Ciaran McDonald not named in Mayo panel

[moysider]

Lots of assumptions re who contacted who, was it a text or a call, etc.

Fact is this probably had to come to a head. I for one want Mayo to always have the strongest panel together, and of course that still includes CMD. However one of the most frustrating things over the years has been the 'will he - wont he' regarding the likes of McDonald, Brady and others and too much pandering required by management in my mind, which goes against collective team building and going for a common objective. It is a team game after all. As said before, I am probably MCD's biggest fan, but looking at the bigger picture and all Mayos falings through the years, I think we all agree that we needed a stricter approach to getting committment of players. It just cant help team morale to have uncertanties among key players going into the summer. Yes, a key aspect of management is managing different personalities in different ways, but also must be seen to be fair to all as well. I think all in Mayo love CMD, and I'm sure a lot of the Mayo panel are big fans also, and sure he is a different carachter, but at the end of the day you are either in or you are out. What about the like of Heaney, T Mortimer, A Higgins, etc - lot of service there also. Ironic that the first 'interview' in years comes when MCD's bluff is called - great to know that he still wants to play for Mayo, because down through the years we were never sure until we actually saw him on the pitch. Look at it this way, there were two scenarios:

1. JOM leaves the door open to MCD. Outcone....continued speculation, squad, training methods, tactics, preparations can not be really finalised if a key player may be returning, MCD returns close to the championship, possib morale is affected, preparations have to be revisited, etc - in summary, Mayo not fully prepared as they should be going into the champtonship

2. JOM finalises squad - preparations can be properly planned and Mayo are best prepared for championship with all panel members playing a full part in the preparations.

Ideal scenarion now is that both get together and sort out the issues and we get out best squad together. In fairness I think JOM had to set the example, he will probably take some rap for it, but that is the way I want Mayo managed into the future

Id agree with a lot of that Maradona. Its a fair way of looking at it. Even though I think the door is open for his return.
I hope both parties are mature enough to sort it out.

Hard to argue with any of the above in fairness. Management need to know who is available and plan accordingly. I ve gone on record here stating I was never impressed with his late returns to the squad but it appears injury was his problem this time.
I believe the root of this sorry mess is poor communication. Lets look at a couple of things we do know first.

1 Mac was a member of last years Championship panel.

2 He s had a bad back that needed sorting - Johnno said as much a few months ago..

Now as far as we re aware management were not given any indication by Mac since his involvement in last years championship of any intentions to retire. O Neill, Brady and Marty Mac all indicated they would not be returning.Fair enough. Nallen or Mac did not, so if I were management I would have assumed they were available to come back. Mac still only 32/33 and is undoubtably the best forward in the county so  management would want him back when he was fit again, even if that was June or July - or you would think so anyway. Mac s recent form with the club would have told management he was playing well again and surely they could have established that his injury had been sorted without reading it in the papers first. Looks now like he could have been available to start against Sligo if people had been talking to one another - and lets face it Mac could be a better communicator as well. A friend of mine reminded me earlier of a piece Johnno wrote when Maughan was manager and communication had broken down with Brady. Johnno wrote that if he was the manager he would camp outside Brady s house until he got him to come back and play for Mayo. Obviously he does nt think McDonald s worth that kind of trouble.

What can we conclude from all of this. Is it -

[a] Johnno does nt rate him and hoped he d just go away quietly.

Management at best were assuming a retirement or at worst were downright incompetent.

[c] Something else I cant figure out.

Anyway at least this has opened a door to his returning. If he s coming back it should be as soon as possible and put this sorry mess behind us and concentrate on winning a few championship matches this year. Give him a half v Laois in Haunis on Monday There d be 10,000 there in a shot

[moysider]

None of the above was supposed to be in bold print. Editing error I m afraid. Apologies.

[blast05]

1. JOM leaves the door open to MCD. Outcone....continued speculation, squad, training methods, tactics, preparations can not be really finalised if a key player may be returning, MCD returns close to the championship, possib morale is affected, preparations have to be revisited, etc - in summary, Mayo not fully prepared as they should be going into the champtonship

2. JOM finalises squad - preparations can be properly planned and Mayo are best prepared for championship with all panel members playing a full part in the preparations.

Better still, you combine the 2 options - JOM makes it his business to meet the man face to face and outline the scenario and close the issue with MacD as to whether he will be part of the panel. He can then get on to finalise his squad and do all the rest. So the blame here is firmly on O'Mahonys side.
Even if the scenario with MacD is that O'Mahony doesn't want him - then so be it, spell it out and move on. We have to respect this decision .......   until such time as we fail to win the All-Ireland !!
Also, there is no point in saying there was no special treatment required for James Nallen as a comparison - he is a different individual and thus requires different handling.

Johnno wrote that if he was the manager he would camp outside Brady s house until he got him to come back and play for Mayo

I'm sure John Maughan has a wry smile on his face today.

[the Deel Rover]

ye good posts by Maradonna and Moysider i forgot about that piece that o' mahony wrote about maughan and Brady as Blast said i'd say maughan has a wry smile on his face. I wonder what option 3 would be if this were a beer ad

[Lar Naparka]

Even if the scenario with MacD is that O'Mahony doesn't want him - then so be it, spell it out and move on. We have to respect this decision .......   until such time as we fail to win the All-Ireland !!

If that means what I think it means, then I'm with you 100%.
Sure, it's O'Mahony's say as to who he selects, but he has to openly drop Mac or Mac has to call it a day before the controversy dies now and Mayo can concentrate on the tasks ahead.
If there's any suspicion of Mac being shafted, and there certainly is at the moment, O'Mahony will always be blamed if we don't win an AI.
Another thing is that I don't think it matters where the story appeared. It is very probable that the Indo approached Ciaran and not the other way about. Besides it is the most widely read paper there is here. The question as to how he came to be omitted is what is at issue here. Did he ignore requests to get in touch and make his intentions known or is O'Mahony telling porkies when he said he had been in touch back in January and was keeping an eye on Mac's progress with his injuries?
I wouldn't care if the story today broke in the Beano; which one is being economical with the truth?

[blast05]

It is very probable that the Indo approached Ciaran and not the other way about

I doubt it in this case. I reckon it was the Cross managegment team that advised him what to do.

[moysider]

Important thing now is sort this out as quickly as possible. Get him back in the team, if as it seems he wants to, and get prepared to play Sligo in Castlebar on June 22. Even though Sligo are now a Div. 4 team they re bullish and cocky about turning us over as can be seen on the Connacht Champ. thread on this board. They smell blood and most within the province and a lot within our own county dont rate us at all this year. There is only one answer to that. We need a positive response to this crisis from management and hopefully from Mac as well. We at least need to lay down a marker this year in the championship. show a good deal of progression from last year anyway. Any rebuilding will be up in smoke again if we lose to Sligo in June.

[rosnarun]

I doubt it in this case. I reckon it was the Cross managegment team that advised him what to do.

hes f-cked so.

the story basically boils down to o'mahony bottled it. he didn't have the guts to be the man who ended McDonald's inter county career. how could he face the electorate again.
After 15 years playing for mayo Ciaran was entitled to at least a phone call and not jump up and down  with excitement like a ambitious Minor when he received the text to come to a practice match.
its the type of management that would make you fear sligo

[mayoman dan]

This really is all unbelievable.I am a fan of JOM and i think he is the right man for the job but his handling of this situation really begars belief.The pressure is already starting to come on JOM which i think is unfair,judge him after the championship but he has just handed his critics a massive stick to beat him with.Ciaran has been a fantastic servant to mayo football and its a DISGRACE the way he has been treated.We need supermac if we are to achieve anything this year and JOM has to sort this mess out for the good of Mayo football

[SLIGONIAN]

Important thing now is sort this out as quickly as possible. Get him back in the team, if as it seems he wants to, and get prepared to play Sligo in Castlebar on June 22. Even though Sligo are now a Div. 4 team they re bullish and cocky about turning us over as can be seen on the Connacht Champ. thread on this board. They smell blood and most within the province and a lot within our own county dont rate us at all this year. There is only one answer to that. We need a positive response to this crisis from management and hopefully from Mac as well. We at least need to lay down a marker this year in the championship. show a good deal of progression from last year anyway. Any rebuilding will be up in smoke again if we lose to Sligo in June.

How are we Bullish and cocky about playing Mayo in castlebar? Our management havnt set the world alight either with self destructing team selections which cost us relegation. I dont think any of us have predicted we'd beat Mayo. I certainly wont predict anything till i see a Mayo Team selected hopefully minus mcdonald . And until i see our own team.

If mcdonald fit and scoring 8pts for the club 4 from play a bit of common sense and ye could see him back but itd be dishonest of me to say I want that to happen. I hope the squabbling continues and mcdonald doesnt come back then JOM would be under some pressure going into our game.

[Lar Naparka]

This really is all unbelievable.I am a fan of JOM and i think he is the right man for the job but his handling of this situation really begars belief.The pressure is already starting to come on JOM which i think is unfair,judge him after the championship but he has just handed his critics a massive stick to beat him with.

I’m with you so far: I have been a believer up to now in O’Mahony and would have seen him as the best bet to land an All Ireland.
But why do you think the pressure is unfair? Who has caused it in the first place?
Yes, the critics have been handed that massive stick to wallop him with; already the backlash is evident and it’s growing all the time.
It is not an ideal way to start off the championships, is it? Matters now are that O’Mahony will always be told, “Things could have been so different if you hadn’t shafted McDonald.”
It might not be true but it will be held against him. If he no longer wants Mac he could have said so; if he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a return for the Crossmolina man, his PR skills are not to good, are they? Many involved with Mayo football, players and managers alike, have left the scene under controversial circumstances. O’Mahony did this himself once. Will history repeat itself?

[Davitt Man]

McDonald hasn't been ousted, says O'Mahony

Gaelic Football Home
By Colm Keys


Thursday May 01 2008

Mayo manager John O'Mahony moved yesterday to dispel Ciaran McDonald's assertion that he wasn't wanted by the county' senior management any more.

In a rare interview on Tuesday, McDonald challenged O'Mahony to tell him directly that he wasn't part of the Mayo plans any longer.

But O'Mahony says there is no question of him "retiring" or "forcing anybody" out of the panel.

McDonald hasn't started for Mayo since the 2006 All-Ireland final loss to Kerry.

He damaged muscles in the back prior to that game and this, it has been thought, has been the reason why he has played so little football for Mayo since. Twice in last year's championship against Galway and Derry, the Crossmolina man made cameo appearances.

But since then his contact with O'Mahony and Mayo has been minimal. He missed a championship debriefing meeting three weeks after the Derry qualifier defeat but spoke intermittently with O'Mahony over the winter, the last time a few weeks ago.

Strange

McDonald says he found the invitation -- by text -- to a trial game "strange" given his length of service to Mayo.

O'Mahony says his squad, finalised recently, is based on what he and his selectors saw during the national league.

"There's no question of forcing anybody out the panel. We have picked it on the basis of what we saw during the League, during which we used 31 players. It was open-ended but obviously there came a time when we had to make a call for the championship," he said yesterday.

"Our job it to get the best possible panel we can all pulling in the same direction in the interests of Mayo football. That's what we have done in this case but if a situation arises at any stage where a player is performing so well at club level that he deserves to get into the county set-up, it will happen.

"That applies to all players whether they have played for the county before or not," added O'Mahony.

That leaves the door open for McDonald to return but given the tone of his comments in the interview it may be difficult.

"As far as I'm concerned, it all about what's good for Mayo football. That's my only interest and only priority," said O'Mahony.

"The reality is that for the last 18 months he wasn't in a position to play. Maybe that will change in the future."

- Colm Keys

[the Deel Rover]

Damage limation stuff in my opinion seems that there was very little contact between management and Mc, they definately didn't go camping outside the players house
Also  he didn't pick the squad on the basis of what he saw during the league as Jimmy didn't play at all.

"The reality is that for the last 18 months he wasn't in a position to play. Maybe that will change in the future."

- Colm Keys

I don't get this quote either of course he was in a position to play the past 18 months did he not bring him on against galway and derry
Anyway as i thought i don't think we will see mc back in the green and red but at least we have got his side of the story. All he can do is continue to do what he does best for cross .

[stephenite]

I thought he had opted out of the panel with back injury after the defeat in 2006? Wasn't available for the league or winter training in 2007 - came back to the championship panel last year although still not fully recovered - wasn't available for the winter training or the league this year (see article from Mayo News above)

Correct me if I'm wrong but a fully fit McDonald hasn't really been available for Mayo since 2006 - bar the two cameo appearances last year.

Something's going on between these two, they've obviously contracted a touch of the Brady/Maughan syndrome, and like that situation neither is probably entirely blameless - but O'Mahoney is the manager and he either takes the bull by the horns and sorts it out or he shuts up and gets on with what he has.

I'd love to have a few pints with John Maughan tonight and see how hard he's laughing

[Davitt Man]

JOM's reign as Mayo Manager has been riddled with strange decisions, but this one takes the biscuit. Can anyone hoenstly say that Gill, Harte, Austy, Gardner, Kilcoyne, Campbell are better forwards than McD..not a chance.