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Bring it on............

John Maughan and Barney Rock on RTE earlier saying that Mayo will be delighted with that draw..we'll see.

Both sides happy. No point in denying it.

I would never have thought that Down, after 35 minutes in the Athletic Grounds, they'd reach a semi this year, but lo and behold, they're against Mayo.

Exactly the kind of outfit that suit Down.

Very interesting tie and it should be a great match.

Doesnt matter who down get, they have no chance in the ALL IRELAND

This could be a good game of football, neither side can defend so it will be a very open game of football. Mayo should win it, but they'll go no further. Down were very lucky to get out of Mullingar by all accounts, lucky goal and a very soft ref.

Quote from: Agent Orange on July 29, 2012, 12:27:13 AM
This could be a good game of football, neither side can defend so it will be a very open game of football. Mayo should win it, but they'll go no further. Down were very lucky to get out of Mullingar by all accounts, lucky goal and a very soft ref.

I don't know what Mayo side you've been watching but their backs are rock solid. It'll take plenty from Poland, Coulter and Co if they want to rack up a winning scoreline.

Quote from: Syferus on July 29, 2012, 12:30:23 AM
I don't know what Mayo side you've been watching but their backs are rock solid.

They didn't look very solid for long periods against Sligo. Neither Mayo or Down will be playing football on the third sunday in September so I wouldn't get too wound up about it.

Quote from: Agent Orange on July 29, 2012, 12:43:21 AM

Quote from: Syferus on July 29, 2012, 12:30:23 AM
I don't know what Mayo side you've been watching but their backs are rock solid.

They didn't look very solid for long periods against Sligo. Neither Mayo or Down will be playing football on the third sunday in September so I wouldn't get too wound up about it.

Mayo are plenty capable of making the AI final with this draw, but whether they have a live chance of actually winning it is about what enters their heads on AI final day rather than what leaves their boots.

Quote from: Agent Orange on July 29, 2012, 12:27:13 AM
This could be a good game of football, neither side can defend so it will be a very open game of football. Mayo should win it, but they'll go no further. Down were very lucky to get out of Mullingar by all accounts, lucky goal and a very soft ref.

Defending is not Mayos problem.

Quote from: Syferus on July 29, 2012, 12:47:11 AM

Quote from: Agent Orange on July 29, 2012, 12:43:21 AM

Quote from: Syferus on July 29, 2012, 12:30:23 AM
I don't know what Mayo side you've been watching but their backs are rock solid.

They didn't look very solid for long periods against Sligo. Neither Mayo or Down will be playing football on the third sunday in September so I wouldn't get too wound up about it.

Mayo are plenty capable of making the AI final with this draw, but whether they have a live chance of actually winning it is about what enters their heads on AI final day rather than what leaves their boots.

Mayo will be your tip for the All Ireland this year?

Quote from: Captain Obvious on July 29, 2012, 01:01:46 AM

Quote from: Syferus on July 29, 2012, 12:47:11 AM

Quote from: Agent Orange on July 29, 2012, 12:43:21 AM

Quote from: Syferus on July 29, 2012, 12:30:23 AM
I don't know what Mayo side you've been watching but their backs are rock solid.

They didn't look very solid for long periods against Sligo. Neither Mayo or Down will be playing football on the third sunday in September so I wouldn't get too wound up about it.

Mayo are plenty capable of making the AI final with this draw, but whether they have a live chance of actually winning it is about what enters their heads on AI final day rather than what leaves their boots.

Mayo will be your tip for the All Ireland this year?

No, sure Tipp'll beat them.

Quote from: Syferus on July 29, 2012, 01:03:41 AM

Quote from: Captain Obvious on July 29, 2012, 01:01:46 AM

Quote from: Syferus on July 29, 2012, 12:47:11 AM

Quote from: Agent Orange on July 29, 2012, 12:43:21 AM

Quote from: Syferus on July 29, 2012, 12:30:23 AM
I don't know what Mayo side you've been watching but their backs are rock solid.

They didn't look very solid for long periods against Sligo. Neither Mayo or Down will be playing football on the third sunday in September so I wouldn't get too wound up about it.

Mayo are plenty capable of making the AI final with this draw, but whether they have a live chance of actually winning it is about what enters their heads on AI final day rather than what leaves their boots.

Mayo will be your tip for the All Ireland this year?

No, sure Tipp'll beat them.

A yes it is then.

Agent Orange you are a sad embittered individual, with no trace of sportmanship in your make up, and an embarrassment to the genuine supporters in your County. At least if we do lose, which is not as often as your lot, we will do so with a smile

Quote from: babarino on July 28, 2012, 11:17:21 PM
I would never have thought that Down, after 35 minutes in the Athletic Grounds, they'd reach a semi this year, but lo and behold, they're against Mayo.
Exactly the kind of outfit that suit Down.

Mayo are not like traditional Mayo (or Galway for that matter) sides under Horan. In fact they are quite cynical and negative at times when they have to be. I'm not knocking them by the way. Even we should be playing more like they do.

I think they will probably beat Down.

Mayo are set up not all that unlike Donegal, solid back play, physically strong and at times cynical. Mayo are fully capable of doing what Donegal did to Down if their forwards actually click into gear, the likes of Dillion, O'Connor, Moran and maybe O'Shea have more scores in them than they showed against Sligo.

In alot of ways the Donegal comparison is apt, Mayo currently existing at a sort of half-way house between the 2011 Donegal and this year's version, solid at the back yet willing to commit men forward but not getting the scorelines that'll catch the media's eyes. They're not far off, that much is sure.

Mayo are never the team to bet the house on so Down will have a live chance but if Down supporters are going into the game expect a nice soft Connacht team gift-wrapped for their northern dissection they're in for a nasty surprise.

Quote from: Agent Orange on July 29, 2012, 12:27:13 AM
This could be a good game of football, neither side can defend so it will be a very open game of football. Mayo should win it, but they'll go no further. Down were very lucky to get out of Mullingar by all accounts, lucky goal and a very soft ref.

All accounts you say? Who's account would that be? Down led from start to finish the closest Tipp ever got, after going 5-0 down was within three points. The referee allowed Tipp some brutal challenges without sanction. It was only when they committed rugby tackles did he award a free.

Please define:

"All accounts" - RTE headline says "Down deservedly advance at Tipp's expense"

"Lucky to get out" - Led from start to finish???

What exactly was "soft" about the referee in Down's favour?

Please in the future don't allow your simple jealous bitterness get in the way of actually finding out some facts before you makes a comment about "All accounts"

Jesus, you Down lads are very touchy altogether.

Quote from: Agent Orange on July 29, 2012, 12:43:21 AM

Quote from: Syferus on July 29, 2012, 12:30:23 AM
I don't know what Mayo side you've been watching but their backs are rock solid.

They didn't look very solid for long periods against Sligo. Neither Mayo or Down will be playing football on the third sunday in September so I wouldn't get too wound up about it.

nor will the other 6 - the final is 23rd Sept, not the 16th

Quote from: Agent Orange on July 29, 2012, 12:43:21 AM

Quote from: Syferus on July 29, 2012, 12:30:23 AM
I don't know what Mayo side you've been watching but their backs are rock solid.

They didn't look very solid for long periods against Sligo. Neither Mayo or Down will be playing football on the third sunday in September so I wouldn't get too wound up about it.

As far as im aware the All-Ireland Football Final will be played on the 23rd September.... Wel done Agent Orange AGAIN you have made a balls up on a statement!!!!!!!!!!!  Suppose like it happens when you have No need to plan for events like this

Cut Agent Orange some slack will ye FFS. He may be correct in saying the winner of this game will go no further. Down, for me are hard to figure out. If they play like the 2nd half against Donegal, you'd imagine Mayo should win, yet they didn't get caught out with the turnaround so it will be interesting to say the least. I'm sure Down fans are hoping we play the way we did against Sligo cos they'll have a good chance then I feel. All on the day, however which is why I love sport so much.

Quote from: Mike Sheehy on July 29, 2012, 05:35:46 AM
Jesus, you Down lads are very touchy altogether.

Touchy? Is that what you call it when posters start talking bullshit and you espond to the comment to correct them?? The ideal situation would have been a Tipp win yesterday and then the 26 could have play away and forgot about the Northern 6.. We wont go that easy as the Brits found out

I'd say avoiding Cork again was the main thing for Down. Naturally Mayo are seen as the weaker of the Provincial winners. And to be honest that suits us fine. Our media attention going into the quarter finals has been the lowest of the  quarter finalists (Cork would run us close). But just because we are not on the Telly, not in the papers and not being mentioned by the pundits, does it mean that we suddenly have become a bad team.

As a Down man i am always optimistic of our chances but the  league game in castlebar was tipped in our favour when Mayo were reduced to 14.
Down have some very good players but also some very average players. We dont seem to have a system despite what people on this board think.
Wee James has obviously done something right , its not that long ago we were a div 3 outfit not able to get past the likes of Fermanagh or wicklow in championship, now for the 2nd year in 3 we are at the table with the fancied teams at the start of the championship apart from ourseleves and Laois.  a QF spot would have been snapped at earlier in year.
While we have a chance against Mayo i will try not to get carried away, if Mayo click like they did last year against Cork then we will struggle. mcVeigh will need to vary his kickouts against a big tall mayo midfield. Some interesting qf matches ahead with the favourites to progress being Dublin Mayo Cork an Donegal.

Quote from: 5 Sams on July 28, 2012, 10:53:10 PM
John Maughan and Barney Rock on RTE earlier saying that Mayo will be delighted with that draw..we'll see.

You're not seriously going to suggest they wouldn't be delighted. Down and Laois are by far the two worst teams left, of course everyone wanted them.

NB - I'm not saying Down can't win either.

This indeed is a good draw for both teams.Mayo probably peaked too soon last year when they beat Cork and already this year they have beaten Kerry at HQ.They are provincial champions and would have wanted to avoid Kerry and Kildare so we won't take it as an insult that they were happy to draw us.We would not have wanted Cork ,the Dubs have an unfair advantage up until the final and we couldn't get Donegal. We know Mayo are a class outfit and they will want to avenge the league defeat as big O'Shea got lined early on.However, I don't think the second half of the Ulster final is a true reflection of where we are and I would be confident this game will go to the wire-it really will go to the hungrier team and at this stage I think we are.

GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Quarter-Finals:

Saturday, August 4

Mayo v Down, Croke Park, 5pm

Dublin v Laois, Croke Park, 7pm

Sunday, August 5

Cork v Kildare, Croke Park, 2pm

Donegal v Kerry, Croke Park, 4pm

GAA Football All-Ireland Minor Championships

Saturday, August 4

Tipperary v Mayo, Croke Park, 3pm

Sunday, August 5

Roscommon v Kerry, Croke Park, 12pm

Dublin v Monaghan, Newry 5.30pm

Tyrone v Meath, Newry, 7.15pm

The Dublin supporters won't arrive into the ground until 655pm a half empty stadium for Down v Mayo?

Quote from: Captain Obvious on July 29, 2012, 08:16:55 PM
The Dublin supporters won't arrive into the ground until 655pm a half empty stadium for Down v Mayo?

Or lf you look at it another way half full!  :P

Quote from: Captain Obvious on July 29, 2012, 08:16:55 PM
The Dublin supporters won't arrive into the ground until 655pm a half empty stadium for Down v Mayo?

A silly post............................ you will find us Dubs are always on time, its the piss headed irish in the stands lowering pints into them who disrupt the games .......................... a mix of mayo, down, laois and dubs perhaps, harsh to tar all dubs with the one brush

Quote from: Captain Obvious on July 29, 2012, 08:16:55 PM
The Dublin supporters won't arrive into the ground until 655pm a half empty stadium for Down v Mayo?

They'll be early for a change then!!

Quote from: squire_in_navy_slacks on July 29, 2012, 08:38:08 PM

Quote from: Captain Obvious on July 29, 2012, 08:16:55 PM
The Dublin supporters won't arrive into the ground until 655pm a half empty stadium for Down v Mayo?

A silly post............................ you will find us Dubs are always on time, its the piss headed irish in the stands lowering pints into them who disrupt the games .......................... a mix of mayo, down, laois and dubs perhaps, harsh to tar all dubs with the one brush

Agreed that's why i said they will arrive 5 minutes before throw in.

Quote from: 5 Sams on July 29, 2012, 08:44:42 PM

Quote from: Captain Obvious on July 29, 2012, 08:16:55 PM
The Dublin supporters won't arrive into the ground until 655pm a half empty stadium for Down v Mayo?

They'll be early for a change then!!

An atmosphere brought like no other..................................... who doesn't want a day out with the dubs ?????

Quote from: squire_in_navy_slacks on July 29, 2012, 08:54:00 PM

Quote from: 5 Sams on July 29, 2012, 08:44:42 PM

Quote from: Captain Obvious on July 29, 2012, 08:16:55 PM
The Dublin supporters won't arrive into the ground until 655pm a half empty stadium for Down v Mayo?

They'll be early for a change then!!

An atmosphere brought like no other..................................... who doesn't want a day out with the dubs ?????

The Rossies getting to watch Ros-Kerry, Cork-Kildare and Donegal-Kerry the very next day, for one  8)

The little bit I've seen of Down this year seems to indicate that their forwards are capable of putting up a good score provided they have a stable base at midfield. Their defence will leave some gaps - despite being a Northern team - they stay somewhat true to Down tradition and can be exploited if midfield dominance is gained.

A couple of years ago Marty Clarke made them very dangerous even if they got limited ball as he was very good at using it and took some pressure off Coulter. He also added some bulk to a relatively small forward unit. He's gone now and is a serious blow to Down.

People talking about playing O'Sé at 11 should think again in my view. Geragthy won't win that much ball for us and Barry Moran has not yet proven himself against a top team (although I grant that I'm much less worried about him now than I was 2 months ago). Play Moran and O'Sé at midfield, get dominance there early and leave it in to Andy at FF. Hopefully O'Connor and Conroy are playing off him in the corners and we shouldn't get the ball held up in the half-forward line. That should be Plan A. I'd play Freeman at CHF (possibly a fully fit S O'Sé)

Plan B can involve taking off an under-performing forward and moving A O'Sé to CHF and getting him (and McLoughin) running at Down with aid from the attacking HB's. 

I am sure a lot of Mayo fans can't believe that Down posters on this forum are showing their delight at the pairing. Mayo probably feel that they have more reason to be pleased. In fairness I have to say that I go more in hope than optimism and it is not a slur on Mayo that I am pleased we were paired up. I think Mayo are a better team than us at the minute and will be deserved favourites.

The only reason I was pleased was because, though it is sad to admit it, I would prefer to have our season ended by 2-3 points to Mayo than a complete humiliation again to Cork.

Having said that I do have belief that we could win, but our performances haven't been nearly good enough over 70 minutes this season. But in terms of pure talent I am sure that James Horan would take Coulter, Hughes, Poland, Gordon, Rogers and Laverty onto his team right now. So I think there is not much between the teams. But I still think that if we win, sadly, it will come as a pleasant surprise.

Quote from: Dubh driocht on July 29, 2012, 06:38:35 PM
This indeed is a good draw for both teams.Mayo probably peaked too soon last year when they beat Cork and already this year they have beaten Kerry at HQ.They are provincial champions and would have wanted to avoid Kerry and Kildare so we won't take it as an insult that they were happy to draw us.We would not have wanted Cork ,the Dubs have an unfair advantage up until the final and we couldn't get Donegal. We know Mayo are a class outfit and they will want to avenge the league defeat as big O'Shea got lined early on.However, I don't think the second half of the Ulster final is a true reflection of where we are and I would be confident this game will go to the wire-it really will go to the hungrier team and at this stage I think we are.

WRONG

I'd fancy Mayo here. Down's success in 2010 was founded on an excellent forward unit but they look to have gone back somewhat in that department. Clarke is obviously a big loss but Hughes and McComisky were key performers as well but both have been unavailable for different reasons. There is a chance Hughes could recover from injury in time for this one but you'd have to worry about his match fitness even if he does start.

Poland, Coulter and Laverty carry the main danger now but Mayo will feel they have the defensive personnel here (Cafferkey, Higgins and Vaughan) that can keep restrict their influence and keep Down to a manageable score. Which Mayo will probably need as they don't tend to put up big scores of their own.

I'd go along with the forwards Kevmy named. Freeman at centre-forward, O'Connor and Conroy in the corners. Down's tend to leave their full-back line exposed so Moran and O'Connor should be delegated to the inside forward line. Conroy is a feast or famine type of corner forward. You generally know what you will get from him early on so if he is struggling early, expect Doherty or Varley to see action.

The one big addition to Down since 2010 is the return of Rogers. The midfield tussle will be revealing. If Mayo get on top here there is only going to be one winner for me. Down will need big games here from King and Duffin sweeping back.

Down will need goals, maybe a couple of them, but overall it is still Mayo for me. Looking forward to what should be an interesting game.

I expect Horan will make few if any changes to his starting fifteen.
Aiden should come in to partner Barry at midfield and that's about as far as I think he will go.
What I'd like to see ain't necessarily what I'm going to get.
That's why I expect to see the HF line left unchanged and Andy lining out at 14. We can talk 'til the cows come home about the merits of switching O'Connor and Moran around but it is not going to happen. Leastways, I'll be very surprised if it does.
He subbed the two CFs the last day but that could be put down to his overall game plan not working rather than to a lack of effort from Varley and Doherty. I don't think that either of the replacements, Conroy or Freeman, did any better. It's hard to second guess Horan here; any two could start but I feel he'll start his original pair.
So, O'Shea on for Geraghty and more of the same elsewhere is my prediction.

Lar if your prediction comes through we will lose.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but the more I think about this game I'm afraid we'll end up losing. Reasons why I'm afraid of this happening, well we only beat Leitrim and Sligo. Now that's taking nothing away from Sligo, but as a lot of us Mayo people keep saying over on WJ's blog which I'm more a reader than a contributer, we are better than Kildare, yet they blew Sligo out of the water. Why did they blow Sligo out of the water, well they opened up an early lead and Sligo couldn't comeback. You may ask why the hell am I using Sligo as an example? Well they're the only serious game we've had since April where Cork made it look like men against boys in the second half that day. We're facing our first Division 1 team since April and if Down 'do a Sligo' and go ahead early on, I can't see us coming back to win. Yes Barry Moran made hay against the two previous opposition and he may be peaking for the summer games, but I've yet to see him play well against a top team such as the likes of any of the teams that are left. Sure there are positives, Down may be tired playing three games in as many weeks, but then again they got through the 6 day turnaround and will know they have more to do and may have enough in the tank to get them over the line. They may have no defence as Brolly said, but that will only be tested by good forwards which I'm afraid Mayo don't have. Hopefully Conroy will score with his first kick of the game or else we could be in bother. I agree with Lar in that there probably won't be many changes to the attack, but I'd say COC will be moved to corner-forward. Who will fill the centre forward berth is anyone's guess, and it could even be COC himself yet.

Farrandeelin, you are going through the usual emotions after a (so called) favourable draw. First you think, ah thats a great draw, we'll take them. Then after a bit of thought, you think, this could be a trick one. And finally you look at your own team and think maybe our team is not up to this.

I'm going to go against the grain here a bit and predict a comfortable win for Mayo.

Down are no great shakes, light enough, there backs are fairly loose at times. I don't believe they have a lot of mental toughness either, they gave up the ghost v Donegal too handy, their body language gave out signals they had given up. The counter argument for that could be they came back against Monaghan after been 9 pts down (i think) to win, well imo Monaghan were not up to a lot over 70mins this year either.

Mayo have had a peculiar championship to date because of the set up, we beat Leitrim convincingly , gap in class was evident after 20 mins,. The Sligo game again was a funny aul game, the cross wind destroyed Mayos first half, i firmly believe if the goal had of stood, we would of kicked on and won convincingly. All said and done we have not seen the true Mayo yet this year imo.

We have the obvious problem of our inside line not scoring enough but as much as that could prove to be a problem, our game as we all know now is going to produce a fair spread of scores from Higgans to A.Moran, it's the way we are set up to play.

I reckon we'll get a big game out of COC sat evening and will beat Down fairly handy as long as we can get our fair share around the middle, which i expect us to. Mayo supporters should stop being so negative towards this team, it's all positive on our way to hq again and expecting a win.

When is the last Mayo were in All Ireland quarter final expecting and favourites to win?

Quote from: Captain Obvious on July 30, 2012, 06:59:45 PM
When is the last Mayo were in All Ireland quarter final expecting and favourites to win?

Probably 2006 v Laois or maybe Meath 09 .

I expected to beat Meath in 09.

Quote from: Farrandeelin on July 30, 2012, 07:06:05 PM
I expected to beat Meath in 09.

Yeah, expected us to win that one too. Jez nothing went for us that day. Bad Referee/sideline decisions and players brought on getting injured immediately. The John O'Mahoney days, When Mayo were still blooding players into the Championship and had no plan what so ever (sends shivers down my spine still). Oh ya, Meath deserved to win all the same!

If Donegal beat the Dheras would it increase Mayo's chances of going all the way or is it still too early for Mayo to win an all Ireland and if so what else is required? 

Quote from: Barney on July 30, 2012, 03:03:05 PM
Lar if your prediction comes through we will lose.

Like I say, Barney, what I'd like to see may not be what I'm going to see. Still, Horan has kept 'er steady as she goes... so far anyway. ;D

Quote from: seafoid on July 30, 2012, 07:49:47 PM
If Donegal beat the Dheras would it increase Mayo's chances of going all the way or is it still too early for Mayo to win an all Ireland and if so what else is required?

Look, Mayo have played no one of note yet. So really we have to go back to the Cork game in the National League Final to analyse our game. In fairness, Sligo are (i think) better than their display v Kildare. Their main aim the last three seasons (and definitely in season 1 and 3) was to win a Provincial title. After that their main goal is gone, and it's never the same hungerwise.  This year i would (still) see us as a Work in Progress that would be disappointed to lose to Down. There would be no shame losing to Down, just i feel they are not as cohesive a unit (at the moment) as they were in '10. But you never know maybe this game is the springboard for Down in 2012.

Quote from: seafoid on July 30, 2012, 07:49:47 PM
If Donegal beat the Dheras would it increase Mayo's chances of going all the way or is it still too early for Mayo to win an all Ireland and if so what else is required?

As long as we can score just one single, measly little  point more than the opposition in  our next three games, we'll have Sam in the trailer and as go bráth linn ar muin na muice. (or something like that.)
Believe it or not, that's all that is required!  ;)

I was convinced Mayo would beat Meath in 2009. Felt there was nothing surer. I've been at a few sickening defeats over the years but I would definitely rank Meath '09 down there with the worst of them. That was a bitter day. Reckon the writing was on the wall for Johnno after that one.

The fans should make this one interesting.

Over the past 15 years Mayo have continually been one of the better sides in the country, pulling down a handful of provincial titles and ending up in a few AI finals.

In the same period of time Down have, one exceptional year apart, been abysmal to the point that almost every major game we've featured in has been over with 20 minutes to go. Even that AI final team of two years ago has been decimated, with at least 6 of the starting line up not likely to play a minute, replaced by on the face of it, weaker players.

Yet most Mayo fans will expect to lose and every last one of us Down men will expect to win.

There's no sense in it.

Mayo supporters might be wary and cautious and a bit nervous of what might happen, but i very much doubt many will be expecting us to lose.
Mayo are now much more solid and predictable  (in a good way) than they were in the noughties .

Quote from: thewobbler on July 30, 2012, 09:37:28 PM
The fans should make this one interesting.

Over the past 15 years Mayo have continually been one of the better sides in the country, pulling down a handful of provincial titles and ending up in a few AI finals.

In the same period of time Down have, one exceptional year apart, been abysmal to the point that almost every major game we've featured in has been over with 20 minutes to go. Even that AI final team of two years ago has been decimated, with at least 6 of the starting line up not likely to play a minute, replaced by on the face of it, weaker players.

Yet most Mayo fans will expect to lose and every last one of us Down men will expect to win.

There's no sense in it.

Hold your horses there, most Mayo posters here expect to win and will be disappointed if they lose.

Down have done well this year without Martin Clarke, James Colgan, Peter Fitzpatrick and Caolan Mooney. All 4 are in Oz, fitz and Colgan working and the other 2 play AFL. They still have some very talented players like Danny Hughes, Laverty and Coulter. I don't think they will fear Mayo.

A Mayo team that should have been beaten by Sligo, who were hammered by Kildare. Hopefully Down prevail and do Ulster proud.

Quote from: From the Bunker on July 30, 2012, 09:56:37 PM

Quote from: thewobbler on July 30, 2012, 09:37:28 PM
The fans should make this one interesting.

Over the past 15 years Mayo have continually been one of the better sides in the country, pulling down a handful of provincial titles and ending up in a few AI finals.

In the same period of time Down have, one exceptional year apart, been abysmal to the point that almost every major game we've featured in has been over with 20 minutes to go. Even that AI final team of two years ago has been decimated, with at least 6 of the starting line up not likely to play a minute, replaced by on the face of it, weaker players.

Yet most Mayo fans will expect to lose and every last one of us Down men will expect to win.

There's no sense in it.

Hold your horses there, most Mayo posters here expect to win and will be disappointed if they lose.

Big time. Can't wait to see the first 50/50 with Boyler, the Down boys will know then the days of soft Mayo are gone.

Quote from: rodney trotter on July 30, 2012, 10:07:54 PM
Down have done well this year without Martin Clarke, James Colgan, Peter Fitzpatrick and Caolan Mooney. All 4 are in Oz, fitz and Colgan working and the other 2 play AFL. They still have some very talented players like Danny Hughes, Laverty and Coulter. I don't think they will fear Mayo.

A Mayo team that should have been beaten by Sligo, who were hammered by Kildare. Hopefully Down prevail and do Ulster proud.

That is like saying A Down team that should have been beaten by Monaghan, who were hammered by Laois. It has no bearing!

Quote from: Farrandeelin on July 30, 2012, 05:39:44 PM
I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but the more I think about this game I'm afraid we'll end up losing. Reasons why I'm afraid of this happening, well we only beat Leitrim and Sligo. Now that's taking nothing away from Sligo, but as a lot of us Mayo people keep saying over on WJ's blog which I'm more a reader than a contributer, we are better than Kildare, yet they blew Sligo out of the water. Why did they blow Sligo out of the water, well they opened up an early lead and Sligo couldn't comeback. You may ask why the hell am I using Sligo as an example? Well they're the only serious game we've had since April where Cork made it look like men against boys in the second half that day. We're facing our first Division 1 team since April and if Down 'do a Sligo' and go ahead early on, I can't see us coming back to win. Yes Barry Moran made hay against the two previous opposition and he may be peaking for the summer games, but I've yet to see him play well against a top team such as the likes of any of the teams that are left. Sure there are positives, Down may be tired playing three games in as many weeks, but then again they got through the 6 day turnaround and will know they have more to do and may have enough in the tank to get them over the line. They may have no defence as Brolly said, but that will only be tested by good forwards which I'm afraid Mayo don't have. Hopefully Conroy will score with his first kick of the game or else we could be in bother. I agree with Lar in that there probably won't be many changes to the attack, but I'd say COC will be moved to corner-forward. Who will fill the centre forward berth is anyone's guess, and it could even be COC himself yet.

Arra, stop fussing, ye mustn't have the silage under wraps yet!
Willie Joe's blog is, well, Willie Joe's blog and that's about the height of it. Good site; mighty good Mayo fan; great results archive and there you have it.  I think we have a lot more craic, comments and insightful analysis here than anywhere else and I don't see anyone here giving up before a ball is kicked.
Kildare blew Sligo outa the water because Sligo were sitting ducks, that's why.
I wouldn't get too upset over the loss to Cork either.
The langers had their first c'ship game coming up real fast and it was against Kerry in Killarney.
Mayo had their first c'ship game coming up real slow and it was against Leitrim in Carrick.
Cork needed to be almost at the peak of their physical and mental tuning while Mayo had a long way to go before they would (should?) be battle ready.
I wasn't  very surprised when Cork kicked on in the last quarter and left us well behind. Maybe they are still too good for  us but I think they might not win so comfortably if we do meet up.
I think Cillian is best placed at corner forward but I think that is unlikely to happen because Horan wants him elsewhere and, unlike John O'Mahony, he probably knows a lot more than I do.
Look; I see no reason to fear anybody right now. I certainly respect Down but I expect to beat them all the same.

Keep the Faith!

5 pts is hardly a hammering. Monaghan played well in that game, and the scoreline was a bit harsh, as Monaghan  created a lot of chances but didn't finish them. At least they put up a fight unlike Sligo.

Quote from: Lar Naparka on July 30, 2012, 09:00:14 PM

Quote from: seafoid on July 30, 2012, 07:49:47 PM
If Donegal beat the Dheras would it increase Mayo's chances of going all the way or is it still too early for Mayo to win an all Ireland and if so what else is required?

As long as we can score just one single, measly little  point more than the opposition in  our next three games, we'll have Sam in the trailer and as go bráth linn ar muin na muice. (or something like that.)
Believe it or not, that's all that is required!  ;)

I can only imagine the state Ballagh will be left in if ye win.

Quote from: rodney trotter on July 30, 2012, 10:36:43 PM
5 pts is hardly a hammering. Monaghan played well in that game, and the scoreline was a bit harsh, as Monaghan  created a lot of chances but didn't finish them. At least they put up a fight unlike Sligo.

I think you will find it was six! And unless your standards have got really low, that is a hammering. My point is this is not about Monaghan, Sligo, Kildare or Laois. We don't give a fiddlers f* who beat who by what! This is about Mayo and Down!

Quote from: Syferus on July 30, 2012, 10:40:16 PM

Quote from: Lar Naparka on July 30, 2012, 09:00:14 PM

Quote from: seafoid on July 30, 2012, 07:49:47 PM
If Donegal beat the Dheras would it increase Mayo's chances of going all the way or is it still too early for Mayo to win an all Ireland and if so what else is required?

As long as we can score just one single, measly little  point more than the opposition in  our next three games, we'll have Sam in the trailer and as go bráth linn ar muin na muice. (or something like that.)
Believe it or not, that's all that is required!  ;)

I can only imagine the state Ballagh will be left in if ye win.

Yeah the non natives would surely be in up arms.

Quote from: seanog on July 30, 2012, 10:51:43 PM

Quote from: Syferus on July 30, 2012, 10:40:16 PM

Quote from: Lar Naparka on July 30, 2012, 09:00:14 PM

Quote from: seafoid on July 30, 2012, 07:49:47 PM
If Donegal beat the Dheras would it increase Mayo's chances of going all the way or is it still too early for Mayo to win an all Ireland and if so what else is required?

As long as we can score just one single, measly little  point more than the opposition in  our next three games, we'll have Sam in the trailer and as go bráth linn ar muin na muice. (or something like that.)
Believe it or not, that's all that is required!  ;)

I can only imagine the state Ballagh will be left in if ye win.

Yeah the non natives would surely be in up arms.

Don't be so politically incorrect to the Mayo Óg's in town!

Better hope we make the minor final or we'll have roadblocks set up by the time the party wagon rolls into town.

Quote from: From the Bunker on July 30, 2012, 10:48:58 PM

Quote from: rodney trotter on July 30, 2012, 10:36:43 PM
5 pts is hardly a hammering. Monaghan played well in that game, and the scoreline was a bit harsh, as Monaghan  created a lot of chances but didn't finish them. At least they put up a fight unlike Sligo.

I think you will find it was six! And unless your standards have got really low, that is a hammering. My point is this is not about Monaghan, Sligo, Kildare or Laois. We don't give a fiddlers f* who beat who by what! This is about Mayo and Down!

Yeah it is about Down-Mayo, I used the Sligo game as thats who Mayo played last. And unless they have improved alot by Saturday they won't beat Down. But we shall see..

Quote from: rodney trotter on July 30, 2012, 10:57:26 PM

Quote from: From the Bunker on July 30, 2012, 10:48:58 PM

Quote from: rodney trotter on July 30, 2012, 10:36:43 PM
5 pts is hardly a hammering. Monaghan played well in that game, and the scoreline was a bit harsh, as Monaghan  created a lot of chances but didn't finish them. At least they put up a fight unlike Sligo.

I think you will find it was six! And unless your standards have got really low, that is a hammering. My point is this is not about Monaghan, Sligo, Kildare or Laois. We don't give a fiddlers f* who beat who by what! This is about Mayo and Down!

Yeah it is about Down-Mayo, I used the Sligo game as thats who Mayo played last. And unless they have improved alot by Saturday they won't beat Down. But we shall see..

I was thinking the exactly the same thing about Downs last outing! Looks like we are stuck with two average teams heading to Croker!

In terms of the Sligo game. We absolutely dominated the game from number 1 to 9. Our problem was we didn't take our chances efficiently enough.

It wasn't even the old (and at this stage it is old) Mayo failing of passing the buck and shooting terrible wides. It was trying to engineer goal chances when points were on. Add in the disallowed goal early on. If that had been allowed I think we would have kicked on and defeated Sligo easily enough.

And I think that Sligo backs unit gave us a much tougher day than the Down one will. The problem is the Down midfield is miles better than Sligo's and they also have a couple more handy forwards.

The downside of anyone drawing mayo is that the game and particularly where mayo go afterwards will be analysed to death for weeks!

Quote from: DuffleKing on July 31, 2012, 09:53:44 AM

The downside of anyone drawing mayo is that the game and particularly where mayo go afterwards will be analysed to death for weeks!

We talk a good game anyway. :D

Fingers crossed for Mayo. The championship really starts here. Horan will have been priming the team for this match and beyond. 

Quote from: seafoid on July 31, 2012, 10:21:23 AM
The championship really starts here.

Correct Seafóid.
What went before is mainly irrelevant and is a bit was  the early counts in an election - preliminary tidying up by eliminating all the no hopers.
This game will be all about that old championship cliche "on the day" .

This is it lads this is what its all about. Knock out champioship football. No second chances.

8 teams left and 7 of then from division 1. The only team from outside division 1 are the division 2 champions. I dont think you could script an end to the championship as good as this.

This is what James Horan has been building for since the exit to Kerry in last years championship. He could see what was missing and brought in the personel in an attempt to address it. Has this worked. Well know we are gonna see.

Mayo are playing a far cuter game this year. The tackling is far more intense and the midfield third are getting into better positions for breaks. They seem to be playing with more of a plan. I remember the London game last year and the experiment of Howley playing as an extra defender. This was a disaster. It was to obvious and to easy to counteract. Far play to Horan he abandoned it straight away but I felt they played the rest of the year without a proper defensive plan. The league this year was used to try something different and Sunday will be the first right test of this.

The team picks itself from 1-9 but I am a little concerned about Vaughan's performance so far. He's still gonna be centre back but I think he needs to up things a bit. Colm Boyle will and should start but I wish James Horan would use Richie Feeney a bit more. He is a great man to throw in when under pressure but I feel Horan has an issue with him and seems very reluctant to use him.

As for the forward line. 4 places are obvious, Moran, O'Connor, McLoughlin and Dillon. So its two from Freeman, Doherty or Conroy. I cannot decide between the 3 so we'll have to trust Horan from what he sees at training. If pushed Id go with Freeman and Doherty but to be honset thats based on a couple of good performances from the past and the hope that they'll come good some day. My patience is wearing thin on this thou.  If Seamus O Shea was fully fit Id probably put him in centre forward and move O'Connor inside. But I dont think he is.

Hopefully the bit of stability in the setup  will stand to Mayo. If they can kick on from last year it will be very interesting. 

Quote from: rodney trotter on July 30, 2012, 10:36:43 PM
5 pts is hardly a hammering. Monaghan played well in that game, and the scoreline was a bit harsh, as Monaghan  created a lot of chances but didn't finish them. At least they put up a fight unlike Sligo.

Quit while your behind Rod

QuoteAs for the forward line. 4 places are obvious, Moran, O'Connor, McLoughlin and Dillon

has o connor  really done enough this year to Justify being included with the other 3 . I really dont think he has .  hes had two stinkers so far and his place must seriously be in doubt . If his frees were going well he may have been worth keeping for that but  some of his efforts were poor the last day and not what is required from a 1st choice Free taker.
Maybe its the  difficult second album and he need to spend a little longer in the studio bu the ised of swaping him around he place untill he look good is just silly .

When can we expect the team to be announced?

Expecting at least one change. Big Aidan should start if he has the 70 mins in him ( if not they might hold him, figuring he might be more important to have at the end than at the begining), and he could start at the expense of a corner forward with O Connor moving inside.
Like most others I think Aidan is best at midfield but he could be named at 11 for this with Geraghty starting again. Geraghty was not replaced v Sligo until he got injured and it appears to me that he has been doing what management has required him to do ( the cfs haven t - one in particular), so I d be kinda surprised to see him dropped now.
What about Varley? Was he picked to try and kick frees from the right hand side last game? This is a bit of an issue now with the other fella not around. Can we expect to see him selected again at 13 with O Connor at 15? Just wonderin?

According to the mayo news, team will be announced to the players tonght and to the great unwashed tomorrow.


http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15845:oshea-all-set-to-return-to-action-&catid=14&Itemid=100008

Mayo News says Alan Murphy has been drafted into the squad and they re expecting AOS to start at midfield.

SOS, Freeman and Conroy all appear in with a good shout for selection. It ll be interesting to see what they do?

Quote from: rosnarun on July 31, 2012, 12:51:58 PM

QuoteAs for the forward line. 4 places are obvious, Moran, O'Connor, McLoughlin and Dillon

has o connor  really done enough this year to Justify being included with the other 3 . I really dont think he has .  hes had two stinkers so far and his place must seriously be in doubt . If his frees were going well he may have been worth keeping for that but  some of his efforts were poor the last day and not what is required from a 1st choice Free taker.
Maybe its the  difficult second album and he need to spend a little longer in the studio bu the ised of swaping him around he place untill he look good is just silly .

so typical of Mayo watery supporters-A 20yr old hits a few loose frees
and the lynchmob is out.why dont you just go where your blond buddy has gone.
Stick to listening to Westlife and leave the football to real men

Cil will be in his rightful corner on Saturday

Got my hands on the ticket for Saturday. The Dublin v Laois game is printed in large font in bold while we're in nice small font below it.

Hope we can put on a good show for our cosmopolitan brethren. ::)

QuoteHope we can put on a good show for our cosmopolitan brethren

I'm sure you will. I reckon most of us hope you win Sam if we don't

Quote from: here comes 6 on July 29, 2012, 11:29:30 AM

Quote from: Mike Sheehy on July 29, 2012, 05:35:46 AM
Jesus, you Down lads are very touchy altogether.

Touchy? Is that what you call it when posters start talking bullshit and you espond to the comment to correct them?? The ideal situation would have been a Tipp win yesterday and then the 26 could have play away and forgot about the Northern 6.. We wont go that easy as the Brits found out

I would say that the Brits found out that about Tipperary many years ago.  I was in Mullingar and the Down goal was certainly a freak score that would never happen again.  I will be in Croke Park on Saturday also and I expect Down to win and will be cheering for them.

Quote from: Mike Sheehy on July 29, 2012, 05:35:46 AM
Jesus, you Down lads are very touchy altogether.

Not so much touchy as, as always super confident, despite our average team and no matter who we play (excepting The Super Cark). 

My only worry is that should we win on Sat we will face the Super Dubs not soft Kerry which would have been my preference.

Any way we will give it a good lash and win or lose we will enjoy ourselves.

Quote from: In the Onion Bag on July 31, 2012, 09:18:12 PM

Quote from: Mike Sheehy on July 29, 2012, 05:35:46 AM
Jesus, you Down lads are very touchy altogether.

Not so much touchy as, as always super confident, despite our average team and no matter who we play (excepting The Super Cark). 

My only worry is that should we win on Sat we will face the Super Dubs not soft Kerry which would have been my preference.

Any way we will give it a good lash and win or lose we will enjoy ourselves.

I ve noticed that down the years - no pun intended. Why is that? Curious.

Apparently O'Connor played corner-forward in the A v B game at the weekend so it's a question of who he will play at 11 and 15. Horan appears very reluctant to move Dillon from the wing which is a pity because a lot of guys could then come into contention for a wing spot but most of them wouldn't be effective at 11. I'm thinking Richie Feeney, Seamie O'Shea, Micheal Forde etc.

Apparently they've been looking at Doherty at 11. Freeman would be another contender. That would leave Conroy and Varley battling for a corner-forward spot. I take Moysider's point about a left footed free taker but Varley isn't playing well and isn't that dependable a free taker to justify starting him. I reckon Conroy will start. Looks like Aidan O'Shea will start at midfield too. I hope he has a full seventy in him, people shouldn't expect too much though. He has missed a huge chunk of training.

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on July 31, 2012, 11:17:45 PM
Apparently O'Connor played corner-forward in the A v B game at the weekend so it's a question of who he will play at 11 and 15. Horan appears very reluctant to move Dillon from the wing which is a pity because a lot of guys could then come into contention for a wing spot but most of them wouldn't be effective at 11. I'm thinking Richie Feeney, Seamie O'Shea, Micheal Forde etc.

Apparently they've been looking at Doherty at 11. Freeman would be another contender. That would leave Conroy and Varley battling for a corner-forward spot. I take Moysider's point about a left footed free taker but Varley isn't playing well and isn't that dependable a free taker to justify starting him. I reckon Conroy will start. Looks like Aidan O'Shea will start at midfield too. I hope he has a full seventy in him, people shouldn't expect too much though. He has missed a huge chunk of training.
game for some reason.

To clarify - I was not suggesting that Varley should start. I m still trying to figure out why he was selected for the Sligo game and the only thing that I thought maybe was going through managements head ( not mine) was that we have nobody to kick a handy free on the right. You are right in that he s patchy enough with them anyway. But they did select him for the Sligo
If they are looking at Freeman and even more so Doherty at 11 kinda goes to show that 11 is not a pivital position as things stand. Our 3 established forwards - Andy, Dillon and Kevin Mac - will be kept well away from chf and kept in the positions they ve had best form in. We ll end up with another runner/worker at 11 if Cillian goes to 15. I posted already that we re not basing our game on a traditional chf and got ate on here but we ve been going that way.  My pref for 11 at this stage would be Seamus O Sé if he s fit.

Down on the other hand have one of the best natural 11 around. Poland will be a major concern. He will bring our 6 on a tour and he has the craft to do damage. But we dont have a player that can do that at 11 so no use codding ourselves. I reckon we ll be taking a different approach - well we have been anyway.

Quote from: moysider on July 31, 2012, 11:59:41 PM

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on July 31, 2012, 11:17:45 PM
Apparently O'Connor played corner-forward in the A v B game at the weekend so it's a question of who he will play at 11 and 15. Horan appears very reluctant to move Dillon from the wing which is a pity because a lot of guys could then come into contention for a wing spot but most of them wouldn't be effective at 11. I'm thinking Richie Feeney, Seamie O'Shea, Micheal Forde etc.

Apparently they've been looking at Doherty at 11. Freeman would be another contender. That would leave Conroy and Varley battling for a corner-forward spot. I take Moysider's point about a left footed free taker but Varley isn't playing well and isn't that dependable a free taker to justify starting him. I reckon Conroy will start. Looks like Aidan O'Shea will start at midfield too. I hope he has a full seventy in him, people shouldn't expect too much though. He has missed a huge chunk of training.
game for some reason.

To clarify - I was not suggesting that Varley should start. I m still trying to figure out why he was selected for the Sligo game and the only thing that I thought maybe was going through managements head ( not mine) was that we have nobody to kick a handy free on the right. You are right in that he s patchy enough with them anyway. But they did select him for the Sligo
If they are looking at Freeman and even more so Doherty at 11 kinda goes to show that 11 is not a pivital position as things stand. Our 3 established forwards - Andy, Dillon and Kevin Mac - will be kept well away from chf and kept in the positions they ve had best form in. We ll end up with another runner/worker at 11 if Cillian goes to 15. I posted already that we re not basing our game on a traditional chf and got ate on here but we ve been going that way.  My pref for 11 at this stage would be Seamus O Sé if he s fit.

Down on the other hand have one of the best natural 11 around. Poland will be a major concern. He will bring our 6 on a tour and he has the craft to do damage. But we dont have a player that can do that at 11 so no use codding ourselves. I reckon we ll be taking a different approach - well we have been anyway.

Sorry, fair enough. I agree with you about Seamus O'Shea if he is fit but I'd prefer him on the wing. Vaughan on Poland would be a problem so I'd nip that in the bud straight away and put Boyle or, even better, Keegan on him.

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on August 01, 2012, 12:10:24 AM

Quote from: moysider on July 31, 2012, 11:59:41 PM

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on July 31, 2012, 11:17:45 PM
Apparently O'Connor played corner-forward in the A v B game at the weekend so it's a question of who he will play at 11 and 15. Horan appears very reluctant to move Dillon from the wing which is a pity because a lot of guys could then come into contention for a wing spot but most of them wouldn't be effective at 11. I'm thinking Richie Feeney, Seamie O'Shea, Micheal Forde etc.

Apparently they've been looking at Doherty at 11. Freeman would be another contender. That would leave Conroy and Varley battling for a corner-forward spot. I take Moysider's point about a left footed free taker but Varley isn't playing well and isn't that dependable a free taker to justify starting him. I reckon Conroy will start. Looks like Aidan O'Shea will start at midfield too. I hope he has a full seventy in him, people shouldn't expect too much though. He has missed a huge chunk of training.
game for some reason.

To clarify - I was not suggesting that Varley should start. I m still trying to figure out why he was selected for the Sligo game and the only thing that I thought maybe was going through managements head ( not mine) was that we have nobody to kick a handy free on the right. You are right in that he s patchy enough with them anyway. But they did select him for the Sligo
If they are looking at Freeman and even more so Doherty at 11 kinda goes to show that 11 is not a pivital position as things stand. Our 3 established forwards - Andy, Dillon and Kevin Mac - will be kept well away from chf and kept in the positions they ve had best form in. We ll end up with another runner/worker at 11 if Cillian goes to 15. I posted already that we re not basing our game on a traditional chf and got ate on here but we ve been going that way.  My pref for 11 at this stage would be Seamus O Sé if he s fit.

Down on the other hand have one of the best natural 11 around. Poland will be a major concern. He will bring our 6 on a tour and he has the craft to do damage. But we dont have a player that can do that at 11 so no use codding ourselves. I reckon we ll be taking a different approach - well we have been anyway.

Sorry, fair enough. I agree with you about Seamus O'Shea if he is fit but I'd prefer him on the wing. Vaughan on Poland would be a problem so I'd nip that in the bud straight away and put Boyle or, even better, Keegan on him.

Agree.

Mayo management will earn their crust in this one. Without a doubt Down have the craft and confidence to do a job unless we get it right - something we ve failed dismally to do against them at underage for years.
This is a different championship from the provinces and lose the next day you wait at least another 12 months to get another shot in the last 8. I m not sure we re in a better place than Down heading into this. It s a massive test.

just saw a team named on the Hogan stand, i know :)  Just 2 changes with AoShea coming into midfield and alan Freeman starting at 11.Danny Geraghty and Enda Varley dropping down to the bench.I know it is an old clichey but it is vital we get a good start on sunday as I suspect the Down players are super confidant of beating us and if they go ahead early by 3 or 4 points we may find it very difficult to pull them back.Mayo have to sow the seeds of doubt early in the minds of the Down players or else it will be another one of those days in croker. I would be happy enough with the team named but I would say Jason Doc will have to chip in with a few scores as he is running out of chances.

I can't imagine Down players are super confident after what happened only nine days days ago. Beating Tipp in a near-empty Cusack Park and playing Mayo in an AIQF at HQ are very different beasts. I'd be surprised if the stitches don't come flying out if Mayo are applying pressure in the second half, no matter if Down are two or six ahead. If Down do this it'll be one of the most remarkable recoveries in years.

Quote from: In the Onion Bag on July 31, 2012, 09:18:12 PM

Quote from: Mike Sheehy on July 29, 2012, 05:35:46 AM
Jesus, you Down lads are very touchy altogether.

Not so much touchy as, as always super confident, despite our average team and no matter who we play (excepting The Super Cark). 

My only worry is that should we win on Sat we will face the Super Dubs not soft Kerry which would have been my preference.

Any way we will give it a good lash and win or lose we will enjoy ourselves.

Be careful what you wish for lad, keep in mind you won't have 25 years of lowered expectation this time. You lads are like Tyrone , you always disappear when there is any level of expectation. We saw that with your choke against Cork.

Getting off to a good start is critical for Down. Were we  to score two or three points without reply in the first five minutes I would be very confident of a Down victory

Quote from: Mike Sheehy on August 01, 2012, 05:12:40 AM

Quote from: In the Onion Bag on July 31, 2012, 09:18:12 PM

Quote from: Mike Sheehy on July 29, 2012, 05:35:46 AM
Jesus, you Down lads are very touchy altogether.

Not so much touchy as, as always super confident, despite our average team and no matter who we play (excepting The Super Cark). 

My only worry is that should we win on Sat we will face the Super Dubs not soft Kerry which would have been my preference.

Any way we will give it a good lash and win or lose we will enjoy ourselves.

Be careful what you wish for lad, keep in mind you won't have 25 years of lowered expectation this time. You lads are like Tyrone , you always disappear when there is any level of expectation. We saw that with your choke against Cork.

Hi Mike, angling is such a rewarding sport esp when you hook the species you were targeting.

Quote from: moysider on August 01, 2012, 12:27:50 AM

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on August 01, 2012, 12:10:24 AM

Quote from: moysider on July 31, 2012, 11:59:41 PM

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on July 31, 2012, 11:17:45 PM
Apparently O'Connor played corner-forward in the A v B game at the weekend so it's a question of who he will play at 11 and 15. Horan appears very reluctant to move Dillon from the wing which is a pity because a lot of guys could then come into contention for a wing spot but most of them wouldn't be effective at 11. I'm thinking Richie Feeney, Seamie O'Shea, Micheal Forde etc.

Apparently they've been looking at Doherty at 11. Freeman would be another contender. That would leave Conroy and Varley battling for a corner-forward spot. I take Moysider's point about a left footed free taker but Varley isn't playing well and isn't that dependable a free taker to justify starting him. I reckon Conroy will start. Looks like Aidan O'Shea will start at midfield too. I hope he has a full seventy in him, people shouldn't expect too much though. He has missed a huge chunk of training.
game for some reason.

To clarify - I was not suggesting that Varley should start. I m still trying to figure out why he was selected for the Sligo game and the only thing that I thought maybe was going through managements head ( not mine) was that we have nobody to kick a handy free on the right. You are right in that he s patchy enough with them anyway. But they did select him for the Sligo
If they are looking at Freeman and even more so Doherty at 11 kinda goes to show that 11 is not a pivital position as things stand. Our 3 established forwards - Andy, Dillon and Kevin Mac - will be kept well away from chf and kept in the positions they ve had best form in. We ll end up with another runner/worker at 11 if Cillian goes to 15. I posted already that we re not basing our game on a traditional chf and got ate on here but we ve been going that way.  My pref for 11 at this stage would be Seamus O Sé if he s fit.

Down on the other hand have one of the best natural 11 around. Poland will be a major concern. He will bring our 6 on a tour and he has the craft to do damage. But we dont have a player that can do that at 11 so no use codding ourselves. I reckon we ll be taking a different approach - well we have been anyway.

Sorry, fair enough. I agree with you about Seamus O'Shea if he is fit but I'd prefer him on the wing. Vaughan on Poland would be a problem so I'd nip that in the bud straight away and put Boyle or, even better, Keegan on him.

Agree.

Mayo management will earn their crust in this one. Without a doubt Down have the craft and confidence to do a job unless we get it right - something we ve failed dismally to do against them at underage for years.
This is a different championship from the provinces and lose the next day you wait at least another 12 months to get another shot in the last 8. I m not sure we re in a better place than Down heading into this. It s a massive test.

I heard last night that Doherty is starting CF and Aidan O Shea is midfield, if this happens I fear for Mayo on a number of levels. O Shea wont have the legs for midfield and its unfair throwing him in there just coming back from injury, especially in Croke Park.

Doherty wont win a break at CF and is too light, in fact our whole half forward line is far too light. Would prefer to see Freeman out there, as he is more used to playing further out the field than Doherty. Consider how Doherty looked on the ball against Sligo when he came out to the half forward line, and then consider Freemans impact when he replaced him. It was like night and day. Now Doherty is no bad footballer, and playing in the corner in Croke Park would suit him, but not at CF. 

A better system would have been to put O Shea at CF, and leave Barry Moran with Geraghty in the middle. O Shea would have been able to be an extra option for kick-outs, taking pressure off Geraghty who would not have to get forward and could have played as a defensive midfielder to protect Vaughan and the half back line. We would also have crowded midfield  and picked up more breaks, and it would have suited Barry Moran just as much.

There is no symmetry to that Mayo team. It was obvious we needed forwards, our midfield was doing Ok and would have been strengthened with O Shea at 11 / 3rd midfielder and would also have left space to attack.

Now we have a huge midfield, with not much mobility. A half forward line that is far too light, and a full forward line with too much pressure on them.

Quote from: TyrionLannister on August 01, 2012, 10:27:33 AM

Quote from: moysider on August 01, 2012, 12:27:50 AM

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on August 01, 2012, 12:10:24 AM

Quote from: moysider on July 31, 2012, 11:59:41 PM

Quote from: RedandGreenSniper on July 31, 2012, 11:17:45 PM
Apparently O'Connor played corner-forward in the A v B game at the weekend so it's a question of who he will play at 11 and 15. Horan appears very reluctant to move Dillon from the wing which is a pity because a lot of guys could then come into contention for a wing spot but most of them wouldn't be effective at 11. I'm thinking Richie Feeney, Seamie O'Shea, Micheal Forde etc.

Apparently they've been looking at Doherty at 11. Freeman would be another contender. That would leave Conroy and Varley battling for a corner-forward spot. I take Moysider's point about a left footed free taker but Varley isn't playing well and isn't that dependable a free taker to justify starting him. I reckon Conroy will start. Looks like Aidan O'Shea will start at midfield too. I hope he has a full seventy in him, people shouldn't expect too much though. He has missed a huge chunk of training.
game for some reason.

To clarify - I was not suggesting that Varley should start. I m still trying to figure out why he was selected for the Sligo game and the only thing that I thought maybe was going through managements head ( not mine) was that we have nobody to kick a handy free on the right. You are right in that he s patchy enough with them anyway. But they did select him for the Sligo
If they are looking at Freeman and even more so Doherty at 11 kinda goes to show that 11 is not a pivital position as things stand. Our 3 established forwards - Andy, Dillon and Kevin Mac - will be kept well away from chf and kept in the positions they ve had best form in. We ll end up with another runner/worker at 11 if Cillian goes to 15. I posted already that we re not basing our game on a traditional chf and got ate on here but we ve been going that way.  My pref for 11 at this stage would be Seamus O Sé if he s fit.

Down on the other hand have one of the best natural 11 around. Poland will be a major concern. He will bring our 6 on a tour and he has the craft to do damage. But we dont have a player that can do that at 11 so no use codding ourselves. I reckon we ll be taking a different approach - well we have been anyway.

Sorry, fair enough. I agree with you about Seamus O'Shea if he is fit but I'd prefer him on the wing. Vaughan on Poland would be a problem so I'd nip that in the bud straight away and put Boyle or, even better, Keegan on him.

Agree.

Mayo management will earn their crust in this one. Without a doubt Down have the craft and confidence to do a job unless we get it right - something we ve failed dismally to do against them at underage for years.
This is a different championship from the provinces and lose the next day you wait at least another 12 months to get another shot in the last 8. I m not sure we re in a better place than Down heading into this. It s a massive test.

I heard last night that Doherty is starting CF and Aidan O Shea is midfield, if this happens I fear for Mayo on a number of levels. O Shea wont have the legs for midfield and its unfair throwing him in there just coming back from injury, especially in Croke Park.

Doherty wont win a break at CF and is too light, in fact our whole half forward line is far too light. Would prefer to see Freeman out there, as he is more used to playing further out the field than Doherty. Consider how Doherty looked on the ball against Sligo when he came out to the half forward line, and then consider Freemans impact when he replaced him. It was like night and day. Now Doherty is no bad footballer, and playing in the corner in Croke Park would suit him, but not at CF. 

A better system would have been to put O Shea at CF, and leave Barry Moran with Geraghty in the middle. O Shea would have been able to be an extra option for kick-outs, taking pressure off Geraghty who would not have to get forward and could have played as a defensive midfielder to protect Vaughan and the half back line. We would also have crowded midfield  and picked up more breaks, and it would have suited Barry Moran just as much.
There is no symmetry to that Mayo team. It was obvious we needed forwards, our midfield was doing Ok and would have been strengthened with O Shea at 11 / 3rd midfielder and would also have left space to attack.

Now we have a huge midfield, with not much mobility. A half forward line that is far too light, and a full forward line with too much pressure on them.

I m surprised they haven t done this. It s what I was expecting until the leaks in local media on Tuesday suggested they were thinking differently.

Quote from: moysider on August 01, 2012, 10:37:21 AM

Quote from: TyrionLannister on August 01, 2012, 10:27:33 AM

I heard last night that Doherty is starting CF and Aidan O Shea is midfield, if this happens I fear for Mayo on a number of levels. O Shea wont have the legs for midfield and its unfair throwing him in there just coming back from injury, especially in Croke Park.

Doherty wont win a break at CF and is too light, in fact our whole half forward line is far too light. Would prefer to see Freeman out there, as he is more used to playing further out the field than Doherty. Consider how Doherty looked on the ball against Sligo when he came out to the half forward line, and then consider Freemans impact when he replaced him. It was like night and day. Now Doherty is no bad footballer, and playing in the corner in Croke Park would suit him, but not at CF. 

A better system would have been to put O Shea at CF, and leave Barry Moran with Geraghty in the middle. O Shea would have been able to be an extra option for kick-outs, taking pressure off Geraghty who would not have to get forward and could have played as a defensive midfielder to protect Vaughan and the half back line. We would also have crowded midfield  and picked up more breaks, and it would have suited Barry Moran just as much.
There is no symmetry to that Mayo team. It was obvious we needed forwards, our midfield was doing Ok and would have been strengthened with O Shea at 11 / 3rd midfielder and would also have left space to attack.

Now we have a huge midfield, with not much mobility. A half forward line that is far too light, and a full forward line with too much pressure on them.

I m surprised they haven t done this. It s what I was expecting until the leaks in local media on Tuesday suggested they were thinking differently.

Just thinking about it, it actually could be the losing of the game for Mayo and that wouldn't surprise me.

How on earth can Aidan O Shea have the legs for a full game in Croke Park at midfield, if he was only good enough for 15 minutes or so against Sligo? Barry Moran isnt blessed with mobility either, although he has improved as of late.

Like again, if AOS started at 11, you can always switch him to midfield if we are struggling and bring on Freeman or whoever. But the way its lined out now, you cant switch it back without upsetting the formations. It wouldnt make as much sense to bring on Geraghty for a half forward and move AOS to CF in the second half as it would take too long to settle.

Its very disheartening.

Lads, how sure are ye about that team? You're not basing it on a post in the hoganstand.com message board are ye??
Maybe wait until the team is announced before getting disheartened ;)

I'm a bit confused here, there is no team announced yet and these leaks if coming from posters on hs, can hardly be reliable , it was only announced to the players last night.

Sure I was disheartened from the word go and I got no backup! ;)

Quote from: TyrionLannister on August 01, 2012, 11:05:00 AM

Quote from: moysider on August 01, 2012, 10:37:21 AM

Quote from: TyrionLannister on August 01, 2012, 10:27:33 AM

I heard last night that Doherty is starting CF and Aidan O Shea is midfield, if this happens I fear for Mayo on a number of levels. O Shea wont have the legs for midfield and its unfair throwing him in there just coming back from injury, especially in Croke Park.

Doherty wont win a break at CF and is too light, in fact our whole half forward line is far too light. Would prefer to see Freeman out there, as he is more used to playing further out the field than Doherty. Consider how Doherty looked on the ball against Sligo when he came out to the half forward line, and then consider Freemans impact when he replaced him. It was like night and day. Now Doherty is no bad footballer, and playing in the corner in Croke Park would suit him, but not at CF. 

A better system would have been to put O Shea at CF, and leave Barry Moran with Geraghty in the middle. O Shea would have been able to be an extra option for kick-outs, taking pressure off Geraghty who would not have to get forward and could have played as a defensive midfielder to protect Vaughan and the half back line. We would also have crowded midfield  and picked up more breaks, and it would have suited Barry Moran just as much.
There is no symmetry to that Mayo team. It was obvious we needed forwards, our midfield was doing Ok and would have been strengthened with O Shea at 11 / 3rd midfielder and would also have left space to attack.

Now we have a huge midfield, with not much mobility. A half forward line that is far too light, and a full forward line with too much pressure on them.

I m surprised they haven t done this. It s what I was expecting until the leaks in local media on Tuesday suggested they were thinking differently.

Just thinking about it, it actually could be the losing of the game for Mayo and that wouldn't surprise me.

How on earth can Aidan O Shea have the legs for a full game in Croke Park at midfield, if he was only good enough for 15 minutes or so against Sligo? Barry Moran isnt blessed with mobility either, although he has improved as of late.

Like again, if AOS started at 11, you can always switch him to midfield if we are struggling and bring on Freeman or whoever. But the way its lined out now, you cant switch it back without upsetting the formations. It wouldnt make as much sense to bring on Geraghty for a half forward and move AOS to CF in the second half as it would take too long to settle.

Its very disheartening.

Not for me, it isn't!
I'm just waiting for the throw-in and let events take their course after that.
Very few positions are nailed down. I'd say Clarkie in goal and Caff at FB are the only certainties. That's maybe stretching it sa bit but a case could be made (by some anyway) that every other lad could be replaced or moved somewhere else.

We'll never know what's right or wrong until the ref blows the final whistle- that's a fact of life, I suppose.
Right now, I don't know the team and even when I do, I'll accept Horan's judgement.
I hope Farrandeelin has the hay baled and that the salmon are still rising on the Moy but I'm concentrating on Saturday afternoon and what the long whistel brings.
Worried? Not a bit.
Cautious? Somewhat but certainly not disheartened.

conroy and aiden are starting according to the rumour mill over on WJ's site , varley and gergahty make way

Doc will start cen forward with Cil in da corner-the numbers on treir backs
may not reflect this but thems the facts

Has Richie Feeney recovered from the injury he picked up in the Mayo SFC? He looked quite good from what I saw of him earlier in the year and I suppose the fact he hasn't factored in lately speaks to how solid the Mayo back-line has been.

RogerMilla and sans pessimism are correct re team selection.

Quote from: Farrandeelin on August 01, 2012, 04:47:36 PM
RogerMilla and sans pessimism are correct re team selection.

so thats Conroy and Doherty starting with O Con named at 11 but playing out of corner with Doc in hf line?

And O Sé in midfield?

MayoGAA have tweeted that the team will not be named today.... wonder what that's about

There's been some chopping and changing. Aiden Campbell gone off the panal, not supprised i suppose with his injury.

Just back from a cup of tay with a guy whose wife's sister's brother-in-law cuts the grass at McHale Park. I have the inside track.

Tyrion Lannister is correct about Aidan O'Shea not having seventy minutes in the legs. So the plan is to play Aidan in goals, with Clarkie in midfield. Clarkie's played in midfield before, and he's not afraid to put himself about, if you get me. O'Shea can then save the gas while he's between the sticks, and horse into Coulter and that little buckeen every chance he gets.

Varley, Doherty and Cillian O'Connor will play upfront, but they'll play in the star formation of the Moran/Morrison era. Down are noted for their tactical innovations, and Mayo plan to meet fire with fire.

The master-stroke, then, will be the introduction of Conor Mortimer, who will parachute into the stadium like the Queen of England about ten minutes into the second half. The guy that does the PA in Croker's father is from Ballyhaunis, so he's hoping to fix it to play Billie Jean once he hears the plane approaching. That'll really freak the Downmen out.

Intelligence direct from the stable boys. Honest to God.

Quote from: moysider on August 01, 2012, 05:07:37 PM

Quote from: Farrandeelin on August 01, 2012, 04:47:36 PM
RogerMilla and sans pessimism are correct re team selection.

so thats Conroy and Doherty starting with O Con named at 11 but playing out of corner with Doc in hf line?

And O Sé in midfield?

AFAIK Doc will have no11 on his back.

QuoteJust back from a cup of tay with a guy whose wife's sister's brother-in-law cuts the grass at McHale Park.

Is he your relation? The fella who cuts the grass not the fella ya had the cuppa with? :D

Quote from: IolarCoisCuain on August 01, 2012, 05:30:16 PM
Just back from a cup of tay with a guy whose wife's sister's brother-in-law cuts the grass at McHale Park. I have the inside track.

Tyrion Lannister is correct about Aidan O'Shea not having seventy minutes in the legs. So the plan is to play Aidan in goals, with Clarkie in midfield. Clarkie's played in midfield before, and he's not afraid to put himself about, if you get me. O'Shea can then save the gas while he's between the sticks, and horse into Coulter and that little buckeen every chance he gets.

Varley, Doherty and Cillian O'Connor will play upfront, but they'll play in the star formation of the Moran/Morrison era. Down are noted for their tactical innovations, and Mayo plan to meet fire with fire.

The master-stroke, then, will be the introduction of Conor Mortimer, who will parachute into the stadium like the Queen of England about ten minutes into the second half. The guy that does the PA in Croker's father is from Ballyhaunis, so he's hoping to fix it to play Billie Jean once he hears the plane approaching. That'll really freak the Downmen out.

Intelligence direct from the stable boys. Honest to God.

Spot on Iolar. You're right as usual.
I got more or less the same lowdown from an equally impeccable source.
(Okay, she's 96 and counting but there's devil the bit of doting about her even if she keeps calling me James.)
I was told that Mort Óg will drop in ten minutes after the Queen has done ditto.
She'll be there to thrown in the ball and Conoreen will be there to pick it up and storm off the field with it the first time anyone passes a smart remark about his hair-do.
Oh, yeah and the buckos inside will all be wearing crash helmets for fear they'll  headbutt each other once they start galloping about the place as Beefer would have had them do.

But I suppose the real James knows this already so there's no point in me looking for his mobile number. As I'm not expecting a text from him, I'm going to wait until the team is announced before I get in the least bit excited.
But there's no harm in dreaming, is there? ;D

Quote from: Farrandeelin on August 01, 2012, 05:46:52 PM

Quote from: moysider on August 01, 2012, 05:07:37 PM

Quote from: Farrandeelin on August 01, 2012, 04:47:36 PM
RogerMilla and sans pessimism are correct re team selection.

so thats Conroy and Doherty starting with O Con named at 11 but playing out of corner with Doc in hf line?

And O Sé in midfield?

AFAIK Doc will have no11 on his back.

QuoteJust back from a cup of tay with a guy whose wife's sister's brother-in-law cuts the grass at McHale Park.

Is he your relation? The fella who cuts the grass not the fella ya had the cuppa with? :D

None of them is related to me, personally - it's the husband of that guy's wife's sister. Do you remember them? There were three of them - Sadie, who stayed at home to mind the mother, Gertie, who got married to one of the Fighting O'Malleys in Birmingham, and Nancy, who went to New York. I believe she's doing very well - married to a fella over there called Abdul. I believe he's a foreigner. Anyway, it was Sadie's husband, Ted, who was telling your man, and it was your man who was telling me.

Quote from: moysider on August 01, 2012, 05:07:37 PM

Quote from: Farrandeelin on August 01, 2012, 04:47:36 PM
RogerMilla and sans pessimism are correct re team selection.

so thats Conroy and Doherty starting with O Con named at 11 but playing out of corner with Doc in hf line?
And O Sé in midfield?

ya

Quote from: Lar Naparka on August 01, 2012, 01:27:57 PM

Quote from: TyrionLannister on August 01, 2012, 11:05:00 AM

Quote from: moysider on August 01, 2012, 10:37:21 AM

Quote from: TyrionLannister on August 01, 2012, 10:27:33 AM

I heard last night that Doherty is starting CF and Aidan O Shea is midfield, if this happens I fear for Mayo on a number of levels. O Shea wont have the legs for midfield and its unfair throwing him in there just coming back from injury, especially in Croke Park.

Doherty wont win a break at CF and is too light, in fact our whole half forward line is far too light. Would prefer to see Freeman out there, as he is more used to playing further out the field than Doherty. Consider how Doherty looked on the ball against Sligo when he came out to the half forward line, and then consider Freemans impact when he replaced him. It was like night and day. Now Doherty is no bad footballer, and playing in the corner in Croke Park would suit him, but not at CF. 

A better system would have been to put O Shea at CF, and leave Barry Moran with Geraghty in the middle. O Shea would have been able to be an extra option for kick-outs, taking pressure off Geraghty who would not have to get forward and could have played as a defensive midfielder to protect Vaughan and the half back line. We would also have crowded midfield  and picked up more breaks, and it would have suited Barry Moran just as much.
There is no symmetry to that Mayo team. It was obvious we needed forwards, our midfield was doing Ok and would have been strengthened with O Shea at 11 / 3rd midfielder and would also have left space to attack.

Now we have a huge midfield, with not much mobility. A half forward line that is far too light, and a full forward line with too much pressure on them.

I m surprised they haven t done this. It s what I was expecting until the leaks in local media on Tuesday suggested they were thinking differently.

Just thinking about it, it actually could be the losing of the game for Mayo and that wouldn't surprise me.

How on earth can Aidan O Shea have the legs for a full game in Croke Park at midfield, if he was only good enough for 15 minutes or so against Sligo? Barry Moran isnt blessed with mobility either, although he has improved as of late.

Like again, if AOS started at 11, you can always switch him to midfield if we are struggling and bring on Freeman or whoever. But the way its lined out now, you cant switch it back without upsetting the formations. It wouldnt make as much sense to bring on Geraghty for a half forward and move AOS to CF in the second half as it would take too long to settle.

Its very disheartening.

Not for me, it isn't!
I'm just waiting for the throw-in and let events take their course after that.
Very few positions are nailed down. I'd say Clarkie in goal and Caff at FB are the only certainties. That's maybe stretching it sa bit but a case could be made (by some anyway) that every other lad could be replaced or moved somewhere else.We'll never know what's right or wrong until the ref blows the final whistle- that's a fact of life, I suppose.
Right now, I don't know the team and even when I do, I'll accept Horan's judgement.
I hope Farrandeelin has the hay baled and that the salmon are still rising on the Moy but I'm concentrating on Saturday afternoon and what the long whistel brings.
Worried? Not a bit.
Cautious? Somewhat but certainly not disheartened.

Alright we still have no teamsheet but I think Tyrionlannister s fears are valid.

I think most positions are nailed down to be honest Lar, but there may be a switch or two in defence for match -ups but that is neither here nor there. Cant see some of the changes we were calling for happening at this late stage - we don t do things like that. The thing is that the team has developed a bit of shape and  keeping that shape for the 70 minutes could be a challenge. Starting Barry Moran and AOS as a midfield pairing is all very well and good on paper but if for reasons of fitness or injury we have to play the end game without one or both it could get bumpy. We can t be confident of the impact of SOS, McGar, Ger or Gibb if the game is in the melting pot for one reason or another, and the starting pair have emptied the tank.
Down s midfield pairing will probably be King with either Gordon or Rodgers. King must be one of the strongest players playing the game. I d have let Geraghty belt away with him tbh for 45mins. Moran would have had to match up with the footballer with Aidan dropping off from 11 to contest kickouts. His presence at 11 would also fix at least 1 defender and create space for Dillon Kevin Mac and runners from deep. Sure we ll see.

I have to agree with Lar Naparka,it'll really come down to when your sitting there in Croke Park or wherever and the ball is thrown up.....it'll come down to whoever has the hunger on the day and the drive and the determination,simple as whether it be Down or Mayo who march onto the semi final it'll be a game that both sides remember for a long time

Quote from: galwaygreenandred on August 01, 2012, 10:34:14 PM
I have to agree with Lar Naparka,it'll really come down to when your sitting there in Croke Park or wherever and the ball is thrown up.....it'll come down to whoever has the hunger on the day and the drive and the determination,simple as whether it be Down or Mayo who march onto the semi final it'll be a game that both sides remember for a long time

You re heartly welcome.

Look, as you point out, we re only fans and have no impact on proceedings. Some of us are just trying to predict, second guess etc - its a bit of gas.

No doubt hunger and determination and stuff are crucial but in my time I ve seen us f**k up several times with poor selections, poor tactics and poor preparation. Things like not having a clue what the opposition were going to do which is unforgivable. I think that Horan s administration is bringing us to a different level. By that I mean he will give us a better chance of winning big games. He may be unlucky with a few pieces of the jigsaw but....... We ll see. Saturday is big. Lose will mean we finish on a downer ;) and the year will appear worse than it was. Win and we re in bonus territory and could rattle somebody s cage after. Down is a big game for us.

Thanks for the welcome :) You hit it right on the head,playing Clarke in midfield might leave us a bit open alright ;) We haven't had a real test this year that we can be sure of,as in the Connacht Final is usually a scrap and a dogfight,last year we were thrown in the deep end against Cark but came up swimming like Phelps :) I agree with you completely,I have seen it go t*ts up,usually against Kerry tbh,but then again they are our bogey team alongside Meath. It's a bit of craic alright and it's good to hear the banter and predictions from you guys,the guys who's heart and soul is in the Mayo team,rather than a journalist who doesn't give you half of what you want to know,so it's an honour to join ye guys :D

im sure Clarke could do as good job midfield as Fergal kelly . my good how desperate were we for a big man back then.

Quote from: galwaygreenandred on August 01, 2012, 10:34:14 PM
I have to agree with Lar Naparka,it'll really come down to when your sitting there in Croke Park or wherever and the ball is thrown up.....it'll come down to whoever has the hunger on the day and the drive and the determination,simple as whether it be Down or Mayo who march onto the semi final it'll be a game that both sides remember for a long time

First of all, welcome aboard; it's always nice to newcomers joining up, especially Mayo folks.
Yeah, you're right: It comes down to the size of the fight in the dog rather than the size of the dog in the fight.
I think moysider mistook what I was saying. James H has gone about building his side without fuss or bother and I can't see him doing a John O'Mahony at this stage and making wholesale changes in the hope that something clicks. Fans gasbagging about teams or individual players makes for good craic but it all comes down to those selected giving it all they've got and win. lose or draw, we can't ask for anything more.
TBH, I know most places are nailed down or at least  I hope so. Match-ups are fine too; they can be done, on the fly if necessary, without upsetting the overall balance of the team. But I do recall Pat Spillane saying that Mick O'Dwyer never bothered mentioning the opposition in any of his pre-match talks. 
Micko wanted his players to concentrate on their own game plan and let the other side do whatever they wanted. Right now, we're not at the stage where we can forget about whoever we meet but we're getting there.
Roll on Saturday......

I like that line about the dog :) It reminded me of a quote by the great playwright John B Keane,"Now listen lads, I'm not happy with our tackling. We're hurting them but they keep getting up" and sure at the end of the day I've come to realise that after they have lost in the Championship we never think,"they're crap,useless,why do I bother watching them".....we think "there's always next year lads,there's always next year"...I think this is this next year!?!?! If that makes sense,I'm sure it doesn't :D

Quote from: Lar Naparka on August 02, 2012, 01:20:20 AM

Quote from: galwaygreenandred on August 01, 2012, 10:34:14 PM
I have to agree with Lar Naparka,it'll really come down to when your sitting there in Croke Park or wherever and the ball is thrown up.....it'll come down to whoever has the hunger on the day and the drive and the determination,simple as whether it be Down or Mayo who march onto the semi final it'll be a game that both sides remember for a long time

First of all, welcome aboard; it's always nice to newcomers joining up, especially Mayo folks.
Yeah, you're right: It comes down to the size of the fight in the dog rather than the size of the dog in the fight.
I think moysider mistook what I was saying. James H has gone about building his side without fuss or bother and I can't see him doing a John O'Mahony at this stage and making wholesale changes in the hope that something clicks. Fans gasbagging about teams or individual players makes for good craic but it all comes down to those selected giving it all they've got and win. lose or draw, we can't ask for anything more.
TBH, I know most places are nailed down or at least  I hope so. Match-ups are fine too; they can be done, on the fly if necessary, without upsetting the overall balance of the team. But I do recall Pat Spillane saying that Mick O'Dwyer never bothered mentioning the opposition in any of his pre-match talks.  Micko wanted his players to concentrate on their own game plan and let the other side do whatever they wanted. Right now, we're not at the stage where we can forget about whoever we meet but we're getting there.
Roll on Saturday.... ..

Exactly. But Micko would also have selected and prepared  his teams with the opposition in mind. But no need to spook the whole team with the opposition.

Remember Jimmy Deenahan trying to wear Jimmy Barry Murphy s jersey in matches? Or even in 81 when Johnno Keeffe had Jimmy Burke s jersey wrapped in his fist? Micko would have done a lot of one on one with players I suspect. The team talk would have been team positive undoubtably - sure we cant question Pateens testimony ;D But he would have his homework done. The turnaround in the Dublin saga in 78 sugests that.

Anyone who thinks Micko didn't study and prepare for the opposition is naive. Spillane is either being a cute Kerryman with his comment or simply believes is own bullsht. Let's face it with Spillane either of those situations are equally feasible||

Quote from: Lar Naparka on August 02, 2012, 01:20:20 AM

Quote from: galwaygreenandred on August 01, 2012, 10:34:14 PM
I have to agree with Lar Naparka,it'll really come down to when your sitting there in Croke Park or wherever and the ball is thrown up.....it'll come down to whoever has the hunger on the day and the drive and the determination,simple as whether it be Down or Mayo who march onto the semi final it'll be a game that both sides remember for a long time

First of all, welcome aboard; it's always nice to newcomers joining up, especially Mayo folks.
Yeah, you're right: It comes down to the size of the fight in the dog rather than the size of the dog in the fight.
I think moysider mistook what I was saying. James H has gone about building his side without fuss or bother and I can't see him doing a John O'Mahony at this stage and making wholesale changes in the hope that something clicks. Fans gasbagging about teams or individual players makes for good craic but it all comes down to those selected giving it all they've got and win. lose or draw, we can't ask for anything more.
TBH, I know most places are nailed down or at least  I hope so. Match-ups are fine too; they can be done, on the fly if necessary, without upsetting the overall balance of the team. But I do recall Pat Spillane saying that Mick O'Dwyer never bothered mentioning the opposition in any of his pre-match talks. 
Micko wanted his players to concentrate on their own game plan and let the other side do whatever they wanted. Right now, we're not at the stage where we can forget about whoever we meet but we're getting there.
Roll on Saturday......

In the real world, the hungrier team doesn't always win. Were Kerry hungrier than Mayo in 06, 04 and 97?
Were Meed Meath hungrier than Mayo in 96, were Cork all the hungrier in 89?

If hunger was all that was required, surely Mayo would have won at least one All-Ireland since 1951!
We are in a famine FFS.

People being on about hunger is loser-talk. You win if you are good enough.
If you prove good enough you are the best prepared, selected, and skilled to win the game. End of.

TyrionLannister knows what he is talking about(obviously). I'm not old enough to femember 89, but we were tactically inept for the other four finals TL mentioned.

Quote from: TyrionLannister on August 02, 2012, 09:20:42 AM

Quote from: Lar Naparka on August 02, 2012, 01:20:20 AM

Quote from: galwaygreenandred on August 01, 2012, 10:34:14 PM
I have to agree with Lar Naparka,it'll really come down to when your sitting there in Croke Park or wherever and the ball is thrown up.....it'll come down to whoever has the hunger on the day and the drive and the determination,simple as whether it be Down or Mayo who march onto the semi final it'll be a game that both sides remember for a long time

First of all, welcome aboard; it's always nice to newcomers joining up, especially Mayo folks.
Yeah, you're right: It comes down to the size of the fight in the dog rather than the size of the dog in the fight.
I think moysider mistook what I was saying. James H has gone about building his side without fuss or bother and I can't see him doing a John O'Mahony at this stage and making wholesale changes in the hope that something clicks. Fans gasbagging about teams or individual players makes for good craic but it all comes down to those selected giving it all they've got and win. lose or draw, we can't ask for anything more.
TBH, I know most places are nailed down or at least  I hope so. Match-ups are fine too; they can be done, on the fly if necessary, without upsetting the overall balance of the team. But I do recall Pat Spillane saying that Mick O'Dwyer never bothered mentioning the opposition in any of his pre-match talks. 
Micko wanted his players to concentrate on their own game plan and let the other side do whatever they wanted. Right now, we're not at the stage where we can forget about whoever we meet but we're getting there.
Roll on Saturday......

In the real world, the hungrier team doesn't always win. Were Kerry hungrier than Mayo in 06, 04 and 97?
Were Meed Meath hungrier than Mayo in 96, were Cork all the hungrier in 89?

If hunger was all that was required, surely Mayo would have won at least one All-Ireland since 1951!
We are in a famine FFS.

People being on about hunger is loser-talk. You win if you are good enough.
If you prove good enough you are the best prepared, selected, and skilled to win the game. End of.

I would have thought the Imp of the Lannisters the last man to underestimate heart.

It's trite to say that there's one single thing that the secret ingredient to success, whether that's heart or hunger or tactics or diets or conditioning or whatever. It's the combination, and how the different components react with each other.

Heart is on my mind because of something Ian Thorpe said a few days ago at the Olympics about swimming the last fifty metres: "Your brain starts refusing, telling your body to stop because it can't handle it. And that's when your heart takes over."

It reminded of something Seán Óg de Paor wrote in his autobiography, about having to be prepared to deal with the pain and physical exhaustion that hits you in big games. You think you'll be able to deal with it but, like everything else, there can be a difference between theory and practice. Don't underestimate heart.

Why are they keeping the team from being announced anyway? Sure if the players know what they're supposed to be doing, then out with it. That's my own opinion anyway.

No changes!!


1. David Clarke - Ballina Stephenites
2. Kevin Keane - Westport
3. Ger Cafferkey - Ballina Stephenites
4. Keith Higgins - Ballyhaunis
5. Lee Keegan - Westport
6. Donal Vaughan - Ballinrobe
7. Colm Boyle - Davitts
8. Barry Moran - Castlebar Mitchels
9. Danny Geraghty - Ballintubber
10. Kevin McLoughlin - Knockmore
11. Cillian O'Connor - Ballintubber
12. Alan Dillon - Ballintubber
13. Enda Varley - Garrymore
14. Andy Moran - Ballaghaderreen (Captain)
15. Jason Doherty - Burrishoole

no changes from the connacht final. Aidan must not be fit enough to play the full 70

Quote from: RogerMilla on August 02, 2012, 11:08:52 AM
no changes from the connacht final. Aidan must not be fit enough to play the full 70

Bringing him on at half time I'd say

Varley better up the ante big time!

Quote from: Tubberman on August 02, 2012, 11:01:41 AM
No changes!!


1. David Clarke - Ballina Stephenites
2. Kevin Keane - Westport
3. Ger Cafferkey - Ballina Stephenites
4. Keith Higgins - Ballyhaunis
5. Lee Keegan - Westport
6. Donal Vaughan - Ballinrobe
7. Colm Boyle - Davitts
8. Barry Moran - Castlebar Mitchels
9. Danny Geraghty - Ballintubber
10. Kevin McLoughlin - Knockmore
11. Cillian O'Connor - Ballintubber
12. Alan Dillon - Ballintubber
13. Enda Varley - Garrymore
14. Andy Moran - Ballaghaderreen (Captain)
15. Jason Doherty - Burrishoole

Kinda what I was expecting and in fairness to Horan due to injuries and players only returning from injury the only spots really up for contention were the corner forwards battle between Varley/Freeman/Conroy/Doherty. I like Geraghty in the middle cause he's a bull of a man for his size and gets through a huge amount of the unseen donkey work required in the middle third. He also has greatly improved his use of possesion i.e moving it on quickly to the half forwards or the runners from deep. Personally I probably would have started Conroy in stead of Varley but apart from that and considering the constaints on the squad I'm happy enough with the rest of the team. I suppose an argument could be made for Walsh(for a man marking job) , McHale and Feeny in the backs but it would be a harsh call to leave out any of the starting six.
I'd be interested to see the bench but thinking about it we have some good options to change it up if Down are causing us serious problems e.g Aidan O' Shea/Seamus O' Shea for midfield/center forward , Feeny for halfback/corner back, McHale/Walsh for the full back line, Freeman for halforward/corner forward , Conroy for the full forward line and for something from leftfield Alan Murphy. I've only heard good things about him albeit I've haven't actually seen him in the flesh so wouldn't be sure of his ability at intercounty level. All in all if the management does there stuff we should be able to put Down under pressure even if plan A isn't working.

Billy Joe Padden gives his take on Mayo and all of the QFs. Speaks very well, knows the game, a candidate for the Sunday Game? http://tinyurl.com/cpyf6sq (http://tinyurl.com/cpyf6sq)

By jesus it's risky selection for Horan, he will get some flak if Varley nd Doc don't perform and we lose.

People are saying there is not 70 min in AOS yet and i'm not disputing that as such but it still has me baffled tbh, he came on vSligo (42 min,i think) looked leaner and meaner than ever, my opinion is this is knockout, no second chance better off starting O Se and establish a lead then take him off if need be or move him in closer to the square, it's no addition gettin beat in midfield , losing by 5 points and then introducing o se.

Not convinced at all overall this is the right selections, i would of chanced Freeman too up against a fairly light weight Don defence.

Lets just hope Horan knows what he's at and my armchair analysis are amateur.

Quote from: seanog on August 02, 2012, 12:34:03 PM
By jesus it's risky selection for Horan, he will get some flak if Varley nd Doc don't perform and we lose.

People are saying there is not 70 min in AOS yet and i'm not disputing that as such but it still has me baffled tbh, he came on vSligo (42 min,i think) looked leaner and meaner than ever, my opinion is this is knockout, no second chance better off starting O Se and establish a lead then take him off if need be or move him in closer to the square, it's no addition gettin beat in midfield , losing by 5 points and then introducing o se.

Not convinced at all overall this is the right selections, i would of chanced Freeman too up against a fairly light weight Don defence.

Lets just hope Horan knows what he's at and my armchair analysis are amateur.

Well AOS would be better coming on for the last half hour than the last considering that is when we start hitting the scores

Even saying that the last day the lads seemed to have been told to go for goal,when really the boys seemed to be mad to go for a point then stopping as if remembering that they were supposed to go for goal,do you agree?

Quote from: seanog on August 02, 2012, 12:34:03 PM
By jesus it's risky selection for Horan, he will get some flak if Varley nd Doc don't perform and we lose.

People are saying there is not 70 min in AOS yet and i'm not disputing that as such but it still has me baffled tbh, he came on vSligo (42 min,i think) looked leaner and meaner than ever, my opinion is this is knockout, no second chance better off starting O Se and establish a lead then take him off if need be or move him in closer to the square, it's no addition gettin beat in midfield , losing by 5 points and then introducing o se.

Not convinced at all overall this is the right selections, i would of chanced Freeman too up against a fairly light weight Don defence.

Lets just hope Horan knows what he's at and my armchair analysis are amateur.

I wouldn t expect anything different from Varley and Doc. While they have been poor and disappointing respectively they have been consistently poor and disappointing for some time.

The second piece in bold is very sensible imo.

I'd say that team was named for the program. AOS and conroy  will start I'd say

Quote from: moysider on August 02, 2012, 01:34:52 PM

Quote from: seanog on August 02, 2012, 12:34:03 PM
By jesus it's risky selection for Horan, he will get some flak if Varley nd Doc don't perform and we lose.

People are saying there is not 70 min in AOS yet and i'm not disputing that as such but it still has me baffled tbh, he came on vSligo (42 min,i think) looked leaner and meaner than ever, my opinion is this is knockout, no second chance better off starting O Se and establish a lead then take him off if need be or move him in closer to the square, it's no addition gettin beat in midfield , losing by 5 points and then introducing o se.

Not convinced at all overall this is the right selections, i would of chanced Freeman too up against a fairly light weight Don defence.

Lets just hope Horan knows what he's at and my armchair analysis are amateur.

I wouldn t expect anything different from Varley and Doc. While they have been poor and disappointing respectively they have been consistently poor and disappointing for some time.

The second piece in bold is very sensible imo.

+ 1. Switch can't exactly be flicked.

What are the chances of the Doc/ O'Connor switch that was mooted during the week here? Whoever is on Kevin Mc Kernan needs to keep him busy.

i think the original rumours were correct and this is just the team for the program  , aidan and conroy both to start and cillian to make his way into the corner... i hope...

Quote from: sans pessimism on August 02, 2012, 01:38:55 PM
I'd say that team was named for the program. AOS and conroy  will start I'd say

I suspect and hope you are right.

Quote from: moysider on August 02, 2012, 02:28:33 PM

Quote from: sans pessimism on August 02, 2012, 01:38:55 PM
I'd say that team was named for the program. AOS and conroy  will start I'd say

I suspect and hope you are right.

Depending on whether AOS is match fit,I personally would prefer to see him play last half hour than the first one

Down always always always last to announce their team and have been for manager after manager.

I wonder why that is?

Quote from: TyrionLannister on August 02, 2012, 09:20:42 AM

Quote from: Lar Naparka on August 02, 2012, 01:20:20 AM

Quote from: galwaygreenandred on August 01, 2012, 10:34:14 PM
I have to agree with Lar Naparka,it'll really come down to when your sitting there in Croke Park or wherever and the ball is thrown up.....it'll come down to whoever has the hunger on the day and the drive and the determination,simple as whether it be Down or Mayo who march onto the semi final it'll be a game that both sides remember for a long time

First of all, welcome aboard; it's always nice to newcomers joining up, especially Mayo folks.
Yeah, you're right: It comes down to the size of the fight in the dog rather than the size of the dog in the fight.
I think moysider mistook what I was saying. James H has gone about building his side without fuss or bother and I can't see him doing a John O'Mahony at this stage and making wholesale changes in the hope that something clicks. Fans gasbagging about teams or individual players makes for good craic but it all comes down to those selected giving it all they've got and win. lose or draw, we can't ask for anything more.
TBH, I know most places are nailed down or at least  I hope so. Match-ups are fine too; they can be done, on the fly if necessary, without upsetting the overall balance of the team. But I do recall Pat Spillane saying that Mick O'Dwyer never bothered mentioning the opposition in any of his pre-match talks. 
Micko wanted his players to concentrate on their own game plan and let the other side do whatever they wanted. Right now, we're not at the stage where we can forget about whoever we meet but we're getting there.
Roll on Saturday......

In the real world, the hungrier team doesn't always win. Were Kerry hungrier than Mayo in 06, 04 and 97?
Were Meed Meath hungrier than Mayo in 96, were Cork all the hungrier in 89?

If hunger was all that was required, surely Mayo would have won at least one All-Ireland since 1951!
We are in a famine FFS.

People being on about hunger is loser-talk. You win if you are good enough.
If you prove good enough you are the best prepared, selected, and skilled to win the game. End of.

Iolar has given a masterful reply before I got around to responding. I certainly can't do any better but I'll try and give you a few examples.
Mayo folk often mistake  'longing' for 'determination' when they think of hunger.
Meath were far hungrier than Mayo in '96.
How else could they have pulled back a 6 point deficit with only 20 mins to go?
Mayo froze as victory as beckoned. Do you think Mayo would/could hang in like Meath if the roles had been reversed?
Were Mayo good enough? That depends on your definition of 'good.'
If skill alone was what you mean, Mayo should/could have won in '96.
In the other years you mentioned, Mayo simply were not good enough. Throw in a large chunk of self-doubt and you'll have the reason for those defeats.
Sometime after the '89 defeat, Liam McHale said Mayo were unprepared for the ferocity of Cork tackles. Cork were just as hungry as Mayo but were prepared to put their personal safety on the line as they were the more determined side.
As for Meath, them hoors couldn't spell 'defeat,' let alone understand what  it means.
On the morning of the 2009 QF against meath, Liam Hayes wrote in his Tribune piece that, whereas Mayo were coming to town to avenge the '96 loss, Meath were coming to win a game.
He was right you know.
On form, Mayo should have hockeyed Meath. They didn't and no amount of moaning about poor ref decisions, hard luck stories etc. can disguise that fact.

Kerry know what hunger is;; Mayo imagine that they do. I think we have grown accustomed to the unlucky losers' tag and it's small wonder that so many fans of other counties feel sorry for us.
If we started hammering a few of them on a regular basis, that sympathy would melt away.
I'll take a lucky win over a gallant loss any day.
A good Kerry pal, a man with a couple of AI medals, told me that I should remember that Kerry have lost more AIs than we have appeared in that any amount of wins won't make up for the pain of losing one.
Jacko said more or less the same after the loss to Dublin last year. That's hunger for you!
Colm O'Rourke summed up Mayo football in one of his earliest pieces in the Sindo:
He said Mayo teams played very attractive, copybook football but one always knew that their heads would drop when the pressure came on. Show without substance or something like that.

James Horan is doing a mighty job of crafting a side that can mix it with anyone and still play attractive, effective football. If he can get real hunger into their bellies, he might go places yet- if not this year, then maybe next one. Who knows?
But I'd swap sympathy for begrudgery any day.

moysider/ PaulD:

You're right about Micko, the cutest Kerry hoor of the lot.
No doubt, he had his spadework done when putting his game plans together and didn't leave anything to chance when he gave his players their final instructions.
I'd imagine that Jacko didn't mention any matchups when Kerry played Mayo in 2006. He had taken care of that when he brought on Declan O'Sullivan to play at CF and put Donaghy in at 14.
He knew what he was doing and risked ructions in the camp as he knew O'Sullivan had more speed than Jimmy Nallen when he brought him in from the bench. Every dog on the street knew Heaney was unhappy at fullback and was most uncomfortable under a dropping ball. Everyone one that is except M&M.

We'll have to wait until Saturday evening to find out if Horan is starting to get the mix right but I believe he is.
I'm a little surprised that he didn't start Aiden O'Shea but obviously he has good reasons. I'd panic if he had started mixing and matching at this stage. I believe Mayo have the skill to win but it remains to be seen if they have the determination and real hunger to progress to the next stage.
I'm happy to take my chances on that score.

Well said Lar Naparka,a true patriot,listening to that would put fire in your belly,drive in your mind and pride in your heart

I've written a tactical preview of this here for anyone interested http://action81.com/blog/?p=6054

Mayo to copper fasten their hopes as one of the favourites for Sam  - by 2/3

Paddypower have Mayo at 4/7 and Down at 7/4 draw is 15/2

Hoganstand have odds too:

Odds: Mayo 1/2 , Draw 15/2, Sligo 9/4

;D

I Knew we weren't favourites (and we haven't even announced team) but hell !

Quote from: emmetryan on August 03, 2012, 07:37:41 AM
I've written a tactical preview of this here for anyone interested http://action81.com/blog/?p=6054

I have read your preview with interest, but you are completely incorrect in stating that Down have only lost once in the All Ireland series.  In fact, Down have been beaten in 7 All Ireland semi finals- 1959, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1971, 1978 and 1981.

Quote from: Onlooker on August 03, 2012, 11:31:44 AM

Quote from: emmetryan on August 03, 2012, 07:37:41 AM
I've written a tactical preview of this here for anyone interested http://action81.com/blog/?p=6054

I have read your preview with interest, but you are completely incorrect in stating that Down have only lost once in the All Ireland series.  In fact, Down have been beaten in 7 All Ireland semi finals- 1959, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1971, 1978 and 1981.

He qualifies his interpretation of series as being since the advent of the qualifiers in the article.

This is a bit of a forgotten game this weekend. Although the Connacht form has looked poor this year when you consider the tame exits of Galway, Sligo and Roscommon I actually think Mayo have crept in under the radar somewhat. I have been talking to a lot of Down people who think that this is a soft draw but I think they could be in for a surprise. I think if Mayo get over this game they will be perfectly positioned against the Dubs for a crack at an AI final appearance. Mayo to win this by 3 or 4 points.

Quote from: yellowcard on August 03, 2012, 11:51:39 AM
This is a bit of a forgotten game this weekend. Although the Connacht form has looked poor this year when you consider the tame exits of Galway, Sligo and Roscommon I actually think Mayo have crept in under the radar somewhat. I have been talking to a lot of Down people who think that this is a soft draw but I think they could be in for a surprise. I think if Mayo get over this game they will be perfectly positioned against the Dubs for a crack at an AI final appearance. Mayo to win this by 3 or 4 points.

Not round these parts, buckaroo.

Down team to play Mayo in the All-Ireland quarter final

Brendan McVeigh
Darren O'Hagan
Dan Gordon
Conor Garvey
Niall McParland
Kevin Mc Kernan
Brendan McArdle
Ambrose Rogers
Kalum King
Aidan Carr
Mark Poland
Conor Maginn
Brendan Coulter
Conor Laverty
Eoin McCartan

QuoteThis is a bit of a forgotten game this weekend

I hope it's still in the memory come 7 pm tomorrow evening.

Quote from: Onlooker on August 03, 2012, 11:31:44 AM

Quote from: emmetryan on August 03, 2012, 07:37:41 AM
I've written a tactical preview of this here for anyone interested http://action81.com/blog/?p=6054

I have read your preview with interest, but you are completely incorrect in stating that Down have only lost once in the All Ireland series.  In fact, Down have been beaten in 7 All Ireland semi finals- 1959, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1971, 1978 and 1981.

Ouch. That's a bad miss by me. Apologies. Will edit.

Quote from: emmetryan on August 03, 2012, 07:37:41 AM
I've written a tactical preview of this here for anyone interested http://action81.com/blog/?p=6054

Also, I think that your last line 'Croke Park may not be a stage the Connacht champions are comfortable with' is slightly closer to pub talk than facts. Sure, Mayo have lost a couple of All-Ireland finals in the qualifier era, but they have won more games at Croke Park than they have lost over the same period. And they have certainly won more there than Down have. I see no reason why Mayo would be 'uncomfortable' playing there.

Quote from: western exile on August 03, 2012, 01:45:02 PM

Quote from: emmetryan on August 03, 2012, 07:37:41 AM
I've written a tactical preview of this here for anyone interested http://action81.com/blog/?p=6054

Also, I think that your last line 'Croke Park may not be a stage the Connacht champions are comfortable with' is slightly closer to pub talk than facts. Sure, Mayo have lost a couple of All-Ireland finals in the qualifier era, but they have won more games at Croke Park than they have lost over the same period. And they have certainly won more there than Down have. I see no reason why Mayo would be 'uncomfortable' playing there.

+1

Standard line that's rolled out every year.

Quote from: ballinaman on August 03, 2012, 01:46:07 PM

Quote from: western exile on August 03, 2012, 01:45:02 PM

Quote from: emmetryan on August 03, 2012, 07:37:41 AM
I've written a tactical preview of this here for anyone interested http://action81.com/blog/?p=6054

Also, I think that your last line 'Croke Park may not be a stage the Connacht champions are comfortable with' is slightly closer to pub talk than facts. Sure, Mayo have lost a couple of All-Ireland finals in the qualifier era, but they have won more games at Croke Park than they have lost over the same period. And they have certainly won more there than Down have. I see no reason why Mayo would be 'uncomfortable' playing there.

+1

Standard line that's rolled out every year.

+2 . That's what happens when you listen to the Sunday game and their lazy analysis to much . Sure when we hit a wide our old failing comes back to haunt us yet no other team in the country seems to suffer a similiar fate no matter how many wides they hit. Sure Mayo have had bad days in Croke park however I have had many great days as a supporter in Croke park and some day we will bring Sam home to Mayo just don't ask me when. Here is an article from todays indo.

'Fans are Mayo's worst enemy'
Players must pay no heed to 'hoodoo' negativity – McNulty

Friday August 03 2012


MAYO footballers and Croke Park -- is this a story of voodoo or hoodoo when it comes to crunch time in the championship?

Indeed, I wonder just how many fans of the Green and Red are cradling a little fear about their county's fate at GAA headquarters against Down tomorrow purely because of the venue.

Did that victory over Cork at Jones's Road at the same stage 12 months ago do enough to convince them that the hallowed green sward is now a Mayo-friendly zone -- or did Kerry's semi-final victory put them back to square one?

In their heart of hearts, do Mayo folk think that somehow, somewhere, a malevolent spirit sticks pins into figurines of Mayo players when they trot out to play a big match in Croker?

Or is it just plain bad luck that Mayo dreams have turned to ashes, particularly in the All-Ireland finals and semi-finals?

That's the funny thing about belief, about faith. It can work for you or against you, and is never more devastating than when it's subtly negative and taken as the norm.

revolutionary

The great Henry Ford, who oversaw the revolutionary processes that brought automobiles to the mass market, succinctly delivered his own verdict on the power of belief: "Whether you think you can, or think you can't, either way you are right."

There is good news for Mayo -- past disappointment doesn't have to mean more of the same in the present or the future.

That's the verdict of a man who knows both sides of the coin -- Enda McNulty, an All-Ireland winner with Armagh in 2002 and now the driving force behind Motiv8 Performance Excellence, a firm which works with individuals, teams and companies, including Leinster rugby.

'Performance excellence' is the goal of all the teams left in the championship but I wondered how, in Mayo's case, they can get over the almost institutionalised negativity so often expressed by their own supporters.

"In terms of Mayo supporters, sometimes they're the players' worst enemy, where they are continually playing an old record which is 'we never perform at Croke Park', or 'we never win against Kerry', or 'we can't win against the big teams on the big day in Croke Park'," says McNulty.

"What happened 30 years ago or 40 years ago or 50 years ago in Mayo is absolutely irrelevant -- but only if the players think it's irrelevant.

"It's very important that the current Mayo squad write a new script for themselves.

"The key factor here is whether they give sanction to the thoughts and beliefs of family members, clubmates, fans around the county, because if you give sanction to that, it's going to make an impact on your psychology.

"I'm coming at this from three perspectives. One is as a player who's won the All-Ireland with Armagh despite a very, very poor success portfolio before that," he says

"Two, as a professional in a company in which I'm working with teams at a professional and amateur level who have to change their psychology in order to capture their potential

"And three, as a hugely sports-crazy fan who is a student of sports people and teams all over the world who are continually re-writing history.

"And those three viewpoints prove very firmly to me that the past is absolutely irrelevant if you decide that it's irrelevant."

The Armagh of McNulty's generation under Joe Kernan's guidance had to batter down the limitations of past county failures -- such as All-Ireland finals of 1953 and 1977 and a semi-final in 1980 -- to attain the Holy Grail of All-Ireland success 10 years ago.

McNulty, looking at Mayo's Croke Park record over the last 20 years, does not subscribe to the hoodoo or 'eternally damned to failure' mindset.

"The reason Mayo had a number of defeats in Croke Park over the last 20 years is not only psychological. That would be an over-simplistic view," he says.

"On some of the days, Mayo weren't as talented as the other team. On other occasions maybe they weren't as physical as the other team. On other days maybe they didn't have enough leaders on the pitch. Some days maybe they were tactically naive."

McNulty then listed the requirements for winners at the highest level -- a better game plan than their opponents, higher level of mental strength, technical ability to execute their skills under pressure, excellent leadership on the pitch and ability of the coach to make the best decisions under pressure.

"That's the standard you have to aim at in Gaelic games and at the highest level in professional sport," he says.

"The reason Leinster have won three out of the last four Heineken Cups was that they had got all those aspects better on a consistent basis than any other team in the Heineken Cup."

There is no doubt that James Horan and his Mayo back-room team are pulling out all the stops to work on what McNulty calls "integrated systems" to raise the level of performance. The problem is, so are all the other top teams.

The days of just flogging guys around a pitch and hoping to get their bodies and minds attuned are gone. Nowadays it's got be a scientific approach, encompassing technical ability, fitness, tactical plans and the right mindset.

It takes time; it takes intelligent, consistently applied and co-ordinated application by specialists in their various areas to get the rewards. And there are no short-cuts, something which might not be appreciated by supporters.

"Changing the psychology is critical in changing the culture, but you need to change everything else, from the conditioning programme through to the nutritional programme through to the quality of technical coaching, through to the quality of leadership and so on," says McNulty.

"That's the level it's at now. You can't say to a client, 'this is what you want to do if you're going to get somewhere: this is what you have to do if you're going to get anywhere.

"I know from working internationally and nationally with lots of different teams and individuals in business, in sport, and in the performance arts, this is the minimum requirement to have a chance of competing at the highest level -- to have a chance of competing, never mind to have the real strong probability of winning."

- Liam Kelly

I think weve cpome to realise a sports Journalist is just some one who get paid for his pubtalk . very few worthy of respect  ciaran shannon and Keith duggan are 2 few who actually seem to think about what they are writing rather than just meeting a deadline.

Quote from: rosnarun on August 03, 2012, 02:12:35 PM
I think weve cpome to realise a sports Journalist is just some one who get paid for his pubtalk . very few worthy of respect  ciaran shannon and Keith duggan are 2 few who actually seem to think about what they are writing rather than just meeting a deadline.

+1
Unfortunately ros if they're not copying and pasting off the internet they're using some pub talk fact/jibe to get at a county the don't like. Facts, oblectivity , subjective analysis just don't seem to go with Journalist diploma, Irish Independent , pay check ,ego in this country.
Although I'm an avid reader of Emmets blog which no doubt will be raided by some of our Gaa journalist gods when they actually figure out what he's talking anout. ;)

Best of luck to Mayo. I hope and think they will win it. They've become a consistent, organised and hardened unit over the last 2 seasons. Wins in Croker against Cork in last year's championship and Kerry in this year's league will have given them more belief in their own ability on big days. The way they won the Connacht final was an ideal low profile way to come in to this weekend's match.

I've done a little preview of the match here if anybody is interested:

http://www.livegaelic.com/news/mayo-vs-down-all-ireland-preview/

Quote from: western exile on August 03, 2012, 01:45:02 PM

Quote from: emmetryan on August 03, 2012, 07:37:41 AM
I've written a tactical preview of this here for anyone interested http://action81.com/blog/?p=6054

Also, I think that your last line 'Croke Park may not be a stage the Connacht champions are comfortable with' is slightly closer to pub talk than facts. Sure, Mayo have lost a couple of All-Ireland finals in the qualifier era, but they have won more games at Croke Park than they have lost over the same period. And they have certainly won more there than Down have. I see no reason why Mayo would be 'uncomfortable' playing there.

I actually meant that line as a slight on that angle but probably should have been clearer.

Ease up on emmett, the lad is doing a great job with his analysis!

Quote from: southdown on August 03, 2012, 06:16:23 PM
Ease up on Emmett, the lad is doing a great job with his analysis!

+1

I really enjoy the fact the analysis is based on tactics and broken down into the teams individual sectors and strength's and weaknesses are based on current actual events with both teams and not general historical myths. Hope you're reading this Messrs McGee , Brolly Spillane and Breheny

plus one.

When he referred to Downs one loss in the all Ireland series, maybe he was referring to finals, well that's what I thought, but then again maybe I'm as thick as 2 short planks

I'll be surprised if Mayo don't win by at least 3.

Quote from: ross matt on August 03, 2012, 02:45:06 PM
Best of luck to Mayo. I hope and think they will win it. They've become a consistent, organised and hardened unit over the last 2 seasons. Wins in Croker against Cork in last year's championship and Kerry in this year's league will have given them more belief in their own ability on big days. The way they won the Connacht final was an ideal low profile way to come in to this weekend's match.

Thanks Rossie

Now that both teams have been named, I will make an attempt at the matchups...

Mayo full forward line is named as Varley, Moran, Doherty, but could end up as O'Connor, Moran, Conroy if rumours have any substance. Andy Moran is without doubt the quality forward and will ask serious questions of the Down defense. Although there are few who have positive things to say about the Down defense as a unit, there can be no blame put on the back three which have performed well in most games, but were left exposed and helpless in second half against Donegal, and were outstanding in their last game. O'Hagan, Gordon, Garvey, are arguably three of best full back line that Down have.
Advantage Down.

The Down half back line is the least stable with a different line up each game.  Niall McParland had a good league campaign before he broke his hand.  He is only recently back training and is making his first championship start. Kevin McKernan seems to have lost his touch this season and has been very loose in the games he has played so far.  These two will be up against Alan Dillon, who has been the most consistent performer for Mayo for a number of years, and Cillian O'Connor the reigning Young Footballer of the Year, or Jason Doherty who was last years goal poacher.
Advantage Mayo

Kevin McLoughlin v Benny McArdle.  I am looking forward to this one. As I posted on another thread Kevin McLoughlin is key to what Mayo do well. He wins breaking ball, can score long range points, is back defending, and creates scoring chances by running from deep. Benny McArdle is one of the most versatile of the Down footballers. He has successfully stepped in at full back when it was needed, he reads the game well at half back, and he can can break forward to score when the opportunity is on. The winning of this battle could go a long way towards the winning of the game.
Advantage Even.

In midfield Barry Moran has won consecutive MOTM awards but he will not find the going so easy up against Kalum King. And Ambrose Rodgers should be too much for Danny Geraghty.
Advantage Down
However, if Aidan O'Sé starts that would be a different matter. Then Advantage Even.

The Mayo wing half backs of  Lee Keegan and Colm Boyle are hard and fair tacklers, and their job will be to stop the two primary ball winners for Down, Aidan Carr and Conor Maginn.  If Danny Hughes had been fit enough to start, then I might have    said advantage Down, but since that is not the case,
Advantage Mayo.

Donal Vaughan v. Mark Poland will be another key battle that could contribute to the winning or losing of the game.  Vaughan can play hard and fair too, and is good on the ball, but Poland has proved he can take the big hits despite not being a big man, and is in great form playing some good football. I suspect that he is the sort of player that James Horan would love to have on his panel.
Advantage Even.

If given any supply of ball, the Down full forward line can be dangerous. If the teams were to line out as per the program it would leave a mismatch in regards both height and speed if Ger Cafferkey were to mark Conor Laverty.  In league games past, both Keith Higgins and Ger Cafferkey have done reasonably good jobs in keeping Benny Coulter quiet. This time I suspect that Cafferkey will take Coulter thus leaving Kevin Keane and Keith Higgins to pick up Laverty and Eoin McCartan.
Advantage Even

Goalkeepers
Advantage Mayo

The Dubs will get a chance to finish their pints. This one will go to extra time  ;)
 

Quote from: ardal on August 03, 2012, 07:02:26 PM
plus one.

When he referred to Downs one loss in the all Ireland series, maybe he was referring to finals, well that's what I thought, but then again maybe I'm as thick as 2 short planks

Nope that was just poor research on my part, was relying on memory when I had a book on the table that could have corrected me!

In all seriousness, I actually appreciate the criticism lads as I'm always trying to make the column better.

Quote from: emmetryan on August 03, 2012, 07:34:06 PM

Quote from: ardal on August 03, 2012, 07:02:26 PM
plus one.

When he referred to Downs one loss in the all Ireland series, maybe he was referring to finals, well that's what I thought, but then again maybe I'm as thick as 2 short planks

Nope that was just poor research on my part, was relying on memory when I had a book on the table that could have corrected me!

In all seriousness, I actually appreciate the criticism lads as I'm always trying to make the column better.

You have a bit to go before becoming the "proper punter" like Mr Keane. Seriously your previews,analysis are always worth a read and keep up the good work.

Quote from: western exile on August 03, 2012, 07:28:33 PM

The Dubs will get a chance to finish their pints. This one will go to extra time  ;)

No extra time for the senior quarter finals this year, Hyde park is ready and available for the replay  ;)

Mayo should do it

Quote from: Maco100 on August 03, 2012, 07:48:48 PM
Mayo should do it

It's anyone's guess what they will do?

You're a gas man western exile. I'm sure herself was standing there watching making sure you wrote overall advantage even. ;D

Quote from: Farrandeelin on August 03, 2012, 08:07:38 PM
You're a gas man western exile. I'm sure herself was standing there watching making sure you wrote overall advantage even. ;D

Can you call it Farrandeelin?
Last year, at the Galway Races, I was telling everyone who would listen (even the Kerry team doctor!) that Mayo would beat Cork in the quarter final at the weekend.   
The year before likewise I was convinced that Down would beat Kerry.
This year I am unconvinced by either team yet. I have a feeling that this game will be the making of one of them.  Win well and go into the semi final with the confidence and momentum coming at the right time.

Quote from: ross4life on August 03, 2012, 07:41:24 PM

Quote from: emmetryan on August 03, 2012, 07:34:06 PM

Quote from: ardal on August 03, 2012, 07:02:26 PM
plus one.

When he referred to Downs one loss in the all Ireland series, maybe he was referring to finals, well that's what I thought, but then again maybe I'm as thick as 2 short planks

Nope that was just poor research on my part, was relying on memory when I had a book on the table that could have corrected me!

In all seriousness, I actually appreciate the criticism lads as I'm always trying to make the column better.

You have a bit to go before becoming the "proper punter" like Mr Keane. Seriously your previews,analysis are always worth a read and keep up the good work.

We're writing for different audiences in fairness!

good luck to the down players and management tomorrow. hope we can get a good start and really put it up to mayo. midfield is key. if we can dominate the middle third it'll set the platform for a victory. looking forward to it.

Quote"In terms of Mayo supporters, sometimes they're the players' worst enemy, where they are continually playing an old record which is 'we never perform at Croke Park', or 'we never win against Kerry', or 'we can't win against the big teams on the big day in Croke Park'," says McNulty.

A comment like this from a sports psychologist who will take all the work he can get in the GAA sphere is shockingly out of touch. My experience is that that comment is about 6 years out of touch, i.e.: since we beat Dublin the semi-final that year. Sure we were hammered by Kerry in the next game but they were just by miles a better team.
Every time i have been in Croke Park since then watching Mayo, i expected that we would at least be competitive and there has never been a game where i thought there wasn't at least a reasonable chance of us winning.

In terms of records at Croke Park in say the last 8 years, i make our record in championship games in Croke Park from quarter finals on as played 12 .... won 5, drawn 2 and lost 5.
How many other teams have won more than 5 games from QF stage in Croke Park in that same time period .... certainly not f**king Kildare.

It is striking to see the previous post pointing out that Mayo have played 12 games at Croke Park from quarter finals onwards over the last eight years, and managed five wins, five defeats and two draws. Down's record from the same stage not just over eight years but overall since the quarter finals were introduced in 2001 is played three, won two and lost one (all in 2010).

Although both sides will include younger players tomorrow who are relatively new to this level, it is clear that the senor figures from Mayo are vastly more experienced in terms of big games at HQ than their Down counterparts. It cannot do Down any harm that we have travelled to Castlebar in the league for the last two seasons and returned with a win and a draw, but it is not quite the same thing.

There is a fair chance that both managers will make changes before the throw-in, and James has done so in all four of our championship matches this year. Down supporters will expect Liam Doyle to be in his thoughts, and, if any player in Ireland deserves some better fortune it is Doyler.

He captained Down to a minor All Ireland in 1999, and due firstly to our slump and then his dreadful run of injuries, he has not kicked a championship ball at Croke Park ever since. I think his only run-out at HQ was in a division two play-off against Offaly back in 2004.

There is always a fair amount of emotion behind Mayo at Croke Park but the way in which Ambrose, Benny, big Dan, Doyler and Eoin McCartan have recovered from major set-backs will mean that we are not lacking in motivation tomorrow. While we could be doing with Danny Hughes, we are in decent shape and ready to give it our best shot.

I hope both teams get to play to their respective potential tomorrow, if so we will have a cracker of a match. Which or whither comes through I expect to have a good shot at making the AIF. Safe travelling to all over the weekend.

I do agree that whoever wins this game will be primed for an upset in the semifinal. I haven't seen enough of Down to call the outcome, but any team that came back from a big margin against Monaghan and got over the 6 day turnover cannot be too bad. Hopefully Mayo can come out on top and us fans of the green and red, and more importsntly the players wearing the jerseys get another day out.

Safe journey to everyone spinning up today ordown the M1. Jones road quiet thus far...keep an auld eye out for a stray Mayo flag from a house ;)

Think it has the potential to be a good open game of football. As a down fan my heart is hoping we can nick it, but my head is saying mayo by 4-5 points. The bookies have it right to my mind with their prices. The loss of Danny Hughes is huge - his importance to the team cannot be over-estimated. Declan Rooney played full game at midfield for Burren v Castlewellan last night so anybody who had harboured hopes to see him playing today will be disappointed.

the only way we will lose this game is by beating ourselves which in the past we were very good at. horan thankfully has erased that flaw. mayo by a comfortable 6 - 8 point margin.

Any live streams for watching this one in England lads? Probably won't be able to make a pub to catch it.

Quote from: mayogodhelpus@gmail.com on August 04, 2012, 03:37:43 PM
Any live streams for watching this one in England lads? Probably won't be able to make a pub to catch it.

Know a guy catching it in a pub in hamburg so someones streaming it  ::)

Quote from: nephinman on August 04, 2012, 04:32:11 PM

Quote from: mayogodhelpus@gmail.com on August 04, 2012, 03:37:43 PM
Any live streams for watching this one in England lads? Probably won't be able to make a pub to catch it.

Know a guy catching it in a pub in hamburg so someones streaming it  ::)

Follow the instructions in here:
http://www.munsterfans.com/threads/28819-RTE-TG4-TV3-streams-using-a-proxy-server

But get your proxy from here:
http://spys.ru/free-proxy-list/IE/

You can then watch RTE player online.

AOS,Conroy starting as expected i guess.

Feel sick as a dog, hopefully the boys will cheer me up. Down by 2. Come on.

Should have been a goal. Lack of composure there from Conor. Could easily have picked it up and sidestepped the keeper to bury it.

As per usual our defending in the full back line is shambolic.

Quote from: Collins on August 04, 2012, 05:04:28 PM
As per usual our defending in the full back line is shambolic.

Yeah Down full back line shown up again.

Getting battered in midfield already which is making us play short. Although we should have a goal of our own, we're lucky to be only 4 behind. We have the wind this half too.

Embarrassingly easy there for Moran. Depressing already. Looks like a Div1 side vs Div4 side. Need to get a grip lads ffs.

Looks ominous.

GTFI!

COME ON!

;D

WHy are we allowing shots from about 35 metres, bang in front of the posts, without a any sort of pressure whatsoever? Not a defender within 3 yards ffs.

Good even game!

The scoreline doesn't tell the full story.

Quote from: hardstation on August 04, 2012, 05:03:48 PM

Quote from: Collins on August 04, 2012, 05:01:46 PM
Should have been a goal. Lack of composure there from Conor. Could easily have picked it up and sidestepped the keeper to bury it.

Tony Davis reckoned "it was too early in the game for Laverty".

Goal for Mayo!

i heard that, did you ever hear worse

Full duvet defence fron down

Quote from: yellowcard on August 04, 2012, 05:19:35 PM
Full duvet defence fron down

Yeah, but Mayo patient enough to pick holes and goal chances!

Quote from: From the Bunker on August 04, 2012, 05:24:01 PM

Quote from: yellowcard on August 04, 2012, 05:19:35 PM
Full duvet defence fron down

Yeah, but Mayo patient enough to pick holes and goal chances!

You mean plenty of holes in that duvet. 2nd Mayo goal Down defence all at sea.

Too easy again.

Doesn't matter who our forwards are - we can compete with any side in Ireland with our forwards. Given a half decent amount of ball we'll always score well.

Defence is a joke though. Has been for nearly 20 years despite an AI final appearance in there.

This is like a challenge game, Mayo haven't got out of first gear.

Defence not good for down. Big gulf between the two teams really.

Mayo only managed 0-12 in the Connacht final 2-7 in the 1st half today. Down very poor.

Some very soft frees, go to ground and you get a free.

Oisin on the money on BBC2

Embarrassing. Not sure what wind is there, but it was at our backs for the first 35. Thought this was going to be a close, tight affair. Was hoping we'd keep in touching distance and pull it out the last 10mins.

May far better than the current margin suggests. Far better.

Defence is a joke. Bottom line is we can't do blanket defence therefore we need top man to man defenders and we simply don't have them.

Spillane has compared the two teams to a Jedward Concert!  :P

Down have loads of bodies back but haven't a clue how to play the blanket system

Oisin just about the best pundit in the game.

It's been a very enjoyable game so far but I am biased towards Mayo. Everything isn't coming off but the Mayo forwards are showing well today, Andy is simply one of the finest footballers in the country.

Oh, and Osin is only average at best as a pundit. Jason Ryan in his one appearance so far was the best I've seen in a long time.

^ Being made to look good. They're ok. Will struggle against a good defence though (NAP)

Would normally not contribute to a thread to state the obvious as any man, woman or child watching that game would have picked up on this...but Downs defence is an absolute shambles!!!...Seriously lacking in top class defenders in the county...the only top notch defender we've had in the last few years has been damien rafferty (Downs player of the year in 2010)...Can you imagine what Dublin would do to us if our forwards (+ Carr) can manage to turn this around here?!...to me that loks like a scenario that a few of our players have thought of and decided it did not particularly appeal to them!...

Down's defence reminds me of ours. Which is not a good thing. So much free space back there. Lazy tackling.

Quote from: wildrover on August 04, 2012, 05:47:05 PM
Would normally not contribute to a thread to state the obvious as any man, woman or child watching that game would have picked up on this...but Downs defence is an absolute shambles!!!...Seriously lacking in top class defenders in the county...the only top notch defender we've had in the last few years has been damien rafferty (Downs player of the year in 2010)...Can you imagine what Dublin would do to us if our forwards (+ Carr) can manage to turn this around here?!...to me that loks like a scenario that a few of our players have thought of and decided it did not particularly appeal to them!...

Mayos forwards arent great not to be capitalising more, some shots being put wide when the player had plenty of time etc

Defending like a junior team, there is such an amphasis on "systems" that the actual notion of how to defend has been lost.  Bygtting bodies bhind the ball it passes the buck on an no one takes responsibility.  Will be interesting tyo see how they reacty this second half.

We could score 2-12 in this 2nd half & still lose

That's it game over training ground stuff for Mayo.

Bursted!!

If Mayo had to win by 20 to qualify they would. An absolute disgrace of a performance.

Could be worse though.....might have been put out in the 1st round of the qualifiers.

Down down deeper and down.

Down backs sleeping at a free kick, did they not do the same against Fermanagh?  that would crack up any management.

Quote from: Sportacus on August 04, 2012, 06:02:57 PM
Down backs sleeping at a free kick, did they not do the same against Fermanagh?  that would crack up any management.

And Monaghan when Tommy Freeman scored.

Unfortunately, it sounds as if An Dun is Un Dun.

Terrible!!

Andy has gone down.........Feck!

In fairness this Mayo team are capable of reaching another All Ireland final.

That looks serious.

Very impressed with Mayo here today. Excellent performance

Quote from: From the Bunker on August 04, 2012, 06:09:44 PM
Andy has gone down.........Feck!

ACL by the looks of it.

Big downer that......Andy getting a serious looking injury. Jez we get no luck!

Looks like a bad injury for Andy Moran.

Quote from: hardstation on August 04, 2012, 06:10:10 PM
He was squealing too.

Yeah, a lot of squealing, hope he is ok.

Quote from: wildrover on August 04, 2012, 06:08:33 PM
Aiden Brannigan...when you aimed that ridiculous petulant kick after embarassing yourself by trying to run through 4 mayo players and got blown up for over-carrying did you realise that the eyes of 50000 people in croker and hundreds of thousands on tv could see you?!....

He also led with the elbow just before that too.

You wonder would Con Mort be regretting his decision now?  A left footed free taker would have added 2-3 scores minimum for Mayo and may be required before the year is out.

Jeez Down are awful.  Being made to look like wee boys by Mayo takes some level  of under-achievement, no disrespect to the westerners.

Just said after their third goal, that the one thing Mayo had to do was to make sure they didnt get anyone needlessly sent off and suspended, and also make sure noone gets injured. Not that they could have done anything about that. H

ope he's ok and fit for the semis but in all honesty I can't see it. Looked a bad one.

Quote from: under the bar on August 04, 2012, 06:14:16 PM
Jeez Down are awful.  Being made to look like wee boys by Mayo takes some level  of under-achievement, no disrespect to the westerners.

That's hugely disrespectful. Saying 'no disrespect' doesn't change that.

What a bittersweet win. Great performance, but I can't see us going all the way without Moran. What a disaster.

Declan Rooney who came on for Down there 5 minutes ago played an entire club game for Burren at midfield last night (I witnessed it with my own two eyes)...there are some serious questions need answered by management here...this is an all-ireland senior quarter final and boys are being given game-time after playing club matches less than 24 hours before...pathetic....

so who's the last team mayo  could have scored ten goals against then Cosmo?

Quote from: Cosmo Kramer on August 04, 2012, 06:18:16 PM

Quote from: under the bar on August 04, 2012, 06:14:16 PM
Jeez Down are awful.  Being made to look like wee boys by Mayo takes some level  of under-achievement, no disrespect to the westerners.

That's hugely disrespectful. Saying 'no disrespect' doesn't change that.

Listen, since the draw was made Mayo got nothing but disrespect on this board, we were the handy draw.  :P

God Down are absolutely woeful.....starting to show how poor Ulster football is becoming...

Such a pity for Moran. Hopefully it's not a bad injury.

I get the feeling that this result as impressive as it is will do Mayo no good facing into the semi-final. Down seem to have seriously regressed in the space of two years.

No pride in the shirt from quite a few players out there - all seem to be in defence too. Shameful to be honest. Haven't said that a lot about Down but today is unforgivable. Don't mind being beaten by a better side, as Mayo (and Donegal) clearly are, but to just throw the towel in and gift so many goal chances, and to allow Mayo players shooting practice from between 25-35 metres isn't on.

James needs to take some blame too. Attitude comes from the manager. He's had some good runs and fantastic results but its when you're under the hammer like today is when your character is questioned. And the answers being offered up simply aren't good enough.

Wish we could have a clear out in defence but we simply don't have the players in the county.

Quote from: under the bar on August 04, 2012, 06:22:52 PM
so who's the last team mayo  could have scored ten goals against then Cosmo?

Probably Tyrone, they are useless.

Down poor however any team that can score 3-18 in a quarter final will take some stopping.

Quote from: Sam2011 on July 28, 2012, 08:41:20 PM
Bring it on............

:-X

I hate the way Down have no bottle and no pride.

I hate the way referees prevent comebacks by not punishing deliberate fouls.

I hate football. That could be the last game that I watch for a long time. Disgusted.

Painful. Thank fcuk its over.  :'(

Well done Mayo, but I hope you boys don't underestimate just how pathetic we were today. As better preparation for the semi you would have been better having a game amongst yourselves.

At least the dub fans don't have to watch that.

Quote from: thewobbler on August 04, 2012, 06:33:09 PM
I hate the way Down have no bottle and no pride.

I hate the way referees prevent comebacks by not punishing deliberate fouls.

I hate football. That could be the last game that I watch for a long time. Disgusted.

Some supporter you are  ::) Another gobshite who gives it loads on the good days and runs away when the going gets tough.

Some day for mayo footballers at croker today will do well to top it in the semis

Great commanding display by Mayo, 3-18 is a great score so obviously not missing any forwards no longer on the panel. Down looked clueless but all credit to Mayo. They'll give the semi a good rattle.

I hear Moran is not supposed to be not as bad as first thought! We'll see.

Anyone hear how Mayo Juniors did across the sea v Lancashire today?

Quote from: Collins on August 04, 2012, 06:35:04 PM
Painful. Thank fcuk its over.  :'(

Well done Mayo, but I hope you boys don't underestimate just how pathetic we were today. As better preparation for the semi you would have been better having a game amongst yourselves.

I can empathise with your pain but the rest is bullshit. If one of the big shots beat ye fair and square would ye be feeling so sorry for yerselves. I doubt it, Just cause its Mayo it can be explained away by saying ye were shite and therefore we didn t have to be much good?

But we were very good today - I doubt anybody else would have won as easily - apart from conceding 2 shite goals. We should have won by more. Mayo put Down to the sword. If Down were let they would have played. End of.

  I m proud of that Mayo performance. We passed the test in the first half and pressed on. I m glad we won easily against one of the noble counties. We ve been on the recieving end in the past - like Cork 93 - and its not nice. But the easy way out sometimes is to turn on you re own and say they were shite.

I m glad it wasn t a tight game cause they can be lost. The next game will have a mind of its own as well and today will have no bearing and it wouldn t if we were more pushed either. We know what we have. That win will give us confidence that a scrap wouldn t. And some of our players needed a boost.

Now that its over we have to look ahead. We ll  have a chance again the next day but the loss of Andy is massive. We could have done without that but f**k it that s sport.

Quote from: From the Bunker on August 04, 2012, 06:56:22 PM
I hear Moran is not supposed to be not as bad as first thought! We'll see.

Anyone hear how Mayo Juniors did across the sea v Lancashire today?

What's the word? Does he still has a shot at featuring in the semi?

Quote from: Syferus on August 04, 2012, 07:03:53 PM

Quote from: From the Bunker on August 04, 2012, 06:56:22 PM
I hear Moran is not supposed to be not as bad as first thought! We'll see.

Anyone hear how Mayo Juniors did across the sea v Lancashire today?

What's the word? Does he still has a shot at featuring in the semi?

Twisted knee, i hear. But it's all hearsay!

Full Time Score in All Ireland Junior Semi Final Mayo 2-14 Lancashire 0-11.

Good day for The Heather County!

Quote from: Syferus on August 04, 2012, 07:03:53 PM

Quote from: From the Bunker on August 04, 2012, 06:56:22 PM
I hear Moran is not supposed to be not as bad as first thought! We'll see.

Anyone hear how Mayo Juniors did across the sea v Lancashire today?

What's the word? Does he still has a shot at featuring in the semi?

It didnt look good but it may not have been the cruciate. Angle the knee went at would cause cartilage displacement and probable damage to the medial ligament anyway. And that would be best case scenario! But you never know. He might have dodged a bullet. Fair play to Seán Moffatt for not messing about.

Quote from: From the Bunker on August 04, 2012, 06:56:22 PM
I hear Moran is not supposed to be not as bad as first thought! We'll see.

Anyone hear how Mayo Juniors did across the sea v Lancashire today?

Mayo was winning 2.14 to 0.11 with 5 to go last I heard

As expected the usual 'Down players have no pride' and 'James must go' shite has started. I don't think we can be too harsh on that Down team. Today was a day when it didn't go right for us. Just one of those things.

Looking at it, we have had a very good three years under Wee James. An All Ireland Final appearance, Division 1 status retention and an All Ireland Quarter Final spot today. Let's be honest. The group of players that we have at our disposal at the moment are an honest and hardworking group. They aren't in the mould of some of the more stellar squads in the past. To get to the last eight this year was a massive achievement. Having to work without the likes of the two Clarkes, Fitzpatrick, McComiskey and Mooney had us handicapped from the start.

Id like to see Wee James stay on. We are no way in a crisis and probably just need to work on our defensive frailities and start playing to a system. We are a decent side and I still think an Ulster title isn't too far away.

Quote from: mayogodhelpus@gmail.com on August 04, 2012, 07:16:25 PM

Quote from: From the Bunker on August 04, 2012, 06:56:22 PM
I hear Moran is not supposed to be not as bad as first thought! We'll see.

Anyone hear how Mayo Juniors did across the sea v Lancashire today?

Mayo was winning 2.14 to 0.11 with 5 to go last I heard

Full Time Score in All Ireland Junior Semi Final Mayo 2-14 Lancashire 0-11.

Quote from: From the Bunker on August 04, 2012, 07:13:43 PM

Quote from: Syferus on August 04, 2012, 07:03:53 PM

Quote from: From the Bunker on August 04, 2012, 06:56:22 PM
I hear Moran is not supposed to be not as bad as first thought! We'll see.

Anyone hear how Mayo Juniors did across the sea v Lancashire today?

What's the word? Does he still has a shot at featuring in the semi?

Twisted knee, i hear. But it's all hearsay!

Full Time Score in All Ireland Junior Semi Final Mayo 2-14 Lancashire 0-11.

Good day for The Heather County!

How long would a knee take to untwist itself if that was the issue?

Quote from: Cosmo Kramer on August 04, 2012, 07:32:14 PM

Quote from: From the Bunker on August 04, 2012, 07:13:43 PM

Quote from: Syferus on August 04, 2012, 07:03:53 PM

Quote from: From the Bunker on August 04, 2012, 06:56:22 PM
I hear Moran is not supposed to be not as bad as first thought! We'll see.

Anyone hear how Mayo Juniors did across the sea v Lancashire today?

What's the word? Does he still has a shot at featuring in the semi?

Twisted knee, i hear. But it's all hearsay!

Full Time Score in All Ireland Junior Semi Final Mayo 2-14 Lancashire 0-11.

Good day for The Heather County!

How long would a knee take to untwist itself if that was the issue?

I was thinking that myself. Really if he is say out for a month, sure it's the same to us as six months!

I suppose if it was a month or less, we'd only have to try and win one game without him, rather than two.

Our much criticised corner forwards deserve praise today. Weakest part of our team we thought, they scored 3-1 between them...

Quote from: Cosmo Kramer on August 04, 2012, 07:52:06 PM
I suppose if it was a month or less, we'd only have to try and win one game without him, rather than two.

Our much criticised corner forwards deserve praise today. Weakest part of our team we thought, they scored 3-1 between them...

Under Horan, Full Forward line means goals. Conroy won alot of Ball. Ball into him was good. Conroy is still off the boil with his point scoring. jez if he could hit club form, t'wood be great. But his confidence is rising.

Mayo GAA twitter saying Moran is currently having a scan. No results expected tonight - or not that they'll be announcing publicly anyway.

Hopefully we'll see him playing again this year, both Mayo and Ballagh have real shots at going places this year.

Putting loyalties aside I think it's safe to say everyone in the area is emmensely proud of the player and the man Andy is.

Quote from: DownFanatic on August 04, 2012, 07:25:04 PM
Looking at it, we have had a very good three years under Wee James. An All Ireland Final appearance, Division 1 status retention and an All Ireland Quarter Final spot today. Let's be honest. The group of players that we have at our disposal at the moment are an honest and hardworking group. They aren't in the mould of some of the more stellar squads in the past. To get to the last eight this year was a massive achievement.

A massive achievement? Really? A division 1 team beating Fermanagh, Monaghan and Tipperary... two of which will be in division 3 next year, the other in division 4, is not a massive achievement by any stretch of the imagination. A lucky draw.

When you look at the bigger picture James is doing a decent job.  However, as defensive coach, I have serious questions about Aiden O'Rourke.

So many times Mayo forwards have 2/3 Down men close to them but for some reason no tackles were made, Alan Dillon made some embarassing (from our point of view) runs thourgh the defence in the first half.

This is Down's level, the AIF appearance was the blip in overall form, Wee James has enjoyed the luck of the devil as well, cant see what else he has to offer I'd be suprised if he stays. 

Down & Tyrone have both had a dose of reality, 2 sets of deluded fans.

Quote from: bennydorano on August 04, 2012, 09:38:24 PM
This is Down's level, the AIF appearance was the blip in overall form, Wee James has enjoyed the luck of the devil as well, cant see what else he has to offer I'd be surprised if he stays. 

Down & Tyrone have both had a dose of reality, 2 sets of deluded fans.

Alot of Donegal's high stature is based on wins over Down and Tyrone this year. Maybe this has to be reassessed? Maybe not, hopefully not!

Quote from: bennydorano on August 04, 2012, 09:38:24 PM
This is Down's level, the AIF appearance was the blip in overall form, Wee James has enjoyed the luck of the devil as well, cant see what else he has to offer I'd be suprised if he stays. 

Down & Tyrone have both had a dose of reality, 2 sets of deluded fans.

2 sets of deluded fans?? we may be down but at least we're not bitter. how long was armaghs summer? on a night when all down men are feeling down we can take consolation in the fact we're not armagh.

well done to mayo. great team and great set of fans.

Quote from: SHEEDY on August 04, 2012, 09:53:29 PM

Quote from: bennydorano on August 04, 2012, 09:38:24 PM
This is Down's level, the AIF appearance was the blip in overall form, Wee James has enjoyed the luck of the devil as well, cant see what else he has to offer I'd be suprised if he stays. 

Down & Tyrone have both had a dose of reality, 2 sets of deluded fans.

2 sets of deluded fans?? we may be down but at least we're not bitter. how long was armaghs summer? on a night when all down men are feeling down we can take consolation in the fact we're not armagh.

well done to mayo. great team and great set of fans.

Oh, cheap giggles, cheap giggles.

Congrats Mayo. Down were a shambles defensively and at midfield but you can only beat what's in front of you. In that regard Mayo were clinical, professional and ruthless. I hope Moran will be ok both for himself and for his team's fortunes. On TV you could hear the poor guy roaring in pain and the slow motion seemed to make it look like he twisted it.

Delighted for Moysider and all the genuine Mayo supporters on this board. However there is one nasty idividual here who was gloating when Galway hammered us and is after posting two scandalous comments about Ray Silke in relation to Andy Moran's injury. If this board is to mantain any credibility and respect those comments should be immediatley removed and he should be banned. Sick disgusting comments even by his low standards.

To be fair to Cosmo Silke has a track-record of unbecoming behaviour towards Connacht rivals, both at club and county level. I'd have to hear the clip before I comment on what did or didn't happen today, it may be a bit much to expect a copy to surface, though.

Mort to make a sensational comeback to provide cover for Moran on the bench....say he'd love a run at the Dubs!!

Quote from: Qwerty28 on August 04, 2012, 10:30:26 PM
Mort to make a sensational comeback to provide cover for Moran on the bench....say he'd love a run at the Dubs!!

Any enquiries contact David.

Quote from: ross matt on August 04, 2012, 10:16:50 PM
Congrats Mayo. Down were a shambles defensively and at midfield but you can only beat what's in front of you. In that regard Mayo were clinical, professional and ruthless. I hope Moran will be ok both for himself and for his team's fortunes. On TV you could hear the poor guy roaring in pain and the slow motion seemed to make it look like he twisted it.

Delighted for Moysider and all the genuine Mayo supporters on this board. However there is one nasty idividual here who was gloating when Galway hammered us and is after posting two scandalous comments about Ray Silke in relation to Andy Moran's injury. If this board is to mantain any credibility and respect those comments should be immediatley removed and he should be banned. Sick disgusting comments even by his low standards.

Thanks. 

I will delete the two comments as there is nothing to be gained from posting them here. Heat of the moment stuff - very frustrated at not being able to go to the game, first game of this importance to Mayo I would have missed in a long time. Sincere apologies for any offence caused to anyone - I was very unhappy with Ray's reaction to the injury, but the comments were nonetheless not appropriate for a public forum. Thanks for picking me up on them Ross Matt. I guess the lesson is, if I have to miss another for whatever reason, to steer clear of internet forums until well after the match. I would certainly not want to be part of anything that causes this board to move towards the level of other internet GAA forums out there. Best of luck to the Ros minors today.

Just home from Croker and read through the last 7-8 pages on here.

Congrats to Mayo they were a much better team than us on the day and good luck to them against the Dubs.

Whilst today was downright painful, how the likes of Collins can sit in front of the TV constantly posting negativity about the team he supposedly is a supporter of I don't know. Some of the stuff you come out with is plainly ridiculous. Sadly, there is too many of your type that do bother their hole going to the games when we reach this stage. Sometimes I wish that they would all sit at home like you and watch on the TV.

I think all of us know in Down that this team has its limitations but we have a team who I feel has at least reached its potential under James. How many times under his predecessors have we been frustrated and felt that with a bit of organisation and direction we could do much better.

As we seen today, we really struggle defensively. We look naive and wide open at times. Unfortunately, we are just not blessed in this area of the field. Looking at our teamsheets over the last couple of seasons, many of the players who we have fillling slots in defence do not ever play their club football in these positions. We lack Defenders who just love to defend, stick to a man and stop him at all costs.

But I am proud to be a Down man and I think getting this far has to be seen as an achievement as we are not at the same level as some of the other teams that have been or will be on show this weekend. But here it's great to be there in the last 8. To say that there is no heart or drive in the team is bullshit. I would say that the players are hurting more than any Down Fan tonight!

One of the good days for mayo football when both the minors & Seniors delivered in spades.

The injury to Andy seems has taken the gloss of it for many of us. We can ill afford to loose andy just like Down could ill afford to loose Marty Clarke. It shouldnt set Down back too much and I am sure it wont. They are a proud football county who have had much more success in the AI series over the past 50 years. They don't seem to have a strong bench just yet.

Most of our team played well from the start but the Down backs were poor to be fair. Barry Moran mantaining his form and O'Shea getting better. C O Connor should improve but Jason Doherty still has to impress IMO  ::).

Well done to all. A month is a long time with club 1/4 finals and all, but I'd say this side will have a good cut at Dublin.  ;)

It's seldom easy being a Down fan but today was one of our most depressing displays for many long years. While there is no shame in getting hammered by a team who turned out to have better players than us in practically every position, there was very little spirit or structure about our performance. As soon as the second Mayo goal went in, at a stage when we were starting to show at least some spark, the outcome was inevitable and whatever game plan we had disappeared long before the final whistle. The third Mayo goal was the third we have conceded in the championship after stopping and looking at each other when a dubious free was awarded, which is hard to believe but true.

We knew from the Donegal game that the days of one on one at the back were well and truly over but we did not seem to learn anything and the final quarter was embarrassingly easy for Mayo. Good luck to them against the Dubs, when they must have a chance, but today was little more than a training run for them. What was striking about the second game was that we know Laois are limited enough, and we won quite easily on their ground in the league, but they fielded a physically strong and well organised team today which defended in numbers and counter-attacked at speed. They might even have beaten Dublin with a little more luck but they gave it their best shot. We certainly did not, and it was a bad day for our management and many of our senior players.

In fairness to James, he took charge of a side which had been going nowhere and brought us to an AI final, got us to division one and kept us there and reached an Ulster final as well. However, he will be well aware that we may be in division one but we are nowhere near being a top tier side. The county board will want him to stay on, but it is probably a 50/50 call on his part.

McVeigh had little real chance with the goals, although three going past him does not look good, but the big problem yet again was his kick-outs. We probably only won possession from about one in ten. admittedly against a badly beaten midfield, and several went straight to Mayo men. Harrison is a certainty to get a run in the spring.

O'Hagan was probably our best defender, which is not saying much, as he mostly stayed tight and attacked the ball well. Gordon was sent out to act as third midfielder from a relatively early stage, but the move did not work at all and only left us even more exposed at the back. Garvey looked surprisingly uncomfortable and may need to stay at half back.

McParland was unlucky to pick up an early injury, although he had not really imposed himself on the game,while McArdle, who had been progressing over recent matches, sadly went backwards. It's probably wrong to pick on McKernan, as he largely avoided the individual errors which have plagued him of late, but he saw a lot of the ball, did very little with it and is a shadow of the player who thrilled us in 2010.

Ambrose fell quite heavily when fouled early on and did not seem to fully recover. He never got into his stride and missed a fairly simple point at a time when it was still a contest. King did not take a catch all day, and struggled against the pace of his opponents,  but got his tackles in and even managed a decent goal.

Carr was our shining star today, after taking his share of criticism in the past. He finished with seven points, which is quite an achievement on a side which was outclassed at Croke Park, was effective from both play and frees and always made himself available for a pass. It was just as well he was flying, as our other two half forwards seemed uncertain about their roles. Maginn worked as hard as ever but never hurt Mayo and played a dreadful short pass which led directly to a point at the wrong end just before being replaced at the break. Poland has rescued us frequently on other occasions, but his timing seemed to go today, he was given no space to operate and misplaced more passes than over the rest of the season combined,

McCartan had a bright enough start, and his injury so soon after McParland's may had knocked us back more than we realised. Benny allowed himself to get involved with his marker, which did not help him, and is clearly not fully fit, but still got 1-1 on what will hopefully not be a final appearance at HQ. Laverty had a brilliant start and nearly got in for a couple of goals but the game then drifted past him and Mayo made sure he did little damage.

Of the subs, Brannigan was committed but limited, and O'Hare did reasonably well on scarce possession. Doyle showed flashes of his class when he came on at half time, and Damien Turley, although thrown into a badly over-stretched defence, brought some pace and aggression to the mix. Rooney came on very late, and it was surprising to hear that he played a full match from his club just 24 hours earlier.

We have much to consider overall, but at least it is six months before our next proper game.

The Down supporters were a credit today,everyone was so queit with nervousness going into croker today.After they would shake Mayo supporters hands and congratulate them and wish them the best in the semis and of course Mayo fans consoled the Down supporters,knowing all too much how it feels to be dumped out to a huge scoreline. Both were great today. Great performance by the Mayo Lads and let's go and stick it to the dublin jackeens and I hope our Down and Laois friends will be cheering us on :) Come on Mayo!!!! AOS Alan Dillon Andy Moran Michael Conroy Barry Moran Ger Cafferky Keith Higgins and David Clarke played great again

Also some annoying fool of a Mayo fan behind me got in in the second half and kept roaring at them,TAKE YOUR POINT,YOUR DREADFUL,ABSOLUTELY DREADFUL.......WHEN WE WERE 14 POINTS UP!!!!!!!!!! Sickening S**t! Better to let some young lad have a crack at goal while he plays in Croker for the last ten minutes

I've put together a tactical piece on this game here for anyone interested
http://action81.com/blog/?p=6096

The Mayo crew are all staying in the same hotel as myself including Andy Moran on crutches as you can imagine all in good spirits. Mickey Moran (looking well after his illness),Willie Joe Padden & the tanned one all here as well.

Mayo were unquestionably the better team, but Jesus, Down made it easy for them. That performance today was woeful - players standing off their men, Mayo attackers slaloming through the defence at will, nobody wanting to know for Down in the second half. The first goal was a shambles -  Darren O'Hagan trundled toward his man as the ball trickled towards the endline, the Mayo man kept it in play, had the time and space to pass it and they ended up getting a goal out of it. If that was Donegal, Dublin, Kerry, Cork, or Mayo for that matter, the attacker would have been f****d over the line and let know he was in a match. The strategy for midfield and kickouts is beyond laughable - Mayo must have made five or six clean catches in the middle of the field yet McVeigh continued to hammer it down there instead of looking for free men. There's no point saying that Down can't play the blanket defence - ffs, Donegal and Mayo were laughing stocks in the past and now have two of the best defences in the country, mean units that play smart defensive football while Down were repeatedly f****d today by Mayo attacks straight through the middle. Those teams didn't suddenly sprout the best defenders in the country, they play effective systems where every player knows their role. In our last three visits to Croke Park we have conceded 3-18, 2-17 and 2-20 - a disgrace. Big changes needed.

Congragulations Mayo, you have a fine team and deserve a bit of success, hope you go on and beat the Dubs and i believe you will. All of Down will be behind you

Quote from: ross matt on August 04, 2012, 10:16:50 PM
Congrats Mayo. Down were a shambles defensively and at midfield but you can only beat what's in front of you. In that regard Mayo were clinical, professional and ruthless. I hope Moran will be ok both for himself and for his team's fortunes. On TV you could hear the poor guy roaring in pain and the slow motion seemed to make it look like he twisted it.

Delighted for Moysider and all the genuine Mayo supporters on this board. However there is one nasty idividual here who was gloating when Galway hammered us and is after posting two scandalous comments about Ray Silke in relation to Andy Moran's injury. If this board is to mantain any credibility and respect those comments should be immediatley removed and he should be banned. Sick disgusting comments even by his low standards.

I read the comments matt and didn't think they were worthy of comment. In fact I was surprised that they weren't deleted by admin. If I was blackguarded like that on a public forum I would be raging to say the least. There may be more to come from that unfortunately.

Quote from: DownFanatic on August 04, 2012, 07:25:04 PM
As expected the usual 'Down players have no pride' and 'James must go' shite has started. I don't think we can be too harsh on that Down team. Today was a day when it didn't go right for us. Just one of those things.

Looking at it, we have had a very good three years under Wee James. An All Ireland Final appearance, Division 1 status retention and an All Ireland Quarter Final spot today. Let's be honest. The group of players that we have at our disposal at the moment are an honest and hardworking group. They aren't in the mould of some of the more stellar squads in the past. To get to the last eight this year was a massive achievement. Having to work without the likes of the two Clarkes, Fitzpatrick, McComiskey and Mooney had us handicapped from the start.

Id like to see Wee James stay on. We are no way in a crisis and probably just need to work on our defensive frailities and start playing to a system. We are a decent side and I still think an Ulster title isn't too far away.

Yes all you say is true apart from what you think we can still achieve.  I think we are now going Down in standard.Im not going to criticise any player as they give alot of time to this but the pace that weve played at this year is alot lower til what it has been in the past few years. i think this team are tired and its probably as they have NO rewards for what they have done for the County over this past few Years.  Down football is in a better place now than it was 5 years ago and i think we just have to take it that we are not up to the standard of the top teams in Ireland.  It happens and we just have to now sit back think it over and see what is possible with the players at our disposal..  An Dun abu

Quote from: galwaygreenandred on August 05, 2012, 12:33:28 AM
The Down supporters were a credit today,everyone was so queit with nervousness going into croker today.After they would shake Mayo supporters hands and congratulate them and wish them the best in the semis and of course Mayo fans consoled the Down supporters,knowing all too much how it feels to be dumped out to a huge scoreline. Both were great today. Great performance by the Mayo Lads and let's go and stick it to the dublin jackeens and I hope our Down and Laois friends will be cheering us on :) Come on Mayo!!!! AOS Alan Dillon Andy Moran Michael Conroy Barry Moran Ger Cafferky Keith Higgins and David Clarke played great again

Don't forget the Albanians too.

What I must say I learned from yesterday is that the Down fans are great. They stayed right till the end even though most of them knew it was over long beforehand. My own county's fans take note. I'll comment on the game itself later as I'm using the phone now but it was a great day to be a Mayoman yesterday.

I think the second game was more likely the reason they stayed  :-X

Extremely disappointed by yesterday's show. Sad to say that along with the relative success brought by this team, managment and board in recent years we are now in the all too frequent habit of shifting very heavy defeats.

I'm not one who buys into tactical masterplans and especially not when, from the stand, it looks like lads aren't even attempting to do their best. Too many passengers yesterday who looked like they wanted someone else to do the work. Too many half tackles and very little evidence of the required killer instinct to pounce first on the breaking ball.

Only Aidan Carr and Darren O'Hagan looked like men who were willing to do their jobs (and i'm not from Hilltown).

A number of circumstances which stood out for me that were indicative of our problems although these admittedly occurred long after the horse had bolted..

1) Our small forwards exemplified by Laverty. It was painful to see Conor blocked so that he could not collect the return pass under the hill in the second half. Unfortunately the option to burst THROUGH his marker is not an option to Conor and until we have power forwards in the mould of yesteryear then we will be very limited.

2) Our nervous backs. Towards the end with Mayo trampling us I saw an instance where ONE Mayo fwd managed to harrass FOUR down defenders with sheer determination whilst we should have been in cormfortable possession. Our backs looked so uncomfortable/stressed they actually went backwards to McVeigh even with the immediate numerical advantage. Maybe the heads were already gone but I question if they'd been there all year.

Remember that £1 the County Board took from us in 2010? I'd like mine back now please. Gotta go now and do my bit to mould the future generation.

Summary of Mayo v Down yesterday on Setanta Website.

Mayo are discribed as 'Yewmen'.  :P

Never heard us called this before. Does the word exist?  :o

Here is the link.

http://www.setanta.com/ie/Articles/2012/08/04/Mayo-Down/gnid-149793/ (http://www.setanta.com/ie/Articles/2012/08/04/Mayo-Down/gnid-149793/)

Quote from: From the Bunker on August 05, 2012, 12:02:39 PM
Summary of Mayo v Down yesterday on Setanta Website.

Mayo are discribed as 'Yewmen'.  :P

Never heard us called this before. Does the word exist?  :o

Here is the link.

http://www.setanta.com/ie/Articles/2012/08/04/Mayo-Down/gnid-149793/ (http://www.setanta.com/ie/Articles/2012/08/04/Mayo-Down/gnid-149793/)

A play on Yeomen I d say mixed in with 'plain of the Yew trees' ??

Quote from: southdown on August 04, 2012, 09:29:57 PM
When you look at the bigger picture James is doing a decent job.  However, as defensive coach, I have serious questions about Aiden O'Rourke.

So many times Mayo forwards have 2/3 Down men close to them but for some reason no tackles were made, Alan Dillon made some embarassing (from our point of view) runs thourgh the defence in the first half.

what bigger picture? we have been hammered by donegal and mayo now. James was only made to look good because he was lucky enough to have Marty Clarke in the squad for a couple of years. its time for change.

Been confirmed Andy Moran is out for the rest of the season, but will remain on the panal.

http://mayogaablog.com/?p=11007

Quote from: bennydorano on August 04, 2012, 09:38:24 PM
This is Down's level, the AIF appearance was the blip in overall form,

That team has turned over about 10 players since.

Its not easy for any county to absorb such turnover - its even worse for one that is just barely at the level of an AIF.

---

Fundamentally, its the same problem as always - there aren't enough good-big-fast defenders in the county. 2-09 is not a bad score for a forward line that had a dearth of supply!

You look at the '91 or '94 teams - you'd the likes of Conor Deegan ('91), Brian Burns ('94), Barry Breen, Paul Higgins, Paddy O'Rourke ('91), Michael Magill ('94) - all big strong men at 6' 2" or so and 14+ stone.

Unfortunately now, a lot of players are in around 6ft, and lighter. They don't have additional pace to make up for their compartive lack of height/strength. Additionally, the players just don't exist in the county at the moment - no point blaming the management.

Also, as others have pointed out - a few of the fellas are not natural defenders. We don't have a natural full back - a man willing to concede a point to stop a goal. A natural full back would have stopped Mayo's first goal by dropping off the man running away from goal (who may have took a pass to point) and intercepted Doherty's run... possibly intercepted with brute force and ignorance - taken the booking as opposed to the goal.

Quote from: charlieTully on August 05, 2012, 02:27:00 PM
what bigger picture? we have been hammered by donegal and mayo now. James was only made to look good because he was lucky enough to have Marty Clarke in the squad for a couple of years. its time for change.

Div 1 status.


It might be a time for change (which would probably be of more benefit to James McCartan than to Down) - but don't expect the change to take us any further forward.

Having watched the recording of the game, I must say there was next to no challenges (i.e. hard hits) in the game. Mayo did however dominate the play once they got the second goal and at halftime, I thought to myself that only a major f**k up would give the game to Down. Caff and Coulter had a tussle all day long. Mayo seemed to come out trumps in all the other areas. It's hard to know how Andy Moran's injury will affect things from here on in. He will undoubtedly be a massive loss, but I was pleased with Freeman when he was called upon. He did most of what was asked of him. He may struggle on a different fullback next day if he starts. I'm also pleased that Mayo showed no let up and kept at it despite conceding a late goal at the end. It reminded me of the Leitrim game in that sense.

Word is wee James wants out.

Quote from: Collins on August 05, 2012, 03:17:06 PM
Word is wee James wants out.

If I was him, so would I.

I think that is the level of the players - the only think wee James is gonna get from here is heartache.

Even though i did not attend the game yesterday - i watched it very closely on the television and have listened to a lot of people in the last 24 hours about different aspects of the game.  the most notable point coming out of every ones mouths is that its time for a change of management.  Could someone please suggest to me who they feel would do as good a job as James has in the last 3 years? We got to 3 finals in his tenure - maintained our division one status for the last two seasons with a semi final appearance this season and lost quite a few players due to injury, retirements and emigration.  The fatigue of the 6 day turnaround may have hampered the performance yesterday.  The lads looked very flat especially when a turnover went against them - they couldnt get into defence quick enough.
So my questions are:
Who coulde replace James?
Are there any players out there who have not been given a shot at it that could make a difference?
Who will win the club c'ship now?

I know I'm going to get a bit of stick for this but here goes, down are not at this level. They beat Fermanagh, just about got past Monaghan, hammered by donegal, beat tipp, the only reason they were in croker yesterday is because they got a favourable draw. Had they been at the other side of the ulster championship draw they wouldn't even have got to the final. Both Armagh and Tyrone are better than them.

As i have stated frequently, Down football is currently in a place. We are probably facing a raft of retirements. No sign of any suitable replacements on the Horizon. Very unlikely to retain Div.1 status next season. Where do we go from here. A long barren spell faces us, lets use it to go back to basics. Is James the Man too oversee this, probably not but we have no one better

Down got the most favourable draw in history in 2010, capitalised on the wave of momentum and got a freaky amount of luck to get to an all Ireland final. Down being Down, they even could have wrung every drop of luck out of the thing and won the final. However, 2011 was their level - beat out the gate by cork. What did you really expect 12 months on from that beating minus Clarke, Mooney, Fitzpatrick, Rafferty, McCumiskey and Hughes? know your place...

Down are brutal, havn't beating armagh in a big game in 20 years.

Quote from: Orchardman on August 05, 2012, 08:34:34 PM
Down are brutal, havn't beating armagh in a big game in 20 years.

good to see our bitter neighbours getting some joy at last this summer.

Two annihilations now in the space of a fortnight. I have to admit I feel sorry for those Down supporters (some of my relatives included) who made the trips to Clones and Croker to witness these one sided hammerings. It underlines the gap between the top 4 or 5 and the rest, when Down and Kildare can reach AllIreland Q Finals and get absolutely pummelled.
Ulster football is at so low an ebb now that Donegal could easily do 5 or 6 Ulsters in a row. They are head and shoulders above everybody in Ulster and the best of luck to them.

If Donegal can turn things around in 18-20 months, then there is a fair chance of up to four other Ulster teams to do the same in the same period! Keep the head.

Was Armagh playing this weekend or something?

Quote from: RadioGAAGAA on August 05, 2012, 03:22:27 PM

Quote from: Collins on August 05, 2012, 03:17:06 PM
Word is wee James wants out.

If I was him, so would I.

I think that is the level of the players - the only think wee James is gonna get from here is heartache.

I don't see nayone better than James out there but he should look at his backroom team and reconsider the loss of Brian McIver. Certainly O'Rourke has brought nothing to our defence except a trailer load of hay going through it time and again and the constant interfering by Jerome can only be annoying and unsettling to the players. And, yes, get some more big players in. It's not today or yesterday I said that Poland & Maginn cannot be accommodated in the same forward line.