James Horan Appointed Mayo Manager 2011

[bucko]

The underage structures are a pile of crap.  I have been teaching for years at secondary school level and in all that time I have seen the Mayo coaching staff coming in to the school on only a few occasions.  I don't see too many kids getting excited about what goes on at these development squad outings.  If anything it puts some kids off the idea of progressing their footballing careers as they take a knocking if they don't make the grade at under 15 level, when many will only be beginning to develop physically. 

There are only a small number of the same teachers who are training teams in the schools and the help they get is minimal.  Martin McGrath was the last decent coach that I have seen coming to the schools, he was enthusiastic and was ever present.  From what I can see, clubs train teams for about 3-4 months.  For the remainder it is down to the schools.  Any teacher will tell you that the first training session in September shows up the lack of training that takes place during the summer months.  Clubs need to do more at primary school level to get kids involved.  Even in Knockmore which is one of the larger clubs, the amount of kids available when you get to under 14 level up is extremely small. 

On a more positive note, Mr. Maughan, who is favourite to get the Mayo managers Job, will get the chance to look at Kevin O'Neill once more in action.  Maughan reckons that he was not up to intercounty standard.  Anyone who wants to know why he should never be allowed to manage Mayo again should come to see O'Neill V's Maughan on Saturday week.  Kevin is 10 years past his prime but he will still be the best forward on show in Mchale park next week........Not good enough....we shall see

It says something when Kevin O'Neill is the stand out player in the senior championship at the mo, an indicator of the lack of quality footballers in the county perhaps??? Last years club stars midfield was Jimmy Nallen and Ginger Tiernan, another example that maybe the talent just isn't coming through from the underage levels.

Saffron makes a very good point, John Casey said the same in a recent piece in the Mayo News about the amount of underage footballers packing it in at a young age in Charlestown. Kids spend 9-10 months of the year in school, the county board should be doing more to promote and assist the coaching there, especially ones where there is a lack of teachers who are enthusiastic about football (sorry if this sounds vague, am trying to put this in a way that doesn't sound sexist!!!). A primary school's local club should be having a big input to the coaching of football in the school.

As regards the next manager, from what's been posted here no-one seems sure of who should get the job. There is no stand out candidate, the bookies favourites have as many cons as pros and there doesn't seem to be any perfect solution out there who will solve all our ills. Maybe the best option is one that will just bring a level of organisation, drive and passion that doesn't seem to have been there the last few years. Who that could be I can't say.

[Halfquarter]

The underage structures are a pile of crap.  I have been teaching for years at secondary school level and in all that time I have seen the Mayo coaching staff coming in to the school on only a few occasions.  I don't see too many kids getting excited about what goes on at these development squad outings.  If anything it puts some kids off the idea of progressing their footballing careers as they take a knocking if they don't make the grade at under 15 level, when many will only be beginning to develop physically. 

There are only a small number of the same teachers who are training teams in the schools and the help they get is minimal.  Martin McGrath was the last decent coach that I have seen coming to the schools, he was enthusiastic and was ever present.  From what I can see, clubs train teams for about 3-4 months.  For the remainder it is down to the schools.  Any teacher will tell you that the first training session in September shows up the lack of training that takes place during the summer months.  Clubs need to do more at primary school level to get kids involved.  Even in Knockmore which is one of the larger clubs, the amount of kids available when you get to under 14 level up is extremely small. 

On a more positive note, Mr. Maughan, who is favourite to get the Mayo managers Job, will get the chance to look at Kevin O'Neill once more in action.  Maughan reckons that he was not up to intercounty standard.  Anyone who wants to know why he should never be allowed to manage Mayo again should come to see O'Neill V's Maughan on Saturday week.  Kevin is 10 years past his prime but he will still be the best forward on show in Mchale park next week........Not good enough....we shall see

I am unable to see the positive note in Mr. Maughan watching Kevin O'Neill. Have I missed something ?

[rosnarun]

  Austin O'Malley scored eight points for St Vincents in Dublin on Saturday night. Austin gets a lot of abuse on his board, and he's had some shockers in the colours. But was that Austin's fault, or is it because Austin was being asked to do stuff he's not built for, and not asked to do stuff he is?

I don't know. It'd be nice if this Mayo review asked that sort of question, about Austin and the other lads mentioned, and how we assess a player's worth in Mayo. I won't be holding me breath though.

ha ha ha ha  good one keep them coming

[Barney]

Ah lads will ye stop talking about a "review". There isn't going to be one. It was a PR stunt that was not thought out properly by the Board. They factored that Mayo fans were going to be so sick after the Longford defeat that nobody won't want to talk football and so they could shield themselves from criticism and show they were doing something. If they had been serious about it it would have been followed up very quickly or a more definite statement would have issued. Some half hearted review will take place but we will not see any radical change in how Mayo GAA is run while the same personalities remain in charge of the show. Anyhow these lads fail to see that the mess that they have made in organising things on the pitch is the reason why they are not and will not get the financial support they need for the redevelopment of McHale Park - and when you can't turn the mirror and see what is wrong with yourself you can't solve the problem.

Anyway today is D Day. Again I wonder what was the thinking behind getting candidates being nominated to submit a letter of interest to the Board? Of course you only want to speak to realistic and interested candidates but the nature of these GAA job hunts is that nobody will put their name forward to be rejected. I guess we are going to have no nominations. Is this an attempt by the Board to say - we have given the clubs a chance, they came up with nobody so we have to sort it out - and then they can hand pick their own favoured Fine Gaeler and install him to the job. Delegates at the next County Board meeting will not reject any appointment because they do not stand up the Board (as we saw in the Mayo News people spoke at the last meeting about being afraid and fearful of talking out against the Board even in such a forum) and if nobody puts their hands up they will have to rubber stamp whoever gets with mumblings of "shure who won't wan't it anyhow".

So even before we get on the pitch these are the problems that mean we are losing already.

[Lar Naparka]

I wonder if some kind could answer a few questions for me. Maybe I should know the answers already but I haven't taken my fist shot of strong coffee yet and that's my usual giddy up to make me my usual bright and cheery self.

What exactly are we to expect today?
Nominations are supposed to have been delivered to the CB by yesterday at latest but what happens next?
I assume we are referring to candidates that have been proposed and seconded by Mayo clubs. But there may well have been expressions of interest from individuals who may have contacted the CB directly- or who may have been approached by that august body.
Is the list of those who were nominated going to be made public? In any event, the board is under no obligation to select anyone from this list and I'd imagine some, if not all, nominees are reluctant to have their applications made public if they fail to land the job. If, say, Paidi or Big Joe or indeed any other high profile individual did approach the board and are turned down, they certainly wouldn't appreciate their interest being made known to all.
At the end of today, will we really be any wiser than we are right now?
Even if the white smoke goes up the chimney and our wait for a manager is over, is there any reason to believe that the whole exercise wasn't a scam and that the CB hadn't their man in position before the nominations began to come in?
I really hate being cynical but I'm inclined to line up with those who feel the whole process could well have been a waste of time from beginning to end.

[Logan]

Is Micko seriously a nominee?

[Barney]

I suspect Micko will be going to Limerick as has been speculated for a few weeks.

Anyhow Maughan is out of the running. Two names have been nominated.

Two names in the hat for the senior job so far
Mayo Advertiser, August 20, 2010.
By Colm Gannon

There had been two nominations made by clubs to fill the role of Mayo senior football manager at the time that this paper went to print on Thursday evening.

"We've had two nominations in from clubs so far, but the process is still open to clubs to make nominations untill tomorrow evening and I expect that we will get more in on Friday that's the way it usually works," Mayo county board secretary Séan Feeney told the Mayo Advertiser yesterday. As to the identity of the two men who have been nominated for the job and who nominated them, Feeney said he was unable to say who they were or which clubs made the nominations. "We've got two nominees in as I said, but we have to cross check with those who were nominated that they are interested in the job. The nominations said that there would be a letter following from the nominee to say they wanted to be considered. We have to receive those yet." Feeney went on to say that he didn't expect any major movement on the situation until the end of next week at the earliest.


Maughan rules himself out

A number of names have been flying around as to who will be the man to take over the manager's job for next year, including Noel Connelly, Peter Ford, Denis Carney, Mick O'Dwyer, and two time former Mayo manager and Mayo Advertiser columnist John Maughan. Maughan told the Mayo Advertiser this week that he had been approached by a number of clubs but told them that he didn't want to be put forward for the position.

[moysider]

Hmmmm. Interesting that Maughan has ruled himself out like that. Must think that he s out of favour.

[IolarCoisCuain]

Just because Maughan's ruled himself out doesn't mean he won't get the job. If there's a stalemate, say, can he refuse his county's call in its hour of need? It's a long road with turning, you know.

Will any names of those in contention be released, or will there just be a coronation, does anyone know?

[ross4life]

When the new Mayo manager has been chosen, the paper nominations are burned with with some type of chemicals to produce white smoke. This announces to the world that the conclave has selected the new Mayo Manager for 2011 

[rosnarun]

Ah lads will ye stop talking about a "review". There isn't going to be one. It was a PR stunt that was not thought out properly by the Board. They factored that Mayo fans were going to be so sick after the Longford defeat that nobody won't want to talk football and so they could shield themselves from criticism and show they were doing something. If they had been serious about it it would have been followed up very quickly or a more definite statement would have issued. Some half hearted review will take place but we will not see any radical change in how Mayo GAA is run while the same personalities remain in charge of the show. Anyhow these lads fail to see that the mess that they have made in organising things on the pitch is the reason why they are not and will not get the financial support they need for the redevelopment of McHale Park - and when you can't turn the mirror and see what is wrong with yourself you can't solve the problem.

Anyway today is D Day. Again I wonder what was the thinking behind getting candidates being nominated to submit a letter of interest to the Board? Of course you only want to speak to realistic and interested candidates but the nature of these GAA job hunts is that nobody will put their name forward to be rejected. I guess we are going to have no nominations. Is this an attempt by the Board to say - we have given the clubs a chance, they came up with nobody so we have to sort it out - and then they can hand pick their own favoured Fine Gaeler and install him to the job. Delegates at the next County Board meeting will not reject any appointment because they do not stand up the Board (as we saw in the Mayo News people spoke at the last meeting about being afraid and fearful of talking out against the Board even in such a forum) and if nobody puts their hands up they will have to rubber stamp whoever gets with mumblings of "shure who won't wan't it anyhow".

So even before we get on the pitch these are the problems that mean we are losing already.

what if there is just one, we could end with St patrick or some other loon

[mayo51]

The underage structures are a pile of crap.  I have been teaching for years at secondary school level and in all that time I have seen the Mayo coaching staff coming in to the school on only a few occasions.  I don't see too many kids getting excited about what goes on at these development squad outings.  If anything it puts some kids off the idea of progressing their footballing careers as they take a knocking if they don't make the grade at under 15 level, when many will only be beginning to develop physically. 

There are only a small number of the same teachers who are training teams in the schools and the help they get is minimal.  Martin McGrath was the last decent coach that I have seen coming to the schools, he was enthusiastic and was ever present.  From what I can see, clubs train teams for about 3-4 months.  For the remainder it is down to the schools.  Any teacher will tell you that the first training session in September shows up the lack of training that takes place during the summer months.  Clubs need to do more at primary school level to get kids involved.  Even in Knockmore which is one of the larger clubs, the amount of kids available when you get to under 14 level up is extremely small. 

On a more positive note, Mr. Maughan, who is favourite to get the Mayo managers Job, will get the chance to look at Kevin O'Neill once more in action.  Maughan reckons that he was not up to intercounty standard.  Anyone who wants to know why he should never be allowed to manage Mayo again should come to see O'Neill V's Maughan on Saturday week.  Kevin is 10 years past his prime but he will still be the best forward on show in Mchale park next week........Not good enough....we shall see

This is the kind of stuff that drives me crazy.i have always got the impression that most knockmore posters on here would prefer 4 or 5 of their club players on the mayo team rather than winning the all ireland.the truth is constantly being twisted in an effort to suit their own agendas.does any one on here think that maughan would jeopordise an all ireland by not picking certain players. oneill,butler and staunton  all played for mayo pre 1996 and we were still well beaten every year and in fact oneill would have started the 97 final but he broke his leg 3 weeks before the game.I am from south mayo and have no connection to crossmolina but enough is enough and the fact remains that john maughan put the steel back in mayo football and made us genuine all ireland contenders the years he was in charge

[moysider]

The underage structures are a pile of crap.  I have been teaching for years at secondary school level and in all that time I have seen the Mayo coaching staff coming in to the school on only a few occasions.  I don't see too many kids getting excited about what goes on at these development squad outings.  If anything it puts some kids off the idea of progressing their footballing careers as they take a knocking if they don't make the grade at under 15 level, when many will only be beginning to develop physically. 

There are only a small number of the same teachers who are training teams in the schools and the help they get is minimal.  Martin McGrath was the last decent coach that I have seen coming to the schools, he was enthusiastic and was ever present.  From what I can see, clubs train teams for about 3-4 months.  For the remainder it is down to the schools.  Any teacher will tell you that the first training session in September shows up the lack of training that takes place during the summer months.  Clubs need to do more at primary school level to get kids involved.  Even in Knockmore which is one of the larger clubs, the amount of kids available when you get to under 14 level up is extremely small. 

On a more positive note, Mr. Maughan, who is favourite to get the Mayo managers Job, will get the chance to look at Kevin O'Neill once more in action.  Maughan reckons that he was not up to intercounty standard.  Anyone who wants to know why he should never be allowed to manage Mayo again should come to see O'Neill V's Maughan on Saturday week.  Kevin is 10 years past his prime but he will still be the best forward on show in Mchale park next week........Not good enough....we shall see

This is the kind of stuff that drives me crazy.i have always got the impression that most knockmore posters on here would prefer 4 or 5 of their club players on the mayo team rather than winning the all ireland.the truth is constantly being twisted in an effort to suit their own agendas.does any one on here think that maughan would jeopordise an all ireland by not picking certain players. oneill,butler and staunton  all played for mayo pre 1996 and we were still well beaten every year and in fact oneill would have started the 97 final but he broke his leg 3 weeks before the game.I am from south mayo and have no connection to crossmolina but enough is enough and the fact remains that john maughan put the steel back in mayo football and made us genuine all ireland contenders the years he was in charge

I have some sympathy for that post. People do seem to forget that Kevin O Neill was crippled with injury in the mid nineties. Months after a knee operation he was still only able to run in straight lines. I know because I remember the lad that trained Knockmore telling me that at the time. But it was not just Knockmore lads. Heffernan and Ruane should have been there in those years as well as Butler. All 3 were ahead of 2 of what was already a very decent hb line. I dont know what the story was with Stanton but I dont think I ve seen a more complete midfielder in the game in Mayo. FFS I remember him kicking frees off the ground at county U21 and he was the complete package.. We have not been good with the likes of Tiernan and Stanton as well as lots of others. We go for the soft option. The difficult Campbell or the easy Austin.

  Not really a criticism of Maughan but I m sure if he had to do it all again he would have done it diferently. He knows he could have won at least 2 AIs with damn all effort but a bit more savvy. God he did the hard stuff fair play to him. But I believe he went with too many soft options rather than get the warriors on board. He has to know that. a bit of lack of tactical nous letr him down too. we ve been over this ground several times. Only Liam O Neill bet Maughan s raw passion for the game in my opinion. I ll have to say that M&M really treated the lads well and got a good response. That s all she wrote.

[muppet]

The underage structures are a pile of crap.  I have been teaching for years at secondary school level and in all that time I have seen the Mayo coaching staff coming in to the school on only a few occasions.  I don't see too many kids getting excited about what goes on at these development squad outings.  If anything it puts some kids off the idea of progressing their footballing careers as they take a knocking if they don't make the grade at under 15 level, when many will only be beginning to develop physically. 

There are only a small number of the same teachers who are training teams in the schools and the help they get is minimal.  Martin McGrath was the last decent coach that I have seen coming to the schools, he was enthusiastic and was ever present.  From what I can see, clubs train teams for about 3-4 months.  For the remainder it is down to the schools.  Any teacher will tell you that the first training session in September shows up the lack of training that takes place during the summer months.  Clubs need to do more at primary school level to get kids involved.  Even in Knockmore which is one of the larger clubs, the amount of kids available when you get to under 14 level up is extremely small. 

On a more positive note, Mr. Maughan, who is favourite to get the Mayo managers Job, will get the chance to look at Kevin O'Neill once more in action.  Maughan reckons that he was not up to intercounty standard.  Anyone who wants to know why he should never be allowed to manage Mayo again should come to see O'Neill V's Maughan on Saturday week.  Kevin is 10 years past his prime but he will still be the best forward on show in Mchale park next week........Not good enough....we shall see

This is the kind of stuff that drives me crazy.i have always got the impression that most knockmore posters on here would prefer 4 or 5 of their club players on the mayo team rather than winning the all ireland.the truth is constantly being twisted in an effort to suit their own agendas.does any one on here think that maughan would jeopordise an all ireland by not picking certain players. oneill,butler and staunton  all played for mayo pre 1996 and we were still well beaten every year and in fact oneill would have started the 97 final but he broke his leg 3 weeks before the game.I am from south mayo and have no connection to crossmolina but enough is enough and the fact remains that john maughan put the steel back in mayo football and made us genuine all ireland contenders the years he was in charge

I have some sympathy for that post. People do seem to forget that Kevin O Neill was crippled with injury in the mid nineties. Months after a knee operation he was still only able to run in straight lines. I know because I remember the lad that trained Knockmore telling me that at the time. But it was not just Knockmore lads. Heffernan and Ruane should have been there in those years as well as Butler. All 3 were ahead of 2 of what was already a very decent hb line. I dont know what the story was with Stanton but I dont think I ve seen a more complete midfielder in the game in Mayo. FFS I remember him kicking frees off the ground at county U21 and he was the complete package.. We have not been good with the likes of Tiernan and Stanton as well as lots of others. We go for the soft option. The difficult Campbell or the easy Austin.

  Not really a criticism of Maughan but I m sure if he had to do it all again he would have done it diferently. He knows he could have won at least 2 AIs with damn all effort but a bit more savvy. God he did the hard stuff fair play to him. But I believe he went with too many soft options rather than get the warriors on board. He has to know that. a bit of lack of tactical nous letr him down too. we ve been over this ground several times. Only Liam O Neill bet Maughan s raw passion for the game in my opinion. I ll have to say that M&M really treated the lads well and got a good response. That s all she wrote.

Let's not re-write history. Staunton was a decent county minor (only came in when Dempsey pulled out injured) average U-21 (I played against him and a great Knockmore U-21 team including Dempsey and Butler) but ffs he was hardly better than McHale, Brady, Colm Mc or Fallon? Would you pick him ahead of Heaney in 1997??

IMHO Dempsey was a far better midfielder than he was.

I don't mean to knock the lad but perspective please. Lads need to wise up here.

[macdanger2]

True, Staunton was a savage club player and the heartbeat of Knockmore for years but just not quite good enough for county level. I would consider Ruane to be in the same category.

Butler had retired due to injuries but had been brought back into the squad coming up to '97 final and should surely have been on before TR. Can't believe we're re-hashing this again........