Dublin V Mayo, Saturday 29th March2014. Croke Park 7.00 pm.

[moysider]

I see Pat Holmes has stepped down as Castlebar manager.I guess it is all set up for him to step in when James Horan completes his final year in charge of Mayo,hopefully after annexing Sam next September.

My first thought on Monday after the club final was , Holmes will not get the hot seat now, his job was to figure out how to stop Connolly run riot after the first half minimum , he did nothing to address the problem.

It might be raw for Castlebar folk but for Mayo it s probably a blessing in disguise.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

I see Pat Holmes has stepped down as Castlebar manager.I guess it is all set up for him to step in when James Horan completes his final year in charge of Mayo,hopefully after annexing Sam next September.

My first thought on Monday after the club final was , Holmes will not get the hot seat now, his job was to figure out how to stop Connolly run riot after the first half minimum , he did nothing to address the problem.

It might be raw for Castlebar folk but for Mayo it s probably a blessing in disguise.

Why? It gives the Mitchels to make a go for it again and at the very least retain our county and Connacht titles.

[moysider]

I see Pat Holmes has stepped down as Castlebar manager.I guess it is all set up for him to step in when James Horan completes his final year in charge of Mayo,hopefully after annexing Sam next September.

My first thought on Monday after the club final was , Holmes will not get the hot seat now, his job was to figure out how to stop Connolly run riot after the first half minimum , he did nothing to address the problem.

It might be raw for Castlebar folk but for Mayo it s probably a blessing in disguise.

Why? It gives the Mitchels to make a go for it again and at the very least retain our county and Connacht titles.

Don t mind me. I was on about the manager- Mayo thing.

[Mayo4Sam]

Sorry for going a bit off topic here, but I was watching the Derry v Dublin game last night and can't find a game thread.

As I was watching the game I noticed that every time Alan Brogan got the ball, he took 7 steps before hopping it in between steps 7 and 8.

Its funny u should spot that Deeler
Fado, fado when I first started training the senior team the Bomber told me the key his burst of speed was just that, take five steps, take three steps to actually hop the ball and then another five before you shoot, a big man like him that was half the pitch. Must be a family recipe

[moysider]

I remember being on the receiving end of that a few times

In his younger years he d attack the kick-out and land running. The burst and  hop would take him beyond the half back and then he d roof it from 25 metres. Unreal. He did it so often. Never saw anything like him before or since.

[Lar Naparka]

I see Pat Holmes has stepped down as Castlebar manager.I guess it is all set up for him to step in when James Horan completes his final year in charge of Mayo,hopefully after annexing Sam next September.

My first thought on Monday after the club final was , Holmes will not get the hot seat now, his job was to figure out how to stop Connolly run riot after the first half minimum , he did nothing to address the problem.

It might be raw for Castlebar folk but for Mayo it s probably a blessing in disguise.

Why? It gives the Mitchels to make a go for it again and at the very least retain our county and Connacht titles.

I wonder what Castlebar lads on here think of Holmes as a manager.
I never rated him highly as a player or as the Mayo manager either. Maybe others think differently.
As far as I can recall, nobody was sorry to see him go when he stepped down from that job but lots were happy to have John Maughan back again

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

I see Pat Holmes has stepped down as Castlebar manager.I guess it is all set up for him to step in when James Horan completes his final year in charge of Mayo,hopefully after annexing Sam next September.

My first thought on Monday after the club final was , Holmes will not get the hot seat now, his job was to figure out how to stop Connolly run riot after the first half minimum , he did nothing to address the problem.

It might be raw for Castlebar folk but for Mayo it s probably a blessing in disguise.

Why? It gives the Mitchels to make a go for it again and at the very least retain our county and Connacht titles.

I wonder what Castlebar lads on here think of Holmes as a manager.
I never rated him highly as a player or as the Mayo manager either. Maybe others think differently.
As far as I can recall, nobody was sorry to see him go when he stepped down from that job but lots were happy to have John Maughan back again

We did win our last senior intercounty title beating our arch-rivals/neighbours in Croke Park, not bad IMO. I'd rather have an extended run of Horan's reign though. That is not a vote against Holmes more admiration for James tenure. That said James is working with greater resources with Mayo than Mitchels. I think a Mayo defence could of contained Connelly the last day.

[An Gaeilgoir]

I see Pat Holmes has stepped down as Castlebar manager.I guess it is all set up for him to step in when James Horan completes his final year in charge of Mayo,hopefully after annexing Sam next September.

My first thought on Monday after the club final was , Holmes will not get the hot seat now, his job was to figure out how to stop Connolly run riot after the first half minimum , he did nothing to address the problem.

It might be raw for Castlebar folk but for Mayo it s probably a blessing in disguise.

Why? It gives the Mitchels to make a go for it again and at the very least retain our county and Connacht titles.

I wonder what Castlebar lads on here think of Holmes as a manager.
I never rated him highly as a player or as the Mayo manager either. Maybe others think differently.
As far as I can recall, nobody was sorry to see him go when he stepped down from that job but lots were happy to have John Maughan back again

We did win our last senior intercounty title beating our arch-rivals/neighbours in Croke Park, not bad IMO. I'd rather have an extended run of Horan's reign though. That is not a vote against Holmes more admiration for James tenure. That said James is working with greater resources with Mayo than Mitchels. I think a Mayo defence could of contained Connelly the last day.

Maybe this is a very simplistic view, but i can't understand why Mitchells did not try and frustrate Connolly for the first 10-15 minutes of the game, Connolly either shoots the lights out or gets frustrated and everything goes to shit for him....I cant imagine Brigids, Cross or Crokes giving him free reign like that....is it another case of "nice" Mayo, letting another one go....

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

I see Pat Holmes has stepped down as Castlebar manager.I guess it is all set up for him to step in when James Horan completes his final year in charge of Mayo,hopefully after annexing Sam next September.

My first thought on Monday after the club final was , Holmes will not get the hot seat now, his job was to figure out how to stop Connolly run riot after the first half minimum , he did nothing to address the problem.

It might be raw for Castlebar folk but for Mayo it s probably a blessing in disguise.

Why? It gives the Mitchels to make a go for it again and at the very least retain our county and Connacht titles.

I wonder what Castlebar lads on here think of Holmes as a manager.
I never rated him highly as a player or as the Mayo manager either. Maybe others think differently.
As far as I can recall, nobody was sorry to see him go when he stepped down from that job but lots were happy to have John Maughan back again

We did win our last senior intercounty title beating our arch-rivals/neighbours in Croke Park, not bad IMO. I'd rather have an extended run of Horan's reign though. That is not a vote against Holmes more admiration for James tenure. That said James is working with greater resources with Mayo than Mitchels. I think a Mayo defence could of contained Connelly the last day.

Maybe this is a very simplistic view, but i can't understand why Mitchells did not try and frustrate Connolly for the first 10-15 minutes of the game, Connolly either shoots the lights out or gets frustrated and everything goes to shit for him....I cant imagine Brigids, Cross or Crokes giving him free reign like that....is it another case of "nice" Mayo, letting another one go....

"Nice Mayo", did you miss the entire Richie black card debate. What frustrated me was how long we played with Big Barry up front when he always had 2-3 men around him.

[An Gaeilgoir]

That wasnt a case of "nice" or "not nice Mayo", that was just stupidity and deserved a black card........my point exactly, you mentioned Barry Moran surrounded by 2-3, How many surrounded Connolly..........

[Blowitupref]

I wonder what Castlebar lads on here think of Holmes as a manager.
I never rated him highly as a player or as the Mayo manager either. Maybe others think differently.
As far as I can recall, nobody was sorry to see him go when he stepped down from that job but lots were happy to have John Maughan back again

Pat Holmes is still the last Mayo senior manager to have won national title, he was also joint manager of the Mayo 2006 U-21 All Ireland winning team. His last two senior games was defeats to Roscommon,Westmeath its not hard to see why Mayo supporters weren't sorry to see him go. I don't understand the lovefest Mayo supporters had for John Maughan. Any tactically astute manager would have won Mayo All Ireland in 1996 or 97 IMO.

[From the Bunker]

Sorry for going a bit off topic here, but I was watching the Derry v Dublin game last night and can't find a game thread.

As I was watching the game I noticed that every time Alan Brogan got the ball, he took 7 steps before hopping it in between steps 7 and 8.

Now, before everyone comes in here pointing out 'sure, such and such a fella does that too", I'm sure lots of forwards do it. It seemed quite obvious with Alan, as when he got the ball the last day, he went straight to beat his man - 3 steps to get to the man, holds the man off with one hand as he's running around his outside shoulder taking a further 3-4 steps.

It happened so often it seems like a conscious effort - this is as many steps I can get away with without giving a free.

With the rules as they are now (rightly) awarding attacking play, we can see high scores throughout the league, maybe there should be a focus on the amount of steps taken. How is a defender supposed to legally tackle if the ball doesn't leave the hands any time that the forward is in striking distance?

It's called the psychological bounce, Colm O'Rourke and John O'Driscoll used to do it all the time 4 steps into the tackle and 4 steps out. The break in the players run means the Referee sees it psychologically as a bounce or Solo and does not see the travelling infringement. Allot of goals are scored by travelling with the ball as with the excitement of the forward bearing down on goal the referee rarely counts steps.

[Syferus]

I wonder what Castlebar lads on here think of Holmes as a manager.
I never rated him highly as a player or as the Mayo manager either. Maybe others think differently.
As far as I can recall, nobody was sorry to see him go when he stepped down from that job but lots were happy to have John Maughan back again

Pat Holmes is still the last Mayo senior manager to have won national title, he was also joint manager of the Mayo 2006 U-21 All Ireland winning team. His last two senior games was defeats to Roscommon,Westmeath its not hard to see why Mayo supporters weren't sorry to see him go. I don't understand the lovefest Mayo supporters had for John Maughan. Any tactically astute manager would have won Mayo All Ireland in 1996 or 97 IMO.

To be fair he has a lovely tan. Pateen looks like he hasn't seen the sun since 1994.

Holmes is a quaility manager and has proven it at just about every level over the last 15 years. If he had any interest in senior county management there are lots of counties where he'd be an immediate improvement.

Himself and Noel Connelly (his Mayo U21 co-manager) would make a good ticket for just about any county.

[Farrandeelin]

I wonder what Castlebar lads on here think of Holmes as a manager.
I never rated him highly as a player or as the Mayo manager either. Maybe others think differently.
As far as I can recall, nobody was sorry to see him go when he stepped down from that job but lots were happy to have John Maughan back again

Pat Holmes is still the last Mayo senior manager to have won national title, he was also joint manager of the Mayo 2006 U-21 All Ireland winning team. His last two senior games was defeats to Roscommon,Westmeath its not hard to see why Mayo supporters weren't sorry to see him go. I don't understand the lovefest Mayo supporters had for John Maughan. Any tactically astute manager would have won Mayo All Ireland in 1996 or 97 IMO.

I never knew it existed.

[Rossfan]

Holmes is a quaility manager and has proven it at just about every level over the last 15 years. If he had any interest in senior county management there are lots of counties where he'd be an immediate improvement.

Himself and Noel Connelly (his Mayo U21 co-manager) would make a good ticket for just about any county.

Jasus Syfín you're some winder upper.