Messages

I feel that Aiden O' Shea needs to be given a run in midfield alongside Ronan Mcgarrity.  His performancefor the under 21's in this position was top class and he seems to be far more at home in the middle than in the forwards.  Mcgarrity would compliment him well as he is more of a defensive type.

I expect to see Horans best team in his opinion from here on in.  Time to settle on a team now with only a few weeks left until championship time. 


How about the two O' Shes in the middle with Mcgarrity at full back.  I reckon Ronan could be a good full back and could be worth a run in position that is of real concern.

Like all teams that lose, you can blaim the manager.  O' Sheas two best games by some distance have been the two under 21 games against Ross.  He seems to be able to play for Dempsey and no one else.  Others are the opposite.

Kerry have had plenty of average managers over the years but still win......I have been involved with teams for about 15 years now and the good players WANT to win.  As manager you could read a newspaper on the sideline if you had the right type of player.  Too many of our boys are yellow to the core and will never ever ever ever be any  different.  You just cannot train guts into lads.  If Ross had lost today people would have been on here saying that they were not fit enough.  Jesus, the lad they had in mid field must eat a fair few spuds for the dinner

I believe our seniors will go the very same way before the year is over.....will that be the managers fault.....no...........we have overrated our players for far too long.  Give me some Michael Collins, Lacken type of players anyday, or a few of the Knockmore/Hollymount boys from the 80's.

Alan Dillion is the only honest player we have around the middle.  As slight an all as he is, he will put his body on the line and will win more breaking ball than all of our other playes in the middle third put together.    Training has very little to do with it........its inbuilt in the very nature of the man.

I am afraid we are just not good enough.  Only O' Shea and O' Connor from midfield up, were and are any good going forward.  O' Connor missed far too much today and I would be worried that he is starting to catch the Mayo forward disease.  He missed a few easy ones, dropped others in the goalies hands and then scuffed his goal chance.  As one of his biggest fans, it was the first time that I was worried about him.

Talk of Freeman as a center forward for the seniors is way off the mark, he is far too slow and showed up very poorly today in terms of winning the breaks etc.  8,9,10,11,12,13 were hopeless today, in fact I reckon I could run as fast as 8 or 9 myself and that's not fast.  Our senior manager who happened to be sitting beside me did not seem too bothered...........Mayo have no hope of winning a senior all Ireland in the next few years.....I am sad to say.

On a brighter note.....fair play to Aiden O' Shea, after all of the negative comments, he was head and shoulders above the others today.  Fair play to him, if only the others tried as hard.  Well done To Ross, all you can say it that they give it their all.

While I am on a rant:

15 euro in was a disgrace and the ref was no better.

Is Moysider James Horan in disguise.....not only is he selecting the team, but there was also a notable increase in the speed at which the frees were been taken as he had predicted?

Full back is still a problem area and I fear that the ever present one is starting to burn a bit of oil already.....he reminds me a little of a small Angus bull the father used to have a few years back.  Cambell seems to be getting fitter by the day and young AOS can not be faulted for his effort.

I hate to say it, but there will be no All Ireland win with this team imo.  A full strength Kerry team could beat us by 20 points if we met them in a final.  Our lads try hard in fairness but me might as well accept that we are just not good enough.

Declan O' Sullivan, Thomas O' Se and Galvin were missing today and Gooch and Donaghy were hardly killing themselves.  I'm depressed.  I thought we might be bridging the gap but it looks like we are heading no where fast at any rate.......I hope I'm wrong.

Looking forward to the game on Sunday. The lack of strength in our black line is a concern and I for one would like to see a few more big gossurs in the back line.  The ever present one will surely play in goal and in the full back line before the league is over

Against Down our half back line were far too loose on their men, I would like to see them man marking rather than watching space......too much like Liverpools zone defence for my liking.....didn't do them much good

I am not sure what Howleys best position is, but under O'Mahony he seemed to be terrified to leave the 45 line and as a result he ended up marking no one and the man he was supposed to be marking ran riot.  Hes a great player going forward so I would like to see him attacking much more with other covering off when he does go forward.  That said, I believe that James H is fairly conservative so I expect to see him stuck inside his own 45 for the game.

The entry fee is worth it, if only to see the Gooch.........the Messi of Gaelic football.

Enjoyed the game and am really looking forward to the next one.  Some good performances especially from Dillon and the ever present one.  Midfield were dominant which is just as well.  If Down had broken even in midfield we could have been beaten out the gate......

Don't know if people were looking at the same Mayo corner forwards as I was.......only one super point saved Varley from been as poor as Mark R.  Centre half forward remains a problem but at least the effort was there in abundance even from those who had poor games.

Fair play to the Down contingent, they showed up in good numbers and added to what was a great atmosphere.

I know I am looking at this with my Knockmore glasses on, but if Horan thinks that Reilly, Keegan and R' O Connor are better defenders than Howley then we are doomed.  I would have thought that Reilly would have struggled to make the Under 21 team. Too slow and sluggish for my liking.  Picking players who have not trained for a few weeks is also questionable.  Surely if they cannot train then they are not fit to play on Saturday.

It also looks like ever present Andy is here again for the long haul

While I am on a rant, I might as well say that while I am one of C. O' Connors greatest fans, I don't see why playing a number of young lads in the muck on Saturday will be of any help.  Surely Mayo have enough players over 21 that could preform in the league and leave the young lads to play for their Colleges and on the Under 21 team.  Surely the senior set up is not going the sabotage the Under 21 set up by burning them out over the winter in the same way that Johnno did last year.

Mayo will win easily on Saturday imo, but long term the prospects may not be as rosy under this new man as I had hoped.  I hope I am wrong.

Up Mayo!!!!

It's about time the likes of Andy Moran, Kilcoyne, Ronaldson delivered.  They all have potential, but I fear they will never deliver on it.  Their club form, never mind their county form was poor last year.  I sat beside a beleagured Shrule man last year when they were playing Tubber and Ronaldson kicked wide after wide after wide.  My own club man was no better against Castlebar and don't get me started on the ever present Andy.

C. O' Connor is where it's at, and from what I hear, our other great white hope has shed a couple of stone and is shaping up nicely for the coming year.

Killeen impressed me last year when I saw him and I believe that he might well be worth an extended run in the team, it's not like we have loads of option in the FB berth.

Lets hope that James is the man to take us to the promised land.  A leader on the field lets hope he can get the best out of our lads.  Congrats and James Nallen will be a very worthy sidekick.

According to Mayo reporter on Radio 1 this evening at 7, Horan is in pole position and he claimed he heard it from people in the know.  Herad the interview and would not fancy the 1/10 odds on Lyons.

Spot on as normal Moysider with your last post.

I know there is a big push on by people on the forum to keep Lyons out but why such a big rush to James Horan???

He is still very much an unproven manager, had Shrule managed to take their chances, not too many would be singing his praise.  If Mayo were to stop playing as much as Ballintubber did the last day we would be beaten out the gate..............very worrying.  Liked him as a player and he seems to be a decent bloke by the sounds of things.  Having James Nallen as one of his selectors would be a positive.

Surely there is a better candidate out there with a proven record that we could have some confidence in.  Who ever it is, lets just hope the good times are on the way.......

The Davitt College team were in the top 2-3 teams in the country at that time and were someway ahead of the other schools in the area. Only a Declan O' Sullivan inspired Colaiste na Sceilge team deprived them of an All Ireland by 1 point in a replay and they went on to be one of the dominant forces at Colleges schools levels ever since.

Players like the Dillons,P Coady, M. Conroy, the Feeneys, O' Connors have come through the school, but like every other school there are only a very small number of teachers involved.  In Mayo we need our College teams to be going well and it is no coincidence that the best Mayo Minor teams have coincided with the College teams going well.......the chicken and egg debate.

Looking forward to seeing young Walshe from last years St. Muredachs team getting a decent run within some level of the Mayo County set up.  Watched him a few times last year and thought he would make a great defender in the Peter Butler mould.  The Mayo schools do very well in general considering the bulk of the lads don't do transition year and are sitting their Leaving Cert at 16-17 years of age.  Up the north they have auld men playing in Colleges football

Well done to Castlebar and Ballintubber on reaching the county final.  A few standout performance for me were Douglas, Kirby, Howley, Mcloughlin, Ruairi O Connor, Jason Gibbons and Cillian O'Connor for the few times he was passed the ball.

Of them all......Mayos future will be in the hands of one Cillian O'Connor.  Does the right thing 99% of the time.  I only stayed for the second game to watch him in action and he was starved of the ball.

Knockmore thew away the game before it even started.  Not having Mchale on Moran was a disaster, as was the selection of Clarke at Full forward.  Howley was wasted marking young Walshe who was never at the races while Douglas ran riot.  Easy to say in hindsight now of course but it was easy to see at the game as well.  Why Knockmore can not select a team of fifteen players and put them out in the best position is beyond me.....far too much chopping and changing.  O'Neill's brief appearance showed what Knockmore was missing BIG time. 

Would like to see Ballintubber win the final if only too see Cillian O'Connor get the chance to shine in the Connaught championship.

D. O'Connor is flying today.  Poor old Dan is getting a bad drubbing.