Maigh Eo V Muineachán 28/3/2010

[Cosmo Kramer]

Delighted that we were able to play 10/15 minutes of good football but what went before it was really putrid. Still, 5 wins in the league is a great achievement by the lads given that we faced a very tough fixture list with 4 games on the road. Division 1 is the only place to be developing footballers and the winning habit is a good habit for those younger lads involved.

We are far from the finished article though and I think Mayo supporters realise that. The players sometimes think they can waltz throw a game as if they have a bundle of All Ireland medals in their pockets and that lack of focus/desire is frustrating and gets us into trouble. If we the Monaghan attitude coupled with our skill we could be thinking of City West. As it is it is all shaping up to be a very exciting tussle with Sligo (who are going well) - with the greatest of respect we should beat them - and then a battle royale against Galway. Both teams need to look beyhond Connacht though.

Any news on Keith Higgins? His loss would be immeasureable and I don't know how we could compensate for that even taking into account his flaws as a corner back. It is another converted wing-back we would have to look to whether that be Barrett, moving Howley back, or even McLoughlin. Without Peadar Gardiner for all his flaws we would be down the two senior members of the back line for Sligo game and this will then be the 3rd championship which Higgins will have missed through injury. Vaughan is not an option in the corner in my opinion - his weaknesses here have been shown up. Liam O'Malley is flying - I know I have been extremely critical of him in the past but he was excellent yesterday - I do not think a leopard changes its spots and would still have major concerns come the Summer.

Conroy is not a full-back - Cafferkey has to be restored. That is the option the management went with - it is too late to try anything else here.

I would also be moving Andy Moran back to wing back. He played his best football there last year. He is too stagnant in the half-forward line and predictable. Let him try and drive the team from the back.

I don't know what Trevor Mort was doing yesterday but it definitely was less pretty than his usual contribution and that is saying something. Still the improvement of Ronaldson and the Varley option are great benefits of this league. Add in Kilcoyne and Harte and possibly Barry Moran and we have potentially a good forward unit.

What will happen when McGarrity comes back will also be interesting.

I know many say that it doesn't matter whether we make the Final or not. Two games against Cork would be invaluable and I think we should be going all out to claim a national title. We can only win 3 trophies every year. People rubbish the League; others rubbish the Connacht Championship - Sam is the be all and end all for most. Yes, it is the ultimate aim but the benefit of winning a national league for many of the younger lads would be immeasureable and added to their u21 All Ireland medals would be a winning culture that can serve us well. I would guess the Final will be in Croker if it is Mayo/Cork - wouldn't be more than 15,000 there. Personally I would play it at one of the provincial venues (God knows enough money was spent on them) - encourage a big crowd rather than playing it in an empty soulless Croke Park. Or better still take the gamble and toss for home venue. Hopefully the scenario arises.

Does anybody think McHale Park is now a dead and eerie place for League games with the new stand. You used to get a great atmosphere and apparently there were 7,000 there yesterday but things never got going at all - even with dire games we would be losing the run of ourselves with a few scores!

Anyway role on Pairc Ui Rinn.

You were going so well and then you said that! For God's sake I hope O'Mahony doesn't do that again - Andy is not a back and never will be. I would have him at wing half forward on my championship team and nowhere else. For the first 3 or 4 rounds of the league he was probably our best player, I think he will be important this summer. I would say the player in our half forward line who should feel most under pressure is Trevor. I know he's captain but that wasn't good enough yesterday. His aimless soloing into tackles will always cause us problems against teams who crowd the defence, and i can't see him changing at this stage of his career. After Parsons' performance yesterday, something has to give on McGarrity's return and I would drop Trevor, have him to bring on to run the legs off tired defenders in the last 20 if needed.

As regards McHale Park, I used to prefer going to Ballinrobe and Crossmolina for league games (never fancied Stephenites or Charlestown for some reason) but given the investment in the stand and the sale of season tickets, that's where the games are going to be. You could make a case for closing the rest of the ground on league match days and just putting everyone in the stand. That would keep the atmosphere up a bit. But then I know people who wont sit in the stand even if it's pissing down, others who always want to go behind whatever goal Mayo are playing into etc., so there would be complaints then as well I'm sure.

Finally I am once again disgusted by the antics of some of our so called supporters who hurl all sorts of abuse at our own players when thing are going wrong. A O Shea has been the target in recent weeks. He is still just a rookie learning the trade. He has been trying hard but no doubt anxiety has caused him to fumble etc at crucial stages. It might be no harm for supporters to remember that Donaghy was well into his 20s before he got a chance with Kerry and Tommy Walsh took 2 to three seasons to bed into a Kerry team which was well established.

To be fair, theres a few of those in every county and unfortunately we're no exception. I think the players understand that it is the minority who are idiots and that the real fans want to get behind the team. Gardiner's comments on Mayo fans after the Connacht Final last year were a nice touch and showed that the players do appreciate the support they get and can ignore the idiots.

Is it me or is Aidan O'Shea extremely one-paced. I thought he was desperate yesterday. Someone would want to tell him to get out of the gym and start running. He's only 20 yet he looked about 40 on the pitch. He's obviously angling for the move to the AFL with the bulking up he has done. He seems like hes fucked if he makes a little burst at all. I think the fact that he got the goal (which he took well) has glossed over a very sub-standard display. I would take him out of the team and tell him to get fit. His celebration for the goal was the sign of a young player who has believed all the hype.
He could take a leaf out of Seamus's book. He has battled well to get into team and is there to stay.

My view of his celebration is that it was a case of a very frustrated player letting go a bit once something finally went for him, I don't think he's hyping himself up or anything. I'm just guessing though. He can forget about the AFL on his current form, at the moment I would think that Shine and Conroy would be more attractive to the Aussies from a Connacht perspective than O'Shea.

[RedandGreenSniper]

Lads give Aidan O'Shea a break. For Christ's sake he's only 19. He's playing poorly and the frustrations that has built up came gushing out in the celebration after the goal - to suggest that it was him believing the hype is ridiculous. I used to think people exaggerated about how demanding Mayo supporters are. Now, I'm not to sure. We could go into lengthy analysis of things but the bottom line is this - he's a serious prospect who is going through some bad form at the moment. Be patient, it's only March for Heaven's sake.

[muppet]

I agree with not playing Andy Moran at half back, ever. By all means play him in the Dooher role or whatever but I wouldn't like to see him responsible for a proper forward.

Also agree that people should lay off Aiden O'Shea. See my comment re CMcD. He needs confidence not abuse. I'd suggest Barry Moran at 14 and Aiden at 15 for a few games. That would put extreme pressure for the other 4 places though.

[Foreverhopeful]

lads for christ's sake your saying he is only 19 yet he cant run. Thats my biggest problem with him. I do think he is a good footballer but he has to work very hard on his footwork. I wouldn't let him near a weights bench for the rest of the year. If he wants to keep going with the bulking up then fair play to him but he is a shadow of the athlete he was in 08'.
I would try him at no.11 for a sustained period. Bring in Barry Moran or Ronan to full.
What do ye think of Seamie O'Shea as a no.6?? I think he would be excellent. Big,strong, we know he can move with the ball. Would be a massive road-block there for teams running through. He reminds me of Canty. He will definitely start in the championship but where? This would allow Howley to move to corner back with Higgins presumably gone
Is there any sign of Tom Cunniffe?

[REDCOL]

Lads, while a lot of focus has been on our forwards, our full back line is now the biggest area of concern. Kieran Conroy and Ger Cafferkey have both been struggling at full back and now keith higgins injured.

[Cosmo Kramer]

Mayo v Monaghan highlights available to view here for anyone who is overseas and can't access RTE Player.


http://beo.tg4.ie/main.aspx?level=sport&content=62477945857


Actually, it's just Mayo highlights really, they show about one Monaghan score...

[Barney]

Muppet I think we need to forget about Barry Moran - he has missed too many important matches through injuries and when he gets a run of games like last Summer he gets injured at the crucial stage.

As a player he has a lot to offer but it is nearly 12 months since he played intercounty football and he has played about 3/4 matches in the last 2 or 3 years. Its an awful pity but some people are just not built for top class sport.

I would never describe Andy Moran as a top class half-back but I think he is better there than on the wing. He certainly isn't tracking back as much as he should be - maybe that is by design of management than his own decision. I have only seen the home games this year but he was certainly poor against the Dubs and against Monaghan.

What the hell is the answer with our full back line though? I don't there are hidden gems JOM is missing?

[ballinaman]

Mayo v Monaghan highlights available to view here for anyone who is overseas and can't access RTE Player.


http://beo.tg4.ie/main.aspx?level=sport&content=62477945857


Actually, it's just Mayo highlights really, they show about one Monaghan score...

Sound Cosmo, RTE player is a joke the way you can't watch it overseas. Sunday Sport is put up on youtube usually a week behind games which isn't too bad i suppose.

[moysider]

lads for christ's sake your saying he is only 19 yet he cant run. Thats my biggest problem with him. I do think he is a good footballer but he has to work very hard on his footwork. I wouldn't let him near a weights bench for the rest of the year. If he wants to keep going with the bulking up then fair play to him but he is a shadow of the athlete he was in 08'.
I would try him at no.11 for a sustained period. Bring in Barry Moran or Ronan to full.
What do ye think of Seamie O'Shea as a no.6?? I think he would be excellent. Big,strong, we know he can move with the ball. Would be a massive road-block there for teams running through. He reminds me of Canty. He will definitely start in the championship but where? This would allow Howley to move to corner back with Higgins presumably gone
Is there any sign of Tom Cunniffe?

Why would we want to do this? As far as I recollect he has no experience playing there. And before anybody brings up U21 final v Armagh, he was the free man at the back that day due to Armagh's tactics and so handled a sight of ball but did nt have a marking job to do. Tracking and turning is not his forte, punching forward is. 5,6 or 7 is the place for him.
I d leave Andy where he is and if I was to relocate any of the forwards it would be Trevor to wing back or even 6 might be worth a look.
As we struggle against packed defenses that push up a big target man is essential. There was space in behind all day yesterday but the ball was nt sticking. We still could have had 2 more goals as it is. Aiden O Sé needs to concentrate on his handling drills. He was getting his hands to enough ball but was spilling it. For me its a concentration thing - he s probably thinking too far ahead and what he wants to do with the ball. The only other thing wrong is that he s carrying too much weight. That easily sorted - diet and running. Playing Barry Moran loses a small forward but it could be the right thing to do. Because of the right foot and left foot free takers its Dillon and 1 from Varley/Mort for me with Varley as of now the man in possession.
Yesterday we were a rabble for a long time as a team but individually we were nt doing so badly. I think we re being a bit harsh on Conroy. He looked better than a few years ago. Ok he was rounded a couple of times but his man was getting good ball to run onto and will be a handful for even the most experienced backs. If anything the last few weeks have seen backs around the country being scutched. Anyway we don't have many options at this stage with what we have in the panel.
Management should consider a panel shuffle maybe. Lee Keegan was doing water-boy the last day. Good young player but does anybody think he ll get championship time this year. Ditto Mikey Sweeney. Chris Barrett is doing very well for us and Kevin McLoughlin finished strong yesterday. management have a lot of players that can play but there isn't an assured corner man or full back in the panel, let alone in the teaml. What to do? The simple solution will not happen of course. Management should eat humble pie and beg Aiden Higgins to come back for the Summer like I m Sure Jack O Connor is doing with Michael McCarty. Aiden is quite simply the best 2,3,4 or 6 available. The other thing is to get Kevin Keane - he plays in the fb line, the rest can't. O Malley goin well now but we ve seen that before. Until he does it for a summer the doubts will remain.
I think it was Lar Naparke that said the older heads did not stand up and be counted and Johnno will eventually have to wait til he he has a team all of his own creation before things really happen. For me yesterday the 2 best players that we had were Dillon and Keith H. They are the 2 class players in the team period imo and the fact that we won without them says a lot though not sure exactly what. That Dillon is injury prone and Keith looked in bad trouble yesterday is very worrying. Oh and Andy finished out the game well yesterday. At lest we re finishing strong this year.
I think we won yesterday because the team learned to deal with the problem they faced and came up with the solution. We got more men deeper behind the ball in the second half and created overlaps on the counterattack. In other words we beat them at their own game. I would be happier if management had come up with this strategy earlier rather than having it just happen, as appeared to be the case. The Dublin game should have been the wake up call. Monaghan also tired and playing that kind of game need to have the game won well before the hour mark. The excellent Clerkin and Finlay hardly touched the ball last 15 mins but were like magnets for the first 50 mins. A very useful experience this for everybody if they learn from it.Not every team comes out and goes toe to toe like Kerry did in Tralee.  We also need to experience what Cork have. We shouldn't  be too apprehensive about this one. Cork have scored goals, same amount as us, but have conceded more. They re also inclined to go off the boil during games. Maybe this is a game to keep tight early because they like to go for the early blitz, and surely will at home.

[orangeman]

Any word on Keith Higgins ? It looked bad on TV - Hope he's ok.

[Foreverhopeful]

Howley was corner back for U-21's in 06 when they won. We desperately need a good corner back and while i would prefer to play Howley elsewhere (no. 10 is where i would have him) i think he is one of the better options in the current panel.
A Higgins should be there but isn't. Crazy stuff.
K Conroy is a verstatile defender but he got shown up when placed on a very good forward who had an ocean of space around him. Conroy will do well against likes of Donaghy & Joe Sheridan and thats why he's needed.
We need to to try Ger Cafferkey elsewhere in the backs. Corner back IMO.
Kevin Keane should be brought in.
Why is Alan Feeney there if not being used? Was he injured recently.
Good to see Chris Barrett doing well. We now have 3 very good options for no. 5 in himself, Vaughan & Gardiner when he returns.
I am concerned about the depth of our backs. Assuming K Higgins is gone then we are in big trouble in the full back line. That is why i see it necessary to suggest Trev Howley as a corner back. Moysider what reshuffle would you do if you were moving trev back into the half backs? I can only presume that it would see Kevin mcloughlin lining up at no.4?

Here's how i would like to see us line up v Cork.
                             1
                        D Clarke
      2                    3                        4
T Howley           K Keane          G Cafferkey
      5                    6                    7
D Vaughan        T Mortimer      K McLoughlin
                            11
                       S O'Shea (sweeper)
                    8                  9
               T Parsons    R McGarrity
     10                      14                   12
A Dillon           Aidan O'Shea        A Dillon
               13                      15
           E Varley            M Ronaldson               

[moysider]

Howley was corner back for U-21's in 06 when they won. We desperately need a good corner back and while i would prefer to play Howley elsewhere (no. 10 is where i would have him) i think he is one of the better options in the current panel.
A Higgins should be there but isn't. Crazy stuff.
K Conroy is a verstatile defender but he got shown up when placed on a very good forward who had an ocean of space around him. Conroy will do well against likes of Donaghy & Joe Sheridan and thats why he's needed.
We need to to try Ger Cafferkey elsewhere in the backs. Corner back IMO.
Kevin Keane should be brought in.
Why is Alan Feeney there if not being used? Was he injured recently.
Good to see Chris Barrett doing well. We now have 3 very good options for no. 5 in himself, Vaughan & Gardiner when he returns.
I am concerned about the depth of our backs. Assuming K Higgins is gone then we are in big trouble in the full back line. That is why i see it necessary to suggest Trev Howley as a corner back. Moysider what reshuffle would you do if you were moving trev back into the half backs? I can only presume that it would see Kevin mcloughlin lining up at no.4?

Here's how i would like to see us line up v Cork.
                             1
                        D Clarke
      2                    3                        4
T Howley           K Keane          G Cafferkey
      5                    6                    7
D Vaughan        T Mortimer      K McLoughlin
                            11
                       S O'Shea (sweeper)
                    8                  9
               T Parsons    R McGarrity
     10                      14                   12
A Dillon           Aidan O'Shea        A Dillon
               13                      15
           E Varley            M Ronaldson               

Christ I dunno what to do with Trevor. I think he played injured yesterday from the throw-in after he took a wild pull at the ball. He played like a drain after. It s only March and Trevor has been around long enough to know that. Still, like against Dublin, when Trevor starts wild the whole team gets the jitters. He is the heart and soul of the team, that is why he is captain. Its unthinkable to drop him but how to use him to best effect?
If I was manager I would look at him again in the half back line because he does too many silly things in the forwards.
I honestly don t think Howley has the necessary for cb. There d be a pile of frees for a start - his recovery when turned is poor. He is programmed to go forward. McLoughlin probably the best in panel at the moment to play in the corner and it may suit him better at this stage to do a marking job. He s still a light lad for the championship playing between the 45s - he s not imposing himself yet winning hard ball around the middle. It was noticeable yesterday that he came into his own yesterday when Mayo gained the initiative and the game was stretched. As of now I would go something like this.

                                                         Clarke

        Higgins                                        Keane                               McLoughlin

        Vaughan/Cafferkey/ Barrett           'Trevor'                              Howley

                                           O Sé                    McGarrity

         Parsons                                       Dillon                                 Andy

         Varley                                         Moran                                O Sé

There would be considerable impact from bench as well with likes of Ronnie, Mort, Conroy,Harte

[Main Street]

Where have you all been hiding? You must been shaking with fear, struck dumb before the game,
then you all come out of the woodwork and the floodgates open for pages and pages of prose.
You weren't all this excited after the Kerry game.

[moysider]

Any word on Keith Higgins ? It looked bad on TV - Hope he's ok.

I was a good way from the incident and thought it was an ankle and was nt too bothered. Ye can do stuff with an ankle. Saw the highlights last night and it was obviously a knee twisting. That people heard a snap is ominous but hopefully that was something else. We ll know after the scan but for what its worth (and it might nt be worth a lot) there s word from within that it might 't be too serious. Fingers crossed. Saw a young fella stretchered off a few weeks ago after something similar and thought his year was over. He trained a week later and a scan showed no serious damage. Yet at the time he had a sharp pain in the knee and was straight onto crutches with his summer being written off.

[moysider]

Where have you all been hiding? You must been shaking with fear, struck dumb before the game,
then you all come out of the woodwork and the floodgates open for pages and pages of prose.
You weren't all this excited after the Kerry game.

We don t get excited any more Main Street. Obviously we did nt know what to expect before the Monaghan game. Of course that s not quite true. We knew that Banty and his team would bring their usual game - and a very good game it is too. Some of us would hope at this stage, would even expect that Mayo would have a way of dealing with it. No chance of that Playing into the wind in the first half we made no attempt to deliberately get men back and our much maligned backs had to make do. In the second half we evolved a swarm intelligence as a result of Monaghan exerting early pressure and our enforced backs- to- the-wall approach turned the game on its head as we are set up to counterattack ourselves. But none of it was preconceived. Wasn't a tactic. It might get you by this time of year but later on when the tactics are vital I would fear for us again. Because in my experience Mayo always have to be the best team on the day, while other serious teams take steps to make sure they give themselves every chance of winning a game. This is the thing about this Mayo team( and Mayo teams of the past I remember tbh). Can play a bit but tactically not the most astute.