Mayo v Dublin, LSF, Croker 14th April

[From the Bunker]

Anyone got any good captions for this pic?

Lips, tits, Power!

[Syferus]

What was the logic behind switching out your FF for a HB/HF at half-time and down a pile? Surely Alan Freeman was the only switch that made any sense if you were taking Doherty off.

[moysider]

What was the logic behind switching out your FF for a HB/HF at half-time and down a pile? Surely Alan Freeman was the only switch that made any sense if you were taking Doherty off.

Freeman was replaced in the subs before throw-in. Apart from the fact that Freeman has been in disappointing form since 2010 and would have in all likelyhood contributed very little it made sense from a tactical point to bring in a utility player and should have started with one. Playing 3 ffs has left us outnumbered around the middle and our backs isolated.

[moysider]

OK, after a lot of thought and reflection on the whole league scenario I may have been wrong on the positives aspect thingy.

However, to say that Mayo didn't want to be in the league semi-final is to my mind a load of nonsense. I'm sure the players looked at the table before the Cork game and said to themselves that nothing was certain without a win, even survival. And that a win against the Corkmen would take Donegal (who weren't anything special in Castlebar a few weeks back) to beat the highly fancied Dubs. We got there because we beat Cork and Donegal didn't beat Dublin.

Anyway, to the game itself. Why oh why does Horan leave it so late to make a substitution? It was quite plain to see that Kevin Keane was getting roasted at corner back after Dublin's 2 goals. Yet he was left there until deep into the second half. This is one area, says you we'll be grand in once Higgins comes back. It will, but another feature of the management was leaving other key players in wrong positions. AOS at 11 was anonymous in the first half in my opinion, yet when he moved to midfield he had a good game, but it was too late. Gibbons, can't cut it at intercounty level. I've said that to lots of people and most agree. McLoughlin hasn't been consistent yet at all this year for Mayo and form doesn't turn on like a switch. Vaughan can't defend yet was left on for how long? I just can't fathom how poor SOS was in midfield yesterday also.

Yet again our inside forward line are too weak. COC is only after returning from injury, so I'll give him benefit of the doubt - he was good from frees though. Did Doherty offer anything? Michael Conroy huffed and puffed, but he couldn't beat his man at all yesterday, though despite that he was the best of the 6 up front in my opinion. Richie Feeney struggled too when he came on. Murphy and Gallagher did themselves no favours either.

The positives. Well Caff did his job as well he could. Barrett didn't shirk his duties either. Aiden O'Shea moving to midfield worked, but he should have started. Funny thing was, only the two goals separated them at the end. We have our 4 injured players to come back. If it's August when Andy Moran comes back as ballinaman said, then we will HAVE TO TAKE OUR GOAL CHANCES, if he is to have any part to play this year. 

Far more negatives though for to be heading to Salthill in 5 weeks time. We just don't have the back up available when players get injured it seems.

I think I said the bit in bold Deelin and I should have phrased it 'didn t need to be ....'  Mind you at times yesterday after those goals flew in it looked like we didn t want to be there either. For 10 minutes we hardly got our hands on the ball and that is a sign of poor morale. In fairness we did turn it around a biteen in second half.

I d be inclined to agree with your points. I don t like being very critical of lads doin their best but again we don t seem to have as good a panel as we may have thought a few months ago.

Not sure yesterday s game has any bearing on Salthill. Better yesterday than going to championship on the back of relegation. Yesterday was nowhere near as bad as the trimming we got last spring in Ballyshannon and we responded well to that. If things were shown up yesterday then there is time to work on them. In theory anyway, playing likes of Donegal, Cork and Dublin should stand to us because Galway did not have these kind of tests. Yesterday s display will mean we ll be going into Salthill with our feet firmly planted on the ground. If we went in cocky ye know what would happen. We ll be favourites for sure but I wouldnt mind that. I expect our attitude to be right.

[mayoman dan]

If we learned anything from yesterday its that the 3 man FF line simply does not work for us. We just dont look dangerous when we are attacking and the ball into the corner to Conroy is our only option all the time.On yesterdays evidence the Two Jasons Vaughan and Keane will be very lucky to be on the team sheet for Galway.Doherty contributes very little  and if i was James Horan i would invite Aiden Kilcoyne to a training session and see how he does.I was glad to see young Walsh from Ardnaree get some game time he is a serious footballer and hopefully if he gets a chance in Salthill he will take it.

[IolarCoisCuain]

OK, after a lot of thought and reflection on the whole league scenario I may have been wrong on the positives aspect thingy.

However, to say that Mayo didn't want to be in the league semi-final is to my mind a load of nonsense. I'm sure the players looked at the table before the Cork game and said to themselves that nothing was certain without a win, even survival. And that a win against the Corkmen would take Donegal (who weren't anything special in Castlebar a few weeks back) to beat the highly fancied Dubs. We got there because we beat Cork and Donegal didn't beat Dublin.

Anyway, to the game itself. Why oh why does Horan leave it so late to make a substitution? It was quite plain to see that Kevin Keane was getting roasted at corner back after Dublin's 2 goals. Yet he was left there until deep into the second half. This is one area, says you we'll be grand in once Higgins comes back. It will, but another feature of the management was leaving other key players in wrong positions. AOS at 11 was anonymous in the first half in my opinion, yet when he moved to midfield he had a good game, but it was too late. Gibbons, can't cut it at intercounty level. I've said that to lots of people and most agree. McLoughlin hasn't been consistent yet at all this year for Mayo and form doesn't turn on like a switch. Vaughan can't defend yet was left on for how long? I just can't fathom how poor SOS was in midfield yesterday also.

Yet again our inside forward line are too weak. COC is only after returning from injury, so I'll give him benefit of the doubt - he was good from frees though. Did Doherty offer anything? Michael Conroy huffed and puffed, but he couldn't beat his man at all yesterday, though despite that he was the best of the 6 up front in my opinion. Richie Feeney struggled too when he came on. Murphy and Gallagher did themselves no favours either.

The positives. Well Caff did his job as well he could. Barrett didn't shirk his duties either. Aiden O'Shea moving to midfield worked, but he should have started. Funny thing was, only the two goals separated them at the end. We have our 4 injured players to come back. If it's August when Andy Moran comes back as ballinaman said, then we will HAVE TO TAKE OUR GOAL CHANCES, if he is to have any part to play this year. 

Far more negatives though for to be heading to Salthill in 5 weeks time. We just don't have the back up available when players get injured it seems.

Harsh on Conroy. He kicked three good points from play with men slung out of him all afternoon. Conroy's is one of the first names down on the teamsheet. Come on now.

[furboot]

the players being the focus of attention get most of the blame or plaudits here but there is one other factor at play that seems to passing by unnoticed.
The one noticable difference I see from last year is on the sideline. Last year Cian O'Neill had the players on their toes all the time, motivating them and exerting his influence on and off the pitch. It's the mindset and 'fire in the belly' bit and by comparison this year seems to be missing that so far. The team that played in Croke Park on Sunday was missing a few players but it wasn't a weak team. there just seems to be that little bit of lack of confidence across the team (off load a scoring chance, take a point instead of going for goal, sloppy hand and foot passes and so on). I worry getting all the missing players back won't work unless the mental bit -  sharpness and mindset - is upped a few notches - and that's the bit the mentors need to take action on or take the blame...... just sayin ..... 
Mayo are not far away but looking at the Dublins and Donegals who have won Sam in last few years the one thing that made them different was the determination to win, work rate and confidence. We had it last year but seems to have slipped back this year so far .... let's hope it's only temporary !

[Tubberman]

the players being the focus of attention get most of the blame or plaudits here but there is one other factor at play that seems to passing by unnoticed.
The one noticable difference I see from last year is on the sideline. Last year Cian O'Neill had the players on their toes all the time, motivating them and exerting his influence on and off the pitch. It's the mindset and 'fire in the belly' bit and by comparison this year seems to be missing that so far. The team that played in Croke Park on Sunday was missing a few players but it wasn't a weak team. there just seems to be that little bit of lack of confidence across the team (off load a scoring chance, take a point instead of going for goal, sloppy hand and foot passes and so on). I worry getting all the missing players back won't work unless the mental bit -  sharpness and mindset - is upped a few notches - and that's the bit the mentors need to take action on or take the blame...... just sayin ..... 
Mayo are not far away but looking at the Dublins and Donegals who have won Sam in last few years the one thing that made them different was the determination to win, work rate and confidence. We had it last year but seems to have slipped back this year so far .... let's hope it's only temporary !

I wouldn't really go along with that. We got the shite kicked out of us up in Donegal in the league last year, and Cian O'Neill was there that day. He was also there when Cork beat us fairly comfortably in the league final last year, and he has been in Kerry all spring where they have taken some right tankings before coming good at the end. There was no lack of determination against Donegal or Cork in the last few weeks.
Maybe his loss will have an impact, but maybe it won't - Donie Buckley was hugely popular in Kerry, and he's in our camp now. Too early in the year to say either way. 
 

[Lar Naparka]

OK, after a lot of thought and reflection on the whole league scenario I may have been wrong on the positives aspect thingy.

However, to say that Mayo didn't want to be in the league semi-final is to my mind a load of nonsense. I'm sure the players looked at the table before the Cork game and said to themselves that nothing was certain without a win, even survival. And that a win against the Corkmen would take Donegal (who weren't anything special in Castlebar a few weeks back) to beat the highly fancied Dubs. We got there because we beat Cork and Donegal didn't beat Dublin.

Anyway, to the game itself. Why oh why does Horan leave it so late to make a substitution? It was quite plain to see that Kevin Keane was getting roasted at corner back after Dublin's 2 goals. Yet he was left there until deep into the second half. This is one area, says you we'll be grand in once Higgins comes back. It will, but another feature of the management was leaving other key players in wrong positions. AOS at 11 was anonymous in the first half in my opinion, yet when he moved to midfield he had a good game, but it was too late. Gibbons, can't cut it at intercounty level. I've said that to lots of people and most agree. McLoughlin hasn't been consistent yet at all this year for Mayo and form doesn't turn on like a switch. Vaughan can't defend yet was left on for how long? I just can't fathom how poor SOS was in midfield yesterday also.

Yet again our inside forward line are too weak. COC is only after returning from injury, so I'll give him benefit of the doubt - he was good from frees though. Did Doherty offer anything? Michael Conroy huffed and puffed, but he couldn't beat his man at all yesterday, though despite that he was the best of the 6 up front in my opinion. Richie Feeney struggled too when he came on. Murphy and Gallagher did themselves no favours either.

The positives. Well Caff did his job as well he could. Barrett didn't shirk his duties either. Aiden O'Shea moving to midfield worked, but he should have started. Funny thing was, only the two goals separated them at the end. We have our 4 injured players to come back. If it's August when Andy Moran comes back as ballinaman said, then we will HAVE TO TAKE OUR GOAL CHANCES, if he is to have any part to play this year. 

Far more negatives though for to be heading to Salthill in 5 weeks time. We just don't have the back up available when players get injured it seems.

Harsh on Conroy. He kicked three good points from play with men slung out of him all afternoon. Conroy's is one of the first names down on the teamsheet. Come on now.

Come on now is right.
Conroy had the beating of anyone who came near him. But he was given a lot o hospital passes and time after time he had nobody to offload and found himself isolated way out in the corner.
I was disappointed with the performance of the Mayo attack as I felt everyone was prepared to run himself into the ground but there was a semblance of a game plan. At least, I didn't see any. They'd need to smarten up before the game in Salthill and that's for sure.

[rosnarun]

Mayo have a hugely simplictic game plan . long ball from halback midfield into conroy (and hopefully andy come Summer)
my fear is that when some one devises a plan to counteract it mayo could be in a bit a bother.
I trequire a lot of support for Conroy and intelligent running  maybe not the strong point of a lot of the may forwards.
We could really do with C Mort coming back now . it would suit him down to the ground
and mentioning Mortimers the conroy role would be ideally suited for Trevor

[Lar Naparka]

Mayo have a hugely simplictic game plan . long ball from halback midfield into conroy (and hopefully andy come Summer)
my fear is that when some one devises a plan to counteract it mayo could be in a bit a bother.
I trequire a lot of support for Conroy and intelligent running  maybe not the strong point of a lot of the may forwards.
We could really do with C Mort coming back now . it would suit him down to the ground
and mentioning Mortimers the conroy role would be ideally suited for Trevor

Yeah, I'm afraid that you're right. Hoofing the ball in on Conroy and hoping for the best was about all I could see. We'll need to do better in the games to come.
I think it's foolish to think that the return of Andy will overcome all of our shortcomings. There is absolutely no guarantee that he will be back in time to take part in the Championships and even if he does, he can't be expected to take up where he left off.
    The pity of it is that I think we do have pretty good forwards but they don't combine very well.  Still, Horan and Buckley have a few weeks left to try and bate some sort of strategy into 'em.

[From the Bunker]

Mayo have a hugely simplictic game plan . long ball from halback midfield into conroy (and hopefully andy come Summer)
my fear is that when some one devises a plan to counteract it mayo could be in a bit a bother.
I trequire a lot of support for Conroy and intelligent running  maybe not the strong point of a lot of the may forwards.
We could really do with C Mort coming back now . it would suit him down to the ground
and mentioning Mortimers the conroy role would be ideally suited for Trevor

Yeah, I'm afraid that you're right. Hoofing the ball in on Conroy and hoping for the best was about all I could see. We'll need to do better in the games to come.
I think it's foolish to think that the return of Andy will overcome all of our shortcomings. There is absolutely no guarantee that he will be back in time to take part in the Championships and even if he does, he can't be expected to take up where he left off.
    The pity of it is that I think we do have pretty good forwards but they don't combine very well.  Still, Horan and Buckley have a few weeks left to try and bate some sort of strategy into 'em.

Conroy kicked 3 points and won 3 other pointed frees. Not exactly huffing and puffing stuff. I see you looking to C Mortimer, but jez that would be Horan begging and that would not good for his authority and standing. Trev Mortimer would have something to offer, if we had the old Trev. You have to remember he is 18 months out of it now and is 32/33? What's the story with Killer? Is he still in England? Thought i seen him around Castlebar? Probably to late this year to bring him in? But then again Conroy came in at his Juncture last year.

We have gone down a rung or two on the ladder in peoples standings as a serious outfit This lower profile will do us no harm coming up to the Galway game and hopefully the games there after. In the recent past Mayo have pulled big results to get to AI finals leading to high expectation the next year which have ended up flops. Will be interesting to see if we can get near the top this year again.

Finally this is probably this groups last (good) year. The AI under 21 group of 2006 which the core of these lads are from are 27/28  this year. Not old i hear you say? But the years are stacking up. Actually if we finish a good bit off the mark, i think Horan will walk.

[Syferus]

Lower profile? Semi-finalists in of the last four national competitions and finalists in two of those - you're so red-hot with the bookies and the 'casuals' for Connacht that the devil wouldn't touch you with a 10-foot poker.

I think the profile has rarely been higher for Mayo and probably even more so than in 1997 or 2006. The pressure will only be in any way off if you make the AIQFs and by then the bandwagon would be gathering break-neck speed.

I know there's a habit for supporters of all counties to play this silly old game of poor mouthing themselves but c'mon now - embrace your role as the evil task masters of Connacht and be done with it.

[Farrandeelin]

Granted I was wrong on my initial analysis of the game regards Conroy. Everybody happy now?

[rosnarun]

Come on Farrandeelin, we need a bit more fight than that.
you at least have the right to give out about how often Conroy hits the ground when going for a ball and his often wild shots at goal when there is nothing on.

Lar
'Hoofing the ball in on Conroy and hoping for the best' are  the words  i would use . its a good tactic and mayo play it very well . it wins loads of frees and scores from play . Im Just saying a few variations would be welcom and make the long ball in even more effective