Galway v Mayo, Tuam NFL Round VI 29 March 2009

[moysider]

no not mind games Mayo fans in general have become a true mirror image of the nations declining morale .
where as i with my more sunny nature and diposition have seen the team improve steadily  over the league . after an awful start in ballina losing to derry a nadir was reached in the first 40 minute against Donegal , MAyoo seemed to have found a bit of character giving West meath a welll deserved hammering a good show against an unbeaten kerry and a Draw against dublin after giving them a  5 point start .
It wasnt pretty but im much encouraged that they stucjk to the task and got something out of a tight games un like the last number of year when almost every game seemed to slip by for the want of a bit of guts at the end. my main Criticism Of JOM
Also with have a very healthy crop of u21's coming through the Future is bright .
hope galway haven't peaked too soon in the year. we need another good run out on sunday

Togha fir, ros!.
Tell the begrudgers to burglar off for themselves.
I can say with hand on heart that I have seldom come across anything about Mayo football that makes the same amount of sense as what you wrote last night. (BTW, it was about Mayo football, wasn't it?)
Mind you, Moysider did come close one time. It was last year when he had put in a serious session of pinting and then started belting the keyboard. I can tell ya that I still haven't gotten over the shock.
Hey, I just  checked the timing of your post and maybe it explains things a lot; did yer local shut early, by any chance?

Cant say I remember it it well, my midfield maestro. But I have a good idea what it was about. Anyway there ll be no more late rants from me. I ve mellowed considerably. To my amazement I find myself middle of the road compared to most opinion out there, which is very disillusioned, even scathing. And that is from people that were Johnnobites only 2 years ago. I m resigned to our fate. Nothing else for it but take it game by game now and see what happens.  I m not optimistic but I m prepared to go with the flow and see where this year's journey takes us. As long as the younger players show they re interested and have a future I wont be too bothered because the days of September are well in the past now and whether they ll ever be revisited again is a matter for Board and management. Reckon a Connacht title this year will be a bridge too far. So what would people be happy with? Obviously a good show most we can expect, right? Notice how nobody in management (as far as I know) has set out objectives for the year. Connacht final? Conn. Champions? All Ireland 1/4 or 1/2? What would be progress or even acceptable? Funny how the goalposts can move so much in less than 3 years.

This management has to run its course but we ve a crop of players coming through now that will serve the county for 10 years. Whether they will be good enough to win what we want to win will largely depend on the ability of the next management team because the material they have to work with is as good as there is in any county. The County Board have to get the next appointment right unless another very decent group of players is wasted.
 

[moysider]

John o will probably give them a text in the next week or 2

They might not even get a text message. As of last week mangement when asked about those lads inclusion, or not, this year,  professed ignorance ( I mean, why should management know these things?) as to whether they d be involved. Hmmmm. Even Dara O Sé has started back with the Kingdom. Him and his 5 All Irelands. Yet his late return was ... er.. noticed, and not approved of,  in some Kerry quarters.
  I cant see them being asked, even text d back. Both let management know last year about what they thought of the decision to exclude the player whom we dare not mention. I dont think they ll be there this year. Anyway no point now. They wont be around long haul so might as well let the young fellas at it and toughen them up for long term. That is what this regime wanted anyway, no baggage. This year has the look of a damage limitation exercise already. Fine by me. As long as there are nt too many casulties this year I ll be easy enough. The time to get jittery - 07/08 - is past.

Anyway were talking about defenders and we re top - heavy with those. Now if it was a veteran forward who could win his own ball, hold off a tackle, make space, kick a killer pass and kick an odd point then go for it. But sure there is nt one of those about. Right?

[RedandGreenSniper]

Anyway were talking about defenders and we re top - heavy with those. Now if it was a veteran forward who could win his own ball, hold off a tackle, make space, kick a killer pass and kick an odd point then go for it. But sure there is nt one of those about. Right?

I could say an awful lot here but I'll try not to for fear of losing the cool. When Ciaran McDonald was dropped last year I had mixed opinions. I was also out of the country so allowed a bit of trust towards the management that they must know what was best. I couldn't hear a lot of the truth on the ground. I reckoned that McD had a capacity to be a bit of a fly-by-night and that didn't help the situation. And I thought JOM handled it badly regardless, calling McDonald's bluff in the (mistaken) assumption he wouldn't come out and give his side of the story, but that that was about the height of his error.

I also reckoned the JOM had a great plan for the future, or at least some sort of plan and that while McDonald would be a loss, other forwards might step up to the plate and that perhaps JOM had a style of football in mind that McD wouldn't fit into.

Well I might be correct on the last point. McD wouldn't fit into the current style of football which is one where damn all of our forwards can kick, take scores or play with confidence. The Dublin game was the pits. Our forward unit were so inept. So many of our forwards are one sided (where's the coaching?) and only Dillon looked anyways decent (I don't think he was top class either, but was still so far ahead of everyone else). Bringing up McDonald might not be seen as constructive but where the f**k are we going with things the way they are?


I'm finding it very hard to be positive about this year. I won't be surprised to see us relegated and then lose to Roscommon, followed by an inglorious trip in the qualifiers.

[Barney]

Reckon a Connacht title this year will be a bridge too far. So what would people be happy with? Obviously a good show most we can expect, right?

It may be a bridge too far but it is the minimum acceptable target for each year.

This management has been inept from day 1 and the problems continue. I cannot think of one positive impact that they have made on Mayo football. I did think new selectors would have been a good option last year to try and freshen it up for the manager but he decided not to go down that line.

Bad man-management has led to the loss of possibilites such as the Kilcullens, Aidan Campbell and of course Ciaran McDonald.

But the future can be bright. The difference in attitude and approach taken by our minor team over the past 12 months, and our under 21 team over the past four years shows that there is playing potential there with managerial material to coax the best out of them.

However politics (of a GAA kind) has killed Mayo football for a long time and the Board cannot be trusted to make the proper decisions when it comes to replacing JOM in the Summer (it is inevitable - a Connacht title is the only thing that will save him, and even with that I think he will walk). Peter Forde cannot get the job - he stood up to them in 1992 and will never be forgiven. Would Noel Connelly take it? Would he get it? I don't know. My hunch is though that John Maughan is the man lined up to come in again and I think that would be another fatal mistake.

[the Deel Rover]

was reading mike finnertys report on sundays match and in it he stated that o mahony did an interview with a national newspaper on saturday asking mayo fans to be patient just wondering lads do any of ye have the interview ?

[AbbeySider]

My hunch is though that John Maughan is the man lined up to come in again and I think that would be another fatal mistake.

I wouldnt call that a fatal mistake. At least we would played with some sort of heart under Maughan.
Connelly and Holmes are the obvious choice for the next management. They have it in the bag I reckon.
In fact, I would bet on it.

[the Deel Rover]

Lads has john o' not got another 3 year contract after this year runs out ?

[IolarCoisCuain]

was reading mike finnertys report on sundays match and in it he stated that o mahony did an interview with a national newspaper on saturday asking mayo fans to be patient just wondering lads do any of ye have the interview ?

The O'Mahony interview was in the Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2009/0321/1224243197571.html

Pasted below:



O'Mahony still calling for patience

KEITH DUGGAN

Sat, Mar 21, 2009

GAA FOCUS ON MAYO: THREE SUMMERS ago, Dublin and Mayo played out a thrilling All-Ireland semi-final in Croke Park – a match that was followed by the most anti-climatic final of modern times.

In a way, everything and nothing has changed since that time. Tyrone and Kerry are still vying for the All-Ireland titles. Dublin are still trying to figure a way to reach their first All-Ireland final since 1995.

Getting to finals has never been Mayo's problem: winning one is the big demand. And on Sunday in Ballina, the counties face the more immediate prospect of needing a league win to ease themselves away from the bottom of Division One.

"The next three games for us – and I am sure for Dublin – are relegation four-pointers," John O'Mahony admits. "The Derry game got away from us. Forgetting the first half against Donegal, which was abysmal, our form has improved.

"I am sure Dublin will be building on their form too and we are expecting that there will be a backlash from their defeat against Derry. But we do see it as a four -pointer. There will be a few quirky results over the next few weeks. We need two more points to be getting close to safety."

This is O'Mahony's third year back in charge of Mayo, having led his county to the brink of an All-Ireland title in 1989. Their form has open to interpretation.

Mayo is a football county defined by infinite patience and quick exasperation and their low-key form in the past two summers has been disappointing for those who half-expected the return of O'Mahony to hasten immediate glories.

They have yet to feature in the All-Ireland quarter-finals under his watch. But last year, Mayo were two points away from a significant season: Galway edged them by a point in the Connacht final and Tyrone scraped past them by the same margin in the final round of the qualifiers.

It was forgotten, in the blinding light of Tyrone's subsequently dazzling displays, how closely the Mayo men had run them.

"It certainly was something that I wouldn't have predicted that day," says O'Mahony of Tyrone's bolt for glory. "But maybe we were underselling our own performance and that we were not as far away as people felt we were."

O'Mahony knows Mayo are out of fashion when it comes to talk of All-Ireland candidates.

"Right now, we are not spoken of in that first breath of four or five teams mentioned. And that is something we have to get used to."

But Mayo's ambition has not gone away. O'Mahony preached patience when he took over the job and – as he alluded to after last week's narrow loss to Kerry – the message hasn't changed.

He fielded a predominantly young team that day and, because of Mayo's U-21 championship commitments, will be forced to delay naming his side to play Dublin until tomorrow morning. So far, Mayo lost an edgy game to Derry, drew with Donegal, beat Westmeath and lost by two in Kerry: hardly disastrous form but enough to leave them in the danger zone.

"We feel we have a young squad that is working very hard and progressing. But we are at a different stage than Galway, for instance. Last weekend was a perfect demonstration of that when the counties met in the U-21.

"They had two of their present senior panel playing whereas we had five. We do have some senior players like James Nallen and David Heaney coming back and they are needed now more than ever as we try and phase younger players in.

"I think too that in counties like Mayo when people have been waiting to get a breakthrough can look at things more negatively. For instance, against Westmeath, we beat them fairly comfortably in the end but we didn't score for 15 minutes. And I was interested in some of the local comment which stated that it was worrying that we hadn't scored. But I watched the DVD of the Kerry-Derry game and Kerry went 18 minutes without a score.

"And that wouldn't cost their supporters a thought. So it depends on how you look at things. But Mayo is still a work-in -progress."

That is a trait they share with Dublin, as Pat Gilroy tries to balance the usefulness of Division One league football with building a team capable of challenging for the All-Ireland.

The Dublin roadshow has the fascination of a public audition, with players vying for the guarantee of hot days in full and blue-toned Croke Park.

Dublin will have big days in the capital later this summer. Mayo are among the teams hoping to feature on those days, even if expectations are not as high as in previous years. It is not a position that alarms O'Mahony.

"Well, that gives us a better opportunity, that if we can make that sufficient progress, that we can slip in under the radar," he concludes.

© 2009 The Irish Times

[the Deel Rover]

KEITH DUGGAN

Sat, Mar 21, 2009

GAA FOCUS ON MAYO: THREE SUMMERS ago, Dublin and Mayo played out a thrilling All-Ireland semi-final in Croke Park – a match that was followed by the most anti-climatic final of modern times.



"We feel we have a young squad that is working very hard and progressing. But we are at a different stage than Galway, for instance. Last weekend was a perfect demonstration of that when the counties met in the U-21.

"They had two of their present senior panel playing whereas we had five. We do have some senior players like James Nallen and David Heaney coming back and they are needed now more than ever as we try and phase younger players in.

thanks for that icc well it looks like jimmy and heaney are coming back they must have got that text moysider

[moysider]

KEITH DUGGAN

Sat, Mar 21, 2009

GAA FOCUS ON MAYO: THREE SUMMERS ago, Dublin and Mayo played out a thrilling All-Ireland semi-final in Croke Park – a match that was followed by the most anti-climatic final of modern times.



"We feel we have a young squad that is working very hard and progressing. But we are at a different stage than Galway, for instance. Last weekend was a perfect demonstration of that when the counties met in the U-21.

"They had two of their present senior panel playing whereas we had five. We do have some senior players like James Nallen and David Heaney coming back and they are needed now more than ever as we try and phase younger players in.

thanks for that icc well it looks like jimmy and heaney are coming back they must have got that text moysider

Looks like it Deel Rover.

[rosnarun]

dare I say it but surely the next mayo manager will be pat holmes . great  u21 record , will know all the young players comeing onstream and a former winner of a national title with mayo  now with added experience.
all you have to do is blank your memory of his championship matches and there really is no other option

[Lar Naparka]

I've kinda given up on the seniors as there is no fun in predicting the worst and then waiting for it to happen. There's no fun whatever in criticising our beloved manager.. I'm sure he too is hoping the downward spiral will bottom out soon.
I thought Johnno would possibly start to motor this year; things surely can't sink much further thought Lar.
Lar is no mean analyst either- he's much worse than that!
However, right now any latchiko can see that there may be trouble ahead and assloads of it.

Johnno is waiting on the one hand for the veterans like Jimmy Nallen and David Heaney to return. At the same time, he can't field a full side without a contingent of the u21 lads. Worse still, a few gossoons who have still to sit their leaving certs  are being thrown in and they are also playing u21 as well.
Now don't tell me I am Johnno-bashing but I figure things have gone beyond the joke stage. We have the likes of young Hennelly and O'Shea on the one hand and James Nallen at the other end who is double their age.
Is there nothing in between?
The manager has spent two years working to assemble a squad and cannot cobble something together out of a couple of very good u21 sides and a core of players who were good enough to reach a couple of All Ireland finals?
You wouldn't find the likes of it in the Dandy!

[moysider]

dare I say it but surely the next mayo manager will be pat holmes . great  u21 record , will know all the young players comeing onstream and a former winner of a national title with mayo  now with added experience.
all you have to do is blank your memory of his championship matches and there really is no other option

I d like to see us a serious championship team before I start wetting the bed again Rosnarun. The next manager you suggest would only make that possibility more remote. This is the attitude that has kept us where we are. Shudder.

[kevmy]

To be honest guys I don't know what to expect next week or in the Championship but I think our defence will be a lot stronger than it has been over the last couple of years. I hold this opinion mainly on two things, increased experience for the young players we had last year and the quality of fresh talent coming through. We have been better in defence so far this year in the league and I we still have Heaney, Nallen, Higgins and Howley to come back.

I would like to think that once we get Barry Moran back we will have a bit more shape to our attack also. This team is crying out for a target man. When Mac was playing centre forward we didn't need a target man, all the ball went through him and he could put the ball on a sixpence. We don't have that option now and Austie is not up to intercounty Championship pace at FF.

We got a bit wiped at midfield against Dublin but I hope that with Parsons back that will improve (although it has to be said I'm very worried about McGarrity's form) and also free up Harte to move to the half forward line (Barry Kelly was poor there against the Dubs - he kicked the ball about 4 times in total and all those went astray - whats the point of a forward if he can't kick a ball?).

I also hope Ronaldson isn't played as a sweeper between the FB line and the half backs again. I understand the reasoning in that he a good passer of the ball and we've had trouble moving the ball from that region quickly but he seems to be one of the few forwards in form at the moment.

Having said all that I think there is a good team here but so far we've had lads out for a number of reasons (playing U21, injuries, in Oz and not yet returned) and I think if we get our best 15 on the pitch in Championship we might just click together. Unfortunately thats hope and pray not expectation but I do believe this league campaign will be the start of something long term with lots of young player blooded and getting experience it should set us up for the future.

As for management we all have our thoughts. However I think it is unlikely and undesirable to change manager between now and the end of the Championship. So I'd like to see all this talk stopped about the next management or calls for Johnno's head or all of the other backbiting. It's not going to do us any good regardless of whether people reckon he's up to the job or not. Wait till the end of Championship then ye can wail and talk and crank up the rumour machine all ye want but support the team now and for the summer. There lots of people talking but there hasn't been over 2,000 at any of our home matches so far so I reckon there must be an awful lot of hurlers who got stuck in ditches on the roads to Ballina and Charlestown.

[highorlow]

This management has been inept from day 1 and the problems continue. I cannot think of one positive impact that they have made on Mayo football

The manager has spent two years working to assemble a squad and cannot cobble something together out of a couple of very good u21 sides and a core of players who were good enough to reach a couple of All Ireland finals?
You wouldn't find the likes of it in the Dandy!

Ye lads should be working for some red top paper's with this sort of overreaction.  One would think that we were just after getting knocked out of round 1 of the Tommy Murphy Cup based on some of the statements posted here.

As I've mentioned earlier it is still windy and wet March Football and far too early to judge.

In 2007 no one would have expected Mayo to win the All Ireland. In 2008 huge progress was made and an inexperienced Mayo team were knocked out of the competition by the eventual winners by a single point (probably a game we should have won). The main reasons we lost to Tyrone last year was player inexperience, fatigue and lack of physical presence.

It is clear from looking at the lads during this league that they have bulked up over the Winter and are clearly unphased by these league match's and don't really care to much about them. If people here want a league title then so be it but I amongst many others couldn't give a damn about the league.

The plan in the league is to stay up and avoid any serious injuries and to focus on fitness levels and peeking in the summer.

If people want to be critical it is best to judge JOM and his management after the championship as the critics here I'm sure were good footballers on their day and probably know a small bit about management but i can't understand how they are been critical about sectors of the Mayo management when they don't even know what the plan is.

Fair enough to add critical comments at the end of the season , i.e. the end of September, hopefully the only criticism will be how long people took to get back west following SAM as I for one feel that this will be our year and that JOM sense's this also and is already playing with the media and talking down our chances.

As for the Game on Sunday, the result is irrelevant but Mayo to start a good punch-up with a good few yellow and red cards would be beneficial.