Maigh Eo v Gaillimh, 2pm, 13ú Iúil, Pairc Mhic Eil

[maigheo]

Good post Bunker.Somebody said to me at HT that wouldn't it be great if Galway got a few scores at the beginning of the second half and i said no it would not.Give me last years saunter thro Connacht and I will take it every time.I find Silke ok and I think he puts some thought into what he writes and we in Mayo might not always like what he has to say but he is entitled to his opinion.As for McGee I doubt he pays much attention to the games he is at going by his writings and to me it is one of the great mysteries of life how he is able to get paid for the rubbish he writes

[GalwayBayBoy]

Silke looks down his nose at Mayo (and Ros)! He quite enjoys Mayo's repeated forays to Croker without success. But that is only natural, we are rivals. And more importantly we are rival neighbours. I quite enjoy how much presently we are ahead of Galway. That is also natural. Galway have been the last decade or so looking down their nose at Mayo living off 98/01 and scoffing at us repeatedly falling short. Lines like we went there and finished the job off proper has been cast up to Many a Mayo supporter. Any time Mayo (or Ros or Sligo) beat Galway. Galway looked on this as a waste of a year and seen it almost as an entitlement that the red carpet should be laid out to let them get the job finished off proper. The last day at the Connacht final, a galway fan beside me said I hope it's a tight game, it will do Mayo the world of good to have a tight game. In the past i would have agreed. But the only team that a tight game would have suited on Sunday was Galway, it would have gave them confidence, we don't need confidence (not in Connacht anyway) and to be cruel you don't really care about your rival (really).

Only Galway play proper football (in the style of Kerry) we are constantly told. They are backed up by the lynch pins of Journalism (Magee, Spillane, O'Rourke, Breheney) to such a degree that the Myth of them being a fine football county is presently just that a Myth. But each year (like Arsenal) we get the youth talked up, the next terrible twins, the next great footballing side, the next set of unbelievable forwards. Meanwhile Mayo are still Mayo, Labeled as being Chokers, Labeled as not being able to win in Croke park, Labeled as not having players to get scores. Stereotypes stick hard in the GAA. If you are once known for something you are always known for that thing. A feck me trying to shake it off. Tyrone have done a decent job the last 10+ years to beat labels but there was still the begrudgers who just had to put them into the cynical category. 

Back to Silke. He's a Galway man. He has no real cares for Mayo. He was worked in Castlebar for a while and that has probably made him not want Mayo (even more) to win Sam. That ok! That's rivalry!

Hon Mayo!

Listen if we can put up with David Brady's gombeenery ye can put up with Ray Silke. And Brady is the much more ubiquitous of the two.

[Maroon Manc]

Silke looks down his nose at Mayo (and Ros)! He quite enjoys Mayo's repeated forays to Croker without success. But that is only natural, we are rivals. And more importantly we are rival neighbours. I quite enjoy how much presently we are ahead of Galway. That is also natural. Galway have been the last decade or so looking down their nose at Mayo living off 98/01 and scoffing at us repeatedly falling short. Lines like we went there and finished the job off proper has been cast up to Many a Mayo supporter. Any time Mayo (or Ros or Sligo) beat Galway. Galway looked on this as a waste of a year and seen it almost as an entitlement that the red carpet should be laid out to let them get the job finished off proper. The last day at the Connacht final, a galway fan beside me said I hope it's a tight game, it will do Mayo the world of good to have a tight game. In the past i would have agreed. But the only team that a tight game would have suited on Sunday was Galway, it would have gave them confidence, we don't need confidence (not in Connacht anyway) and to be cruel you don't really care about your rival (really).

Only Galway play proper football (in the style of Kerry) we are constantly told. They are backed up by the lynch pins of Journalism (Magee, Spillane, O'Rourke, Breheney) to such a degree that the Myth of them being a fine football county is presently just that a Myth. But each year (like Arsenal) we get the youth talked up, the next terrible twins, the next great footballing side, the next set of unbelievable forwards. Meanwhile Mayo are still Mayo, Labeled as being Chokers, Labeled as not being able to win in Croke park, Labeled as not having players to get scores. Stereotypes stick hard in the GAA. If you are once known for something you are always known for that thing. A feck me trying to shake it off. Tyrone have done a decent job the last 10+ years to beat labels but there was still the begrudgers who just had to put them into the cynical category. 

Back to Silke. He's a Galway man. He has no real cares for Mayo. He was worked in Castlebar for a while and that has probably made him not want Mayo (even more) to win Sam. That ok! That's rivalry!

Hon Mayo!

Listen if we can put up with David Brady's gombeenery ye can put up with Ray Silke. And Brady is the much more ubiquitous of the two.

You'd think he'd put the boot into Mayo judging by a few of the reactions on here. Like so many people from Mayo his belief is they'll pull up short.

[Mayo4Sam]

He puts the boot in on a regular basis.
Moysider he may be a sound lad but from anything I've ever heard out of his mouth he's a bitter mayo hating c**t

[moysider]

He puts the boot in on a regular basis.
Moysider he may be a sound lad but from anything I've ever heard out of his mouth he's a bitter mayo hating c**t

I don t think he s bitter. He s nothing to be bitter about. For a lad of his limited ability he maxed out captaining an AI team. While he was captaining Galway and winning AIs, he wouldn t have made a Mayo defence at that time. And 2 others wouldn t have either ...... ooops, sorry, I forgot about Pateen!

Of course he 'hates' Mayo. Who doesn t really? Sligo, Leitrim, Ros and Galway hate us. Major cities like London and NY probably do as well! It s a good thing.

[Syferus]

He puts the boot in on a regular basis.
Moysider he may be a sound lad but from anything I've ever heard out of his mouth he's a bitter mayo hating c**t

I don t think he s bitter. He s nothing to be bitter about. For a lad of his limited ability he maxed out captaining an AI team. While he was captaining Galway and winning AIs, he wouldn t have made a Mayo defence at that time. And 2 others wouldn t have either ...... ooops, sorry, I forgot about Pateen!

Of course he 'hates' Mayo. Who doesn t really? Sligo, Leitrim, Ros and Galway hate us. Major cities like London and NY probably do as well! It s a good thing.

Jaysus we all fairly get behind ye when ye make the yearly charge on the Bloody Gate that is Sam Maguire. It's starting to reflect on everyone else in Connacht at this stage. Connacht is a nice big family. I even saw young Alan Freeman at the match today. Roaring he was.

Anyways, the problem with Silke seems to be how negative he tends to be towards everyone else. It's like Eugene McGee with Mayo. Just not written on a beer mat.

[Lar Naparka]

TBH, I found nothing wrong with Silke's article. It has to be kept in mind that he sees things from a different perspective than I or most Mayo fans do.
I think he did a good, objective job of it even though I think Mayo pack more punch this  year than in previous ones.
I won't accept that Mayo depends on Cillian O'Connor too much or that they are not better upfront than in 2013 or '12.
As I see it, Cillian is at long last starting to show his true form at long last. Last year he was banjaxed by injuries but if her stays injury-free he would be a top forward on any team in ther land. He's one reason why I think Mayo pack more clout than last year but that's not the only one.
Kevin Mac has regained his true form and he also rank up there with the best. Jason Doherty is flying and Aido made an impressive debut in the no. 11 spot. It's significant that four of the top performers on the day were forwards.
They might still not be good enough to win Sam but they ar better than they were in former years and that's where I part company with Silke.

[seafoid]

He puts the boot in on a regular basis.
Moysider he may be a sound lad but from anything I've ever heard out of his mouth he's a bitter mayo hating c**t

I don t think he s bitter. He s nothing to be bitter about. For a lad of his limited ability he maxed out captaining an AI team. While he was captaining Galway and winning AIs, he wouldn t have made a Mayo defence at that time. And 2 others wouldn t have either ...... ooops, sorry, I forgot about Pateen!

Of course he 'hates' Mayo. Who doesn t really? Sligo, Leitrim, Ros and Galway hate us. Major cities like London and NY probably do as well! It s a good thing.

Most people would like to see Mayo winning the thing at this stage. I agree about Silke, definitely overachieved in 98. But you take your chances.

[larryin89]

He puts the boot in on a regular basis.
Moysider he may be a sound lad but from anything I've ever heard out of his mouth he's a bitter mayo hating c**t

I don t think he s bitter. He s nothing to be bitter about. For a lad of his limited ability he maxed out captaining an AI team. While he was captaining Galway and winning AIs, he wouldn t have made a Mayo defence at that time. And 2 others wouldn t have either ...... ooops, sorry, I forgot about Pateen!

Of course he 'hates' Mayo. Who doesn t really? Sligo, Leitrim, Ros and Galway hate us. Major cities like London and NY probably do as well! It s a good thing.

Most people would like to see Mayo winning the thing at this stage. I agree about Silke, definitely overachieved in 98. But you take your chances.
[/b]

I dont believe that to be true not that i care that much either , it was certainly true back in the nineties and maybe even for both Kerry losses in 04/06 but not now well definitely not as much anyway, a lot of neutrals are fed up with Mayo in a way. Thats the vibe i get anyway.

[Mayo4Sam]

Big job for Mulholland in the next couple of weeks. There should be as little pressure as possible on the Galway players shoulders heading into Castlebar. While a Connacht title would be amazing, real progress for this side is getting to an AI QF in Croker. Their most likely rote to that position by far is through the qualifiers, where at the very worst they'll be small outsiders against the toughest opposition they can get - Laois.

For this reason, the game in 2 weeks should be viewed as bonus territory. Give everything to win no question, but in the event of a loss (likely) there should be no player downbeat. Their biggest game of the year will still be ahead of them. Worst case scenario is a heartbraking loss to Mayo (Hammering or 1 point), and they go into the qualifier on a low ebb. This is where Mulholland must show his worth. Two cracks at the cherry

Yip. Both teams have a safety net here. Like we d like to do 4 in a row but lose it and we d might get a more sympathetic game after?

I'd be big into my betting/pricing etc and if Mayo we're beaten by Galway in 2 weeks, I certainly wouldnt be pushing out their AI price by much. It could serve as a wake up call, and the extra game (where mayo would be hot favs) could serve up a bit of momentum goin into the QF's. Either way, if both these sides make the QF, they'll be playing Cork or Kerry likely. Connacht winners vs Munster losers and visa versa. So provided the loser can get through the qualifier, winning the Connacht final mighnt serve any advatage at all, bar a Nestor cup at home

Is the Qf draw not an open one? Four winners on one side, qualifiers on the other?

Nah, structured. Even the semi's are structured so that ye're meeting the winners of the other Munster vs Connacht QF.Potentially there could be a repeat of the connacht final in the semis!! Much more likely is a Mayo vs Kerry QF, and a Mayo/Kerry vs Cork Semi. No matter what happens, Mayo or even Galway for that matter cant meet Dublin or Donegal before the final

So it turns out the quarter finals are not structured, we cant meet Galway and Kerry cant meet cork but other than that we're good to go, if sligo and tipp go through its a draw

http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/2107140847-all-ireland-sfc-2014-what-happens-now/

[Syferus]

Big job for Mulholland in the next couple of weeks. There should be as little pressure as possible on the Galway players shoulders heading into Castlebar. While a Connacht title would be amazing, real progress for this side is getting to an AI QF in Croker. Their most likely rote to that position by far is through the qualifiers, where at the very worst they'll be small outsiders against the toughest opposition they can get - Laois.

For this reason, the game in 2 weeks should be viewed as bonus territory. Give everything to win no question, but in the event of a loss (likely) there should be no player downbeat. Their biggest game of the year will still be ahead of them. Worst case scenario is a heartbraking loss to Mayo (Hammering or 1 point), and they go into the qualifier on a low ebb. This is where Mulholland must show his worth. Two cracks at the cherry

Yip. Both teams have a safety net here. Like we d like to do 4 in a row but lose it and we d might get a more sympathetic game after?

I'd be big into my betting/pricing etc and if Mayo we're beaten by Galway in 2 weeks, I certainly wouldnt be pushing out their AI price by much. It could serve as a wake up call, and the extra game (where mayo would be hot favs) could serve up a bit of momentum goin into the QF's. Either way, if both these sides make the QF, they'll be playing Cork or Kerry likely. Connacht winners vs Munster losers and visa versa. So provided the loser can get through the qualifier, winning the Connacht final mighnt serve any advatage at all, bar a Nestor cup at home

Is the Qf draw not an open one? Four winners on one side, qualifiers on the other?

Nah, structured. Even the semi's are structured so that ye're meeting the winners of the other Munster vs Connacht QF.Potentially there could be a repeat of the connacht final in the semis!! Much more likely is a Mayo vs Kerry QF, and a Mayo/Kerry vs Cork Semi. No matter what happens, Mayo or even Galway for that matter cant meet Dublin or Donegal before the final

So it turns out the quarter finals are not structured, we cant meet Galway and Kerry cant meet cork but other than that we're good to go, if sligo and tipp go through its a draw

http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/2107140847-all-ireland-sfc-2014-what-happens-now/

I told ye. A Roscommon man never lies.

[Maroon Manc]

He puts the boot in on a regular basis.
Moysider he may be a sound lad but from anything I've ever heard out of his mouth he's a bitter mayo hating c**t

I don t think he s bitter. He s nothing to be bitter about. For a lad of his limited ability he maxed out captaining an AI team. While he was captaining Galway and winning AIs, he wouldn t have made a Mayo defence at that time. And 2 others wouldn t have either ...... ooops, sorry, I forgot about Pateen!

Of course he 'hates' Mayo. Who doesn t really? Sligo, Leitrim, Ros and Galway hate us. Major cities like London and NY probably do as well! It s a good thing.

Most people would like to see Mayo winning the thing at this stage. I agree about Silke, definitely overachieved in 98. But you take your chances.
[/b]

I dont believe that to be true not that i care that much either , it was certainly true back in the nineties and maybe even for both Kerry losses in 04/06 but not now well definitely not as much anyway, a lot of neutrals are fed up with Mayo in a way. Thats the vibe i get anyway.

Well this neutral would wish you'd hurry up and win it