James Horan Appointed Mayo Manager 2011

[An Gaeilgoir]

I would be happy Barney if Horan got the job because having looked at Down and Kildare (OK neither of them won Sam) but they had young modern managers who took a modern approach. I've always wanted Horan from the out-set even though I may have voted Dempsey on here but that was before he ruled himself out of the job. As well as that, if Lyons does get it, I think we're screwed - hopefully the club delegates will get some bit of sense and reject him.

Nail on the head, Farrandeelin. A fresh voice with modern attitudes and a connection with the players, young enough and hungry enough to be given 5 years to develop something, not an other high profile man from the "media" to raise our profile yet again, low key for supporters and managers for the next 18 months to rebuild something meaningful, no more sticking plaster solutions please and Not someone who is sitting on the sidelines for the past few years and may be out of touch with the modern game. Remember what happened the last time we got a manager who was out of the game for a while.

[boosabum]

I was talking to a co player at the weekend and he was shaking his head in disbelief at what was going on.

Did said county player shake his head in disbelief at what went on last year. Is he of the opinion that a new manager could actually lead the 2011 version to worse championship results than 2010. Are some of our players of the opinion that they are a sought after bunch that Mickey Harte would abondon Tyrone for ever if they glanced favourabely in his direction ?

[heffo]

Stephenite is right. The clubs are the medium through which the democracy of the GAA is supposed to operate. Sadly some people at board level have managed to manipulate things recently due to the indifference of some clubs and the cosy relationships with other delegates. Clubs delegates in Mayo? Their name is shit. And they have largely been the authors of that themselves. They have a chance this week when the fait acompli is put to them to, for once, show a bit of backbone and stand up for what they believe in. What they know is right and what they know is wrong. This is a pivotal moment in Mayo GAA. The entire county is against this move. If the club delegates back it, then it is they who should be named and shamed in terms of how they voted.

Lyons is the latest golden boy for certain members of the county board as he is coming at no cost and is apraently rich enough to cover his own expenses.

He own's his own company based just off the Kileen rd, Ballyfermot in Parkwest - he's not short of a few bob anyway..

[Cosmo Kramer]

I would be in the anyone but Maughan camp as well. Pleased that it won't be him, I'd rather not get to a final than go into another one with him in charge knowing we haven't a hope in hell of winning because he'll bollox it up again somehow (Seriously like, Fergal feckin Kelly - i'll never forgive him for that one).

Not saying Lyons is the answer by any means though. The backroom team will be interesting if it happens, hopefully people with good knowledge within the county. No point having a go at him because of his spoofing on the Sunday Game, my main worry is that its a long time since he's done, well, anything really - its a total shot in the dark hiring him...suppose the same could have been said of Horan, McGarry or Kearney.


By the way on the mobile phone version of this site we're now past 200 pages on this topic..!

Normally players who don't have good games aren't singled out in the media for a butchering, and this is a good thing. It's fair enough in soccer, when the abuse comes with a paycheck, but for amateur players it should be out of the question.

It should be possible after 6 long years ,to get the point across without getting personal ..

I agree with you Halfquarter but I think, in fairness to poor Cosmo, the man he will never forgive is Maughan, not the player in question. It was just phrased badly.

Thanks Iolar - not having a go at Fergal Kelly at all, he did his best, it was the man who picked him I was taking aim for. I could also have used examples from the 96 and 97 finals - players not on the bench (96), changing every line on the team to replace one man (97), the Kelly one was just the first one I thought of.

this has always drove me crazy about alot of mayo fans,saying it is better to lose early in the championship than risk getting a drubbing later on.My motto has always been,no matter how bad we are, to win every game and see where it takes you.The only way we are going to win sam is by getting to a final and some day our luck may be in.

That's not quite what I was saying. Obviously we need to get to the latter stages again before we can even think about winning, but my opinion is that the evidence of the past shows that Maughan is not the man to take Mayo (or anyone else) to an All-Ireland. Therefore (in my opinion) no point getting to the latter stages with him in charge. He's too prone to losing it on the sideline. In 04 we weren't good enough as a team regardless of the Fergal Kelly thing, but had they had an off day we weren't in a position to take advantage as a result of Maughan's selection. We lost one, if not two, AIs in the 90s on the sideline with him in charge - I'm glad he won't be returning and I was surprised that so many wanted him back.

Going off topic here but it was not the selection of Fergal Kelly that lost us the all ireland in 2004.we were just not good enough.I would agree that Brady should have been selected for the final but you would have to look at the reason he was dropped in the first place which was his display in the drawn game v fermanagh where he did not go for one ball all day .I probably should not have brought this up again as this thread will definatly hit 100 pages if we rehash that whole episode again

That's true, Kerry were much better than us that day, but the team picked was nonetheless wrong and we had clearly peaked too early in the year, the way we went from the Galway/Tyrone performances in June/July to the Fermanagh/Kerry ones in August/September was unbelievable.

But, as you say, that's best left in the past for the sake of this thread. 

Also, I don't want this to sound like a total personal attack on Maughan either, i have respect for what he achieved with Mayo in his two spells in charge, i'm just convinced it would be a mistake to take him on again.

[southsidejohnny]

Just saw Abbeysiders post that some of the players wont play for Lyons if he gets the job. Now its my fervent hope that he doesnt get the job but who in the name of god would take the notion of the Mayo squad that disgraced the county with the performance v Sligo and Longford seriously if that group went on strike. There is not a single one of them guranteed a start under a new decent manager. O Mahony and the Board will rightly take a share of the blame for the poor teams of the last four seasons but the largest portion belongs to the players who are miles from the real thing.

[Farrandeelin]

I was talking to a co player at the weekend and he was shaking his head in disbelief at what was going on.

Did said county player shake his head in disbelief at what went on last year. Is he of the opinion that a new manager could actually lead the 2011 version to worse championship results than 2010. Are some of our players of the opinion that they are a sought after bunch that Mickey Harte would abondon Tyrone for ever if they glanced favourabely in his direction ?

We mentioned last year too, he said it was a shambles and that with T. Lyons in charge it 'might get worse'. That's the jist of what he meant anyway I think.

[boosabum]

I wonder if James has done enough tonight to take the hot seat. Is an intermediate title and a possible senior one enough to tip the scales. Based on yesterdays game it looks as if he can devise a strategy to deal with the opposition. What is the feeling of his club mates, delighted for him if he's chosen or gutted to lose him from the club ?

[mayo51]

listened to the interview with James horan on madwest yesterday and i was very impressed .He was saying that he implements a system to suit his players and the reason he plays a sweeper is to take advantage of the pace of his own forwards where with one less forward they have more room to operate.He comes across as a man that knows what he wants from his players and is very sure of his ability to manage a team.I really hope he gets the job and is given time to implement his own plans as to what direction the mayo team should take.By the way has anybody got any idea who would makeup his backroom team ?

[moysider]

I d like to see Horan get it. I believe he has done more than enough to deserve a shot. Nothing against McGarry but Horan has a bit more hands on management experience. One of them should get it because they are the only ones left that wanted it in the first place. Lyon s being parachuted in like this is a bit annoying. Of course the Ex. always reserved the right to go after other potential candidates - follow the money as it were. Nobody seems to know what club nominated Lyons, if indeed he was nominated by a club.

How will the club delegates go? There seems to be little enough debate going on from what I can gather locally anyway. I m not aware of any meeting of members being organised in my club or neighboring clubs but it may still happen and we might be exceptions. Most club members I ve talked to aren't really interested in getting involved. There is an apathy there alright. Club people are club people and appear to leave the county to their bigger and betters.The club delegate appears to be left to his own devices. This is unfortunate for the non-club people who invest so much in Mayo as their team, but as Stephenite rightly says, they have no say in deciding anything. There is a chance that enough delegates will rock the boat on a Lyons appointment. There is a chance there will be enough to make a stand. But it s a long shot. It is unlikely they will be organised enough as a group but the others will. I expect a large middle ground will rubber stamp whatever the Ex. puts in front of them. It s the easiest way to do business with the big boys.

[JMohan]

Were the interviews last night?

[Tubberman]

Were the interviews last night?

Horan's was due to be last night anyway, not sure if the others were.

[AbbeySider]

I wonder if James has done enough tonight to take the hot seat. Is an intermediate title and a possible senior one enough to tip the scales. Based on yesterdays game it looks as if he can devise a strategy to deal with the opposition. What is the feeling of his club mates, delighted for him if he's chosen or gutted to lose him from the club ?

Personally id be delighted for him if he gets it, and I hope he does. He has the fullest backing of everyone in the club and he was our nomination for the job.

He helped take us up from Intermediate and in a very short term, turned us into a serious senior club and now, contenders for the Senior championship. Thats some achievement for a small club, even if we have had a lot of under-age success in the last decade, we needed someone like Horan to get us as far as we have come. I think Mayo need the same at the moment.

[kevmy]

Horan deserves a shot undoubtedly - Ballintubber were set up brilliantly the last day. Won midfield hands down, stuck to the game plan, were well drilled and very disciplined.

Can't really add much more to whats been said about TL. Wouldn't like to get personal against Lyons but surely Horan is the better candidate for Mayo at this juncture given our recent performances. Most of the supporters know it and it seems most of the players know it.

Regardless of what people say about how the players performed last yr (poorly) you can be damn well sure they want to turn it around next yr. I always worry when players are grumbling before the manager has even taken a session, no matter what county or club it is - the first thing that is needed is respect between players and management. Players can sniff authority a mile out and if a manager has none with the players he's doomed from the outset no matter how nice a fella he is or even how good a coach. In 99% of intercounty appointments the players accept the manager that is appointed or at least will give him a decent chance. They know themselves they need to up their game and I believe will follow any man they think will bring them on and improve the performances.


Also an interesting piece in the Indo today
http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/horan-gaining-mayo-support-2355188.html

[Tubberman]

I wonder if James has done enough tonight to take the hot seat. Is an intermediate title and a possible senior one enough to tip the scales. Based on yesterdays game it looks as if he can devise a strategy to deal with the opposition. What is the feeling of his club mates, delighted for him if he's chosen or gutted to lose him from the club ?

Personally id be delighted for him if he gets it, and I hope he does. He has the fullest backing of everyone in the club and he was our nomination for the job.

He helped take us up from Intermediate and in a very short term, turned us into a serious senior club and now, contenders for the Senior championship. Thats some achievement for a small club, even if we have had a lot of under-age success in the last decade, we needed someone like Horan to get us as far as we have come. I think Mayo need the same at the moment.

Yeah I think everyone would be delighted for him. From talking to people at home at the weekend, they all hope he gets the job, for a couple of reasons:
a. They know what a great job he has done with Ballintubber and feel he could do similar with Mayo.
b. They know that is what he wants. He is an ambitious and very capable guy, and people genuinely want to see him succeed.
c. They think he's the best of the candidates that are there.

Obviously, everyone would be very sorry to see him leave the Ballintubber job, but if we win the county final it will go some way to softening the blow!

[Lar Naparka]

Well, for better or worse it's now a three-horse race and the finishing line is in sight at long, long last! There could well be an unforeseen turn of events or two yet   Football, like politics and damn near anything else I can think of, seldom follows any sort of conventional pattern in Mayo.
Right now, it's going to be Lyons, Horan or McGarry.
I know I'm going against the majority consensus on this board but I think all three applications are being considered on their merits.
If the CB really did not want any element of democracy in the selection process, it could have gone ahead and saved everyone a whole load of hassle by appointing their own man when John O'Mahony stepped down.  That's the way it has been until now and AFAIK, it's the way other counties go about appointing a manager.
Our board allowed clubs to have a say through their delegates and if the majority of delegates haven't bothered to pay much attention to proceedings, it may ne regrettable alright but it is a case of democracy in action.
By now, it seems the interview stage is over and we should have a new man at the helm before the end of the week. I'd imagine if there was any suspicion of 'shennanigans' going on, any or all of the three men who went for interview would have been aware of this and pulled out of the running.
According to McStay in the Mayo News: "I'm just speculating, of course, but what disappoints me is that John Maughan seems to have pulled out because he felt there was 'shennanigans' going on, that the process is not being conducted in the manner it should be."
I'm only speculating also but Maughan's withdrawal led me to feel that maybe, just maybe, the process was being conducted according to the book.
Of those still in the running, my personal choice would be James Horan but I won't be too upset if either of the others get the nod.
Tommy Lyons doesn't appeal to be as a TV pundit but apart from that, I have no major reservations about his suitability for the job.

By all accounts he is a shrewd and successful businessman in his own right and if there really are individuals in Club Mayo who are prepared to back him with hard cash if he lands the job, I'd be inclined to look beyond his television persona.
Fair play to all three candidates for their willingness to step up to the mark and (I'm not taking a vindictive dig at Johnno here,) any of them will surely be an improvement on what has gone before them.