Search for New Mayo Manager

[bannside]

A couple of posters here have derided H&C for choosing to air their side of the story. I think that's he least they are entitled to do. To me (one of many neutrals on here...albeit one who roared himself hoarse for Mayo in the replay) two passionate Mayo men, who won an all ireland u 21 title with many of these players, finally got their big chance at managing their county and made a fairly decent job of it on the surface, at least results wise. (In my book any team that can go toe to toe with the Dubs for 70 mins can say that).

For reasons they allude to and obviously others not yet in the public domain....they were royally shafted. They have aired their grievances and I feel they were well entitled to do that.

There are usually two sides to every story but in this case there could be much more. The first Mayo player to write his autobiography with a proper warts and all account will clean up!

[Syferus]

I find it incredible that some here think it's ok for players to leak endless subtle character assassinations to the public, which is what has essentially happened to Holmes and Connelly on here and in the eyes of far too many GAA people, but it isn't ok for them to have the balls to cut away from the cloak and dagger shite and have their say out in public where everyone and anyone can tear apart every little thing they said. What the players did at the time and over the last year was far more cowardly and self-serving.

For Mayo supporters it's obviously a case of vested interest - the players are still there and washing away their sins seems the expedient way of dealing with a situation where they have a lot of blood on their hands. But not fronting up about how cancerous player power can be in the inter-county scene is only going to end up hurting you in the long run, which paraphrased was the over-arching point the interview. It's hard to argue with that.

Why anyone outside Mayo could side with the players over the two managers (read: not the CB), well, that can only be seen as a massive misreading of what happened.

[From the Bunker]

Bit disappointed in the lads doing an article with Breheny. To be fair to the two lads, if you were going to pick a time to make a statement without disrupting Mayo football then this is when to do it! No intercounty (even FBD), no club games, nothing really. Any other time and it would have been disruptive. So for that one can be thankful. Both lads are proud men. Often we forget how much being told you are not good enough can hurt. Especially in the sporting world.

They have said their bit and I'd expect them to say little else.

Although there is a lot of commentary from their own (often biased) perspective that is neither here nor there. There is a lot of home truths there also. And to ignore these would (could) be fatal.

I have good time for both H & C. They have been involved in some of the happiest sporting moments of my life. That said I was not in favour of them being appointed to (Joint) Management. They were a appointment of convenience by the County Board and became victims.

[muppet]

Bit disappointed in the lads doing an article with Breheny. To be fair to the two lads, if you were going to pick a time to make a statement without disrupting Mayo football then this is when to do it! No intercounty (even FBD), no club games, nothing really. Any other time and it would have been disruptive. So for that one can be thankful. Both lads are proud men. Often we forget how much being told you are not good enough can hurt. Especially in the sporting world.

They have said their bit and I'd expect them to say little else.

Although there is a lot of commentary from their own (often biased) perspective that is neither here nor there. There is a lot of home truths there also. And to ignore these would (could) be fatal.

I have good time for both H & C. They have been involved in some of the happiest sporting moments of my life. That said I was not in favour of them being appointed to (Joint) Management. They were a appointment of convenience by the County Board and became victims.

That's it in a nutshell. The appointment process was a shambles. Even the article hints at some CB old scores, not related to the players.

I'll ask again, anyone know what are H&C doing whinging about fund raising, in a tell all exclusive on why the players removed them? What is the agenda there?

[Never beat the deeler]

I find it incredible that some here think it's ok for players to leak endless subtle character assassinations to the public, which is what has essentially happened to Holmes and Connelly on here and in the eyes of far too many GAA people, but it isn't ok for them to have the balls to cut away from the cloak and dagger shite and have their say out in public where everyone and anyone can tear apart every little thing they said. What the players did at the time and over the last year was far more cowardly and self-serving.

For Mayo supporters it's obviously a case of vested interest - the players are still there and washing away their sins seems the expedient way of dealing with a situation where they have a lot of blood on their hands. But not fronting up about how cancerous player power can be in the inter-county scene is only going to end up hurting you in the long run, which paraphrased was the over-arching point the interview. It's hard to argue with that.

Why anyone outside Mayo could side with the players over the two managers (read: not the CB), well, that can only be seen as a massive misreading of what happened.

When did the players leak anything?

[twohands!!!]

https://www.balls.ie/gaa/holmes-and-connelly-interview/354694

Some gems in there

A few players 'took exception' to the message being delivered by management

The joint managers felt that for Mayo to win an All-Ireland, something things needed to change such as players needing to become more ruthless. The majority of the panel believed this to be true. However, some players 'took exception' to this message according to Holmes.

One player stood up during a meeting in early 2015 and said:

"These fellas don't think we're good enough."

This drew a response from another panel member.

"Sure if we were, we'd have All-Ireland medals by now."

Whoever that first player is needs to be beaten around the head until some sort of sense leaks in. At least the second player called him on his nonsense.

Three players objected to member of the medical team leaving

When a member of the setup's medical team left by their own decision, three members of the panel approached management and demanded that he be brought back in.

According to Holmes:

We were told, 'You'll have to reinstate him'. We said: 'How can we - he walked away - it was his choice'. Were were then told that we would have to adhere to his demands to which there could be one reply: 'It doesn't work like that.'

Talk about being utterly clueless - what did the players expect Holmes and Connolly to do - hold the individual hostage?

Mass caused a 'big fuss'

In late March of 2015, with Mayo down in Cork for a league game, one player kicked up a 'big fuss' because a pre-match meal was put back by 15 minutes. This was due to a Palm Sunday mass running, which some players had attended, running long.

I'm with the player on this - delaying a meal because some players are late is just rank stupidity. Also the players who were late should have shown proper consideration for their team-mates - turning up late to a team meal like this is the height of ignorance.

[trileacman]

The two boys are right to give their side of the story, they did suffer a cloak and daggers campaign to undermine them which was obvious on here.

Was it larnaparka who told on here some Horseshit story about them leaving the tactical plan on a breakfast table before the AI final. What kind of bull was that.

[Jinxy]

To paraphrase the title of a recent article by Robert Fisk, 'There is more than one truth to tell in the heartbreaking story of Mayo'.

[ballinaman]

The two boys are right to give their side of the story, they did suffer a cloak and daggers campaign to undermine them which was obvious on here.

Was it larnaparka who told on here some Horseshit story about them leaving the tactical plan on a breakfast table before the AI final. What kind of bull was that.

Semi final replay actually, 100% accurate.

Interesting to see how this is being received outside the county. Maybe H&C knew they had burned bridges and hoped for sympathy from outside the county.

[Jinxy]

No, it was one of the players who left the plans behind, not them.

[Halfquarter]

Cannot for the life of me understand why Homes and Connelly have given this interview. It might go down well outside the county but will be seen as poison by anybody who has the interests of Mayo football at heart.

[Jinxy]

Forget about the H & C stuff for a second.
Would any Mayo fan disagree with the statement that a small group of players seem to wield a disproportionate influence on the decision-making process, and that may not be in the best interests of Mayo football?

[Lar Naparka]

Bit disappointed in the lads doing an article with Breheny. To be fair to the two lads, if you were going to pick a time to make a statement without disrupting Mayo football then this is when to do it! No intercounty (even FBD), no club games, nothing really. Any other time and it would have been disruptive. So for that one can be thankful. Both lads are proud men. Often we forget how much being told you are not good enough can hurt. Especially in the sporting world.

They have said their bit and I'd expect them to say little else.

Although there is a lot of commentary from their own (often biased) perspective that is neither here nor there. There is a lot of home truths there also. And to ignore these would (could) be fatal.

I have good time for both H & C. They have been involved in some of the happiest sporting moments of my life. That said I was not in favour of them being appointed to (Joint) Management. They were a appointment of convenience by the County Board and became victims.

That's it in a nutshell. The appointment process was a shambles. Even the article hints at some CB old scores, not related to the players.

I'll ask again, anyone know what are H&C doing whinging about fund raising, in a tell all exclusive on why the players removed them? What is the agenda there?

I believe they were referring to what happened in New York when Mayo went there in 2014. There was some sort of a standoff between Horan and the CB while the squad was there. A fundraiser was held on the night before the game, which was organised by Eugene Lavin, the former Mayo goalkeeper.
IIRC, Horan wasn't told about this until the day before the game and he refused to attend and didn't allow the players to go either as it would disrupt his preparations for the upcoming game.
There was some controversy generated by this refusal to co-operate given that those attending were being asked to shell out $100 or more , expecting to meet some of the players and they were going to be upset at the no-show.
Obviously, that was only reported in the days following the return to Mayo and as the championship proper was about to begin, little enough was made of this spat at the time.
However, rumours began to circulate shortly afterwards about the fundraiser and the reasons for staging it. I'm going by what I read in the local papers here and while I don't recall any direct accusations being levelled at any quarter it was made clear that it wasn't held for the benefit of the county board.
I'm not quite sure what H&C meant in their reference to unofficial fundraising but it certainly wasn't meant for Horan or his players either.

[Cunny Funt]

Was some that didn't like H&C or the idea of joint managers from day one but the majority thought the statement they gave when stepping down was dignified however it now seems that statement was perhaps hand written for them.

Why they needed a full year to finally come out with their side of the story is strange. Obviously the Indo paid them a nice sum of money to spill the beans.

[Jinxy]

Yeah, this would have been a great discussion to have while Mayo were in the middle of appointing a new manager.