Mayo V Down- All Ireland Quarter Final

[moysider]

RogerMilla and sans pessimism are correct re team selection.

so thats Conroy and Doherty starting with O Con named at 11 but playing out of corner with Doc in hf line?

And O Sé in midfield?

[Tubberman]

MayoGAA have tweeted that the team will not be named today.... wonder what that's about

[mayo.mick]

There's been some chopping and changing. Aiden Campbell gone off the panal, not supprised i suppose with his injury.

[IolarCoisCuain]

Just back from a cup of tay with a guy whose wife's sister's brother-in-law cuts the grass at McHale Park. I have the inside track.

Tyrion Lannister is correct about Aidan O'Shea not having seventy minutes in the legs. So the plan is to play Aidan in goals, with Clarkie in midfield. Clarkie's played in midfield before, and he's not afraid to put himself about, if you get me. O'Shea can then save the gas while he's between the sticks, and horse into Coulter and that little buckeen every chance he gets.

Varley, Doherty and Cillian O'Connor will play upfront, but they'll play in the star formation of the Moran/Morrison era. Down are noted for their tactical innovations, and Mayo plan to meet fire with fire.

The master-stroke, then, will be the introduction of Conor Mortimer, who will parachute into the stadium like the Queen of England about ten minutes into the second half. The guy that does the PA in Croker's father is from Ballyhaunis, so he's hoping to fix it to play Billie Jean once he hears the plane approaching. That'll really freak the Downmen out.

Intelligence direct from the stable boys. Honest to God.

[Farrandeelin]

RogerMilla and sans pessimism are correct re team selection.

so thats Conroy and Doherty starting with O Con named at 11 but playing out of corner with Doc in hf line?

And O Sé in midfield?

AFAIK Doc will have no11 on his back.

Just back from a cup of tay with a guy whose wife's sister's brother-in-law cuts the grass at McHale Park.

Is he your relation? The fella who cuts the grass not the fella ya had the cuppa with?

[Lar Naparka]

Just back from a cup of tay with a guy whose wife's sister's brother-in-law cuts the grass at McHale Park. I have the inside track.

Tyrion Lannister is correct about Aidan O'Shea not having seventy minutes in the legs. So the plan is to play Aidan in goals, with Clarkie in midfield. Clarkie's played in midfield before, and he's not afraid to put himself about, if you get me. O'Shea can then save the gas while he's between the sticks, and horse into Coulter and that little buckeen every chance he gets.

Varley, Doherty and Cillian O'Connor will play upfront, but they'll play in the star formation of the Moran/Morrison era. Down are noted for their tactical innovations, and Mayo plan to meet fire with fire.

The master-stroke, then, will be the introduction of Conor Mortimer, who will parachute into the stadium like the Queen of England about ten minutes into the second half. The guy that does the PA in Croker's father is from Ballyhaunis, so he's hoping to fix it to play Billie Jean once he hears the plane approaching. That'll really freak the Downmen out.

Intelligence direct from the stable boys. Honest to God.

Spot on Iolar. You're right as usual.
I got more or less the same lowdown from an equally impeccable source.
(Okay, she's 96 and counting but there's devil the bit of doting about her even if she keeps calling me James.)
I was told that Mort Óg will drop in ten minutes after the Queen has done ditto.
She'll be there to thrown in the ball and Conoreen will be there to pick it up and storm off the field with it the first time anyone passes a smart remark about his hair-do.
Oh, yeah and the buckos inside will all be wearing crash helmets for fear they'll  headbutt each other once they start galloping about the place as Beefer would have had them do.

But I suppose the real James knows this already so there's no point in me looking for his mobile number. As I'm not expecting a text from him, I'm going to wait until the team is announced before I get in the least bit excited.
But there's no harm in dreaming, is there?

[IolarCoisCuain]

RogerMilla and sans pessimism are correct re team selection.

so thats Conroy and Doherty starting with O Con named at 11 but playing out of corner with Doc in hf line?

And O Sé in midfield?

AFAIK Doc will have no11 on his back.

Just back from a cup of tay with a guy whose wife's sister's brother-in-law cuts the grass at McHale Park.

Is he your relation? The fella who cuts the grass not the fella ya had the cuppa with?

None of them is related to me, personally - it's the husband of that guy's wife's sister. Do you remember them? There were three of them - Sadie, who stayed at home to mind the mother, Gertie, who got married to one of the Fighting O'Malleys in Birmingham, and Nancy, who went to New York. I believe she's doing very well - married to a fella over there called Abdul. I believe he's a foreigner. Anyway, it was Sadie's husband, Ted, who was telling your man, and it was your man who was telling me.

[sans pessimism]

RogerMilla and sans pessimism are correct re team selection.

so thats Conroy and Doherty starting with O Con named at 11 but playing out of corner with Doc in hf line?
And O Sé in midfield?

ya

[moysider]

I heard last night that Doherty is starting CF and Aidan O Shea is midfield, if this happens I fear for Mayo on a number of levels. O Shea wont have the legs for midfield and its unfair throwing him in there just coming back from injury, especially in Croke Park.

Doherty wont win a break at CF and is too light, in fact our whole half forward line is far too light. Would prefer to see Freeman out there, as he is more used to playing further out the field than Doherty. Consider how Doherty looked on the ball against Sligo when he came out to the half forward line, and then consider Freemans impact when he replaced him. It was like night and day. Now Doherty is no bad footballer, and playing in the corner in Croke Park would suit him, but not at CF. 

A better system would have been to put O Shea at CF, and leave Barry Moran with Geraghty in the middle. O Shea would have been able to be an extra option for kick-outs, taking pressure off Geraghty who would not have to get forward and could have played as a defensive midfielder to protect Vaughan and the half back line. We would also have crowded midfield  and picked up more breaks, and it would have suited Barry Moran just as much.
There is no symmetry to that Mayo team. It was obvious we needed forwards, our midfield was doing Ok and would have been strengthened with O Shea at 11 / 3rd midfielder and would also have left space to attack.

Now we have a huge midfield, with not much mobility. A half forward line that is far too light, and a full forward line with too much pressure on them.

I m surprised they haven t done this. It s what I was expecting until the leaks in local media on Tuesday suggested they were thinking differently.

Just thinking about it, it actually could be the losing of the game for Mayo and that wouldn't surprise me.

How on earth can Aidan O Shea have the legs for a full game in Croke Park at midfield, if he was only good enough for 15 minutes or so against Sligo? Barry Moran isnt blessed with mobility either, although he has improved as of late.

Like again, if AOS started at 11, you can always switch him to midfield if we are struggling and bring on Freeman or whoever. But the way its lined out now, you cant switch it back without upsetting the formations. It wouldnt make as much sense to bring on Geraghty for a half forward and move AOS to CF in the second half as it would take too long to settle.

Its very disheartening.

Not for me, it isn't!
I'm just waiting for the throw-in and let events take their course after that.
Very few positions are nailed down. I'd say Clarkie in goal and Caff at FB are the only certainties. That's maybe stretching it sa bit but a case could be made (by some anyway) that every other lad could be replaced or moved somewhere else.We'll never know what's right or wrong until the ref blows the final whistle- that's a fact of life, I suppose.
Right now, I don't know the team and even when I do, I'll accept Horan's judgement.
I hope Farrandeelin has the hay baled and that the salmon are still rising on the Moy but I'm concentrating on Saturday afternoon and what the long whistel brings.
Worried? Not a bit.
Cautious? Somewhat but certainly not disheartened.

Alright we still have no teamsheet but I think Tyrionlannister s fears are valid.

I think most positions are nailed down to be honest Lar, but there may be a switch or two in defence for match -ups but that is neither here nor there. Cant see some of the changes we were calling for happening at this late stage - we don t do things like that. The thing is that the team has developed a bit of shape and  keeping that shape for the 70 minutes could be a challenge. Starting Barry Moran and AOS as a midfield pairing is all very well and good on paper but if for reasons of fitness or injury we have to play the end game without one or both it could get bumpy. We can t be confident of the impact of SOS, McGar, Ger or Gibb if the game is in the melting pot for one reason or another, and the starting pair have emptied the tank.
Down s midfield pairing will probably be King with either Gordon or Rodgers. King must be one of the strongest players playing the game. I d have let Geraghty belt away with him tbh for 45mins. Moran would have had to match up with the footballer with Aidan dropping off from 11 to contest kickouts. His presence at 11 would also fix at least 1 defender and create space for Dillon Kevin Mac and runners from deep. Sure we ll see.

[galwaygreenandred]

I have to agree with Lar Naparka,it'll really come down to when your sitting there in Croke Park or wherever and the ball is thrown up.....it'll come down to whoever has the hunger on the day and the drive and the determination,simple as whether it be Down or Mayo who march onto the semi final it'll be a game that both sides remember for a long time

[moysider]

I have to agree with Lar Naparka,it'll really come down to when your sitting there in Croke Park or wherever and the ball is thrown up.....it'll come down to whoever has the hunger on the day and the drive and the determination,simple as whether it be Down or Mayo who march onto the semi final it'll be a game that both sides remember for a long time

You re heartly welcome.

Look, as you point out, we re only fans and have no impact on proceedings. Some of us are just trying to predict, second guess etc - its a bit of gas.

No doubt hunger and determination and stuff are crucial but in my time I ve seen us f**k up several times with poor selections, poor tactics and poor preparation. Things like not having a clue what the opposition were going to do which is unforgivable. I think that Horan s administration is bringing us to a different level. By that I mean he will give us a better chance of winning big games. He may be unlucky with a few pieces of the jigsaw but....... We ll see. Saturday is big. Lose will mean we finish on a downer and the year will appear worse than it was. Win and we re in bonus territory and could rattle somebody s cage after. Down is a big game for us.

[galwaygreenandred]

Thanks for the welcome You hit it right on the head,playing Clarke in midfield might leave us a bit open alright We haven't had a real test this year that we can be sure of,as in the Connacht Final is usually a scrap and a dogfight,last year we were thrown in the deep end against Cark but came up swimming like Phelps I agree with you completely,I have seen it go t*ts up,usually against Kerry tbh,but then again they are our bogey team alongside Meath. It's a bit of craic alright and it's good to hear the banter and predictions from you guys,the guys who's heart and soul is in the Mayo team,rather than a journalist who doesn't give you half of what you want to know,so it's an honour to join ye guys

[rosnarun]

im sure Clarke could do as good job midfield as Fergal kelly . my good how desperate were we for a big man back then.

[Lar Naparka]

I have to agree with Lar Naparka,it'll really come down to when your sitting there in Croke Park or wherever and the ball is thrown up.....it'll come down to whoever has the hunger on the day and the drive and the determination,simple as whether it be Down or Mayo who march onto the semi final it'll be a game that both sides remember for a long time

First of all, welcome aboard; it's always nice to newcomers joining up, especially Mayo folks.
Yeah, you're right: It comes down to the size of the fight in the dog rather than the size of the dog in the fight.
I think moysider mistook what I was saying. James H has gone about building his side without fuss or bother and I can't see him doing a John O'Mahony at this stage and making wholesale changes in the hope that something clicks. Fans gasbagging about teams or individual players makes for good craic but it all comes down to those selected giving it all they've got and win. lose or draw, we can't ask for anything more.
TBH, I know most places are nailed down or at least  I hope so. Match-ups are fine too; they can be done, on the fly if necessary, without upsetting the overall balance of the team. But I do recall Pat Spillane saying that Mick O'Dwyer never bothered mentioning the opposition in any of his pre-match talks. 
Micko wanted his players to concentrate on their own game plan and let the other side do whatever they wanted. Right now, we're not at the stage where we can forget about whoever we meet but we're getting there.
Roll on Saturday......

[galwaygreenandred]

I like that line about the dog It reminded me of a quote by the great playwright John B Keane,"Now listen lads, I'm not happy with our tackling. We're hurting them but they keep getting up" and sure at the end of the day I've come to realise that after they have lost in the Championship we never think,"they're crap,useless,why do I bother watching them".....we think "there's always next year lads,there's always next year"...I think this is this next year!?!?! If that makes sense,I'm sure it doesn't