Mayo v Fermanagh, Saturday July 09, 2016 McHale Park

[Farrandeelin]

Joe McQuillan is down to ref this one. Still no confirmation of the exact time.

[rosnarun]

Hearing that Andy Moran will start.Hope he dosent replace Regan who needs to be persisted with IMO.Clarke needs to be between the posts hes a safer option.Any word on injuries? When is Barrett expected back?

no need to replace regan
the other corner is up for grabs all year, connor o'se was listed the last day but an on form andy moran is a better bet unless they want to keep using him as an impact sub . though I think his leadership is needed from the start , it is vital mayo get their heads right from the start against fermanagh

[mayo.mick]

Joe McQuillan is down to ref this one. Still no confirmation of the exact time.

Whats the hold up I wonder? Supposed to be announced on Monday. Maybe waiting for prenty to finish handwriting 2000 *special* tickets for the match...

[Maroon Manc]

Joe McQuillan is down to ref this one. Still no confirmation of the exact time.

Whats the hold up I wonder? Supposed to be announced on Monday. Maybe waiting for prenty to finish handwriting 2000 *special* tickets for the match...

I'd imagine there waiting on SKY & RTE to make a decision on which qualifiers their going to show live.

[FermGael]

I think they are waiting to see why happen's at the weekend in case there might be another draw in ulster.
That way they will not get the repeat of his weeks decision about what's on tv

[seafoid]

Fermanagh are a good test for Mayo. Mayo should use the qualifiers to try out a few forwards without the pressure of august. The last few years had no real competition in connacht followed by all or nothing sudden death and Mayo consequently    didn't develop a broader set of forwards. If Ros can find them surely Mayo can.

[IolarCoisCuain]

Hearing that Andy Moran will start.Hope he dosent replace Regan who needs to be persisted with IMO.Clarke needs to be between the posts hes a safer option.Any word on injuries? When is Barrett expected back?

I don't see how they can start Andy Moran if he doesn't have seventy minutes left in his legs. I have the impression Andy's got about twenty, maybe thirty-five minutes left per game, tops. I hope I'm wrong but nobody battles Time and wins. I know he played well for Ballagh last weekend but this is knockout senior inter-county we're talking about here. Rochford won't want to put on a sub after twenty minutes if Andy blows up.

The thing I've struggled most to understand is how Mayo were able to manhandle Roscommon when they had to in the League and then rolled over for Galway. What happened between the two games? What happened to that bite and snarl?

If Mayo are serious about the year they have to wipe the floor with Fermanagh. I can't help getting the feeling that if Fermanagh were a more glamorous county they'd be shorter odds than they are. That's not to say that Mayo wouldn't be hot favourites, with their players and record of achievement over the past five years. But if Mayo are not at DefCon 1 from the thrown-in they could have all summer to regret it. Pete McGrath is a very under-estimated manager. It's not like Rochford can find his feet by matching wits with Liam Hayes or Tommy Carr here. Worrying times in Mayo.

[Syferus]

Says where Mayo football is at when bowld Andy is the answer and not some young gun who could really benefit from a run in the Quailifiers. The forwards just aren't there, of course. No point in playing a young lad if he's just not good enough.

If Andy is one of the six best ye have, and it's it's pretty clear he's still in the best two or three forwards Mayo have access to honestly, there can't be many complaints. Just sub him at 50 minutes for Regan or Doherty or Conor O'Shea. All three very expendable if I'm being blunt.

That said I'd be very surprised if any of those lads to be able to make as much of an impact as Andy can off the bench. Rochford obviously feels they need more of that impact at the beginning of a game.

[Cunny Funt]

The thing I've struggled most to understand is how Mayo were able to manhandle Roscommon when they had to in the League and then rolled over for Galway. What happened between the two games? What happened to that bite and snarl?

If Mayo are serious about the year they have to wipe the floor with Fermanagh. I can't help getting the feeling that if Fermanagh were a more glamorous county they'd be shorter odds than they are. That's not to say that Mayo wouldn't be hot favourites, with their players and record of achievement over the past five years. But if Mayo are not at DefCon 1 from the thrown-in they could have all summer to regret it. Pete McGrath is a very under-estimated manager. It's not like Rochford can find his feet by matching wits with Liam Hayes or Tommy Carr here. Worrying times in Mayo.

Mayo was able to manhandle Roscommon because of the personal they selected in the middle eight. Manhanding the likes of Bradshaw,Flynn,Conroy,O Donnell etc is much harder to do.

Qualifiers are about winning I don't understand the idea that Mayo have to wipe the floor against Fermanagh.

[joemamas]

Says where Mayo football is at when bowld Andy is the answer and not some young gun who could really benefit from a run in the Quailifiers. The forwards just aren't there, of course. No point in playing a young lad if he's just not good enough.

If Andy is one of the six best ye have, and it's it's pretty clear he's still in the best two or three forwards Mayo have access to honestly, there can't be many complaints. Just sub him at 50 minutes for Regan or Doherty or Conor O'Shea. All three very expendable if I'm being blunt.

That said I'd be very surprised if any of those lads to be able to make as much of an impact as Andy can off the bench. Rochford obviously feels they need more of that impact at the beginning of a game.

Not too often I agree with you but as I have stated in past blogs, there should be an investigation into mayo underage coaching from u 16 up.
Other than C O  Connor, we have not developed a NATURAL forward who has progressed from minor to senior in past five to six years.
Forget about all Ireland's at minor and u21 end game should be to nurture and develop, we have failed miserably and it probably will come back to haunt us two to three years from now

[Syferus]

Says where Mayo football is at when bowld Andy is the answer and not some young gun who could really benefit from a run in the Quailifiers. The forwards just aren't there, of course. No point in playing a young lad if he's just not good enough.

If Andy is one of the six best ye have, and it's it's pretty clear he's still in the best two or three forwards Mayo have access to honestly, there can't be many complaints. Just sub him at 50 minutes for Regan or Doherty or Conor O'Shea. All three very expendable if I'm being blunt.

That said I'd be very surprised if any of those lads to be able to make as much of an impact as Andy can off the bench. Rochford obviously feels they need more of that impact at the beginning of a game.

Not too often I agree with you but as I have stated in past blogs, there should be an investigation into mayo underage coaching from u 16 up.
Other than C O  Connor, we have not developed a NATURAL forward who has progressed from minor to senior in past five to six years.
Forget about all Ireland's at minor and u21 end game should be to nurture and develop, we have failed miserably and it probably will come back to haunt us two to three years from now

I'd put his brother ahead of him as a forward. COC as a free-taker is beyond excellent but he has always had a big question mark over his contribution in general play. I still wonder what his position even is supposed to be at times, he's not good enough in the air to be a FF, he's not fast enough to be a proper corner forward, he's sort of a tweener as a player. You put him out the field and I don't think he has the work-rate to be square-to-square player, which is what is generally required of HFs these days. His brother has some motor on him though, basically a Kevin McLoughlin who looks comfortable in front of goal.

[joemamas]

DOC is excellent, but I would not describe him as a free scoring forward

[larryin89]

sweeping statements like the ones above about mayo forwards just dont add up.  I understand and agree we could of  done with a  forward who scores more these last 5 years but  that team got to five semis on the trot,  contested two finals and came as close as any  team ever have without winning it. 

Try chattin to county lads who have played against mayo these last few yrs and youll get a better understanding of how fuckin mighty and close we have been and the respect thats out there from this group.  f**king fantasists like syferus are dumb. His grin will be wiped soon enough upon the realisation of certain things.

[joemamas]

sweeping statements like the ones above about mayo forwards just dont add up.  I understand and agree we could of  done with a  forward who scores more these last 5 years but  that team got to five semis on the trot,  contested two finals and came as close as any  team ever have without winning it. 

Try chattin to county lads who have played against mayo these last few yrs and youll get a better understanding of how fuckin mighty and close we have been and the respect thats out there from this group.  f**king fantasists like syferus are dumb. His grin will be wiped soon enough upon the realisation of certain things.

Larry
I wish I was incorrect in my assessment but can you name two or three "natural" scoring forwards that have come through the minor ranks in past five or six years that could play senior for Mayo
We have a poor coaching structure in place and we are not developing forwards. worse part nobody seems to be addressing it at club or county board level

[PW Nally]

Well said Larry.