Maigh Eo v Doire, Pairc An Chrócaigh, De Domhnaigh 13ú Aibreain, 1400

[rodney trotter]

Just watched the game again, Varley's point was savage, how come he can't do that every time??

McLoughlin & Higgins were poor. In general, the mayo lads weren't putting in the effort needed to win, not tackling back hard enough, not busting a gut the way you need to

His attempt with the right foot wasn't so savage.

[maigheo]

Reading Eugene McGees colum in the Sindo would make you weep.He must head straight for the bar when he goes into Croke Park and stays there for the whole game because based on his writings he does not watch any of the games.How he gets paid for the rubbish he writes is one of the great mysteries of life.

[ross4life]

I disagree but that's not a problem- IMO  the leadership thing is cart before the horse and something that may have come out of that eejit mcstay's inane witterings.

McStay is no eejit & if he said something like that he would right. McStay for example wouldn't have won the club AI with Brigids without leaders like Mannion,Curran,Dolan etc..

[lynchbhoy]

Anyone that comes out with the bullsiht jargon he does is an eejit

Gain lines, leaders etc etc etc


St brigids were a cracking side long before he got them

[Syferus]

Anyone that comes out with the bullsiht jargon he does is an eejit

Gain lines, leaders etc etc etc


St brigids were a cracking side long before he got them

They were Mayo in colour and purpose before McStay. He is an excellent manager and without him Brigids wouldn't have won their AI. His approach that year both in how he trained the team and how he identified weaknesses that needed addressing was exceptional.

'Leaders' is such a nebulous, meaningless term, though. I see players like Caffereky, Boyle, Moran and COC, despite his years, as leaders on that Mayo team. Dillon has always been a big leader for Mayo too. Higgins and Keegan are both players who lead by example and consistency too. I really don't know many teams - Dublin included - that have as many players you could mark out as leaders as Mayo have right now.

No one was complaining about Mayo not having 'leaders' last year so I really can't buy into it being the issue this year.

The Horan era has always been about high intensity and four seasons of long campaigns and near misses will wear on any panel. There's no shame in feeling a bit wore down after two back-to-back AI finals, but it's also a problem few teams in history have ever found an immediate solution to.

I don't think the signs are terribly good for Mayo this year but it's hard to write off a team that's still bubbling in the top three or four teams in the country.

[ross4life]

Anyone that comes out with the bullsiht jargon he does is an eejit

Gain lines, leaders etc etc etc


St brigids were a cracking side long before he got them

You're entitled to your opinion...but i disagree.  Younger players looking to make a breakthrough need this type of leadership on and off the field also. St Brigids was just one example & it took those named leaders to step up. Biggest Worry for Brigids now is how to replace these players.

'Leaders' is such a nebulous, meaningless term, though.

Strongly disagree. For the record i agreed with INDIANA on leadership in general but its clear Mayo have leaders themselves most of them in defence though.

[Syferus]

Anyone that comes out with the bullsiht jargon he does is an eejit

Gain lines, leaders etc etc etc


St brigids were a cracking side long before he got them

You're entitled to your opinion...but i disagree.  Younger players looking to make a breakthrough need this type of leadership on and off the field also. St Brigids was just one example & it took those named leaders to step up. Biggest Worry for Brigids now is how to replace these players.

'Leaders' is such a nebulous, meaningless term, though.

Strongly disagree. For the record i agreed with INDIANA on leadership in general but its clear Mayo have leaders themselves most of them in defence though.

My point is 'leadership' takes many forms and that saying a team "doesn't have enough leaders" is a pretty meaningless term on its own. You need leaders but there's no one absolute way to be a leader.

Look at the three Brigids players you picked out - Cake, cuter than any hoor in the country and a 41 year-old child on the field in both antics and enthusiasm, Mango, a calming, thinking man's player in the Earley mould and Frankie, one of the most combustible players in the country who's seething with passion at almost every juncture.

'Leadership' takes so many forms that whenever anyone says any team 'doesn't have leaders' I instantly roll my eyes. It's too lazy an excuse without qualification and in this instance I can't see how it even applies.

That Mayo team isn't full of players shrieking their responsibilities or shying away from trying to inspire others, that genuinely is a wrong reading what what happened yesterday or what happened last year or the year before.

[Walter Cronc]

Anyone that comes out with the bullsiht jargon he does is an eejit

Gain lines, leaders etc etc etc


St brigids were a cracking side long before he got them

They were Mayo in colour and purpose before McStay. He is an excellent manager and without him Brigids wouldn't have won their AI. His approach that year both in how he trained the team and how he identified weaknesses that needed addressing was exceptional.

'Leaders' is such a nebulous, meaningless term, though. I see players like Caffereky, Boyle, Moran and COC, despite his years, as leaders on that Mayo team. Dillon has always been a big leader for Mayo too. Higgins and Keegan are both players who lead by example and consistency too. I really don't know many teams - Dublin included - that have as many players you could mark out as leaders as Mayo have right now.

No one was complaining about Mayo not having 'leaders' last year so I really can't buy into it being the issue this year.

The Horan era has always been about high intensity and four seasons of long campaigns and near misses will wear on any panel. There's no shame in feeling a bit wore down after two back-to-back AI finals, but it's also a problem few teams in history have ever found an immediate solution to.

I don't think the signs are terribly good for Mayo this year but it's hard to write off a team that's still bubbling in the top three or four teams in the country.

Jesus wept. Dillon is the biggest choker of them all. Man of the match performances throughout the year but when the heat is on goes missing!

[highorlow]

Just watched the game again, Varley's point was savage, how come he can't do that every time??

I wonder that myself. Is it a confidence thing. Maybe a start for him in a match during the league might have awoken something. He goes and ruins a great score by being greedy a move or so later and not offloading to Sweeney.

We can talk all day about hunger to win Sam but without conviction in the team we will remain unconvincing. Too much over coaching takes some of the free spirit out of us. An example of this was AOS not shooting, i'd say he is told to off load to a forward rather than giving it a go himself, I'd rather see him try and kick it wide than do what he did and run into traffic. I also thought the half backs didn't know to attack or defend.

Anyone that plays golf will know that if you think in the middle of your swing this leads to a shank.

I still believe that this bunch and the management can go to well one more time. The 'last chance saloon' approach may loosen the shackles. All it will take is to be at our best for 1 1/2 games this year.

[Tubberman]

Jesus lads, Varley has had umpteen chances from the bench and starting - you're not going to see anything new at this stage.
He's always likely to get one (or maybe two) spectacular scores during a game, but he's not consistent and is as likely to balloon twice as many bad wides.

[DennistheMenace]

The most gutsy Derry performance in a long long time. I'm hoping this panel of players get the backing of our notoriously small number of supporters. Can do no harm, just hope we're not setup for an ambush by Donegal in 6 weeks time but i'm confident McIVer won't let complacency set in. Ulster this year is an absolute minefield.

[highorlow]

Jesus lads, Varley has had umpteen chances from the bench and starting - you're not going to see anything new at this stage.

That's exactly the point. Why do the management keep persisting with the same subs. Feeney and Barry Moran were warming up all through the 2nd half. Would have been a game that suited Drake also.

For Varley and Parsons to be shoved in ahead of those lads can only make sense to the management.

Anyhow the line and the team have enough mistakes clocked up for a season so far so we should be error free for the rest of the year.

[screenexile]

The most gutsy Derry performance in a long long time. I'm hoping this panel of players get the backing of our notoriously small number of supporters. Can do no harm, just hope we're not setup for an ambush by Donegal in 6 weeks time but i'm confident McIVer won't let complacency set in. Ulster this year is an absolute minefield.

Complacency is the last thing I would expect to happen. We've had a decent league and that's all. Donegal are champing at the bit after last year's disappointment. I expect it to be all out war and whatever team's left standing at the end will know they've come through a test. The winner of the game will not be far away!

[blast05]

Thank you Syferus for bringing some logic and rationale to the leadership discussion !

Re Varley ...... one single but major problem with his game - poor shot selection. "If its going to be its up to me" must be the tune ringing round in his head when he plays. Thats fine at club football where he is the 'main man' in the forward line and when he gets to shoot from less difficult positions cos the intensity and speed of the back lines he is up against is not at the level he will encounter when he wears the Mayo jersey. But when wearing the Mayo jersey, he simply has to play it smarter.
If he could improve on this then he might even be a possible starter imo .... but old dog, new tricks etc.

[Zulu]

Jesus lads, Varley has had umpteen chances from the bench and starting - you're not going to see anything new at this stage.

That's exactly the point. Why do the management keep persisting with the same subs. Feeney and Barry Moran were warming up all through the 2nd half. Would have been a game that suited Drake also.

For Varley and Parsons to be shoved in ahead of those lads can only make sense to the management.

Anyhow the line and the team have enough mistakes clocked up for a season so far so we should be error free for the rest of the year.

Because that's all they have. If Horan wanted to get a scorer onto the full forward line then Varley, who is capable of scoring outrageous points was the man. Neither Feeney nor Moran could provide that. I think Horan is dead right to give Parsons game time. He is talented and there's no point in bringing him back in unless your going to give him a chance to win a spot on the team. Mayo need something different and he can possibly provide it. He knows what Feeney and Moran bring to the table.

Mayo don't lack leaders and they don't have a Croke Park hoodoo or psychological issues they just lack that bit of class to push them beyond the best teams. Sweeney is good addition and COC might bring some of that magic dust but you can't escape the feeling that Lee Keegan would be a bigger loss to the Mayo attack than most of the forwards.