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

[Lar Naparka]

*Sighs...

But anyway...I'm pessimistic by nature and no dressing up/down will change me at this stage. We drew with the All-Ireland Champions in Croker, we know that, but I mean really, we should have closed the game out and gone on and used our extra man to better effect in the last 5 minutes or so. No, we start passing the ball and play 'keep the ball' with 2 minutes to go on our own 45 m line when we were a goal up. Not good enough in my opinion.

Why do some Mayo supporters think it is ok to:

a) agree with the above

&

b) blame Aiden O'Shea who wasn't even on the pitch at the time?

Aiden O Shea played fantastically well last Saturday night but why does he carry the ball into contact with free men around him? I think its an ego thing at this stage. He's a great player but when is going to start playing for the guys around him and not himself.

Why would you play around with the ball on the halfway line when you're 3 points up?

Think about it - dublin can only score a goal to get anything from the game. There would be some merit to it if only a point up whereby any loose pass could result in an equaliser- but three points up? No way.

Play it as far away from your own goal as possible and if you turn it over the entire team just needs to get back to the 14 and there is no way Dublin would have scored a goal. None.

My fear for Mayo is these guys have reached the highest level of the game for a top county and still make elementary errors when under the cosh.

If you want to watch the difference between the current Dublin and Mayo teams watch the last 7 minutes of the 2011 final. Currently Mayo wouldn't close out a game like that.

This could be it for a lot of these Mayo players. Its a year where you have a tired Dublin and no other outstanding team. Its a great opportunity for Mayo but you wouldn't put any money on them cutting out the basic errors that are crucifying them,

I can agree with everything you say but I'd qualify "fantastically well," if you know what I mean.

I think AOS handled the ball quite a lot on Saturday and he played himself to a standstill but in the end, he achieved relatively little. A bit like shaving a pig; lost of huffing and puffing, effing and blinding but very little to show for all  the effort involved.
I know he's a pretty intelligent , well-spoken lad and he should be the first to realise, metaphorically speaking,  that dying for the cause is all very well but living to fight for it males a hell of a lot more sense.
A bit less effort and a lot more cuteness is called for.
He is one of the most experienced intercounty players around and he possesses loads of innate talent and that's makes his selfish behaviour so baffling. It's not as if he's the only one who is making elementary mistakes and I think the malaise starts on the sideline.
It's very noticeable that since the league began, James H goes into detail to criticise his team's performance after every game.
I don't recall any other manager who is keen to highlight his own side's shortcomings. If there are problems with O'Shea's attitude, it's up to Horan to do something about it. I don't often find reason to criticise Horan's way of doing things but this is one of those times.

[INDIANA]

*Sighs...

But anyway...I'm pessimistic by nature and no dressing up/down will change me at this stage. We drew with the All-Ireland Champions in Croker, we know that, but I mean really, we should have closed the game out and gone on and used our extra man to better effect in the last 5 minutes or so. No, we start passing the ball and play 'keep the ball' with 2 minutes to go on our own 45 m line when we were a goal up. Not good enough in my opinion.

Why do some Mayo supporters think it is ok to:

a) agree with the above

&

b) blame Aiden O'Shea who wasn't even on the pitch at the time?

Aiden O Shea played fantastically well last Saturday night but why does he carry the ball into contact with free men around him? I think its an ego thing at this stage. He's a great player but when is going to start playing for the guys around him and not himself.

Why would you play around with the ball on the halfway line when you're 3 points up?

Think about it - dublin can only score a goal to get anything from the game. There would be some merit to it if only a point up whereby any loose pass could result in an equaliser- but three points up? No way.

Play it as far away from your own goal as possible and if you turn it over the entire team just needs to get back to the 14 and there is no way Dublin would have scored a goal. None.

My fear for Mayo is these guys have reached the highest level of the game for a top county and still make elementary errors when under the cosh.

If you want to watch the difference between the current Dublin and Mayo teams watch the last 7 minutes of the 2011 final. Currently Mayo wouldn't close out a game like that.

This could be it for a lot of these Mayo players. Its a year where you have a tired Dublin and no other outstanding team. Its a great opportunity for Mayo but you wouldn't put any money on them cutting out the basic errors that are crucifying them,

I can agree with everything you say but I'd qualify "fantastically well," if you know what I mean.

I think AOS handled the ball quite a lot on Saturday and he played himself to a standstill but in the end, he achieved relatively little. A bit like shaving a pig; lost of huffing and puffing, effing and blinding but very little to show for all  the effort involved.
I know he's a pretty intelligent , well-spoken lad and he should be the first to realise, metaphorically speaking,  that dying for the cause is all very well but living to fight for it males a hell of a lot more sense.
A bit less effort and a lot more cuteness is called for.
He is one of the most experienced intercounty players around and he possesses loads of innate talent and that's makes his selfish behaviour so baffling. It's not as if he's the only one who is making elementary mistakes and I think the malaise starts on the sideline.
It's very noticeable that since the league began, James H goes into detail to criticise his team's performance after every game.
I don't recall any other manager who is keen to highlight his own side's shortcomings. If there are problems with O'Shea's attitude, it's up to Horan to do something about it. I don't often find reason to criticise Horan's way of doing things but this is one of those times.

I meant to qualify it in the post but didn't . He won a mountain of ball but achieved little with it.

From a coaching end of things he should be instructed to do what he's good at on a football field and not what he isn't .

He's not good at shooting and he isn't good in contact for such a huge man. Catching and distributing is what he should be encouraged to do. He'd be some prospect if he did that

[AMayoFan]

I have never seen so much crap written about a friggin league match in March. I'd expect nothing less from that flute McGee but some Mayo people are really loosing the run of themselves. This time last year Dublin bate Mayo handy in the league and again the league semi. It didn't matter one iota to how the season panned out. This year we draw with them and its the end of the world.

But it's the usual auld shite from Mayo 'supporters'. Always looking at the negatives. We draw with the the all Ireland champions and secure division one status, but no, not good enough should have laid down a marker or some such bullshit. I remember Tyrone beating Mayo in Castlebar last year with a last minute goal. The same nonsense going on. Did this loss make one bit of difference in the all Ireland semi last year. Did it fcuk.

As for the shite talk about Aidan O'Shea. I'd find it unbelievable if I hadn't seen it so many times before in Mayo. It alway follows the same line. Pick one of your best players, if he's a bit flash all the better. Keep mouthing about how bad he is and totally ignore what going on before your eyes. You don't want these bucks getting to uppity. That's not Mayo. If he's a mid fielder all the better because he's hardly going to win every ball and you can focus on the ones he loses out on. Aidan put in a savage shift the last day and left everything on the pitch like he does everyday. He is probably Mayo's most influential player at the moment and for my money is one of the best midfielders in the country

+1 agree

The over reaction by some of Mayo supporters to last Saturday is bewildering to me.  Possible playing Dublin in Croke Park has got to allot of them!!!!  Certainly allot has being written about this team belief .. but from what I read and hear from folks it's not the players but the supporters. 

In all, I think it was an excellent game of football by the top two teams in the Country.  From Mayo perspective, I think they got the match ups right and tactics spot on.  Yip some didn't work out like high ball to Freeman.  However, I would say that was down to execution, rather than the wrong option (flood lights playing into hill, are all factors why it failed.  I can see us doing better next time around). We were also fortunate that Cluxton was on an off day (by his standard) and ultimately his frustration were taken on a class McLoughin. 

We nearly lost that match in the last 10mins of the game, and you know what, we've being out played by every team in the last 10mins in this league campaign.  I don't attribute this to Mayo team fragility or bottling coming to the winning line. I believe this is simply down to fitness and a bit more is needed to keep our structure towards the end when substitutions are being made.  Andy Moran was wrong to start the 'keep the ball'.  You could see this was not a planned tactic, too many players stayed forward, and not enough were ready to track back in case we lost it. 

So folks, I'll make a bold prediction. Mayo to win the league 

[rosnarun]

I have never seen so much crap written about a friggin league match in March. I'd expect nothing less from that flute McGee but some Mayo people are really loosing the run of themselves. This time last year Dublin bate Mayo handy in the league and again the league semi. It didn't matter one iota to how the season panned out. This year we draw with them and its the end of the world.

But it's the usual auld shite from Mayo 'supporters'. Always looking at the negatives. We draw with the the all Ireland champions and secure division one status, but no, not good enough should have laid down a marker or some such bullshit. I remember Tyrone beating Mayo in Castlebar last year with a last minute goal. The same nonsense going on. Did this loss make one bit of difference in the all Ireland semi last year. Did it fcuk.

As for the shite talk about Aidan O'Shea. I'd find it unbelievable if I hadn't seen it so many times before in Mayo. It alway follows the same line. Pick one of your best players, if he's a bit flash all the better. Keep mouthing about how bad he is and totally ignore what going on before your eyes. You don't want these bucks getting to uppity. That's not Mayo. If he's a mid fielder all the better because he's hardly going to win every ball and you can focus on the ones he loses out on. Aidan put in a savage shift the last day and left everything on the pitch like he does everyday. He is probably Mayo's most influential player at the moment and for my money is one of the best midfielders in the country

+1 agree

The over reaction by some of Mayo supporters to last Saturday is bewildering to me.  Possible playing Dublin in Croke Park has got to allot of them!!!!  Certainly allot has being written about this team belief .. but from what I read and hear from folks it's not the players but the supporters. 

In all, I think it was an excellent game of football by the top two teams in the Country.  From Mayo perspective, I think they got the match ups right and tactics spot on.  Yip some didn't work out like high ball to Freeman.  However, I would say that was down to execution, rather than the wrong option (flood lights playing into hill, are all factors why it failed.  I can see us doing better next time around). We were also fortunate that Cluxton was on an off day (by his standard) and ultimately his frustration were taken on a class McLoughin. 

We nearly lost that match in the last 10mins of the game, and you know what, we've being out played by every team in the last 10mins in this league campaign.  I don't attribute this to Mayo team fragility or bottling coming to the winning line. I believe this is simply down to fitness and a bit more is needed to keep our structure towards the end when substitutions are being made.  Andy Moran was wrong to start the 'keep the ball'.  You could see this was not a planned tactic, too many players stayed forward, and not enough were ready to track back in case we lost it. 

So folks, I'll make a bold prediction. Mayo to win the league 

+1

I just smile and nod At the 'Never agains' leaveing matches.

Even a statement like

'Cluxton was on an off day ' 

about a mayo player would be a 'Its obvious hes not good enough for intercounty'
you just gotta laugh

[INDIANA]

I have never seen so much crap written about a friggin league match in March. I'd expect nothing less from that flute McGee but some Mayo people are really loosing the run of themselves. This time last year Dublin bate Mayo handy in the league and again the league semi. It didn't matter one iota to how the season panned out. This year we draw with them and its the end of the world.

But it's the usual auld shite from Mayo 'supporters'. Always looking at the negatives. We draw with the the all Ireland champions and secure division one status, but no, not good enough should have laid down a marker or some such bullshit. I remember Tyrone beating Mayo in Castlebar last year with a last minute goal. The same nonsense going on. Did this loss make one bit of difference in the all Ireland semi last year. Did it fcuk.

As for the shite talk about Aidan O'Shea. I'd find it unbelievable if I hadn't seen it so many times before in Mayo. It alway follows the same line. Pick one of your best players, if he's a bit flash all the better. Keep mouthing about how bad he is and totally ignore what going on before your eyes. You don't want these bucks getting to uppity. That's not Mayo. If he's a mid fielder all the better because he's hardly going to win every ball and you can focus on the ones he loses out on. Aidan put in a savage shift the last day and left everything on the pitch like he does everyday. He is probably Mayo's most influential player at the moment and for my money is one of the best midfielders in the country

+1 agree

The over reaction by some of Mayo supporters to last Saturday is bewildering to me.  Possible playing Dublin in Croke Park has got to allot of them!!!!  Certainly allot has being written about this team belief .. but from what I read and hear from folks it's not the players but the supporters. 

In all, I think it was an excellent game of football by the top two teams in the Country.  From Mayo perspective, I think they got the match ups right and tactics spot on.  Yip some didn't work out like high ball to Freeman.  However, I would say that was down to execution, rather than the wrong option (flood lights playing into hill, are all factors why it failed.  I can see us doing better next time around). We were also fortunate that Cluxton was on an off day (by his standard) and ultimately his frustration were taken on a class McLoughin. 

We nearly lost that match in the last 10mins of the game, and you know what, we've being out played by every team in the last 10mins in this league campaign.  I don't attribute this to Mayo team fragility or bottling coming to the winning line. I believe this is simply down to fitness and a bit more is needed to keep our structure towards the end when substitutions are being made.  Andy Moran was wrong to start the 'keep the ball'.  You could see this was not a planned tactic, too many players stayed forward, and not enough were ready to track back in case we lost it. 

So folks, I'll make a bold prediction. Mayo to win the league 

I'd call that sticking your head in the sand.

There is no indication that Mayo have learnt any lessons from the last two years

none .

This years all Ireland is there for the absolute taking if you eradicate the silly errors that have cost you any chance of winning either if the last two AI's . But you have to despair when you see the same errors made time and again.

And this is down to fitness? Well if you say so.....It had nothing to do with fitness

[AMayoFan]

I have never seen so much crap written about a friggin league match in March. I'd expect nothing less from that flute McGee but some Mayo people are really loosing the run of themselves. This time last year Dublin bate Mayo handy in the league and again the league semi. It didn't matter one iota to how the season panned out. This year we draw with them and its the end of the world.

But it's the usual auld shite from Mayo 'supporters'. Always looking at the negatives. We draw with the the all Ireland champions and secure division one status, but no, not good enough should have laid down a marker or some such bullshit. I remember Tyrone beating Mayo in Castlebar last year with a last minute goal. The same nonsense going on. Did this loss make one bit of difference in the all Ireland semi last year. Did it fcuk.

As for the shite talk about Aidan O'Shea. I'd find it unbelievable if I hadn't seen it so many times before in Mayo. It alway follows the same line. Pick one of your best players, if he's a bit flash all the better. Keep mouthing about how bad he is and totally ignore what going on before your eyes. You don't want these bucks getting to uppity. That's not Mayo. If he's a mid fielder all the better because he's hardly going to win every ball and you can focus on the ones he loses out on. Aidan put in a savage shift the last day and left everything on the pitch like he does everyday. He is probably Mayo's most influential player at the moment and for my money is one of the best midfielders in the country

+1 agree

The over reaction by some of Mayo supporters to last Saturday is bewildering to me.  Possible playing Dublin in Croke Park has got to allot of them!!!!  Certainly allot has being written about this team belief .. but from what I read and hear from folks it's not the players but the supporters. 

In all, I think it was an excellent game of football by the top two teams in the Country.  From Mayo perspective, I think they got the match ups right and tactics spot on.  Yip some didn't work out like high ball to Freeman.  However, I would say that was down to execution, rather than the wrong option (flood lights playing into hill, are all factors why it failed.  I can see us doing better next time around). We were also fortunate that Cluxton was on an off day (by his standard) and ultimately his frustration were taken on a class McLoughin. 

We nearly lost that match in the last 10mins of the game, and you know what, we've being out played by every team in the last 10mins in this league campaign.  I don't attribute this to Mayo team fragility or bottling coming to the winning line. I believe this is simply down to fitness and a bit more is needed to keep our structure towards the end when substitutions are being made.  Andy Moran was wrong to start the 'keep the ball'.  You could see this was not a planned tactic, too many players stayed forward, and not enough were ready to track back in case we lost it. 

So folks, I'll make a bold prediction. Mayo to win the league 

I'd call that sticking your head in the sand.

There is no indication that Mayo have learnt any lessons from the last two years

none .

This years all Ireland is there for the absolute taking if you eradicate the silly errors that have cost you any chance of winning either if the last two AI's . But you have to despair when you see the same errors made time and again.

And this is down to fitness? Well if you say so.....It had nothing to do with fitness

Absolutely not.  I just think the criticism directed at players and team management is way over the top, unbalance and incorrect.  For me, this criticism stems from supporters being back at Croke Park and not with the match I saw.  Here is how I see the situation and lets take one competition at a time - we're in league, division one, playing against the best teams in the Country, and the competition is fierce.  We match and out performed for large parts of the game against last years winners.   Yes we became less jointed in the last 5-10mins as we have in all our league matches this year.  I firmly 100% don't believe we bottle it, and I didn't get nervy sense from the team in those closing stages.  Our performance just dropped, plane and simple!   Even WestMeath out performed us in those final minutes!  Continuity of players going off and on, player fatigue and ability to keep our structure are all to what I blame.  All of which will be addressed and fixed later in the year when it matters (or at least I hope, as it won't be nice being reminded of this post if I'm wrong  )

I got to ask INDIANA, did Mayo not look like a side that can win the league this year?  I thought they did. 

[criostlinn]

I have never seen so much crap written about a friggin league match in March. I'd expect nothing less from that flute McGee but some Mayo people are really loosing the run of themselves. This time last year Dublin bate Mayo handy in the league and again the league semi. It didn't matter one iota to how the season panned out. This year we draw with them and its the end of the world.

But it's the usual auld shite from Mayo 'supporters'. Always looking at the negatives. We draw with the the all Ireland champions and secure division one status, but no, not good enough should have laid down a marker or some such bullshit. I remember Tyrone beating Mayo in Castlebar last year with a last minute goal. The same nonsense going on. Did this loss make one bit of difference in the all Ireland semi last year. Did it fcuk.

As for the shite talk about Aidan O'Shea. I'd find it unbelievable if I hadn't seen it so many times before in Mayo. It alway follows the same line. Pick one of your best players, if he's a bit flash all the better. Keep mouthing about how bad he is and totally ignore what going on before your eyes. You don't want these bucks getting to uppity. That's not Mayo. If he's a mid fielder all the better because he's hardly going to win every ball and you can focus on the ones he loses out on. Aidan put in a savage shift the last day and left everything on the pitch like he does everyday. He is probably Mayo's most influential player at the moment and for my money is one of the best midfielders in the country

+1 agree

The over reaction by some of Mayo supporters to last Saturday is bewildering to me.  Possible playing Dublin in Croke Park has got to allot of them!!!!  Certainly allot has being written about this team belief .. but from what I read and hear from folks it's not the players but the supporters. 

In all, I think it was an excellent game of football by the top two teams in the Country.  From Mayo perspective, I think they got the match ups right and tactics spot on.  Yip some didn't work out like high ball to Freeman.  However, I would say that was down to execution, rather than the wrong option (flood lights playing into hill, are all factors why it failed.  I can see us doing better next time around). We were also fortunate that Cluxton was on an off day (by his standard) and ultimately his frustration were taken on a class McLoughin. 

We nearly lost that match in the last 10mins of the game, and you know what, we've being out played by every team in the last 10mins in this league campaign.  I don't attribute this to Mayo team fragility or bottling coming to the winning line. I believe this is simply down to fitness and a bit more is needed to keep our structure towards the end when substitutions are being made.  Andy Moran was wrong to start the 'keep the ball'.  You could see this was not a planned tactic, too many players stayed forward, and not enough were ready to track back in case we lost it. 

So folks, I'll make a bold prediction. Mayo to win the league 

I'd call that sticking your head in the sand.

There is no indication that Mayo have learnt any lessons from the last two years

none .

This years all Ireland is there for the absolute taking if you eradicate the silly errors that have cost you any chance of winning either if the last two AI's . But you have to despair when you see the same errors made time and again.

And this is down to fitness? Well if you say so.....It had nothing to do with fitness

Absolutely not.  I just think the criticism directed at players and team management is way over the top, unbalance and incorrect.  For me, this criticism stems from supporters being back at Croke Park and not with the match I saw.  Here is how I see the situation and lets take one competition at a time - we're in league, division one, playing against the best teams in the Country, and the competition is fierce.  We match and out performed for large parts of the game against last years winners.   Yes we became less jointed in the last 5-10mins as we have in all our league matches this year.  I firmly 100% don't believe we bottle it, and I didn't get nervy sense from the team in those closing stages.  Our performance just dropped, plane and simple!   Even WestMeath out performed us in those final minutes!  Continuity of players going off and on, player fatigue and ability to keep our structure are all to what I blame.  All of which will be addressed and fixed later in the year when it matters (or at least I hope, as it won't be nice being reminded of this post if I'm wrong  )

I got to ask INDIANA, did Mayo not look like a side that can win the league this year?  I thought they did.

I know I shouldn't but hey I'll entertain you Indiana. Can you enlighten all us plebs going around with our head in the sand. Can you tell us about all these mistakes and errors the ones that have you in such despair that you see Mayo making time and again which cost us the last 2 all Ireland's. Did they make them against Dublin the last night because I don't remember Mayo trying to play keep ball in any of the finals. Your banging on about errors like no other team make them. How many scores did Dublin give away Saturday night from silly errors and turnovers. Does cluxtons moment of madness mean he's starting to crack and can't be trusted come this years championship.

Be honest INDIANA. You know full well about James Horan's knack of beating the All Ireland champions. You know we are gunning for ye and your getting your excuses in early. I just hope ye aren't to fatigued to make it to the final

[INDIANA]

I have never seen so much crap written about a friggin league match in March. I'd expect nothing less from that flute McGee but some Mayo people are really loosing the run of themselves. This time last year Dublin bate Mayo handy in the league and again the league semi. It didn't matter one iota to how the season panned out. This year we draw with them and its the end of the world.

But it's the usual auld shite from Mayo 'supporters'. Always looking at the negatives. We draw with the the all Ireland champions and secure division one status, but no, not good enough should have laid down a marker or some such bullshit. I remember Tyrone beating Mayo in Castlebar last year with a last minute goal. The same nonsense going on. Did this loss make one bit of difference in the all Ireland semi last year. Did it fcuk.

As for the shite talk about Aidan O'Shea. I'd find it unbelievable if I hadn't seen it so many times before in Mayo. It alway follows the same line. Pick one of your best players, if he's a bit flash all the better. Keep mouthing about how bad he is and totally ignore what going on before your eyes. You don't want these bucks getting to uppity. That's not Mayo. If he's a mid fielder all the better because he's hardly going to win every ball and you can focus on the ones he loses out on. Aidan put in a savage shift the last day and left everything on the pitch like he does everyday. He is probably Mayo's most influential player at the moment and for my money is one of the best midfielders in the country

+1 agree

The over reaction by some of Mayo supporters to last Saturday is bewildering to me.  Possible playing Dublin in Croke Park has got to allot of them!!!!  Certainly allot has being written about this team belief .. but from what I read and hear from folks it's not the players but the supporters. 

In all, I think it was an excellent game of football by the top two teams in the Country.  From Mayo perspective, I think they got the match ups right and tactics spot on.  Yip some didn't work out like high ball to Freeman.  However, I would say that was down to execution, rather than the wrong option (flood lights playing into hill, are all factors why it failed.  I can see us doing better next time around). We were also fortunate that Cluxton was on an off day (by his standard) and ultimately his frustration were taken on a class McLoughin. 

We nearly lost that match in the last 10mins of the game, and you know what, we've being out played by every team in the last 10mins in this league campaign.  I don't attribute this to Mayo team fragility or bottling coming to the winning line. I believe this is simply down to fitness and a bit more is needed to keep our structure towards the end when substitutions are being made.  Andy Moran was wrong to start the 'keep the ball'.  You could see this was not a planned tactic, too many players stayed forward, and not enough were ready to track back in case we lost it. 

So folks, I'll make a bold prediction. Mayo to win the league 

I'd call that sticking your head in the sand.

There is no indication that Mayo have learnt any lessons from the last two years

none .

This years all Ireland is there for the absolute taking if you eradicate the silly errors that have cost you any chance of winning either if the last two AI's . But you have to despair when you see the same errors made time and again.

And this is down to fitness? Well if you say so.....It had nothing to do with fitness

Absolutely not.  I just think the criticism directed at players and team management is way over the top, unbalance and incorrect.  For me, this criticism stems from supporters being back at Croke Park and not with the match I saw.  Here is how I see the situation and lets take one competition at a time - we're in league, division one, playing against the best teams in the Country, and the competition is fierce.  We match and out performed for large parts of the game against last years winners.   Yes we became less jointed in the last 5-10mins as we have in all our league matches this year.  I firmly 100% don't believe we bottle it, and I didn't get nervy sense from the team in those closing stages.  Our performance just dropped, plane and simple!   Even WestMeath out performed us in those final minutes!  Continuity of players going off and on, player fatigue and ability to keep our structure are all to what I blame.  All of which will be addressed and fixed later in the year when it matters (or at least I hope, as it won't be nice being reminded of this post if I'm wrong  )

I got to ask INDIANA, did Mayo not look like a side that can win the league this year?  I thought they did.

I know I shouldn't but hey I'll entertain you Indiana. Can you enlighten all us plebs going around with our head in the sand. Can you tell us about all these mistakes and errors the ones that have you in such despair that you see Mayo making time and again which cost us the last 2 all Ireland's. Did they make them against Dublin the last night because I don't remember Mayo trying to play keep ball in any of the finals. Your banging on about errors like no other team make them. How many scores did Dublin give away Saturday night from silly errors and turnovers. Does cluxtons moment of madness mean he's starting to crack and can't be trusted come this years championship.

Be honest INDIANA. You know full well about James Horan's knack of beating the All Ireland champions. You know we are gunning for ye and your getting your excuses in early. I just hope ye aren't to fatigued to make it to the final

I've rarely watched a game whereby we so outplayed and outnumbered and we still drew. I'm watching football a long time and I'd struggle to recall one like last Saturday. It was bizarre.

The first thing is we've got the job done twice in the last 3 years and that counts for a lot in the last ten minutes against a team that hasn't got the job done in an AI Final. Mayo waited for Dublin to comeback in the last 10 minutes instead of pushing on to get the scores to put you out of sight. Against 14 men. To me that indicates a serious lack of confidence in themselves and a serious lack of confidence in what the management is telling them to do.

Secondly First  ten minutes of the second half you had enough chances to be 10-12 points up. You should watch re-watch the first 30 minutes of the AI final last September. Same thing. Different year- same old story.

There isn't an iota of difference between the physical conditioning of either side. If there is by your definition an edge in our department in that area then our lads must be super-humans because I doubt anyone on the Dublin team would beat Lee Keegan in a fitness test. You didn't lose that game physically last Saturday- you lost it mentally.

I've a lot of friends from Mayo and a lot of Mayo lads have played with distinction for my club. I'd genuinely like to see you win an All-Ireland because it would be great  for the game even though most Dublin fans hate the sight of you if I'm brutally honest with you.

But you'll get nowhere unless your players and management are brutally frank in their assessment of how that game went by the way side last Saturday.  It either becomes a water-shed moment or one whereby the ship finally sinks for your current side. I'll be accused of preaching and thats fair enough but it drives me around the bend when you see some of the posts talking about "fitness" and sure " we'll win the league". Winning the league means absolutely nothing IMO for the current side.

Your players have to start making better decisions on the ball for the 70 minutes and not 40 minutes like some of them do currently. And in the last 10 minutes play to win and not play to "try not to lose". Sounds easy but its not when your players continually do it in big games. Shot selection is just awful at times. Awful..

You've a great chance of winning it this year IMO - but has to be maddening to continually watch your team make the same errors time and again. Especially when you have a team thats in the top 3.

[muppet]

I have to agree.

3 points up with a couple of minutes left and you have to be thinking of getting the insurance point. Get it to Cillian or Kevin or whoever and get the score. Cillian had scored the previous two, one a free with his right and the other from play with his left.

That had to be the thinking, not risking a turnover 55m out with most of the backs well off their men looking for the next keep ball pass.

[An Gaeilgoir]

Last two posts above, nail on the head....

[criostlinn]

I've rarely watched a game whereby we so outplayed and outnumbered

Secondly First  ten minutes of the second half you had enough chances to be 10-12 points up.

And the amazing thing is everyone is concerned about Mayo's performance.

To me that indicates a serious lack of confidence in themselves and a serious lack of confidence in what the management is telling them to do.

That's a typical over reaction to Mayo result. You see what your not grasping is this is a league match in March. You said it yourself that winning the league means nothing to Mayo and your right. This league is about getting a team ready for a crack at an All Ireland and whether we lost or won by 12 point the last night it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference. Do you remember the 2011 league final. For all the talk about a new Dublin they coughed up an 8 point lead to lose by a point. Didn't matter much when it came to the finishing straight in the AI final that year

You should watch re-watch the first 30 minutes of the AI final last September. Same thing. Different year- same old story.

10 wides to 9 in favour of Dublin in the first half of the final. You know what. Some time the ball goes wide in Football. Why is it such a big error for a Mayo man to kick it wide but not a Dub.

most Dublin fans hate the sight of you if I'm brutally honest with you.

I taught winning last years final would help ye get over 2006 and 2011. Obviously not.

[criostlinn]

I have to agree.

3 points up with a couple of minutes left and you have to be thinking of getting the insurance point. Get it to Cillian or Kevin or whoever and get the score. Cillian had scored the previous two, one a free with his right and the other from play with his left.

That had to be the thinking, not risking a turnover 55m out with most of the backs well off their men looking for the next keep ball pass.

I don't think anyone is disputing this. The same as when a man is one on one wth the keeper he hand passes a couple of yards over a team mates head or a fella kicks the hind legs of someone in full view of the ref and umpires. Players make errors in matches all the time. If Seamie hadn't run into bother this wouldn't be an issue and we'd be delighted with the result. It was a simple mistake by a player just returning from injury. People would want to get over it

[muppet]

I have to agree.

3 points up with a couple of minutes left and you have to be thinking of getting the insurance point. Get it to Cillian or Kevin or whoever and get the score. Cillian had scored the previous two, one a free with his right and the other from play with his left.

That had to be the thinking, not risking a turnover 55m out with most of the backs well off their men looking for the next keep ball pass.

I don't think anyone is disputing this. The same as when a man is one on one wth the keeper he hand passes a couple of yards over a team mates head or a fella kicks the hind legs of someone in full view of the ref and umpires. Players make errors in matches all the time. If Seamie hadn't run into bother this wouldn't be an issue and we'd be delighted with the result. It was a simple mistake by a player just returning from injury. People would want to get over it

I am not blaming a single player for the turnover, I am blaming everyone who decided to play keep-ball for the 60-90 seconds leading up to the turnover. I don't know if they were on the pitch, on the sideline, or both, or maybe there never really was a decision, but nonetheless it happened.

[moysider]

I have to agree.

3 points up with a couple of minutes left and you have to be thinking of getting the insurance point. Get it to Cillian or Kevin or whoever and get the score. Cillian had scored the previous two, one a free with his right and the other from play with his left.

That had to be the thinking, not risking a turnover 55m out with most of the backs well off their men looking for the next keep ball pass.

I m sure that is what we all thought would happen.

Apart from the fluting about bit with the ball trying to kill the clock we had also switched off for some time. We wouldn t be the first team to get caught with egg on our face playing against 14 so no point in witch hunting. The switching off allowed O Gara to loiter unmarked for an embarrassing amount of time for each goal. Unmarked but outnumbered. A paradox but that was what was happening. After the O Gara debacle we still had Jack McCaffrey standing unmarked for ages before he got that last scoring chance. If McManamon or Connollly got that freebie we would have lost. Why we switched off though is another thing. The subs again watered down the team as they did against Cork, who also scored 2 late scores against the run of play.
Not that the subs did bad or anything but we did lose leadership and shape when likes of Caff and AOS were replaced. Losing Boyle as well was disruptive and I didn t think Drake ( who has improved the team previously) improved the team when he replaced Harrisson. Varley replaced Caff and I m assuming that Higgins played in the backs then. It didn t help because another runner like Gallagher around the middle was needed to keep the likes of Jack McCaff busy.
Some Mayos looking for experimentation for Derry game. I think we ve had enough of that already. We ve a solid core in most of the team but it has been getting a bit messy when players are replaced. It is like players are coming on to try and impress rather than get the job done. Our bench is not driving us on - yet anyway.  That is a concern but it s early yet. But no use replacing a tired player with somebody who is not going to make an impact. When you see the impact that likes of McManamom and O Gara can have coming off the bench it shows how inadequate we are in that respect.

[INDIANA]

I've rarely watched a game whereby we so outplayed and outnumbered

Secondly First  ten minutes of the second half you had enough chances to be 10-12 points up.

And the amazing thing is everyone is concerned about Mayo's performance.

To me that indicates a serious lack of confidence in themselves and a serious lack of confidence in what the management is telling them to do.

That's a typical over reaction to Mayo result. You see what your not grasping is this is a league match in March. You said it yourself that winning the league means nothing to Mayo and your right. This league is about getting a team ready for a crack at an All Ireland and whether we lost or won by 12 point the last night it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference. Do you remember the 2011 league final. For all the talk about a new Dublin they coughed up an 8 point lead to lose by a point. Didn't matter much when it came to the finishing straight in the AI final that year

You should watch re-watch the first 30 minutes of the AI final last September. Same thing. Different year- same old story.

10 wides to 9 in favour of Dublin in the first half of the final. You know what. Some time the ball goes wide in Football. Why is it such a big error for a Mayo man to kick it wide but not a Dub.

most Dublin fans hate the sight of you if I'm brutally honest with you.

I taught winning last years final would help ye get over 2006 and 2011. Obviously not.

The difficulty I have with your post above is this - this is the same old story that we've seen from the same bunch of players for the last three years. You can't just take 2014 in isolation. You have to ask yourself are these guys improving?

No in my view a lot of them aren't. You've some brilliant players in Higgins and Keegan.

And you've others like O Se who could be great but still wants to run through six players instead of popping it off to better positioned team-mates.

Lads taking pot shots from sideline balls when they've a ten percent chance of scoring like Cillian O Connor did.

Whether you like it or not they are decisions that cost you games and cost you medals. And you'd wonder are the management team ruthless enough to nail lads to the cross at a video session for those errors.

I can't speak for Gavin as I don't know him personally but I do know Gilroy hammered the Dublin lads until they did what he wanted them to do and he just got rid of the ones who wanted to be individuals.

Cant help thinking if you had someone like that in charge he'dget you over the line.