Messages

A lot depends on the benches. I expect a strong Mayo bench on Sunday. Mayo will probably try (and might get away with) 7/8 subs but that's fine by me. Long enough teams walked on them for being too nice.

The match yesterday was typical of the way things have gone with the top teams in Inter county football.

Both sides afraid to push too many men forward and looking to always contain the opposition and break instead and attack at pace on the counter. In Mayos case they were slower than Kerry to do it and as a result the 1/2 fw line is kinda redundant because Kerry had enough guys behind the ball when it arrived there.

So any time they did kick it in fro deep it was going straight into the FF line. Only time I remember a ball going to the 1/2 fw line from deep was when Higgins over hit the foot pass over Doherty's head.

[Only obvious absentee was Cillian O'Connor. Kerry on the other hand were nowhere near full strength. Missing were the following Brian Kelly, Marc Ó Sé , Aidan O'Mahony, Killian Young, Shane Enright, Peter Crowley, Anthony Maher, Gooch, Donnachadh Walsh, Darren O'Sullivan, Donaghy and O'Donoghue]

Looking at the team that finished the match yesterday Mayo were nearly at full strength for this game. Only obvious absentee was Cillian O'Connor. Kerry on the other hand were nowhere near full strength. Missing were the following

Brian Kelly,  Marc Ó Sé    , Aidan O'Mahony, Killian Young, Shane Enright, Peter Crowley, Anthony Maher, Gooch, Donnachadh Walsh, Darren O'Sullivan, Donaghy and O'Donoghue   

that's 12 first team championship players who could easily slot into that Kerry team. so the 7 point victory should really be taken with a pinch of salt. Also the guys on TG4 remarked how fit Mayo were for this match. I hope they are not over cooked for the Summer ahead.

Regards Alan Freeman - the only way to see if he has it at FF is to start pumping in balls to him net weekend. That includes 50/50 ones that he has to to win or break (as obviously he can't get perfect ball everytime)

if he can't cope with it then it's pointless persisting with him in the vain hope he will deliver. Better option to try an alternative e.g. Barry Moran

Cunniffe, Boyle, Caff, Dillon, Parsons, Gibbons, Moran, Aido as well as Cillian were all missing. And it s not like the Kerry players above beat us off the face of the Earth last August anyway.

As regards the TG guys; they were very wise after the event alright. They had no problem confidently tipping a Kerry win before the game so of course they had to justify their poor judgement after. As pointed out Kerry radio after, there were young Kerry lads that should have been putting their hands up and no excuse for them. David Moran was well fit for it. Bryan Sheehan wasn t but then again he never looks in top condition.
Some of the newer Mayo lads would have a good pre-season done and proper order. Lads like Keith, Keegan, Boyle are far from firing on all cylinders. I seriously doubt Aido is anywhere near 70 mins at midfield yet.
Big Barry too static for ff imo. His mobility when he played there back in Johnno's time a lot better then.

Ok Cunniffe wasn't there but O'Shea and Boyle came on in that match. You can point to Dillon and Andy Moran but you can't be relying on those 2 forever. Ger Cafferkey may have been injured but in all fairness Kevin  Keane wasn't really tested properly. When Tommy Walsh went inside everyone expected a few high ones to arrive in but they didn't arrive and at no stage did we see a high ball put in.

Furthermore Mayo got the goals at crucial times. Up to then Kerry looked very much in that game.

My point is that if you have a defence with Marc O'Sé, O'Mahony, Crowley and maybe Killian Young there as well it would have been much tighter. And I'm pretty sure that the Mayo FB line would have more to worry about if they had to mark the likes of O'Donoghue and Donaghy not to mention Cooper slotting into centre-half fw looking for precision passes or Donnachadh Walsh working his socks off to win dirty ball.

But Ftzmaurice is keeping his powder dry for higher priorities later on this season.

Lastly Barry Moran was a great FF for Castlebar all season in club and obviously Pat Holmes knows his strong and weak points in that area. An alternative to Freeman must be found as the guy is too inconsistent and you can't enter the championship again this year pinning all your hopes on him.   

Looking at the team that finished the match yesterday Mayo were nearly at full strength for this game. Only obvious absentee was Cillian O'Connor. Kerry on the other hand were nowhere near full strength. Missing were the following

Brian Kelly,  Marc Ó Sé    , Aidan O'Mahony, Killian Young, Shane Enright, Peter Crowley, Anthony Maher, Gooch, Donnachadh Walsh, Darren O'Sullivan, Donaghy and O'Donoghue   

that's 12 first team championship players who could easily slot into that Kerry team. so the 7 point victory should really be taken with a pinch of salt. Also the guys on TG4 remarked how fit Mayo were for this match. I hope they are not over cooked for the Summer ahead.

Regards Alan Freeman - the only way to see if he has it at FF is to start pumping in balls to him net weekend. That includes 50/50 ones that he has to to win or break (as obviously he can't get perfect ball everytime)

if he can't cope with it then it's pointless persisting with him in the vain hope he will deliver. Better option to try an alternative e.g. Barry Moran

Interesting that people are singling out Holmes here. I seem to remember that it was joint managerial setup in Mayo. Is a scapegoat already being prepared in people's minds?

Will Vaughan be suited to fb come championship time? Who was the ff today for Sligo IT?

Jaysus Larr yer not really going to stick Vaughan in there are ye. In my opinion the worst marker of all of Mayo's starting backs, far more suited to a HF or sweeper role if he has the football IQ to read plays. Sticking him on a man inside and hoping for the best sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

On second thoughts, I think ye should do it!

I'd have to agree with Syf there, wouldn't mind seeing him playing around the midfield / hf line instead of in the hb line

Disagree. I think Vaughan should be explored a bit more in the fb role. I dunno who was playing ff for IT today and don t care really. Let s see Vaughan in a National League game before we dismiss it. To put Sy. at ease Vaughan read the game very well today at 3 and looked comfortable. If anything he looks stronger and his hands were good. No doubting his durability and commitment ever. His looseness at times at chb was down to our tactical approach. He was encouraged to attack at will. He s a top team player and I d give him a good shout at cutting it at fb. Besides we have plenty options 5-12 (our U21 hb line is the best line in the team), but we need somebody other than Caff. that can play 3. Caff. does well on most but Vaughan is a more physical/aggression possibility. First National League game could see Vaughan go up against Donaghy. We d learn more there.

Can't see anything happening against Kerry with Donaghy. 
Austin Stack guys won't be involved until after club semi final which is Feb 15.

It looks like a Galway- Mayo final. Will Mayo continue the experimental approach ?

Ya

Any word yet on who these 20 guys mentioned by P&N are for strength and conditioning programmes?

That s the thing. The reliable guys all ended up having to be started and we had no back-up. I m talking about forwards. Kerry had unexceptional lads (not talking about Donaghy!) who came in and could put in a shift in the forwards when push came to shove.
Horan could have had a better forward bench but he did his thing. That s why Kerry win a soft AI (for them) and we can t ever win one.

Fair enough again. Kerry had the Geaneys both starting and kept the likes of Declan O'Sullivan and Sheehan in reserve. But i don't think that game should be taken as a yardstick to gauge how good Kerry's fw line is. We had Feeney, Conroy and Freeman who you could argue had just as much experience of playing in big games as any of the Kerry guys.

It was just not good enough that day but they had lots of things in their favour.
TBH overall I think Dublin missed the boat big time. They would have hockeyed that Kerry team I think. And even Donegal blew it. Poor tactics in the final cost them.

Sad fact is that it will be a different Kerry team next year.

FW line of

1/2 fw line of Darren O'Sullivan, Cooper and Donachadh Walsh
FF line of O'Donoghue, Donaghy and Tommy Walsh

He had a decent game for Ballina yesterday for their u21s. He is stylish no doubt, but has he got what you'd call 'appetite for hard graft' it's hard to know.

I assume he's one of the guys being targeted in this strength and conditioning 20 that we have heard about. He's very young yet though to make a breakthrough to inter county Senior. Unless he's awful good.

[I can understand why both O'Shea and O'Connor were thrown in. Both are big physical guys who will develop further as they get older]

could have been JOM alright all I remember was raging seeing Ronaldson working like a  mary o rourke in midfield in a wet league game when as ever we had a severe shortage of intellegent  forwards.
i reckon Forward line could come in for a major reshuffle esp if as likely Dillion and and ansy will no longer be staters the Like of Ronadson, Adam gallagher , coen , douglas ,Conor O'Shea , C freem and D oconnor , maybe a few more of the minor class of 2013 . i would love to see carolan get another go as his work rate  would be a huge asset even if he would score too much,
Who know the boy might even persuade the rumor that is Evan regan to tog out now and again

Ronaldson - I think it was Johnno who used Ronaldson as some kind of water carrier alright.
The Johnno era was a disaster. The fact that Horan got us to touching distance of the summit after that disaster is one of the greatest feats in GAA management history.

Ronaldson was still involved under Horan s first spring. I was at a couple of those FBD games and he played well.

But he got beat up by Marc O Sé in the League match and don t think he was in the picture after. That s the way it goes. A year later Enda Varley got the mother and father of a doin in Ballyshannon but stayed in the picture. I d have always had Ronaldson before some who were favoured but that s the way it goes it seems. Everybody sees things differently.

You mention;  Ronadson, Adam gallagher , coen , douglas ,Conor O'Shea , C freem and D oconnor.

I can t fathom what happened Gallagher after the start he made last spring. If he doesn t come through God help us.
Disappointing that Coen could not be used when things got serious after being in the panel for a while. Was he injured August?
They used to use Douglas as a sub for Ronaldson. Like for like? I d rate Ronaldson higher.
Cathal Freeman seems to be struggling to get back to form after that injury. He was always about guile and technique rather than pace.
O Shea and Diarmuid O Connor have to be nurtured but I still wonder who thought it was a good idea to start them v Roscommon in championship?

I can understand why both O'Shea and O'Connor were thrown in. Both are big physical guys who will develop further as they get older and that's simply the level inter county GAA is at right now.   

Many of those other guys mentioned are simply too small or too slow to cut in at the business end of the Inter county season.

E.g. imo both Ronalsdson and Varley and are both good enough for FBD and probably League but on a fast pitch against big physical backs they are caught out. Same with Gallagher I thought. Good enough for League (early rounds maybe) but not good enough yet anyway for competing with the likes of other Provincial champions. Not sure he has the pace either. Maybe he could develop into a Brian Dooher or a Donnachadh Walsh but he needs a lot of physical conditioning to get to that level.

Darren Coen has been a bit of  a disapoinment that he has not seemed to developed after being part of the panel now for a few years.

Hopefully they will develop further ( I must say I ve been impressed by O Connor in recent games for 'tuber). But the point is they hardly figured in league last year. They had their hands full in U21. They were way undercooked for Roscommon game and were not used again. Playing them only seemed to serve ruling them out for later. We ended up with guys in the panel that couldn t be used while Kerry's subs got them over the line in Limerick imo.

Gallagher has always had a serious engine and he s no slouch either. Didn t think Gallagher suffered from lack of size in matches I saw him in. Well able for it until somebody had the bright idea to play him in ff line

Coen seems to lack the urgency. Quality but needs more bite. Is it in him? Same as Irwin. Talented but ?? over pace and aggression imo.

I dunno can you take the second Kerry game as a good example. First of all let's be honest and we left it behind the in the first day in Croker. Then we had guys who only had a week to recover along with playing against the ref for 90 minutes.

I know Kerry had only a week as well but they hadn't been in the previous 2 finals not to mention the Castlebar contingent playing for nearly over 2 years consecutively  without a break because of the Club requirements.

Also I wouldn't agree O'Connor and O'Shea were undercooked. Maybe they seemed like that but at the end of the day offering 2 younger fringe guys their opportunity to play from the start in their first championship game against the likes of Ros should have been motivation on it's own to focus them and get them set for battle.

The alternative would be like throwing them in against lesser teams half-way through the second half when most games were or might have been already decided. the problem with that is that they look ok but learn nothing. And when push comes to shove those new don't really know or have what it takes to change games in a tight match.

Bottom line I think the exposure will stand to them. they know now the hits they will get at the start of the championship from a big physical team on their own patch.

Tbh I don t think that exposure against Ros. will matter much down the road. Anyway it was not about them.
Horan was in his fourth year and an AI was the bottom line. He ended up with a panel in which 4 of the forwards could not be used when it came to an AI semi final. The 2 lads were 2 of them. They were not near ready.

Fair enough. But at the end of the day only 5 subs can come on. For instance Harrison came on in that replay but I thought he was reasonably  beaten when up against Barry John Keane. Not his fault - just not good enough yet at that level in my opinion. But he had looked a stand out find from last years League.

Point is I don't think that Gallagher or others new guys who did come into the panel in 2012/13 would have been any better.  Too soon for them and that's one of the things maybe Horan found out when he tried and played O'Connor and O'Shea against Ros. So he went back to what he believed were his strongest and most reliable guys to try and dig it out. 

[I can understand why both O'Shea and O'Connor were thrown in. Both are big physical guys who will develop further as they get older]

could have been JOM alright all I remember was raging seeing Ronaldson working like a  mary o rourke in midfield in a wet league game when as ever we had a severe shortage of intellegent  forwards.
i reckon Forward line could come in for a major reshuffle esp if as likely Dillion and and ansy will no longer be staters the Like of Ronadson, Adam gallagher , coen , douglas ,Conor O'Shea , C freem and D oconnor , maybe a few more of the minor class of 2013 . i would love to see carolan get another go as his work rate  would be a huge asset even if he would score too much,
Who know the boy might even persuade the rumor that is Evan regan to tog out now and again

Ronaldson - I think it was Johnno who used Ronaldson as some kind of water carrier alright.
The Johnno era was a disaster. The fact that Horan got us to touching distance of the summit after that disaster is one of the greatest feats in GAA management history.

Ronaldson was still involved under Horan s first spring. I was at a couple of those FBD games and he played well.

But he got beat up by Marc O Sé in the League match and don t think he was in the picture after. That s the way it goes. A year later Enda Varley got the mother and father of a doin in Ballyshannon but stayed in the picture. I d have always had Ronaldson before some who were favoured but that s the way it goes it seems. Everybody sees things differently.

You mention;  Ronadson, Adam gallagher , coen , douglas ,Conor O'Shea , C freem and D oconnor.

I can t fathom what happened Gallagher after the start he made last spring. If he doesn t come through God help us.
Disappointing that Coen could not be used when things got serious after being in the panel for a while. Was he injured August?
They used to use Douglas as a sub for Ronaldson. Like for like? I d rate Ronaldson higher.
Cathal Freeman seems to be struggling to get back to form after that injury. He was always about guile and technique rather than pace.
O Shea and Diarmuid O Connor have to be nurtured but I still wonder who thought it was a good idea to start them v Roscommon in championship?

I can understand why both O'Shea and O'Connor were thrown in. Both are big physical guys who will develop further as they get older and that's simply the level inter county GAA is at right now.   

Many of those other guys mentioned are simply too small or too slow to cut in at the business end of the Inter county season.

E.g. imo both Ronalsdson and Varley and are both good enough for FBD and probably League but on a fast pitch against big physical backs they are caught out. Same with Gallagher I thought. Good enough for League (early rounds maybe) but not good enough yet anyway for competing with the likes of other Provincial champions. Not sure he has the pace either. Maybe he could develop into a Brian Dooher or a Donnachadh Walsh but he needs a lot of physical conditioning to get to that level.

Darren Coen has been a bit of  a disapoinment that he has not seemed to developed after being part of the panel now for a few years.

Hopefully they will develop further ( I must say I ve been impressed by O Connor in recent games for 'tuber). But the point is they hardly figured in league last year. They had their hands full in U21. They were way undercooked for Roscommon game and were not used again. Playing them only seemed to serve ruling them out for later. We ended up with guys in the panel that couldn t be used while Kerry's subs got them over the line in Limerick imo.

Gallagher has always had a serious engine and he s no slouch either. Didn t think Gallagher suffered from lack of size in matches I saw him in. Well able for it until somebody had the bright idea to play him in ff line

Coen seems to lack the urgency. Quality but needs more bite. Is it in him? Same as Irwin. Talented but ?? over pace and aggression imo.

I dunno can you take the second Kerry game as a good example. First of all let's be honest and we left it behind the in the first day in Croker. Then we had guys who only had a week to recover along with playing against the ref for 90 minutes.

I know Kerry had only a week as well but they hadn't been in the previous 2 finals not to mention the Castlebar contingent playing for nearly over 2 years consecutively  without a break because of the Club requirements.

Also I wouldn't agree O'Connor and O'Shea were undercooked. Maybe they seemed like that but at the end of the day offering 2 younger fringe guys their opportunity to play from the start in their first championship game against the likes of Ros should have been motivation on it's own to focus them and get them set for battle.

The alternative would be like throwing them in against lesser teams half-way through the second half when most games were or might have been already decided. the problem with that is that they look ok but learn nothing. And when push comes to shove those new don't really know or have what it takes to change games in a tight match.

Bottom line I think the exposure will stand to them. they know now the hits they will get at the start of the championship from a big physical team on their own patch. 

could have been JOM alright all I remember was raging seeing Ronaldson working like a  mary o rourke in midfield in a wet league game when as ever we had a severe shortage of intellegent  forwards.
i reckon Forward line could come in for a major reshuffle esp if as likely Dillion and and ansy will no longer be staters the Like of Ronadson, Adam gallagher , coen , douglas ,Conor O'Shea , C freem and D oconnor , maybe a few more of the minor class of 2013 . i would love to see carolan get another go as his work rate  would be a huge asset even if he would score too much,
Who know the boy might even persuade the rumor that is Evan regan to tog out now and again

Ronaldson - I think it was Johnno who used Ronaldson as some kind of water carrier alright.
The Johnno era was a disaster. The fact that Horan got us to touching distance of the summit after that disaster is one of the greatest feats in GAA management history.

Ronaldson was still involved under Horan s first spring. I was at a couple of those FBD games and he played well.

But he got beat up by Marc O Sé in the League match and don t think he was in the picture after. That s the way it goes. A year later Enda Varley got the mother and father of a doin in Ballyshannon but stayed in the picture. I d have always had Ronaldson before some who were favoured but that s the way it goes it seems. Everybody sees things differently.

You mention;  Ronadson, Adam gallagher , coen , douglas ,Conor O'Shea , C freem and D oconnor.

I can t fathom what happened Gallagher after the start he made last spring. If he doesn t come through God help us.
Disappointing that Coen could not be used when things got serious after being in the panel for a while. Was he injured August?
They used to use Douglas as a sub for Ronaldson. Like for like? I d rate Ronaldson higher.
Cathal Freeman seems to be struggling to get back to form after that injury. He was always about guile and technique rather than pace.
O Shea and Diarmuid O Connor have to be nurtured but I still wonder who thought it was a good idea to start them v Roscommon in championship?

I can understand why both O'Shea and O'Connor were thrown in. Both are big physical guys who will develop further as they get older and that's simply the level inter county GAA is at right now.   

Many of those other guys mentioned are simply too small or too slow to cut in at the business end of the Inter county season.

E.g. imo both Ronalsdson and Varley and are both good enough for FBD and probably League but on a fast pitch against big physical backs they are caught out. Same with Gallagher I thought. Good enough for League (early rounds maybe) but not good enough yet anyway for competing with the likes of other Provincial champions. Not sure he has the pace either. Maybe he could develop into a Brian Dooher or a Donnachadh Walsh but he needs a lot of physical conditioning to get to that level.

Darren Coen has been a bit of  a disapoinment that he has not seemed to developed after being part of the panel now for a few years.

i wouldn't be too quick to dismiss Andy or Alan. Way I see it it's up to the guys who are sitting on the bench or looking in from the panel to displace the current players on merit. Nobody should get a automatic right of passage

Talking to a scientist last night who made to the following points on Ebola. Note: Some he got from a documentary.

1: No one gave a s**t about it in US until 9/11. Before that it was just another virus killing a couple 100 people every year or two somewhere in Africa. Not high on the priority list. After 9/11 money was allocated to study it as it was put in a list of potential terrorist threats which of course makes sense.

2:The biggest problem (potential threat) with Ebola is control of the virus. Because of it's mortality rate and the way viruses work it is dangerous. e.g.
At moment it is limited to approx 10,000 people (we assume). This is still a relatively low volume in terms of population % although as we know it is increasing which is a worry. If that was extended to 100,000 people then the risk to the general human population jumps way up.

This is primarily because of the chance of the virus mutating into something far more dangerous and into something that is far more resistant to any current medicines that are out there.

And that is one of the worries.