work the ball out and it shows how good Nallen and Heaney were at this aspect of the game down the years. Not all the backs fault because all links between defence and attack broke dowm second half. surely this can be sorted out for the next game?

Quote from: Sonny Joe on February 02, 2009, 10:42:32 AM
The ref favoured Galway in this game.

I wish we had him then instead of your man in Mullingar. ;D

Quote from: moysider on February 02, 2009, 10:56:59 AM

Quote from: An Gaeilgoir on February 02, 2009, 10:39:33 AM

Our back line is still a disaster area, is this back line really the best the county has to offer?

With likes of HigginsX2, Nallen, Howley and Heaney unavailable or gone it s probably as good as it gets as regards personnel. But the performance can be much better. Yesterday we could nt work the ball out and it shows how good Nallen and Heaney were at this aspect of the game down the years. Not all the backs fault because all links between defence and attack broke dowm second half. surely this can be sorted out for the next game?

The lack of ability of players working the ball out of defence was frightening. I suppose it might come with time but Nallen, Heaney and Keith Higgins are massive losses in this regard. Our shapeless half-forward line was a massive problem though. Trevor, positionally, was poor and Dillon had to be brought in centre-forward. He was Mayo's only outlet. But the likes of Vaughan, Gardiner hadn't the power to break the tackles, Cunniffe had moreso but still ran into difficulty on occasion. I guess we have to be optimistic and looking forward to the next game its hard to know what changes to recommend. Billy Joe needs to get fitter to play the role he was playing but he can play that role. Trevor will improve with match practice. Conor will prob replace Andy Moran. Barry Moran will wait at 14 and I think Mikey Sweeney deserves a few more goes at right-corner forward.
In defence I'd prefer to see Cunniffe on the wing, maybe a direct swop with Kelly while we wait for Trevor Howley to get back. Gardiner wasn't great at wing-back but I'd leave him there. In the full-back line O'Malley was very good, Ger Cafferkey too. I'm a big fan of Kevin McLoughlin and while Donal Vaughan didn't set the world alight, I think he deserves a few more run outs. In goal I hope it was injury that was the reason for David Clarke's poor kick outs because if it wasn't I'd be very nervous if I was him, looking over my shoulder at Robbie Hennely and Kenneth O'Malley.
I'd also see no harm in starting Harte at midfield instead of Parsons, just to let the young lad know nothing is certain about his place

It's pretty much all been said here before. We could all see the faults, half back and half forward lines poor, too much bad hand passing around half back and the ball not let into Barry Moran often enough or with enough quality. Having said all this I thought there was some positives and since it's still the start of the year I'll concentrate on them.

McGarrity - looked like he was back towards his top form, this is the best I've seen him since his brush with the big C. Caught good ball, kicked a good point, laid off some decent ball - still can't kick pass though.

Full Back line - considering the pressure they were under performed well. Good to see LO'Malley back on good form and Cafferkey seemed a good defender even if he let his man have a lot of ball.

Barry Moran - looked capable of causing trouble if given ball, the same could be said for Mickey Sweeney.


On the need to improve areas. I'd like to see Pat Harte play on the 40 above Trevor or Dillon he played well there last year. Leave the other 2 on the wings.
Parsons will improve again I thought he played alright in the 1st but faded later on. He got taken off but then half the team could have been taken off.

At half back Cunniffe impressed me more than he ever had before. I'd like to see a half back line with him and Keith Higgins on the wing with Howley at centre back. Pretty much the line that we've been hoping for over the last few years, it's only been held up because of injury and poor form in the FB line. If O'Malley continues to keep good form he should play CB and let Cafferkey play for the whole of the league and Championship at FB even if he makes a few mistakes - this is what Galway did with Hanley and he's turned into a decent FB. The other corner is open for selection yet hopefully either Vaughan or McLoughlin can put a stamp on it.

Quote from: Barney on February 01, 2009, 08:52:30 PM
Its only the first of February but the alarm bells are ringing big time.

Have we learned anything since last Summer? I don't think so.

Whatever the reason there was no fight in the team today, they looked leaden footed and completely disinterested. 6 frees for touching the ball on the ground (it was hard to avoid with the conditions but then again maybe some fellas could have held on to it, or not have bounced it); no tackling (maybe that was because of the ridiculous new rules) and given a complete run around which leaves us in a completely perilous position in the league already when you look at some of the fixtures coming up.

For five minutes they kicked the ball into Barry Moran and things went well. THen the game plan went out the window. In the second half we struggled in midfield and being against the wind the ball wasn't kicked in to poor ould Barry. Why not bring him out?

My initial reaction today was that maybe it would be better for JOM and for Mayo football if there was an amicable parting even at this time of the year. His heart doesn't seem to be in it. His excuses during the FBD pissed people off and I'm sure he'll have similar sob stories about today. Of course it is too early to be talking like that but if there are more gutless displays like today he may not see Summer football.

You weren't the only one thinking along those lines Barney I can tell you that. Don't know if he will do the amicable parting though. The turning pt for me was at half time when the game plan we had seemed to fall asunder. I'd blame JOM for that. I can't remember losing in Ballina for a long time anyway. As for the players, some not up to IC standard, 2 subs in particular. I know it's only early February but it's shocking that we were so poor in the second half and other teams have built up fitness already. Ref very poor as well.

Quote from: kevmy on February 02, 2009, 02:32:38 PM

At half back Cunniffe impressed me more than he ever had before. I'd like to see a half back line with him and Keith Higgins on the wing with Howley at centre back. Pretty much the line that we've been hoping for over the last few years, it's only been held up because of injury and poor form in the FB line. If O'Malley continues to keep good form he should play CB and let Cafferkey play for the whole of the league and Championship at FB even if he makes a few mistakes - this is what Galway did with Hanley and he's turned into a decent FB. The other corner is open for selection yet hopefully either Vaughan or McLoughlin can put a stamp on it.

That would be an ideal half-back line. Having Higgins at wing-back depends on Liam O'Malley keeping up his form of yesterday in the corner and either McLoughlin or Vaughan taking control of the other corner, with Cafferkey in the middle. If we had a back six of O'Malley, Cafferkey, McLoughlin; Cunniffe, Howley and K Higgins I'd be happy. But full-back line a work in progress and we'd have to see how Howley would get on in the centre. Through no fault of his own he hasn't been able to prove that he is the solution at 6, yet.

I'm trying to look for positives and that might be one of them. Lord knows there's enough negatives to focus on

I agree that those are the 6 or 7 most likely backs. However 3 of them are under 6' tall - 2 well under. None are really big men. Thats the way it is I suppose. No point playing size for the sake of it. We seemed to do that last 2 years and look where it got us. But maybe lack of size will be a problem down the road as well.

Quote from: moysider on February 02, 2009, 04:05:05 PM

I agree that those are the 6 or 7 most likely backs. However 3 of them are under 6' tall - 2 well under. None are really big men. Thats the way it is I suppose. No point playing size for the sake of it. We seemed to do that last 2 years and look where it got us. But maybe lack of size will be a problem down the road as well.

Thats fair enough about the height issue but very few teams actually have massive FF. Donaghy and Cussen are the only two massive target men playing for top teams. Players like Meehan and Clarke are big but not massive, a decent defender will not let an inch or two stop him from playing well. All this does depend on getting the FB line sorted. I hope L O'Malley holds good form I think he is one of the better, naturally suited corner backs we have. Someone will have to fill the other corner but I prefer someone like Aiden Higgins coming into that corner instead of Keith Higgins, Cunniffe or Howley cos I reckon that would do more damage than good.

Heard ( from a usually reliable source) that Trevor Howley s recovery has had a setback and he s unlikely to feature even in the medium term. Big blow to everybody concerned. Perhaps Deelin or Mayo4Sam can find out for sure what s going on there.

Still no sign of Chris Barrett either.

Hilights of match on Tnag now

Trevor Howley had difficulty getting over injury before when he was under 21. Hopefully things go well for him.

The issues of working the ball out of the defence comes down to work ethic for me, there was no support play whatsoever yesterday. That is very disappointing but difficult to understand. What is the problem? Are players not interested? Are they not good enough? Have they a game plan? Do they not want to play for the management? Where is the fire?

Maybe we are some way off the pace because we didn't train during November and December (unlike our neighbours in Roscommon (allegedly)).

What is also frustrating is the lack of improvement in Mayo footballers.

Andy Moran has played for Mayo for probably 5/6 years now. For 5/6 years he has soloed his way around the pitches in ireland to little effect. What manager has taken him aside and tried to improve this element of his game.

Numerous players carry the ball into the tackle - they continue to do so - why?

God, its not easy being a Mayo fan.

Quote from: Barney on February 02, 2009, 08:09:13 PM
The issues of working the ball out of the defence comes down to work ethic for me, there was no support play whatsoever yesterday. That is very disappointing but difficult to understand. What is the problem? Are players not interested? Are they not good enough? Have they a game plan? Do they not want to play for the management? Where is the fire?

What is also frustrating is the lack of improvement in Mayo footballers.

Andy Moran has played for Mayo for probably 5/6 years now. For 5/6 years he has soloed his way around the pitches in ireland to little effect. What manager has taken him aside and tried to improve this element of his game.

Numerous players carry the ball into the tackle - they continue to do so - why?

God, its not easy being a Mayo fan.

Not sure its all to do with work ethic Barney. I would say that the hardest working players for Mayo yesterday were Billy Joe Padden, Donal Vaughan, Peadar Gardiner, Tom Cunniffe and Ronan McGarrity. Yet a lot of these lads simply took the wrong option or showed bad handling/passing skills. Far too many times we had problems carrying the ball out of defence and a lad might be surrounded by Derry players. He would then break from this space, give it to someone who had space to drive into yet he'd double back and carry the ball into trouble. I hope this is because lads haven't been used to playing together; I hope its because the players know what to do but are just lacking sharpness at this stage of the season; I hope relevant drills to this gameplan are being practiced regularly in training and we will see the results in time; I hope I'm right.

QuoteThe issues of working the ball out of the defence comes down to work ethic for me, there was no support play whatsoever yesterday. That is very disappointing but difficult to understand. What is the problem? Are players not interested? Are they not good enough? Have they a game plan? Do they not want to play for the management? Where is the fire?

Wouldn't agree that it was a lack of work ethic, thought it was more a lack of structure. When the backs looked up there was nobody open and looking for a pass around midfield so their only options were to hoof it or a short handpass which as we know didn't work out too well for us. I think this is something that can be relatively easily remedied.....a little worrying that JOM didn't remedy it during the game yesterday though.....

The accounts on this thread and indeed on most reports makes for very, very depressing reading.
This is the lowest I have felt in a long time regarding Mayo football. Its a very bleak outlook for this year.

Since 1995 James Nallen orchestrated the movement of ball out of the Mayo defence. Heaney and the Higgins were expert at it too. Keith Higgins will be back in time but maybe we need somebody at 6 who can bring some structure and organisation while new lads find their feet. While Nallen was playing coaches did nt have much work to do cause it was never a problem. If Howley is out long term I d be knocking at Heaney s door to try and rescue this league - because that is what I believe it has turned into already, a rescue operation. Now coaches have a problem and it will be interesting how they go about this as well as a functioning half forward line. There was bound to be some teething problems with these lads only playing together seriously for the first time. But if these problems are not sorted quickly we ll be in Div 2 fairly lively. We were worried about finding fullbacks and fullforwards but yesterday the general structure of the team folded in the second half.

Jesus, i hope you lads don't know what you are talking about or it will be a quiete summer.It certainly sounded from the posts and radio commentary (when it came back) that Mayo were not able to run or win a ball and use it wisely.

is there a lot of self delusion going on about our new full back. 

QuoteCafferkey seemed a good defender even if he let his man have a lot of ball.

QuoteI thought Cafferkey did fairly well. His man always seemed to be first to the ball,

QuoteCaff - Beaten to the ball a lot but defended well after a first 5mins that looked like he would get wiped out

this adds up to having a stinker of  a game which he did. he looked cluless and reacted about 5 seconds late every time. only that o'malley was there to mind the house things would have bee a lot worse.
Cunniffe too was a disaster at CHB . and that was with the constant support of either Andy or BJP. his busting runs though very quick rarely go anywhere and 3 time yesterday the ball landed in opprnts hand Leaving him completely out of position. An absolute no no for a central defender and indeed the cause of derrys goal .which won them the game f Vaughn may not have looked great but at least he did no harm.
overall we were not much behind derry but again our failure to win close games is fatal. Mayo are missing a spark an extra gear or an inspirational figure(maybe with a pony tail) and when they look to the side line one get the impression all they would get would be the same excuses the media are subjected to.
anyone else reckon the referee got embarred yellow carding derry lads in the 1st half and chicken out in the 2nf . esp when C Mort was dragged down in front of the goal. Cassidy was whining after about how many yellows they got to mayo zero . maybe if mayo had played a little closer to the line the result would be different

Can someone from Mayo hazard a guess at despite reaaching several all-ireland underage finals in the last 5/6 years , why they are at such a low ebb? Can't figure it out myself. Or is it just a case of the january bluesi

For the same reason that Dublin have won four Leinster titles in a row but haven't been in an All-Ireland final since 1995. That is that we have a lot of players of a certain level - good players, but not enough top class lads. Always produce good underage teams in Mayo but not enough great players coming through

Quote from: INDIANA on February 02, 2009, 11:33:52 PM
Can someone from Mayo hazard a guess at despite reaaching several all-ireland underage finals in the last 5/6 years , why they are at such a low ebb? Can't figure it out myself. Or is it just a case of the january bluesi

I m shy about recommending you revise the relevant threads here over the last two years because you ll have better things to do.I dont have the heart for rekindling the debate. But some people saw this train coming a long way away. Our situation is not hopeless because as you ve pointed out they re are player resources there. However the men in charge of making the most of them need to get their act together. It may be only Febuary this is their third Spring rebuilding and it still looks like demolition to me.

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on February 02, 2009, 11:42:12 PM
For the same reason that Dublin have won four Leinster titles in a row but haven't been in an All-Ireland final since 1995. That is that we have a lot of players of a certain level - good players, but not enough top class lads. Always produce good underage teams in Mayo but not enough great players coming through

we don't produce good underage teams in dublin as our record proves. Which is part of the reason why we don't win all-irelands. Mayo prouduce top class minors and u21's every second year.(I've seen them myself and some of them are top class) So i don't agree with that. Something much bigger wrong if you ask me in Mayo . Anyway don't want to rehash it but I can never understand the amount of lads who disappear off the face off the earth up there in football terms.

Quote from: rosnarun on February 02, 2009, 11:32:00 PM
is there a lot of self delusion going on about our new full back. 

QuoteCafferkey seemed a good defender even if he let his man have a lot of ball.

QuoteI thought Cafferkey did fairly well. His man always seemed to be first to the ball,

QuoteCaff - Beaten to the ball a lot but defended well after a first 5mins that looked like he would get wiped out

this adds up to having a stinker of  a game which he did. he looked cluless and reacted about 5 seconds late every time. only that o'malley was there to mind the house things would have bee a lot worse.
Cunniffe too was a disaster at CHB . and that was with the constant support of either Andy or BJP. his busting runs though very quick rarely go anywhere and 3 time yesterday the ball landed in opprnts hand Leaving him completely out of position. An absolute no no for a central defender and indeed the cause of derrys goal .which won them the game f Vaughn may not have looked great but at least he did no harm.
overall we were not much behind derry but again our failure to win close games is fatal. Mayo are missing a spark an extra gear or an inspirational figure(maybe with a pony tail) and when they look to the side line one get the impression all they would get would be the same excuses the media are subjected to.
anyone else reckon the referee got embarred yellow carding derry lads in the 1st half and chicken out in the 2nf . esp when C Mort was dragged down in front of the goal. Cassidy was whining after about how many yellows they got to mayo zero . maybe if mayo had played a little closer to the line the result would be different

Alright Ros I think you ve nailed a few points here. I noticed earlier another poster blamed Pat Kelly for Derry goal when in fact it was Cunniffe who gave the ball away. However I think you re harsh on Cafferkey and you ve done something you ve been against - dismiss a young player as not up to it after one showing. I was afraid of this in general anyway and posted last week that I was wary of him being seen as the great white hope as a 3. I doubt anybody on this board has seen him play more than I have. In fact very few full stop. It was a surprise to me Mayo played him there underage. He s better elsewhere but he could do a better job at 3 than anybody else available. The same thing has happened Pat Kelly( minor 99 - had played all his football at midfield until then) and David Heaney was pressed into the role after Cahill retired, stagnating his own career and depriving the team of a dynamic attacking force. There s no guarantee that Caff will ever grow into the role but he has to be given time. Personally I d have him at at 6 and give him his head and let him stride out with the ball. He could be a great 6.

Quote from: INDIANA on February 03, 2009, 12:33:39 AM

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on February 02, 2009, 11:42:12 PM
For the same reason that Dublin have won four Leinster titles in a row but haven't been in an All-Ireland final since 1995. That is that we have a lot of players of a certain level - good players, but not enough top class lads. Always produce good underage teams in Mayo but not enough great players coming through

we don't produce good underage teams in dublin as our record proves. Which is part of the reason why we don't win all-irelands. Mayo prouduce top class minors and u21's every second year.(I've seen them myself and some of them are top class) So i don't agree with that. Something much bigger wrong if you ask me in Mayo . Anyway don't want to rehash it but I can never understand the amount of lads who disappear off the face off the earth up there in football terms.

My answer there doesn't really answer your entire question. What I am saying is that we have good underage teams, solid all around, but perhaps not full of gifted lads. I could go through each of the teams but the bottom line is that my opinion is that we don't currently have the players to win an All-Ireland. I don't quite agree with the phrase 'top class minors and under 21s every second year', that would be stretching it. Have we the players to do better? Yes, but as Moysider says, that's a depressing tale which would be hard to sum up in short

EDIT: Last year's minor team was the exception, as it had a good few talented individuals. But that's not relevant to the current senior squad, maybe in two years time

That's probably a fair point, we tend to have very good underage teams rather than very good individual players.

Quote from: MacDanger on February 03, 2009, 01:30:34 AM
That's probably a fair point, we tend to have very good underage teams rather than very good individual players.

There was 6 or 7 very good individual players on last years minor team that some of us pinpointed 12 months ago. Unfortunately it was a few ordinary ones, and no bench that cost us. The U21 team that won AI was based around a few better players in defense and  midfield. Ditto last years team.

QuoteSomething much bigger wrong if you ask me in Mayo

It begins and ends with the County Board in my opinion.

They don't go on the pitch but they are living in the stone ages and more interested in playing their political games (GAA politics, more than FG). Facilities in the county are poor, the assistance for managers and teams are poor.

As moysider says the problems could be seen 2 years ago. The kniving of Mickey Moran (which started during the National League and finished after the All Ireland) has set us back - and we deserve no less. The sad thing is we have yet to hit rock bottom and we must do before things improve.

Another problem is the 2004 and 2006 All irelands. A lot of young players have been ruined by those experiences. They saw they were a million miles away from beating Kerry. Unlike say the Clare team of the 90s they didn't go away and see what they could do to bridge that gap but instead are happy luxuriating in their role as Mayo footballers, without seeking success. This group went toe to toe with many of the current Tyrone players at underage. The graph has gone in the opposite directions for both teams since. Why?

And the funny thing is vilified and all has he is and has been nobody has done more for the Mayo senior footballers than John Maughan. The players might not like is honest style but maybe a dose of his reality for some of them would do no harm. Unless there is a Connacht championship won this year he will be back next year.

From the Mayonews today
 
Tuesday, 03 February 2009 
Time to pick up the pieces and move on


Reaction
Daniel Carey

"WHAT we need to do is to pick up the pieces and dust ourselves down and go to Donegal – and move on."
The words of John O'Mahony, speaking 24 hours after Mayo's defeat to Derry in the opening round of the National Football League. The men in green and red will head to Ballybofey for the second round the weekend after next, hoping to register their first points of the new season.
The Ballaghaderreen clubman said both players and management 'felt that we could have closed out the game' having drawn level, but Derry's strong finish saw them take the points.
"It was disappointing," O'Mahony said of the result. "I suppose there were a couple of things. We had good chances in the first half, and we were playing it very direct, and we were setting up chances. But I suppose in the second half, they got the goal – it was the only shot they had on goal all day, really, and they scored it. Again, we fought back well from that, and there was a lot of positive work done, but what was frustrating is that we didn't kick on from when we got back level again. So that's the disappointing thing. And we played the ball less direct in the second half. That's something, obviously, that we'll have to look at – that we stick to a game plan."
Asked what positives he could take from the game, O'Mahony pointed to a number of different areas of the field.
"I felt that the full-back line did fine for the most part. I know that their corner forward got a goal, but I think it was more about the grouping in defence rather than anything, and we gave away ball further out the field. But I thought the full-back line did fine. There were periods when Ronan McGarrity got a good bit of ball around the middle of the field as well. And in the full-forward line, I think that when we did play the ball quickly and directly, we had something at the end of it. Barry Moran was at the end of a lot of it, and he created chances both for himself and for others, based on that direct ball. So they'd be some of the positives. Obviously the disappointment is to lose the points, because there were aspects of the performance that were good, but what was the real disappointment is not to have something out of the game."
O'Mahony was philosophical about the fact that Mayo's home defeat leaves them under pressure earlier in the season than they would like, saying simply: "That's the nature of it."
"I knew going into the league that it'd be difficult enough," he added. "You have some of the top teams. You have the last four All-Ireland winners and three of the last couple of National League champions. So it's tough. But we just have to keep grafting. We had a few lads out injured, and that can be difficult, and we're only a week together. But I don't want to make excuses. We were disappointed. I think in all the circumstances, with all the disadvantages we had going in, I feel – and we all felt – ... that we could have closed out the game, and that would have been a great start. So that's the frustrating thing."
The only injury reported was a dead leg to Trevor Mortimer, which is unlikely to unduly trouble the Shrule/Glencorrib man. Some observers suggested that Derry's physicality posed problems for Mayo.
"We play with the players that we have," O'Mahony responded. "We have a certain amount of physicality as well, but we have to pick a team that is produced from the talent that we have available to us. And you can have good players who are not strong and physical. But if they come up to the required quality in the county, they'll  also be up there. We had physicality in certain aspects of the field. Obviously, we have a lot of smaller, pacier players. But you can analyse it to death, to be honest. I think that what we need to do is to pick up the pieces and dust ourselves down and go to Donegal – and move on, to be honest."

Quote from: INDIANA on February 02, 2009, 11:33:52 PM
Can someone from Mayo hazard a guess at despite reaaching several all-ireland underage finals in the last 5/6 years , why they are at such a low ebb? Can't figure it out myself. Or is it just a case of the january bluesi

I blame Moysider  ;)

Good to see JOM coming up with a lot of the points we had and that he realises our best period was when theball went in direct

Quote from: Barney on February 03, 2009, 08:23:07 AM

QuoteSomething much bigger wrong if you ask me in Mayo

It begins and ends with the County Board in my opinion.

They don't go on the pitch but they are living in the stone ages and more interested in playing their political games (GAA politics, more than FG). Facilities in the county are poor, the assistance for managers and teams are poor.

As moysider says the problems could be seen 2 years ago. The kniving of Mickey Moran (which started during the National League and finished after the All Ireland) has set us back - and we deserve no less. The sad thing is we have yet to hit rock bottom and we must do before things improve.


And the funny thing is vilified and all has he is and has been nobody has done more for the Mayo senior footballers than John Maughan. The players might not like is honest style but maybe a dose of his reality for some of them would do no harm. Unless there is a Connacht championship won this year he will be back next year.

I'm not arguing with you Barney, for I feel your argument has some merit. But what is the solution? There is, in the worst way, a need for young blood at county board level in Mayo. There are plenty of good young administrators involved with clubs in the county but will we see them? In an age where it is getting harder and harder to get people involved with the clubs, those clubs won't be willing to let these people go forward for the risk of losing them at club level. What we end up with is delegates who are, in the main, older and former chairmen/secretaries of their clubs who are useful for parts of the delegates role - canvassing, tickets etc, but not too thirsty for change.

What is happening in Cork is probably the extreme end of it, where you have delegates not willing to stand up for what they believe in, just happy to go with the flow. Mayo wouldn't be a million miles away from that either. We need an infusion of young, interested and able delegates and, in time, some of these people making the step up to county board level. The only three new people in recent years to go onto the county board in Mayo, afaik, are Eamonn Clarke, Mike Connelly and Noelle Horan. Noelle is gone and I won't go over that again. Mike and Eamonn have something to contribute. But there needs to be a big cry for change if anything resembling progress is to be seen.

The current county board have done good work with regard to McHale Park and Sean Feeney, despite having many critics, has done a lot of very good work for the county. But I do think he has been there long enough. But unless there are people willing and able to step into his shoes, we're not going to have any change.

Ah, lads, this is really getting frustrating. As far as I see, and I agree with some posters, we appear to be going backwards. I really don't want to appear alarmist after the first league game of the year, but in my mind this game was exactly the sort game that should act as a barometer and see if we are indeed progressing, particularly as we have failed abysmally against them many times before, and unfortunately we have failed again. Funnily enough, our next game is against a team that we also always appear to struggle against, and indeed one that I feel acts as a good gauge of progress - maybe and hopefully we can start the graph moving upwards next time out.

I really feel that there is a serious lack of progress being made in all respects and the pressure will soon start to tell on a lot of these young lads that are now been thrust into the light of expectation. Where I feel we really need to get real on are the following, simply put, get a bit more M-A-Y-O!


MOTIVATION
This is I thought would be one of the biggest assets that JOM would bring to the set-up, however its a long time that I seen a Mayo teams so lacking in motivation as I have seen under O'Mahony. God, I was totally under-motivated myself last year heading into the Tyrone match, along with most other mayo fans, having listened to the down-playing utterances from JOM all year. Jaysus John, THIS HAS TO STOP! sure how can the players respond to constant lowering of expectations? I have this awful that the players are totally un-motivated under JOM and we are not that far away from the Cork situation. I hope not, but I have this feeling...

We should enter every league and championship aiming to WIN it. Sure we have proven time and time again that we are well capable of getting to the latter stages regularly, more than the vast majority of teams, so just get on with it and instill a win-at-all costs mentality.

AGGRESSION
Lets face it, we have always lacked it. I always think that along with Laois and Kildare, we are the 'nice' boys of football - and until this changes, we will continue to be also-rans. And sometimes we need a bit of cynicism too, at the right time. Lets be honest, and this is not meant to be a slight on any of the lads picked the last day, but was there ever a nicer, less cynical inter-county team put out on a pitch? Jaysus, bar one or two, you would be delighted for any of those lads to marry your daughter!! Sound lads to bring to the trenches, but would not survive the war. Its something that has GOT to be brought into our game. We have not bulked up like we have been saying we will since 2004. Tyrones and kerrys are leaving us miles behind in this respect.

YOUTH
Probably the root of it all is our under-age system. You reap what you sow and we are not coaching our youth properly - how many senior players are just so obviously lacking basic skills? Compare to a Kerry or Tyrone corner back who can comfortably waltz up the pitch and tap over a score. Our colleges, despite some recent relative success, are not really at the races nationally, indeed some are dropping back.
Until we implement a comprehensive, well structured under-age system that reaches across all ages, across college, club and county to develop young players, in respect of skills and behavior, in a consistent and uniform manner towards the ultimate goal of representing and winning with the county, then I think we will continue to struggle.


OPERATION
Our operation and tactics (or lack of) on the pitch have continuously failed us down through the years and not just by JOM. These have been well highlighted here, none better that the fact that it appears that no one has taken Andy Moran aside and reviewed his game approach? If someone has and he cant respond to it, then we need to look at other options. How can you play a 6' 5" FF, kick the ball into him for the first half and almost ignore him in the second half and the manager notes it? Well I have seen it happen before, so why is it still happening? Can we not designate someone to 45's and have them practice til they are converting 80-90% of them? If you or I practiced taking a 45 enough we would hit more than miss.



Look, I know its only the start of the season, but really we are 2/3 our way into this re-building thing and I really don't think we are any closer to an All Ireland than we were when JOM took over, in fact I think we are about 50% less likely.

Please god I'm wrong

Quote from: moysider on February 03, 2009, 02:05:42 AM

Quote from: MacDanger on February 03, 2009, 01:30:34 AM
That's probably a fair point, we tend to have very good underage teams rather than very good individual players.

There was 6 or 7 very good individual players on last years minor team that some of us pinpointed 12 months ago. Unfortunately it was a few ordinary ones, and no bench that cost us. The U21 team that won AI was based around a few better players in defense and  midfield. Ditto last years team.

True, there were plenty of good players on those but how many really outstanding players? From last years minors only A O'Se could be considered to be a "star". And that's what we end up with at senior level, plenty of good players around a similar level but not quite good enough to cut it with Kerry/Tyrone.

Reasonably encouraged by JOMs comments after the game, at least he realises that we lacked shape and need to play it more directly. Whether he can rectify this over the months ahead remains to be seen.

QuoteI have this awful that the players are totally un-motivated under JOM and we are not that far away from the Cork situation. I hope not, but I have this feeling...

Have the same feeling/fear myself Maradonna - things could get very ugly but the next 2 or 3 league matches will tell alot.

The County Board will not make any moves against their Manager - and the man has been appointed for better or for worse for the year and should be allowed to see out that term.  I think the Mayo fans will not make any move. However the players might. The failure to make any changes to the backroom team during the off-season may be the critical factor.

Jesus lads this is some post mortem after just the first game of the year! And I thought us Derry lads were bad!

In fairness ye were only beat by a point and contrary to what a lot of people have said the last few years we actually do have alot of good players so I wouldn't be beating yourselves up too much over it.

I knew someone from outside Mayo would come along and ask why are we getting so worried after a narrow league victory. But for those of us who were present the final margin was flattering while Derry barely left second gear. And the game isn't being viewed in isolation. A lot of the Mayo posters would often be more optimistic but things just are going badly at the minute. I hope we can improve. I don't expect it though

Quote from: screenexile on February 03, 2009, 10:34:31 PM
Jesus lads this is some post mortem after just the first game of the year! And I thought us Derry lads were bad!

In fairness ye were only beat by a point and contrary to what a lot of people have said the last few years we actually do have alot of good players so I wouldn't be beating yourselves up too much over it.

Welcome to our world Screenexile.  :D

Quote from: MacDanger on February 03, 2009, 05:47:45 PM

Quote from: moysider on February 03, 2009, 02:05:42 AM

Quote from: MacDanger on February 03, 2009, 01:30:34 AM
That's probably a fair point, we tend to have very good underage teams rather than very good individual players.

There was 6 or 7 very good individual players on last years minor team that some of us pinpointed 12 months ago. Unfortunately it was a few ordinary ones, and no bench that cost us. The U21 team that won AI was based around a few better players in defense and  midfield. Ditto last years team.

True, there were plenty of good players on those but how many really outstanding players? From last years minors only A O'Se could be considered to be a "star". And that's what we end up with at senior level, plenty of good players around a similar level but not quite good enough to cut it with Kerry/Tyrone.

Reasonably encouraged by JOMs comments after the game, at least he realises that we lacked shape and need to play it more directly. Whether he can rectify this over the months ahead remains to be seen.

Lads the only star on the tyrone minor team at this stage at this stage was Kyle Coney. You're selling your underage players way too short in my view. You're miles better than us at these levels. They are up there with the best of them at minor and u21 . These are two levels I've worked closely at and I know the scene in the last 5 years about who's counties have the best players and I'm telling you something goes pear shaped in Mayo once they leave these teams. They regress when they hit senior level. Not all underage players get through but more of them should be in Mayo.
No offence lads but from what I've seen up there I think at county board level you're badly organised. Also the 2004 and 2006 results at senior level seem to have created an air of despair at senior level. You've never been the same since at senior level.  I firmly believe a huge amount of it is purely mental.

In the fifteen All-Ireland finals at minor/under 21/senior since 1985 we've won one (Under 21s 2006) so, yeah, there are mental issues.  As I said a lot of the minors from last year are talented but its too early to be judging them. The Under 21's from 2006, we had only one real star - Keith Higgins. That was a solid team which was well managed. We should be able to bring more on perhaps, but they've been tried. Are management to blame then? I don't know. Its far from straightforward

Quote from: Barney on February 03, 2009, 10:29:48 PM

QuoteI have this awful that the players are totally un-motivated under JOM and we are not that far away from the Cork situation. I hope not, but I have this feeling...

Have the same feeling/fear myself Maradonna - things could get very ugly but the next 2 or 3 league matches will tell alot.

The County Board will not make any moves against their Manager - and the man has been appointed for better or for worse for the year and should be allowed to see out that term.  I think the Mayo fans will not make any move. However the players might. The failure to make any changes to the backroom team during the off-season may be the critical factor.

Lads this is dangerous talk. While I was never in favour of the appointment of this management and have been critical of many aspects of their tenure so far I would be appalled by any form of militant action.
Most fans demanded and embraced this regime. Now it has to be allowed run its course. What did people expect anyway? Hope these people don t bet on horses. This form was much more obvious.
The fans will take action - passive action. They wont bother their holes going to league matches. Their was nt a murmur at the end the last day not a boo not a jeer. Contrast that to the abuse Maughan, McHale and McDonald got in Charlestown got not too long ago. The fans have been cowed. They came out of expectation the last day and if they come out again it will be more to see the Dubs or Tyrone in town than their own team. My abiding memory the last day was the announcement encouraging people to buy the Season/ stand ticket or whatever? Nobody (around me anyway) was annoyed, but they were bursting their holes laughing. Even the announcer- whom I know, was having a laugh I think. If there s anything that will wake up a county board it is debt and not selling tickets and people not showing up for matches. Lets face it Johnno is no PT Barnum. He s not going to put bums on seats. But the board cant move against him until next back- end earliest. So unless he wins a Connacht or reach a semi final he ll probably come under pressure to stand down. Achieve either of those unlikely goals he may well wish to dtay.
If the players were  to start something would be a disaster - for themselves especially and it is not the way to do business.
This has to run its natural course, whatever course that may be.

Quote from: Barney on January 20, 2009, 08:22:54 AM
Seconds out - Round 1  ;D

Disappointed with the attitude to the FBD League - there are always benefits that can be gained by going out and winning matches.

Judgement is reserved though. The last two years have been extremely disappointing and JOM must start to regain the confidence of supporters from Sunday week.

Its not going to be easy to survive in Division 1 but four home games, and a trip to Galway mean that the fixture list has been kind. An opening win is a must.

Lads and lassies for FFS, why in under god is their 13 pages on a Mayo and Derry NFL game?? seriously , who cares?

Quote from: cadhlancian on February 04, 2009, 12:28:37 AM

Quote from: Barney on January 20, 2009, 08:22:54 AM
Seconds out - Round 1  ;D

Disappointed with the attitude to the FBD League - there are always benefits that can be gained by going out and winning matches.

Judgement is reserved though. The last two years have been extremely disappointing and JOM must start to regain the confidence of supporters from Sunday week.

Its not going to be easy to survive in Division 1 but four home games, and a trip to Galway mean that the fixture list has been kind. An opening win is a must.

Lads and lassies for FFS, why in under god is their 13 pages on a Mayo and Derry NFL game?? seriously , who cares?

What's it to you? Seriously?

Quote from: moysider on February 04, 2009, 12:25:36 AM
Contrast that to the abuse Maughan, McHale and McDonnell got in Charlestown got not too long ago.

Was it not Golden who was with them that day?

Regardless, one of the fascinating things I've always noticed is that both John Maughan and Liam MacHale were/are/ and probably will in the future have the ability to always bring out the cranks, the abuse they took was crazy. I don't think the fans have been cowed and would be nearly certain that if the two boys were involved last Sunday they would have received the same abuse from the stands.

There is something in the makeup of certain Mayo people that light the fuse in them whenever they see a tan - that's the only logical explanation for it.

Quote from: screenexile on February 03, 2009, 10:34:31 PM
Jesus lads this is some post mortem after just the first game of the year! And I thought us Derry lads were bad!

In fairness ye were only beat by a point and contrary to what a lot of people have said the last few years we actually do have alot of good players so I wouldn't be beating yourselves up too much over it.

Take your point Screenexile and its no slight on Derry. Losing in the Park in Ballina is not acceptable to anybody and has only happened twice in my time attending games there over last 30 years or more and that was to the Great Kerry team. After so many epic games there down the years at club level as well to lose there so tamely was nothing less than a mess. Even though its only the first round of the league it shows a lot about the mindset of this group of players, especially considering they lost in Celtic Park twice last 18 months, the game in the Championship 2007 nothing short of a disgrace for us. A wake up call management did not take on board then and they re already muddling their way through last Sunday as well.

Quote from: stephenite on February 04, 2009, 12:36:46 AM

Quote from: moysider on February 04, 2009, 12:25:36 AM
Contrast that to the abuse Maughan, McHale and McDonnell got in Charlestown got not too long ago.

Was it not Golden who was with them that day?

Regardless, one of the fascinating things I've always noticed is that both John Maughan and Liam MacHale were/are/ and probably will in the future have the ability to always bring out the cranks, the abuse they took was crazy. I don't think the fans have been cowed and would be nearly certain that if the two boys were involved last Sunday they would have received the same abuse from the stands.

There is something in the makeup of certain Mayo people that light the fuse in them whenever they see a tan - that's the only logical explanation for it.

Sorry Stephenite, I meant MacDonald. I ll Do an edit on that.

Quote from: stephenite on February 04, 2009, 12:36:46 AM

Quote from: moysider on February 04, 2009, 12:25:36 AM
Contrast that to the abuse Maughan, McHale and McDonnell got in Charlestown got not too long ago.

Was it not Golden who was with them that day?

Regardless, one of the fascinating things I've always noticed is that both John Maughan and Liam MacHale were/are/ and probably will in the future have the ability to always bring out the cranks, the abuse they took was crazy. I don't think the fans have been cowed and would be nearly certain that if the two boys were involved last Sunday they would have received the same abuse from the stands.

There is something in the makeup of certain Mayo people that light the fuse in them whenever they see a tan - that's the only logical explanation for it.

I meant cowed by failure and lack hope rather than by any individual or system. Maybe the word cowed was not the best to use but apathy, resignation etc could well be applied to many football people. And they re the ones that still go to games. Around the county there are more negative feelings as well. Agree about the tan shit. But its not just Mayos. They got universal abuse for it. 

Quote from: cadhlancian on February 04, 2009, 12:28:37 AM

Quote from: Barney on January 20, 2009, 08:22:54 AM
Seconds out - Round 1  ;D

Disappointed with the attitude to the FBD League - there are always benefits that can be gained by going out and winning matches.

Judgement is reserved though. The last two years have been extremely disappointing and JOM must start to regain the confidence of supporters from Sunday week.

Its not going to be easy to survive in Division 1 but four home games, and a trip to Galway mean that the fixture list has been kind. An opening win is a must.

Lads and lassies for FFS, why in under god is their 13 pages on a Mayo and Derry NFL game?? seriously , who cares?

Obviously the fans who wrote 13 long pages of posts care enough to give their thoughts and opinions. Don't worry too much; these things happen in Mayo and in Derry also.

Quote from: cadhlancian on February 04, 2009, 12:28:37 AM

Quote from: Barney on January 20, 2009, 08:22:54 AM
Seconds out - Round 1  ;D

Disappointed with the attitude to the FBD League - there are always benefits that can be gained by going out and winning matches.

Judgement is reserved though. The last two years have been extremely disappointing and JOM must start to regain the confidence of supporters from Sunday week.

Its not going to be easy to survive in Division 1 but four home games, and a trip to Galway mean that the fixture list has been kind. An opening win is a must.

Lads and lassies for FFS, why in under god is their 13 pages on a Mayo and Derry NFL game?? seriously , who cares?

This thread s already 13 pages long so obviously 1 of us at least ******* cares. So **** ***.

Quote from: moysider on February 04, 2009, 01:02:45 AM

Quote from: cadhlancian on February 04, 2009, 12:28:37 AM

Quote from: Barney on January 20, 2009, 08:22:54 AM
Seconds out - Round 1  ;D

Disappointed with the attitude to the FBD League - there are always benefits that can be gained by going out and winning matches.

Judgement is reserved though. The last two years have been extremely disappointing and JOM must start to regain the confidence of supporters from Sunday week.

Its not going to be easy to survive in Division 1 but four home games, and a trip to Galway mean that the fixture list has been kind. An opening win is a must.

Lads and lassies for FFS, why in under god is their 13 pages on a Mayo and Derry NFL game?? seriously , who cares?

This thread s already 13 pages long so obviously 1 of us at least ******* cares. So **** ***.

Fisrt thing first well said moysider couldn't have put it better myself  ;) also good post there by maradona however when i see maradona now having doubts about o' mahonys management skills it says it all

Maradana, you are spot on a lot of things there, how many times did we see the lads bouncing the ball last Sunday. The ground was like a bog, if we are lacking in the fundamental basics of the game, it really doesn't matter who is on the county board. Also did we put out the smallest back line ever to play senior intercounty football last weekend? I am currently reading a book called the "best in the west", now they were real footballers and hard agressive men, who played fair and had pride in their jersey and wanted to win not for themselves but for their fellow county men and for their parishes. Maybe if one or two of our lads read this book instead of runnig to the media all the time we would be better off. Maybe that last comment is a little unfair, but it is so frustrating at the moment to watch the lack of leaders on the pitch and the lack of appetite in these players, christ they are only back at training a couple of weeks, what will they be like come the begining of April. We really are treading water at best, since last year.