James Horan Appointed Mayo Manager 2011

[macdanger2]

Lot of unfair sh*te being spouted here about Johnno - I believe that Johnno is a football man first and a politician / teacher second. He spent many years in football before being elected and I have no doubt that if he loses out in the next election, he will remain involved in the GAA at some level.

If politics were his sole driver, then he would have resigned last year after the Meath game - perhaps he would have been right to do so but like any Mayo man, the thing that keeps him there is a belief that we can win Sam and that he can take us there. I wouldn't necessarily be jumping on the Connelly bandwagon though - who has he managed since leaving the U-21 post?

Sadly, it seems as if he is not the man to do it. Perhaps his methods are outdated, perhaps being a TD is taking up too much of his time (remember that the Dail sits 3 days a week unlike most jobs so in theory it should be the ideal job for a manager) or perhaps the players just don't believe in him.

Either way, unless he works some kind of a miracle in the qualifiers, he has to go - the lack of passion and fight from Mayo in the last two games has been unbelievable. The players have to take some responsibility for this - they seemed to show no pride in the jersey whatsoever. Unfortunately this is nothing new for Mayo, it is oddly reminiscent of the 04 and 06 finals. Those incidents may be put down to nerves / lack of bottle or whatever but at the moment it seems to be endemic in this Mayo side and Johnno has to take the ultimate responsibility.

I don't think stepping down immediately would be the right thing to do - it would leave the team in limbo, would be a thankless job for whoever would come in and would be starting the new manager's tenure on a losing note. It may not be pretty but I think we have to stick with Johnno until the end of the season - not likely to be too long.

It's going to be a difficult job for the new man coming in next year but if the right team is in place, the talent is there to beat the likes of Cork/Kerry although I think we remain a few players short of an AI - could manage to sneak one though.

Regardless of the pessimism on here, I intend to go to the qualifiers and continue supporting the team - it's easy to put on the jersey and head to Dublin when things are going well.

I hope Johnno will have the good sense to leave if / when we exit the qualifiers, even though he hasn't left behind the legacy he would have wanted I think he will always be remembered for the U-21 title in '83 and bringing us to the final in '89.

Maigh Eo Abu

[muppet]

Good post MacDanger.

[Ludraman]

I think the players shud be locked up in a camp until the next match. Bring in some american army drill sargent and give him a cupla seachtain with them. That wud sort dem out.

[spectator]

In fairness Spectator that post, while well written, is patronising tripe.

A county waits 38 years to get to an AIF and then enjoys it. So what. I was in the Grand Hotel after that match and the most disappointed man in the building was Johnno. While some were patting him on the back he couldn't hide his pain. There were tears in his eyes all night.

TBH, I don't agree that the description of events at the time makes them a pile of patronising tripe at all, Muppet.  Maybe it's all too easy to come to that conclusion from a 2010 perspective.

If anything in fact, the compilers of the 1989 Mayo GAA Yearbook probably described the zeitgeist of the times quite well.

The 80's had been unrelentingly grim with mass unemployment and emigration. When the Irish soccer team qualified for Euro '88 in Germany and were moderately successful, hundreds of thousands turned out in Dublin to welcome them home and cheer their efforts. There was a hunger amongst Irish people back then for even a modicum of success and something to cheer about.

From the yearbook photos of Johnno & Jimmy Browne, it's clear that the pain of defeat weighed heavily with them, as it did I'm sure with most of the others directly involved. Of that there's no doubt. Those two photos don't sit easily beside the hoopla of the text based articles.

However, rightly or wrongly, the yearbook accounts of '89 show us that people in Mayo derived a great sense of self-worth out of their county's achievements on the GAA fields that year.

As manager, Johnno deserves a lot of credit for what he did for the county & its people in leading Mayo to the AIF at such a generally grim time. He lead Mayo to a position where an All-Ireland became a possibility once again for the first time since 1951.

Time has probably diminished that for most folks, but it shouldn't be forgotten and deserves to be acknowledged when looking back at Johnno's service to Mayo.

[rosnarun]

of course the dicision you play in makes a difference. its a sign on of your ultimate quality. it does not mean you wont balls up on a particular day against inferior opposition . which is what happened last sunday. that quality was there for all to see in the league this year in omagh in derry and esp in tralee. the one place outside the final they messed up was against dublin in casrtlebar.
as for last year yes we beat a useless ross team this year we lost to a similar sligo one. progress???
JOM could not have done a better job of destabilizing  the team last sunday if he had been in the pay of the enemy . no plan no shape no hunger . thesae are what you look to a manager for . he provided nothing but a general stae of worry .
why was our best player aosé left off
was moran injured
why did we have 2 debutants in the full forward line one very out of position .
where had BJP shown the form that he deserved to be 1st sub.
where had cuniffe shown the form that he deserved to start
what did Seamus o shea do wrong ?
Mayo can still have a good year but the cause would be very much helped with any other manager.

[Farrandeelin]

If I was a Sligo person, ros I would argue with this 'inferior opposition' shit you keep on spouting about. In fact, it actually makes my blood boil thinking anyone should consider any opposition 'inferior'. It usually comes back to bite you on the arse. I hope to God the Mayo players didn't think Sligo as inferior as you do rosnarun, anyway tell me what inferior means? Because it certainly looked to me that Mayo were far inferior in every way on the pitch from the 15th minute onwards, despite managing to lead until the middle of the second half.

[Barney]

I think it is fair to say that JOM did give Mayo some great days in the 80s and returned us to an All Ireland which we could only have dreamed of. From there Mayo have operated at a consistently higher level and despite disappointments have contested 4 All Ireland Finals since Dublin last played in one. However as moysider has said things were left in a mess.

In the Mayo Advertiser John Maughan is certainly less than impressed. Somewhat sweet for him to be able to turn the knife after the way O'Mahony wrote about him. Whatever about his flaws the achievements of Maughan has Mayo manager are unsurpassed:

It seems now that Mayo's dreadful display against Cork in the league final earlier this year was not a once off, but a fair reflection of where this team and management currently stands. In that final we played like a division four team. We looked every inch a division four team again last week. I realise that winning performances are not always associated with dazzling displays of individual or team brilliance. A winning performance is achieved by relentless work, harrying, hitting, running, tracking back, tackling, winning dirty balls. This is a basic requisite to be successful in championship football. That's what we wanted from our evening in Sligo. As a result of the defeat Mayo has also missed out on an attractive home tie against our old friends, Galway, in a few weeks' time. It was planned to coincide with the official opening of the new stand, but that too must be shelved for the time being. This missed opportunity also means a very significant loss of revenue for the County Board and another hit to local businesses.

With regard to last Saturday's game, Mayo's performance was disorganised and lacklustre. It lacked the intensity expected of a championship encounter. We all expected a tough encounter against Sligo. They are a winning side with bucket loads of confidence and have made a very significant improvement under the astute management of Kevin Walsh over the last few years. Mayo, on the other hand, are very clearly lacking in confidence at the moment. However I still thought we would be good enough to overcome Sligo, and believe it or not, I felt we had sufficient quality to win a Connacht title this year. In hindsight, I believe this match could have been won had management addressed a number of issues that arose before and during the game. Once Chris Barrett was ruled out through illness, Mayo should have considered Liam O'Malley as a direct replacement. He has played well in several games throughout the league as an orthodox corner back and should have been the player nominated to replace Barrett. Instead we moved Donal Vaughan, selected at wing back, to corner back where he struggled to mark Sligo's most dangerous forward, David Kelly. The dog on the street recognises David Kelly's abilities as a corner forward. Keith Higgins, Mayo's slickest defender, should have been nominated/delegated a month ago to pick Kelly up from the start.

Once Eamon O'Hara was dispatched from full forward to assist with a leaking full back line, Mayo's management should have identified that we needed a good running extra player to attack from midfield. I have three in mind who could have filled this role; Gardiner, Vaughan, or McLaughlin. Instead Mayo kept their extra player, Ger Cafferkey, in the full back line as an extra where he was not much of a threat to Sligo. As it transpired we got a dream start and Alan Freeman looked like he could have beaten Sligo on his own such was his dominance in the first 10 minutes. He was excellent as a debutant. Unfortunately Mayo persisted in trying to find him with long ball which the inspirational O'Hara mopped up time and time again. It was obvious that attacking from midfield with a running option would have sucked O'Hara away from his sweeping role in front of the full back, and at least the Sligo management would have a decision to make. And finally, John O'Mahony persevered way too long with several players who were just not on their game. Throwing on players to try to rescue a match, when the momentum had clearly shifted to the opposition, was just a case of shutting the gate after the horse had bolted.

I cannot understand why the Mayo players looked so flat last weekend. Perhaps it was the schedule of challenge matches played that left them looking tired and drained. However one would expect that players should still be able to deliver a championship performance. This clearly was not the case however. There was a distinct lack of enthusiasm, little or no motivation, and there appeared also to be a number of players looking to the sideline to be rescued long before the final whistle. Management has to shoulder some of the blame here too. They are expected to provide the direction and tactical decisions their players need. To be effective in this regard you need some degree of an emotional connection with each player. I get the impression that the entire set up surrounding the Mayo football scene is not a happy one. There appears to be little or no connect between management and players. If I thought for a minute that this team was not capable of significant improvement in this year's campaign then I would prefer if our championship season ended at the next outing. The last thing we need is a 'handy' draw that would eventually lead to an embarrassment in some lion's den!

[spuds]

maughan is very direct and pointed he has shown great restraint in going easy on omahony since johnno took over 4 years ago. no brash statements or low digs god knows he has had plenty of material to get stuck in
saddest part of it all maughan saying he hopes we go out in 1st qualifer just seems wrong

[myball22]

Seems a bit hypocritical to me for him to criticize the way a half back was moved to corner back to mark David Kelly when in an All-Ireland final some years ago he made 4 or 5 changes when he lost Dermot Flanagan to injury. Maybe he learned from experience that you need to play players in the correct positions!!

[joemamas]

maughan is very direct and pointed he has shown great restraint in going easy on omahony since johnno took over 4 years ago. no brash statements or low digs god knows he has had plenty of material to get stuck in
saddest part of it all maughan saying he hopes we go out in 1st qualifer just seems wrong

I am not the biggest John Maughan fan, but your last comment is not accurate, he said that if he thought we were not capable of a significant improvement then we would be better off out.

He made some decent points regarding Keith Higgins and Vaughan not being a corner back, in fact, I noticed Vaughan attempting to block a kick with one hand, if I saw a ten year old doing that I would pull him aside.

Gardiner in my mind is not a stay at home defender, a good attacking half-back, but where do you play him. Q , would Kerry play somebody like him, probably not, their backs are good defenders and their forwards are for the most part score getters. Mayo always seem to be facilitating two or three players and it is like trying to put a square into a circle.

He probably could have gone a lot deeper in his analysis of other players, but for some reason did not.

[spuds]

maughan is very direct and pointed he has shown great restraint in going easy on omahony since johnno took over 4 years ago. no brash statements or low digs god knows he has had plenty of material to get stuck in
saddest part of it all maughan saying he hopes we go out in 1st qualifer just seems wrong

I am not the biggest John Maughan fan, but your last comment is not accurate, he said that if he thought we were not capable of a significant improvement then we would be better off out.

fair enough joe but its doubletalk really why would he mention words like not capable and embarrassment ? not very subtle
there is not much positive in maughans writing leading to believe that he sees little hope

[Barney]

I think the problem with Gardiner as a half back is that he is attack minded. Will race up the field usually kick it wide or be dispossessed or caught on the back foot. We need a change of game plan in many ways so that our back line are not exposed.

[AbbeySider]

I think the problem with Gardiner as a half back is that he is attack minded. Will race up the field usually kick it wide or be dispossessed or caught on the back foot. We need a change of game plan in many ways so that our back line are not exposed.

+1

Your a rock of sense, I have been talking along those lines for years

[muppet]

I think the problem with Gardiner as a half back is that he is attack minded. Will race up the field usually kick it wide or be dispossessed or caught on the back foot. We need a change of game plan in many ways so that our back line are not exposed.

+1

Your a rock of sense, I have been talking along those lines for years

I don't mind him being attack minded, at the right time. It is his defensive work that worries me. Again last saturday when faced with a forward running straight at him he tried to meet him with his shoulder. A good forward will simply throw a shape and run by him. A proper orthodox defender will try and stay on his toes to tackle, not plant his feet for a shoulder, when facing a forward running at him.

There are roles that I would still use him for, e.g. man to man on the likes of Brian Dooher which he has done very well in the past. But I would agree with JM regarding replacing Chris Barrett.

[Barney]

Your a rock of sense, I have been talking along those lines for years

I know, but I have been saying it here for years also and ridiculed for having a vendetta against the lad!

I think he is a great servent to the cause, a great man to have in the squad but a weakness nonetheless against the better teams.