One of the things I like about Saturday games in Croke Park is the fact that there is still a good bit of the weekend ahead of you after the match. Last Saturday was a case in point and after bite to eat and a quick freshen-up, the town was there to be enjoyed. It was particularly satisfying to hit […]
In May or June each year, the GAA pundits and writers set out a few things that are accepted as unassailable truths for the entire season. Generally there is some evidence that is proffered to support these views, although some of the evidence can be fairly well out of date. Inevitably, one of these “truths” is attached to Mayo. In […]
Like most Mayo supporters, I was really disappointed coming out of MacHale Park on Saturday. I was disappointed for the lads themselves because I would have thought that they really are better than they looked but I was particularly disappointed by the lack of any coherent strategy for winning the game. There might have been a strategy there, and from […]
With a couple of weeks to go to Salthill, thoughts begin to turn to selection of the team. We all have our views on how we should line out and it would be interesting to hear what the preferred line-ups would be. However, rather than just putting names to a 1-15 list, I suggest that responses to this post would […]
Photo: @ColmGannon One of the main talking points coming out of MacHale Park on Sunday last was the use of the blanket defence by Tyrone. Those of us who have had the game of Gaelic football in our veins for several decades just can’t warm to the use of the blanket defence, especially when it bursts our bubble like it […]
Photo: sport.ie.msn.com There has been considerable comment on this blog on the use of the substitutes by James Horan. Some comments have expressed uncertainty as to James’ approach, others have been quite critical of his approach. This article looks at the purpose and use of substitutes, the options that available to any manager and the constraints under which the managers operate […]
Photo: NASA/Getty Images It was 20th July 1969. I was just weeks short of my tenth birthday and we were leaving Pearse Stadium having drawn with Galway in the Connaught Final. The memory of game itself is a blur but I vividly remember the adults talking in amazed tones on the way back to the car. That evening, for the first time […]
Mayo Gaelic football is a bit of an enigma. In the last twenty years, it has achieved the longest unbroken run in the modern Division One of the league, it has won more championship semi-finals (6) than any other county except Kerry and yet a single Sam Maguire victory eludes it. “Why, oh why?” we ask. External commentators point to […]
As the build-up to the 22nd starts to gather pace, I’m delighted to welcome back into the guest slot FourGoal McGee who discusses how our form line has risen inexorably over the last three years. For many years, we have stood on the sidelines, roared ourselves hoarse, dissected every move, debated every possibility and hoped that, this time, it would be […]
Where we’ve been heading to as a footballing force is a topic that FourGoal McGee has repeatedly examined here on the site over the last few years. I’m delighted to welcome him back into the guest slot once again now to provide his thoughts on where we stand ahead of Sunday’s All-Ireland final. Image: John Courell (@jcourell) via Twitter This […]