Mayo's (Where football is life) 3 greatest players

[fearsiuil]

Guys, my knowledge of Mayo football is fairly limited. I used to play a bit of football in the states about 10 years ago and there was a guy playing over there with myself called Ronan Golding. All of the Mayo guys out there would have told me that he was possibly the best footballer to ever come from the county, but quit playing too early for whatever reason. -Something similar to John Corvan and Armagh. I was wondering how the Mayo posters here rated him as a player?

ah ronan goulding or zuby as he was also known captained the mayo under 21 in 1994 or 1995 . he was a handy enough player but imo definately not one of the best to come from the county. He used to play with Balla, a decent skin ran a pub in balla for a while before emigrating   

Zuby ? Known as the Goose to all and sundry, captained the Mayo minors to an All-Ireland minor final in 1991 scoring one of the best goals seen there for manys a year in the process. To call him handy enough is doing the man a huge disservice, had nearly everything as a footballer, speed, strength and accuracy. Had the ability to win a match in a 5 minute spell.

He worked in the Shebeen pub in Balla alright, didn't run it though. Just a few pointys of order there Deel !! 

[the Deel Rover]

Guys, my knowledge of Mayo football is fairly limited. I used to play a bit of football in the states about 10 years ago and there was a guy playing over there with myself called Ronan Golding. All of the Mayo guys out there would have told me that he was possibly the best footballer to ever come from the county, but quit playing too early for whatever reason. -Something similar to John Corvan and Armagh. I was wondering how the Mayo posters here rated him as a player?

ah ronan goulding or zuby as he was also known captained the mayo under 21 in 1994 or 1995 . he was a handy enough player but imo definately not one of the best to come from the county. He used to play with Balla, a decent skin ran a pub in balla for a while before emigrating   

Zuby ? Known as the Goose to all and sundry, captained the Mayo minors to an All-Ireland minor final in 1991 scoring one of the best goals seen there for manys a year in the process. To call him handy enough is doing the man a huge disservice, had nearly everything as a footballer, speed, strength and accuracy. Had the ability to win a match in a 5 minute spell.

He worked in the Shebeen pub in Balla alright, didn't run it though. Just a few pointys of order there Deel !! 

ya pulled me up on everthing the fear , he must have been telling us a few white lies when he told us he was runninh the pub then also most of the lads from cross if you mentioned zuby (spl) would know you were talking about ronan and as i said a sound fella maybe i am doing him a dissevrvice but i don't think imo he was one of the best the best footballers ever to come out of the county . what age did he leave for america at ?   

[fearsiuil]

ya pulled me up on everthing the fear , he must have been telling us a few white lies when he told us he was runninh the pub then also most of the lads from cross if you mentioned zuby (spl) would know you were talking about ronan and as i said a sound fella maybe i am doing him a dissevrvice but i don't think imo he was one of the best the best footballers ever to come out of the county . what age did he leave for america at ?   

History dictates that he's not one of the greats but is another example of a lad with savage talent not fulfilling on his undoubted ability, for whatever reason that may be ! He gets an honourable mention in The House of Pain, Maughan did everything possible to keep him in the county setup when his interest was waning. He would of been mid 20s when he went stateside.
That 1991 minor team had some cracking players on it, Ronan, Kevin O'Neill, David Burke, Kenneth Mortimer, your clubmate Heffernan in goals etc. Took a very good Cork team to beat them. If anybody can get a link of Golding's All Ireland minor final goal it would be great. He came on in the 1993 semifinal drubbling vs Cork when the game was lost, not the place for him.

[RedandGreenSniper]

Ronan was outrageously gifted. Martin Carney is referred to in the House of Pain as having said he was the best minor he ever saw. That's praise not easily won, believe me. But Ronan liked the good life. That was his choice. A pity from a Mayo point of view but its a free country.

EDIT: His brother Gareth was arguably an even better soccer player. Was with Arsenal Youths but injury wrecked him. Played unbelievable football then as a striker for Manulla in the Mayo Junior Soccer League for a few years before the injuries ended that as well. He taught me French. Lets just say I know more about his soccer career then I do words in French!

[fearsiuil]

Was with Arsenal Youths but injury wrecked him.

He'd get a right laugh out of that  Arsenal youths me arse ! As for injury finishing his career 

[RedandGreenSniper]

Was with Arsenal Youths but injury wrecked him.

He'd get a right laugh out of that  Arsenal youths me arse ! As for injury finishing his career 

I'll hold my hands up if I'm wrong but I'd nearly swear to it! Maybe it was just a trial?? A great man for porter so that played a part but he finished up in his mid 20s. I think his knee gave in.

[moysider]

Ronan Golding ticked all the technical boxes anyway. He was a thoroughbred of a player. I d say all he lacked was dedication. He seemed like one of those lads where the game came very easy to them but he could take it or leave it. I think I remember him playing in 94 Connacht final as well. Possibly as a sub. Did nt he hit the post at least once that day?

[RedandGreenSniper]

Ronan Golding ticked all the technical boxes anyway. He was a thoroughbred of a player. I d say all he lacked was dedication. He seemed like one of those lads where the game came very easy to them but he could take it or leave it. I think I remember him playing in 94 Connacht final as well. Possibly as a sub. Did nt he hit the post at least once that day?

Scored three points from play in the semi-final win over Sligo from left-half forward. Dropped for the final in favour of Tony Morley (I know, I know) but Morley was taken off for Casey and then Goulding came on from John Conmy and kicked two points from play. Not bad on a day when we could only score 2-4 in total against Laythrium.

And I'll have to credit Willie Joe's blog for these stats! My memory isn't that photographic!

[muppet]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Dermot Early on this thread.

[moysider]

Ronan Golding ticked all the technical boxes anyway. He was a thoroughbred of a player. I d say all he lacked was dedication. He seemed like one of those lads where the game came very easy to them but he could take it or leave it. I think I remember him playing in 94 Connacht final as well. Possibly as a sub. Did nt he hit the post at least once that day?

Scored three points from play in the semi-final win over Sligo from left-half forward. Dropped for the final in favour of Tony Morley (I know, I know) but Morley was taken off for Casey and then Goulding came on from John Conmy and kicked two points from play. Not bad on a day when we could only score 2-4 in total against Laythrium.

And I'll have to credit Willie Joe's blog for these stats! My memory isn't that photographic!

Think MacDanger came on that day as well. I dont begrudge Leitrim but we really do give teams a leg up - Donegal in 92 another example. In 94 we had more than enough possession and chances to win but it seemed we needed to lose more badly than we cared to win. Some fine players on that team but there seemed to be some self-destruct dynamic built into them. I remember Liam McHale saying years later when he told a player that they needed to dig deep and up it, yer man turned around and said 'what s the point?'
Says a lot about 'yer man' and why he never fulfilled the great potential that he had. He s been mentioned a few times on this thread. 

[moysider]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Dermot Early on this thread.

Why? He may have been born in Mayo - was it Lahardaun/ Bofeenaun/ Islandeady country? He played all his stuff in Ros. If you start claiming him Muppet the Rossies will start some row and ruin this thread.

[Lar Naparka]

Ah I know all that Blast, Heffo can be lumped into the same category as O'Neill, Staunton, Butler and all the rest of them. I doubt if anyone in Ballina would ever take the line that it was because maughan hailed from Crossmolina.

I had the opportunity to ask John maughan about it - his answer was that it was his opinion that Brian heffernan wasn't good enough. Can't really argue with that now, can you?

I remember talking to a Mayo selector midweek in the run up to that final. Connelly s dad was gravely ill and it looked like Noel might miss the game. I suggested Heff could come straight in and judging by the eye rolling and gurning that I got I realised that the lad was not in the picture - under any circumstances.
Maughan has also gone on record as saying that he did nt think Kevin O Neill was good enough at the time either. Cant argue with that. His call. His to get wrong.

John did an awful lot of good in his time with Mayo and would have done it all if he had nt a few blind spots. He put his thrust in a few old comrades like Flanagan, Reilly, Holmes and Finnerty. In fairness they served him well to an extent but lacked the quality/fitness that others he had at his disposal may well have had at the time. In a couple of cases he seemed to prefer lads who were vocal in the dressing room to lads who were quiet and maybe a bit withdrawn. Butler, Ruane and Heffernan led by example on the pitch but were hardly army officer material in the briefing room. They may not have been 'stiff -upper-lip chaps' but they thrived in the trenches. Depends what your into really.

I can’t disagree with any of that. That is how Maughan and his man management skills come across to me. His record with three other counties seems to back you up here. I mean all the controversies that dogged his team selections can’t be put down to local issues in Mayo or to Knockmore players being extra thick or anything else of a petty nature.
I have no doubt whatsoever that he is an honourable man and like John O’Mahony his motivation and character is/was never in doubt. Both have a tendency to make wrong judgement calls. Wrong anyway to an objective observer.

[fearsiuil]

Was with Arsenal Youths but injury wrecked him.

He'd get a right laugh out of that  Arsenal youths me arse ! As for injury finishing his career 

I'll hold my hands up if I'm wrong but I'd nearly swear to it! Maybe it was just a trial?? A great man for porter so that played a part but he finished up in his mid 20s. I think his knee gave in.

Mayo youths got to the national final the year he was banging in the goals, I recall him saying that there was an Arsenal scout at that final. That's as far as it went. He was an out and out goal scorer.
He got a knee injury playing for Manulla alright that kept him out for months. Porter ? The man just sips bottles of pop now.

[fearsiuil]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Dermot Early on this thread.

Why? He may have been born in Mayo - was it Lahardaun/ Bofeenaun/ Islandeady country? He played all his stuff in Ros. If you start claiming him Muppet the Rossies will start some row and ruin this thread.

During his younger years he lived for a short while outside Balla.

[moysider]

Ah I know all that Blast, Heffo can be lumped into the same category as O'Neill, Staunton, Butler and all the rest of them. I doubt if anyone in Ballina would ever take the line that it was because maughan hailed from Crossmolina.

I had the opportunity to ask John maughan about it - his answer was that it was his opinion that Brian heffernan wasn't good enough. Can't really argue with that now, can you?

I remember talking to a Mayo selector midweek in the run up to that final. Connelly s dad was gravely ill and it looked like Noel might miss the game. I suggested Heff could come straight in and judging by the eye rolling and gurning that I got I realised that the lad was not in the picture - under any circumstances.
Maughan has also gone on record as saying that he did nt think Kevin O Neill was good enough at the time either. Cant argue with that. His call. His to get wrong.

John did an awful lot of good in his time with Mayo and would have done it all if he had nt a few blind spots. He put his thrust in a few old comrades like Flanagan, Reilly, Holmes and Finnerty. In fairness they served him well to an extent but lacked the quality/fitness that others he had at his disposal may well have had at the time. In a couple of cases he seemed to prefer lads who were vocal in the dressing room to lads who were quiet and maybe a bit withdrawn. Butler, Ruane and Heffernan led by example on the pitch but were hardly army officer material in the briefing room. They may not have been 'stiff -upper-lip chaps' but they thrived in the trenches. Depends what your into really.

I can't disagree with any of that. That is how Maughan and his man management skills come across to me. His record with three other counties seems to back you up here. I mean all the controversies that dogged his team selections can't be put down to local issues in Mayo or to Knockmore players being extra thick or anything else of a petty nature.
I have no doubt whatsoever that he is an honourable man and like John O'Mahony his motivation and character is/was never in doubt. Both have a tendency to make wrong judgement calls. Wrong anyway to an objective observer.

Yes.  But I m sure they believed they were doing the right thing. Why would you do what Johnno did and piss off 50/60/70+ % of the football people of Mayo on 1 decision? Cant remember a worse call ever but I have to let it go - but I wont.  Then this year he left Aidan Higgins behind. Unbelievable. Higgins played the county final like he was sitting in an armchair.
I ve been critical of both men while having more sympathy for Maughan s foibles as I saw them. Johnno at least inherited a position that others before him had got to the upper rungs.
But how can we be objective when we don t know what is happening from day to day in training? I mean anybody who has ever managed a team at any level will tell you that their perspective on the team selection/ shape/tactics/ whatever, is light years away from that of the mother/dad/girlfriend/ sub you just cannot play? People that only attend the big games-if any- but have all the answers. I saw that again after a couple of county finals last couple of weeks. I mean it s as far removed from the reality as you see it to be verging on the ridiculous. I m sure Maughan and O Mahoney often feel like that.
The other thing of course is who selects managers? You give me a name and I ll tell you what he brings to the table. The Mayo Board are ultimately responsible for the performance of the county teams. They knew the methods, and indeed baggage of their appointees - or should. But I would speculate they re just expedient and there is an awful lot of moving and shaping going on.  I believe [wrote it at the time] it was obvious we would go backwards with Johnno - we are now only a year or two away from mark level 93/ 94. On the other hand Dempsey brought a realism and a serious work ethic to the minors. I think I talked him up. If I know what we re getting, why does nt the board? Or are they playing a bigger game? Or are they just incompetent and we have to wait until they get lucky? They nearly got lucky with Mickey Moran but had his successor lined up 6 months after he was appointed. Go figure.