Tir Eoghain -v- Maigh Eo - Sunday 13th April

[stephenite]

MacDonald should play for Mayo this year, he is probably still the best player in the County but I'm also a bit bemused about this notion that players of his stature shouldn't have to play trial games, he was an All Star back in 2004 FFS, how is anyone supposed to know if he is ready for the challenge of Inter county football in 2008? It would be a huge mistake for any manager to play someone on reputation alone at this level - a player is only as good as his last game at this level, in that respect of course MacDonlad needs to prove himself again.

I'd be disgusted if John O'Mahony gave a jersey to any player on a Sunday that just rocked up to training that week. Why should the likes of Ciaran MacDonald be given preferential treatment over lads that have been slogging their guts out all winter - I know he has been training with Na Fianna (and apparently flying) but there is a world of difference between training with a Dublin club side and playing and training with inter county footballers.

If Mac wants to play he needs to let O'Mahony know that he wants to play, and if JOM wants him to play trial games then he plays trial games and gets selected on that basis.

[Zapatista]

I'd be disgusted if John O'Mahony gave a jersey to any player on a Sunday that just rocked up to training that week. Why should the likes of Ciaran MacDonald be given preferential treatment over lads that have been slogging their guts out all winter

It would be a horrible thing to do alright but it boils down to winning. If McDonald can make them a  better team then he might be included without the Winter slogging. However, it would be upto O'Mahony to make the call on is it worth it and how would it affect the rest of the team. It could either make or break a team.

[stephenite]

I'd be disgusted if John O'Mahony gave a jersey to any player on a Sunday that just rocked up to training that week. Why should the likes of Ciaran MacDonald be given preferential treatment over lads that have been slogging their guts out all winter

It would be a horrible thing to do alright but it boils down to winning. If McDonald can make them a  better team then he might be included without the Winter slogging. However, it would be upto O'Mahony to make the call on is it worth it and how would it affect the rest of the team. It could either make or break a team.

100% it's the managers call, and I'd agree that we need Ciaran this year - but I was just making the point because some have mentioned that because of who he is and what he has acheived then he shouldn't need to participate in any trial games or the like - I think that's a crazy notion as the manager and selectors haven't seen him play this year, don't know what sort of form he is in etc and people expect him to walk onto the team. I'm sure that he is in good physical shape and after a couple of sessions with Mayo he'd be the first name on the team sheet, but he has problems with his back over the last few years so management need to know if he can last 70 minutes, might he be better as an impact sub if he cannot last 70 minutes. These are all the sort of questions that need to be answered - and the answers can be provided in a couple of robust training/trial matches. O'Mahony would be crazy to throw him without seeing answers to questions like I posed above.

[the Deel Rover]

Lets face it lads, Nallens time has passed, he struggled badly 2 years ago, never mind now. Could have a place in the dressing room though as there was no better servant. Its a young mans game and we need to be making sure the young lads are brought through correctly and not be pining for the older lads (some whos career memories seem to get enhanced as time goes by!!!). McDonald can possibly play some role, but it would have to be a specific one and close to goal. Pity he hasnt been involved up to now, as always we are left guessing.
Watching Arsenal v Liverpool last night and the analysis afterwards on Net2 reminded me a bit of Mayo (al la Arsenal) in that when we play the like of kerry and even Galway, it often appears that we are lads playing 'men'. Thats what Souness was saying the difference was

I assume your saying Mc Donald has left you guessing well big deal, these lads as we know aren't professionals  aren't getting paid so they owe nobody an explanation as to whether they are playing or not for mayo.

We all know that they are not professionals, but they do owe it to us to let us know whether they are going to play or not. Ever hear the saying that nobody is greater than the team ? I really don't get this horseshit that some come out with protecting their demi Gods. Of course McDonald has played his heart out for Mayo but we need to be as prepared as possible and not have lads ambling back at the end of the league.

This is the part i don't get why do the players owe us anything , Ciaran Mc has been playing with the county since he was 16 years of age he is now 33 and he has clocked up an amazing amount of games with both club and county he owes no one anything and if he wants to stop playing football thats his decision dodo why should he have to answer to me you or anyone else for that matter. At he end of the day football doesn't pay the mortgage and work comes first and as i said before i hope his doesn't play for the county again because if anything goes wrong he will as usual be the 1st to be blamed.

[OirthearMhaigheo]

This is the part i don't get why do the players owe us anything , Ciaran Mc has been playing with the county since he was 16 years of age he is now 33 and he has clocked up an amazing amount of games with both club and county he owes no one anything and if he wants to stop playing football thats his decision dodo why should he have to answer to me you or anyone else for that matter. At he end of the day football doesn't play the mortgage and work comes first and ia a said before i hope his doesn't play for the county again because if anything goes wrong he will as usual be the 1st to be blamed.
[/quote]

Fair enough, I agree he doesn't owe us anything, he has given so much to Mayo football in the past and if he is walking away then he has every right to do so. The problem is he hasn't said one way or the other, do you not think Johhno and co need to know by now? DB has retired, O'Neill is gone, the difference is they have announced one way or the other what they are doing. Ciaran has been the king of making people wait and a part of him seems to love the 'will he/won't he' drama. The fact that he has been invited back for a trial game has been exaggerated aswell, his actual ability is not on trial, his ability to play at this level in 2008 is. I hope he is in fine fettle and I hope he plays again this year, as we need someone with his class but the later he leaves it to come back the more annoyed members of the panel are going to be. If he's well and able and wants to do it then he needs to let someone know very soon, if not we can just move on and plan for the future without him. If he has had enough then he should say he is retiring, no one will think any less of him as he has been a great servant and will forever be remembered as one of the most gifted footballers our county has ever produced.

[orangeman]

This is the part i don't get why do the players owe us anything , Ciaran Mc has been playing with the county since he was 16 years of age he is now 33 and he has clocked up an amazing amount of games with both club and county he owes no one anything and if he wants to stop playing football thats his decision dodo why should he have to answer to me you or anyone else for that matter. At he end of the day football doesn't play the mortgage and work comes first and ia a said before i hope his doesn't play for the county again because if anything goes wrong he will as usual be the 1st to be blamed.

Fair enough, I agree he doesn't owe us anything, he has given so much to Mayo football in the past and if he is walking away then he has every right to do so. The problem is he hasn't said one way or the other, do you not think Johhno and co need to know by now? DB has retired, O'Neill is gone, the difference is they have announced one way or the other what they are doing. Ciaran has been the king of making people wait and a part of him seems to love the 'will he/won't he' drama. The fact that he has been invited back for a trial game has been exaggerated aswell, his actual ability is not on trial, his ability to play at this level in 2008 is. I hope he is in fine fettle and I hope he plays again this year, as we need someone with his class but the later he leaves it to come back the more annoyed members of the panel are going to be. If he's well and able and wants to do it then he needs to let someone know very soon, if not we can just move on and plan for the future without him. If he has had enough then he should say he is retiring, no one will think any less of him as he has been a great servant and will forever be remembered as one of the most gifted footballers our county has ever produced.
[/quote]

Not yet ! 

[the Deel Rover]

MacDonald should play for Mayo this year, he is probably still the best player in the County but I'm also a bit bemused about this notion that players of his stature shouldn't have to play trial games, he was an All Star back in 2004 FFS, how is anyone supposed to know if he is ready for the challenge of Inter county football in 2008? It would be a huge mistake for any manager to play someone on reputation alone at this level - a player is only as good as his last game at this level, in that respect of course MacDonlad needs to prove himself again.

I'd be disgusted if John O'Mahony gave a jersey to any player on a Sunday that just rocked up to training that week. Why should the likes of Ciaran MacDonald be given preferential treatment over lads that have been slogging their guts out all winter - I know he has been training with Na Fianna (and apparently flying) but there is a world of difference between training with a Dublin club side and playing and training with inter county footballers.

If Mac wants to play he needs to let O'Mahony know that he wants to play, and if JOM wants him to play trial games then he plays trial games and gets selected on that basis.

Ok stepenite maybe its the way o'mahony phrased it, come on a trial game is where you are looking at finding new talent and if he doesn't know anything about Jimmy Or Ciaran Mc at this stage then he should stick to politics . Why doesn't he say we will bring them in training and have a look at their fitness and see whether he thinks Mc can still do a job for mayo, can you imagine if Darragh o' shea was asked to attend a trial game. Also Ciaran Mc hasn't asked for preferential treatment and has done plenty of slogging over past winters. i haven't at any stage said that Mc Donald should be back in fact i have said that i hope he doesn't as it will also help Cross's cause this year and he is in fact club captain and it would be great to have him and jimmy playing all the matches with the young lads.

[the Deel Rover]

i know Mc fairly well OM and to tell you the truth when Mc retires from intercounty football there won't be an announcement he will just walk away and play for the club. Also i'm interested in you saying that part of him seems to love the will he/ wont he play drama to tell you the truth Ciaran couldn't give two fcuks he allways loved his football but he is a realist he didn't rely on the county board to get him a cushy job and he has to work damn hard so the most important thing to him is work and if that means football comes second so be it.

[OirthearMhaigheo]

i know Mc fairly well OM and to tell you the truth when Mc retires from intercounty football there won't be an announcement he will just walk away and play for the club. Also i'm interested in you saying that part of him seems to love the will he/ wont he play drama to tell you the truth Ciaran couldn't give two fcuks he allways loved his football but he is a realist he didn't rely on the county board to get him a cushy job and he has to work damn hard so the most important thing to him is work and if that means football comes second so be it.

You know the lad better so I can't argue with that, it's just the way it seems sometimes. I know he doesn'tlike the limelight and is a shy down to earth fella but I always get the impression he likes people guessing his next move, but that is just my perception of him without knowing anything about him really. As I said I have great time for him as a player and don't mean in any way to make him out to be a prima donna, one look at how hard he works in his 'day job' is proof enough of that!

[ziggysego]

Is the game on Setanta? Anywhere in Putney showing the game if it is?

EDIT: Wait, Sunday's TG4 day. Well is TG4 anywhere in Putney?

[dodo]

Lets face it lads, Nallens time has passed, he struggled badly 2 years ago, never mind now. Could have a place in the dressing room though as there was no better servant. Its a young mans game and we need to be making sure the young lads are brought through correctly and not be pining for the older lads (some whos career memories seem to get enhanced as time goes by!!!). McDonald can possibly play some role, but it would have to be a specific one and close to goal. Pity he hasnt been involved up to now, as always we are left guessing.
Watching Arsenal v Liverpool last night and the analysis afterwards on Net2 reminded me a bit of Mayo (al la Arsenal) in that when we play the like of kerry and even Galway, it often appears that we are lads playing 'men'. Thats what Souness was saying the difference was

I assume your saying Mc Donald has left you guessing well big deal, these lads as we know aren't professionals  aren't getting paid so they owe nobody an explanation as to whether they are playing or not for mayo.

We all know that they are not professionals, but they do owe it to us to let us know whether they are going to play or not. Ever hear the saying that nobody is greater than the team ? I really don't get this horseshit that some come out with protecting their demi Gods. Of course McDonald has played his heart out for Mayo but we need to be as prepared as possible and not have lads ambling back at the end of the league.

This is the part i don't get why do the players owe us anything , Ciaran Mc has been playing with the county since he was 16 years of age he is now 33 and he has clocked up an amazing amount of games with both club and county he owes no one anything and if he wants to stop playing football thats his decision dodo why should he have to answer to me you or anyone else for that matter. At he end of the day football doesn't pay the mortgage and work comes first and as i said before i hope his doesn't play for the county again because if anything goes wrong he will as usual be the 1st to be blamed.

I'm not talking about mortgages, work or the great service he has shown to us in Mayo over the years. All our players deserve great credit and respect for what they put in. The bit I don't get in your posts is this  

he owes no one anything and if he wants to stop playing football thats his decision dodo why should he have to answer to me you or anyone else for that matter

. For Mayo to play to their potential O'Mahony and his backroom team need to know what their options are and organise accordingly. If he can get/has got a straight answer from McDonald then great, but it seems to be a guessing game and this will be of no benefit to anyone. To say that he is not answerable to anyone is balls, all he has to say is he is available or not, if he refuses to give an answer then that's the same as not available and we all move on.
None of us want the situation like in the qualifier in Celtic Park last year when he was brought on with 10 minutes remaining with the game over as a contest.

[mannix]

Deel rover,
would you think ciaran mac will not or will be back in the green and red this year?

[the Deel Rover]

[We all know that they are not professionals, but they do owe it to us to let us know whether they are going to play or not. Ever hear the saying that nobody is greater than the team ? I really don't get this horseshit that some come out with protecting their demi Gods. Of course McDonald has played his heart out for Mayo but we need to be as prepared as possible and not have lads ambling back at the end of the league.

my point dodo is that he does not owe you an explanation as to whether he is retiring or not. What ever happens between o' mahony and himself is their own business. O' Mahony knows what the story is 2 weeks ago he said in the mayo news the Ciaran mc , Jimmy and Ger Brady were going to be invited for trials and that he was closing of the panel within the next few weeks and that it would be a closed panel so one can assume that if he didn't attend then he is not and will not be in the panel therfore o' mahony can plan without him.I don't get your point re the qualafiers last year

[dodo]

he owes no one anything and if he wants to stop playing football thats his decision dodo why should he have to answer to me you or anyone else for that matter.

my point dodo is that he does not owe you an explanation as to whether he is retiring or not. What ever happens between o' mahony and himself is their own business. O' Mahony knows what the story is 2 weeks ago he said in the mayo news the Ciaran mc , Jimmy and Ger Brady were going to be invited for trials and that he was closing of the panel within the next few weeks and that it would be a closed panel so one can assume that if he didn't attend then he is not and will not be in the panel therfore o' mahony can plan without him.I don't get your point re the qualafiers last year

Explaining his reasons to me or anyone else is not the issue. As long as the management know the story then preparation for the championship can proceed with all those players available.

My point regarding the Derry match last year was about the futility in bringing him on with 10 minutes to go in a match that was over at that stage. Hardly the way to exit the county stage if he doesn't play again.

[the Deel Rover]

it was johnnos decision to bring him on Dodo with 10 minutes left and i agree with you couldn't see the point of him bringing him on with 10 minutes left a very strange decision especially since he brought on about 4 other forwards that day . Ye not a great way to leave the game but cest la vie anyway he has had some great days in the green and red and to tell you the truth i have been lucky to see him play and train over the past 25 years and i'm hoping that he has one more year left in him for Cross