Ciaran McDonald not named in Mayo panel

[Moose]

I know it was inevitable Davitt Man that McDonald would stop playing for Mayo, sad though to see it happen. Would still like to see him back for the championship, still think he has a lot to offer.

[rosnarun]

You're trying to stir shite with that post rosnarun
[/quote]

which part ?
the Omahony part ? A chant currently popular in stamford bridge comes to mind from what ive seen if mayo since he took over. mayo have gone steadily backwards in his reign and getting shut of Ciaran is not going to help that.
As regards to his return . I know for a fact he is fully willing to return but has NOT been invited back to training.
Maybe the Sligo game will se the back of o mahony  and at the moment thats the only Way will will see Ciarans return unless JOM get down off his high horse.

[Lar Naparka]

The more I think about it, the more I feel O'Mahony is being unwise.
It doesn't matter a damn which of them is throwing the rattle out of his pram. If O'Mahony doesn't go the full way this year, Mayo fans will always be thinking, "If only Mac was there."
Even if Ciaran is being stubborn, it would do no harm for the management to try and appreciate things from his point of view. We need him and we want him to end his career in a dignified way, and at a time of his choosing. This is no way to mark his departure.
No matter what O'Mahony may do hereafter and I wish him the very best, he will always be the man who dropped Ciaran McDonald.

[moysider]

Conor Moran, Enda Varley, Brian Benson + Colm Cafferkey not named in panel. Neither is Chris Barrett. it s my understanding a few places are being held for injured players. Maybe mac might slip in there.

[IolarCoisCuain]

This is the voice of reason from Moysider. It's a long road yet, and there's no need for hullaballoo.

Something struck me this morning on my way into work - when Johnno signed on, he was talking a lot about dampening expectations in Mayo. If that was one of his goals, he's succeeded admirably. I don't know anyone that expects bugger all from this year. 

[the Deel Rover]

This is the voice of reason from Moysider. It's a long road yet, and there's no need for hullaballoo.

Something struck me this morning on my way into work - when Johnno signed on, he was talking a lot about dampening expectations in Mayo. If that was one of his goals, he's succeeded admirably. I don't know anyone that expects bugger all from this year. 

he has succeeded in that allright ICC not a lot expected this year , i thought politicians were usually optimistic 

[moysider]

I dont know what Johnno is doing either but I remember some things he did in the past.

1. He got every last yard, never mind miles, out of players like Kevin Malsh, Tomás Mannion and Ja Fallon when in Galway so it would seem odd if its the case he feels Mac has little to offer at 33. Obviously he felt the above 3 were vital to galway. Does he feel the same about Mac and say Nallen?  His limited use of them in last year s championship suggests not. The Galway trio always started for Galway well into their thirties.

2. This is Johnno s first real go at building a team. Previously he inherited mature teams and took them further. In the case of Mayo#1 the team stagnated after his first 2 years. In Galway too the team was basically ran aground post 01 and became tactically bankrupt as well. He  was not successful in integrating new players into the team and basically when the lads he inherited were spent that was that.

3. Oddly last year he wasted little time in dismantling Mickey Moran's team, arguably the second best team in Ireland[ the dublin team we beat 06 is still basically the same as going still]. Older hands were kept on but got little game time when it mattered most. The spin, that most lazy journalists bought, that he gave the older lads one last chance last year is just that - spin. Worryingly some of his rebuilding attempts have already crumbled. Hanley was outside his control but the Kilcullen Brother expedition was a waste of time at this stage. Hopefully he knows what he s at.

[ludermor]

Are ye sure McD is 33?
He was the same age group as me underage and im not 32 till august. He should have a few years left in him if he so chooses

[spectator]

Hanley was outside his control but the Kilcullen Brother expedition was a waste of time at this stage.

This comment intrigues me - is there a feeling in the 'mainland' that Johnno tried to fast track in some Ballagh lads, denying the 'indigenous' Mayo players their rightful place on the panel, or something like that? I don't think he can be slagged off for trying out promising Ballagh players, even if it didn't quite work out.

Hopefully he knows what he s at.

My advice to everyone would be to go and watch Cross in the c\ship (thank god we dont have Cross in the groups again) this year and watch McD do what he does best because we wont see the likes of him again on the fields of Mayo again. Class act and never gave a sh1te about the media.

Really Great player & I always enjoyed watching him - his battle with Francie Grehan in 2001 was one of the great duels, with both vying for man-of-the-match afterwards. Very strong on the ball, he had vision & skills to burn too. Good Luck to him, he gave a lot to Mayo, even if it wasn't always appreciated by some.

[moysider]

Hanley was outside his control but the Kilcullen Brother expedition was a waste of time at this stage.

This comment intrigues me - is there a feeling in the 'mainland' that Johnno tried to fast track in some Ballagh lads, denying the 'indigenous' Mayo players their rightful place on the panel, or something like that? I don't think he can be slagged off for trying out promising Ballagh players, even if it didn't quite work out.

Hopefully he knows what he s at.

My advice to everyone would be to go and watch Cross in the c\ship (thank god we dont have Cross in the groups again) this year and watch McD do what he does best because we wont see the likes of him again on the fields of Mayo again. Class act and never gave a sh1te about the media.

Really Great player & I always enjoyed watching him - his battle with Francie Grehan in 2001 was one of the great duels, with both vying for man-of-the-match afterwards. Very strong on the ball, he had vision & skills to burn too. Good Luck to him, he gave a lot to Mayo, even if it wasn't always appreciated by some.

Eh? What s that about? Who s slagging anybody off. All I said was he spent most of last year with lads at 3 and 6 [ kinda important positions you might accept] that are no longer in the panel. That constitutes a waste of time in anybodys language. Was he right to try them? Yes. Were they successful? Not really but they had something[ at least 1 did] to offer going forward. Where are they now? Dont know and not sure the reasons why they re gone. But he s the manager and if he thought they had something to offer then why are they missing. Course he was right to try them. Not like they re from another county or anything Here in Mayo we know that Ballagh lads are indigenous/ mainland in a football context. Always were. Always will be. Now that they re not around anymore it was time wasted. And you might explain your eye rolling gesture. Did nt quite get what that was about?

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Superb footballer - one of the men you'd pay in to see no matter who you supported. This thread reminds me of the Armagh thread when Marsden retired; these things are rarely actually the end. I'd say he'll play another game for Mayo - possibly many.

But for Kerry, Mayo could have had at least one AI at this stage.

Would definitely disagree with this point - biased though I may be - Armagh were a better side in 04 and 06 than Mayo were, in my opinion.

[moysider]

This is the voice of reason from Moysider. It's a long road yet, and there's no need for hullaballoo.

Something struck me this morning on my way into work - when Johnno signed on, he was talking a lot about dampening expectations in Mayo. If that was one of his goals, he's succeeded admirably. I don't know anyone that expects bugger all from this year. 

Of course you re right Iolar. Its astonishing really. How he got away with that condescending spin is a credit to the fawning hacks locally, and also suits the national view of Mayo football sometimes being a distracting sideshow to the real stuff involving Dublin in waiting or Kerry and whoever they ll lorry next. I ve no problem with Johnno being Mayo manager but if he replaces Mickey and John he must bring something more to the table than just lower expectations. We ve always got likes of  Pat McAnaneny and Kerry to make sure we re kept in our place. What the fkuc is wrong with raising interest and expectations in football in any county. Maughan and Mickey gave us great days. The fact that we ended up depressed in the end is an occupational hazard. I would gladly go through the disappointment of  the defeats to experience the highs of  likes of  Kerry 96, Galway 99 and  Dublin 06 again. Johnno has a bit to do to reach those marks. Yet I would argue he has as a good as resources to do so as other recent managers. Maughan and Moran got to All Ireland finals in first year, Maughan from Div. 3. Johnno was nt brought in with his 2 Galway All Irelands to bring us in the opposite direction.  All fans want is their team to have the best team on the pitch , set up properly and give it a good go and have a clue what they re about.. Johnno is a man who has achieved legendary status as a manager in Leitrim and Galway. One of his great strengths as manager in those counties was appreciating and getting the best of veteran players like Mickey Quinn and Kevin Walsh. Yet when he gets the Mayo job he takes the knife to the team who were no. 2 in 06. Last years team bore no resemblance to that outfit. Surely he must have understood  the need to keep a competitive team intact. It s not his fault that we never got to see much of O Neill and Mac together in the same team but surely over the last 15 years it could have happened a few times. Would that have been expecting too much. Having those 2 with James Horan would have been asking too much altogether So our expectations were too high! And when John Casey was flying - surely we could nt ask for that. Him and the other three.? Too much expectation altogether! How about Peter Butler, Padraig Brogan and Kevin Staunton?  Yeah he s right. It would have spoiled us for good if we were allowed to watch those lads play any more than a few games for Mayo. I for one expect a lot this year Iolar. For a team that was leaderless and  tactically inept [ our Hail Mairy option Barry Moran almost saved us - at the time lauded , since scorned, but you can bet your life that it will be tried again when the current whatever set-up does nt work]  last year in Celtic park we ve bounced back well and we ve as good a pick of players as any Mayo manager has had. Rather than dampen expectations i reckon management must deliver a big honest push this year. Thats all.  Nobody will beat Kerry but teams must be around if Kerry trip up. Anyway for likes of us and most other teams there will always be a Kerry

[RedandGreenSniper]

This is the panel I was told. No sign of Ger Brady in it it seems. 29 named with Chris Barrett provisionally the 30th subject to injury clearing up. . .

David Clarke, Shane Nallen, James Nallen, Aidan Higgins, Keith Higgins, Kieran Conroy, Tom Cunniffe, Colm Boyle, Trevor Howley, David Heaney, Liam O'Malley, Pat Kelly, Peader Gardiner, Billy Joe, Trevor Mort, Ronan McGarrity, Seamus O'Shea, Tom Parsons, Barry Moran, Pat Harte, Aidan Kilcoyne, Andy Moran, Mickey Mullins Conor Mort, Austin O'Malley, Mark Ronaldson, James Gill, Aidan Campbell, Alan Dillon, Chris Barrett (PROV)

Just an observation there's only one player (Andy Moran) from the probable favourites for the county title - Ballaghaderreen. County champions Ballina only have three (they had seven at one stage in the not too distant past) and then you have Shrule/Glencorrib with four and an intermediate club Belmullet with three. Not questioning any of the players involved, just interesting the way it can pan out sometimes . . .

[Zulu]

Yet when he gets the Mayo job he takes the knife to the team who were no. 2 in 06.

Not being from Mayo I won't try and get into the 'small print' of Mayo football but if any of ye believe the above then ye are delusional. Cork were well beaten in last years AI, are they the second best team in the country, or Limerick in the hurling? I'm a huge fan of Mayo football, your passion for the game, the positive way ye play football and Ciaran Mac makes you every neutrals favourite team but many of you seem inable to critically assess your team in an unbiased manner. What MM achieved in his time with Mayo was very impressive yet he was sacked with few dissenting voices, now JOM is coming under pressure because of.......... well I'm not sure really. You have no full back or center back, your midfield is at best decent without a proven partner for MacGarrity (who is no Darragh O'Se). The forwards are decent but ask yourselves how many would make the Kerry, Dublin, Galway, Derry, Donegal, Tyrone (with O'Neill and McGuigan), Armagh or Cork forward lines. Obviously some of them would and other's could be argued about but I think only Mortimer and Dillion would be close on all other forward lines and they wouldn't be the main men on any of them.
                                While CMac is a joy to behold he did slow up the game and made Mayo easier to defend against, IMO O'Mahoney is right to clear out most of the old guard. If they couldn't lead you to an AI before they won't do it now, it is time to allow new leaders to emerge, new tailismen to develop and build for the future. JOM should be given time to create a new team, he may not win an AI for Mayo but if he doesn't it will be as much to do with a lack of playing talent as any failings on his own part.

[Zulu]

Would it not be better to keep a guy around as long as he has something to offer?

It depends IMO ML, there is obviously no hard and fast rule here but I think that when CMac is playing with Mayo they try to get the ball to him all the time and therefore opponents can defend against them more easily, if he is marked out of a game Mayo tend to struggle. Don't get me wrong if I were Mayo coach I'd still have him in the panel but I think JOM is taking a bit of unfair criticism here, he did get them to the league final and lost to Galway and Derry (away) in the championship. That isn't a terrible record is it? Are Mayo so good at the moment that they can expect to beat those two teams? I don't think they are, in addition Galway, Derry and Dublin are stronger now than they have been for a good few years, while Kerry are shaping up to be invincible over the foreseeable future, throw in a much improved Monaghan and an improving Cork and it's hard to see Mayo even making the semi's. But if they do get knocked out at the QF stage by one of the teams I've mentioned I'm positive some Mayo lads will come on here claiming that JOM has brought Mayo back not forward and they'll use the fact that they got to the AI in 06 as proof, which it simply wouldn't be. I think JOM is a fine manager and will get the best out of the squad he has available and that is all can be asked of any manager.