After a weekend of senior club championship action, the race for the Moclair Cup is now a four-cornered one. Yesterday Castlebar Mitchels and Charlestown Sarsfields had easy wins over Ballina Stephenites and Garrymore respectively and this afternoon they were joined in the penultimate round by Breaffy and Knockmore. While yesterday’s results went along expected lines, both of today’s matches produced shock outcomes, with Breaffy getting the better of defending champions Ballaghaderreen in the day’s opening fixture while Knockmore shook off the pre-match loss of Aidan Kilcoyne to see off the 2010/11 champions Ballintubber.
The draw for next weekend’s semi-finals was made straight after the final whistle sounded in today’s second quarter-final and this resulted in Castlebar getting paired with Knockmore while Charlestown were drawn against Breaffy. These ties will be played this day week in a triple-header at MacHale Park, which will also feature the county junior final between Ardnaree and Cill Chomain.
Also today, Aghamore and Tourmakeady slipped closer to the senior relegation trapdoor, with the former losing by a point to Davitts while the latter were well beaten by Shrule/Glencorrib. A final play-off between today’s losers will now decide which of them drops to Intermediate next year.
Here’s a run-down of the weekend’s club championship results:
SFC Quarter-Finals (5/10/2013): Castlebar Mitchels 1-20 Ballina Stephenites 2-8; Charlestown Sarsfields 2-17, Garrymore 2-10.
SFC Quarter-Finals (6/10/2013): Breaffy 0-17, Ballghaderreen 2-7; Knockmore 1-15, Ballintubber 1-10.
SFC Relegation Play-Offs (6/10/2013): Davitts 2-11, Aghamore 2-10; Shrule/Glencorrib 1-14, Tourmakeady 1-8.
To coincide with the shift from inter-county to club action, here’s a poll on this year’s senior championship. Who do you think is going to win it?
Who'll win the Moclair Cup?
- Castlebar (69%, 143 Votes)
- Breaffy (31%, 64 Votes)
Total Voters: 242
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There’s really only one answer: Mitchels. Would love to see Knockmore prevail though #NorthAbú
Whatever about the results, Kilcoyne’s leg break or cruciate, not sure which, will probably end any hopes of him playing for Mayo. Savage unlucky.
Castlebar surely!
Barry with a nice tally of 0-5 yesterday from play! Regardless of opposition that is incredible from midfield. Is there room fr him AND the O’Shea’s next year though?
In intermediate relegation playoffs belmullet and Mayo Gaels both won, leaving Achill v bonniconlon in the relegation final.
Hard to look past Mitchell’s, good outside bet to win all Ireland IMO great strength in depth.
I think Breaffy are the ones to watch.
Pity about Kilcoyne- hard on him
I can only assume that the o Shea’s bossed their game, did they? How did the rest of the county players play? Any new potential players coming out of the woodwork?
Very sorry to hear about aiden kilcoyne, get well soon aiden.
Corofin in Connacht will be incredibly tough, their strength in depth is insane in fairness
Think they’ll beat Salthill fairly handy in Galway
Cheers for the vote of confidence!!!:P
screw corofin!!!>:/
Jeez hope Kilcoyne recovers soon and that we see him back with Mayo next summer!!
Get well Aidan!!!
Declan Sweeney ran the show for Knockmore at 14
Barry Moran was the star of the weekend out of the county players IMO
Kirby looks good in the forwards, and Douglas and Feeney excelled in the roving role
Want to join in the good wishes to Aiden Kilcoyne. I think he has a lot to offer Mayo yet even without considering the poor performances of some forwards in the All Ireland final.
Also good to hear of Barry Moran’s good form along with that of Danny Kirby, another player I have long fancied as having the stature and football ability to trouble the best defenders.
Dislocated kneecap
I’m surprised Danny hasn’t been given a proper chance in the league anyway
He had a blinder in the FBD about 2 years ago kicking 3 goals if I remember correctly in the 14 shirt. maybe next year..
Ow! Poor old Killer has had no luck at all with injuries down the years and this one sounded like a real freak one. Hopefully he’ll be fighting fit soon.
I think your right…its such a shame
Conor Mortimer playing for Parnells this weekend scored 1-09 with 1-05 from play,0-05 in previous game,surely with his head in the right place he would be a great addition to our misfiring forwards
I assume you’re having a laugh pacar,will aiden everget a fair roll of the dice.get well soon maiden you deserve a bit of luck
Is that official diehard??
I heard that’s awfully painful but a quicker recover than something like ligament?
Didn’t see any new emerging star forward additions for the 2014 Mayo senior team from any of the games this weekend. Hopefully we’ll see some surface during the semi’s and final. Shane McHale excellent today – has to be allowed more game time on the senior team next spring. Will be a very interesting battle between Tom Parsons and Aiden O’Shea next weekend.
No for me the laugh is the forward set we have at the moment.Just look at the 6 forwards that started the final,Dillon,Andy and Cillian all injured most of the year,Keith a corner back,Kevin a half back and Freezer the only fully fit forward to start taken off before half time through no fault of his own,not a single point from play in the second half,says a lot!
Dislocated kneecap would be positive news for him (well as positive as missing a county semi final could be!). A teammate of mine did it before and was back within 8 weeks
Is that definite? His tweet had the hash tag longroadahead which worries me.
Anything more than 12 weeks and I think we can rule him out of inter county next year. He doesn’t have the S&C work done from the last number of years so would already be starting at a disadvantage versus the lads.
I heard today he has moved back to mayo from London…is that long term?
Also, I heard parsons interviewed and he is based in London. That presumably rules him out as an option.
Big Barry with 5 points from play last night. I didn’t think he had that in him. Excellent to see. Was at the games today and the O Sheas were outstanding. Unfortunately, for me, no forwards really stood out apart from Sweeney, who is too old for mayo at this stage. McLoughlin was also really good and very accurate. Made methink of what might have been.
Why didn’t cillian start? Did he have another setback? Is he booked in for surgery? Dillon also needs a rest to sort his injuries out.
What scouts if any were in attendance to cast an eye over potential talent for the Mayo panel, or is it a closed shop regarding fresh talent ?
Think a trip west might be in order next weekend for the semis (especially now that North Mayo are being represented!) Good to get the updates here and in the other place folks – thanks a million. Sorry to hear about poor Aidan and wishing him a speedy recovery, awful way to get injured. Twas only a matter of time before the Con Mort talk started – just amazed it took this long 😉
Yes the Mort is still showing he has it but it remember it was him that decided to walk away. TBH hes more likely to line out for Dublin than Mayo next year.
At the risk of getting killed, what are the chances of mort playing for mayo again under jh? He can score you know. I’d hate to be 90 years old and still waiting, seeing conor with his zimmerframe in the stands at the new Ballina Beverages stadium in ballina in 2061.
He scored well in dublin today, such an omadawn, what could have been.
Let’s not go there. That one has been well used up by now.
Yeah, and what did Moran and O’Connor score in the final? Oh yeah, I forgot, they ONLY scored 1-10 between them. Hardly the efforts of 2 injured men. If our other “fit” forward in McLoughlin was half as accurate as the 2 “injured” men we may have been 4 or 5 points up at half time
Yeah, McHale was very good, and at centre back as well. It might be worth remembering that positional switch! I also think we have to find a system that gets the 2 O’Ses and Barry Moran on the pitch at the same time. Moran is too good a player to have on the bench and I thought he should have got an All Star in 2012 for his midfield performances. You cannot dislodge either of the O’Ses so we have to look at accomodating Moran into the same starting 15.
Gibbons looked bright enough at times yesterday also I thought?
Castlebar looked the most impressive at the weekend but Breaffy could be a dark horse to win.
Also worth noting is tonight Mayo county board meet with Horan. I guess we will know for sure one way or the other if the Ballintubber man is staying on later tonight.
I thought Gibbons and McHale were good yesterday. Gibbons was outstanding in catching high ball and also scored 2 long range points.
If only he was brought on in AIF?. McHale was also good yesterday, another player that should have played in Croker. The 2 O`Seas looked ordinary enough yesterday. Did not see any game Saturday. McLaughlin,
Dillon, A.Moran, nothing to shout about. Danny Geraghty not fit .
Ya 1-10 between them,now take the 0-08 from frees from that and your left with 1-02 from play,great return alright
Points from frees count for just as much on the scoreboard as ones from play!
Not too bad a return considering the piss poor ball they were being supplied with. And anyway, as WJ said, scores from frees count just as much as scores from play.
Yes agreed they count the same but like I said before Freezer was taken off before half time,like we all know Cillian could have went at any time and if he did we were left with nobody to make them count and don’t tell me Varley or Kevin McG would have taken them,ya they would have taken them and missed most of them,we need proper forwards and replacements.I long for the day we win an all Ireland as much as anyone but the reality is unless we have 3-4 scoring forwards that can do it on the biggest day of all we’re not going to win one anytime soon
I don’t think anyone would disagree with any of that Pacar. The point about Andy and Cillian is interesting, though – a number of people in advance of the final were questioning whether or not we should have started either of them but in the end most of our scores came from them. Agree totally re Freeman on a day where our use of the bench left an awful lot to be desired.
From what I hear Andy Moran was top class for Ballagh’ in their loss to Breaffy. The guy is a marquee forward if ever there was one.
thought jason gibbons had a great game sunday the best mid field performance of the weekend games himself and barry moran need to be playing for mayo o.sheas very ordinary today
To be honest I wouldn’t mind seeing mort come back in. Certainly wouldn’t like to think it’s a closed book regarding the possibility of him playing for mayo. That should NEVER be the case with any player, If a guy is playing well at club level they deserve their chance. Any fella kicking 1-10 in a Dublin senior championship match should be looked at closely in my view. I think he was an idiot last year, and I also believe he regrets his actions big time as he would have almost certainly played a major role last year and this year if he had stayed.
Shouldn’t mean he is never allowed to play again, if he bought into Horans philosophy and training regime and work rate, and the slate was swept clean he could still play a role for us. I really hope Horan stays, but I’d hate to see a situation where Mortimer and richie feeney were exiled next season for off field discretions. Diplomacy on both sides of these disputes would be the best outcome for the good of mayo football and that’s all I care about.
Steve it is a standard county board meeting tonight with all the club delegates. It may be announced what James intends to do but he will not be at this meeting. He may not have met the officers yet – it is only two weeks since the final after all – but if he has not I reckon he will in the next week or so.
Well whatever happens at tonights meeting I hope all sides approach it openly and honestly and without any defensive attitudes. We all know, as has been widely debated here, where things could have been a hell of a lot better both on the pitch and on the line. Let’s not be under any illusions, Horan and his team will have a much better grasp and appreciation of our failings than we do, but, it is yet to be seen whether they will be open and honest enough to analyise all aspects of the defeat.
As I have said previously, as steady and cool hand is needed now.
Tgf u musta bn watching different games to the lads on midwest!!! They said the o Shea’s were excellent. I’m not sure gibbons is real intercounty standard. I hope I’m wrong.
All this mort talk makes me thing why are we always looking at fixing things in Mayo when it’s too late. His situation should have bn resolved b4. I’m
Not saying he should be back but he defo should have been involved in 12/13. It’s like Kev o neill…. Not used by Maughan and brought back in 06.
It’s very frustrating.
Also have to factor in current All Ireland champions Brigids who won the Ros county final yesterday.
Was interested to see young Michael Hall start at wing back for Breaffy yesterday, was very impressed by his performances for the minor team this year. Anyone have any feedback on how he performed?
well mayonaze sure the lads on midwest would make grass growing look good gibbons was as good if not better than any other inter county player yesterday
Totally agreed Mac,last year we were close,this year we were closer than ever.Im sure if we are in the final next year and if we are two points down with 10 minutes to go and someone like Richie or Mort came on to kick 2 or 3 points to win it nobody would give a flying fuck what went on before.We’re all desperate for an all Ireland win and for the good of Mayo whatever is needed needs to be done while we have the players capable of winning it.How many players have we seen retire in this county after many years great service with nothing to show for it.I just hope the people with the power in Mayo football put their heads together and sort out whatever problems are there before it’s too late.We only missed out by one point this year but Jesus what I’d give to win it by one next year.
Maigh Eo Abu
I thought Jason gibbons looked very impressive any time I seen him play for Mayo, he can win a ball at midfield, kick long range points and is very mobile. Really should be used in some position as should Barry Moran. Either could be used up front, half forward line perhaps or even ff line at some stage of the league and give the, the right type ball.
Gibbons gave a thunderous display in a Tubber team that were very poor on the day
Nervous start but linked well as the game went on -as he showed
with the minors,he’s not afraid to attack, but had a few weak finishes
Shane must have spent some time in every line at some stage yesterday, he was everywhere! Really impressive performance. Knockmore Castlebar set up to be a cracker! Knockmore a nice team to watch
Gibbons was very impressive but the O’Sheas were a different class. They dominated all but 10 minutes of that game yesterday
I agree, but the big worry for me is will Donie Buckley be still on board next year? I know we don’t discuss rumours but the stories on how his advice was ignored are everywhere. Hopefully a positive statement tonight will clear the road for everyone to get back up on the horse….
He will be an excellent footballer. Did well today but as opt2 said, a few weak finishes and pass attempts. Overall, very aware and offers some great supporting overlaps/runs/angles.
I heard that Colm Boyle and Mickey Conroy gave terrific displays for Davitts in their relegation playoff. I thought Andy looked savage and won some serious ball. Barry kicked 5 savage scores and Neil Douglas looked really good also. Very sharp. Pat Harte was superb for a very deflated and defeated Ballina team in my opinion. Also Tom King for Castlebar and Danny Kirby were impressive.
The O’Sheas were a different class and Robbie Hennelly was excellent. Good to see Davie Clarke back but he was not fit. Nothing this weekend suggested to me that the players on our squad aren’t the best 30 odd in the country.
Don’t have any affiliation to any of the senior clubs in mayo and I have nothing against Balintubber but I will say Its probably no harm that they were beaten yesterday.
Purely because their county players have been on the go virtually non stop since 2010.
Alan Dillon and Cillian OConnor need a few months out of football. O Connor can have his operation and recuperate properly without rushing. Likewise Dillon who apparently has been half injured all year. A fully fit Alan Dillon can still play a major role for mayo next season.
Yeah was at the rossie final ytrdy. Western Gaels were average at best. Brigids won it in 3rd gear.
Anyone but corofin!!!!!
U weren’t in London in 2011 so David!!!:) himself and kilcullen gave the most inept midfield performance I’ve EVER seen from a Mayo central duo in championship. Hopeless. I accept though that he was v young and is I hope ‘coming of age’, we do however have lots of choices at midfield. It’s the least of our worries. Scoring forwards and Aidan Kilcoyne getting better should be much higher on our radar!
Any update on Aidan Kilcoyne??? I really believe he could be a vital cog for Mayo in 2014 if fit.
Just confirmed on the score.ie that killer dislocated his knee yesterday,hope he makes a speedy recovery,we need him
Mayonaze
No, wasn’t in London. Still, I think he fielded some great stuff against Dublin?last year. He really looked the part. And the year before against Kerry he looked very good. Am I wrong in thinking he is a mobile player and that he could play a part counteracting the likes of Dublin on the kick outs?
How’s Tom parsons looking theses days? What role would you have him play for Mayo?
I heard that kilcullen was way too slow for intercounty football, maybe it’s true.
Aidan o Shea should have being put in full forward i know ye will be offended to hear this but mayo would have one with him inside. also it would be a backward step for mayo to bring back the mort he is not a team player
I too would have liked to have seen Moran play v Dublin but as a FF and not in Midfield as I cant see how he would have the mobility to play there v the Dubs – We have to consider different formations for different teams and as Dublin don’t play a traditional midfield why not try someone as mobile there to counter them – As Aiden plainly wasn’t in the game I’d have stuck Vaughan in there as he has the engine to go with McAuley or O’Sullivan – Its not as if we don’t have plenty of options in the backs. Cork were lauded a few years ago for having a team where they had several players who could fit in several places. I believe we have the players to do this too.
Lads, is the CB meeting tonight? If so, please let us know the outcome…good or bad (hopefully good),
thanks!
agree with you there and have cillian and the kirby in the corners or might have kirby a half forwad what do ye think
Hard to know what Aidan O’Shea’s most suitable position is in the team. With all his fine attributes , he just doesn’t have the pace and seemed to be totally out of it even before half time in the final.
Is there room for players without stamina or pace in the Mayo team?
I wouldn’t write off a Conor Mortimer return, he is Mayo’s top championship scorer after all.
I am actually shocked to hear that. He was in absolute agony. Not suggesting a dislocated knee isn’t very painful, but certainly not up there with ACL.
I hope this is true and he should be back in 12 weeks if it’s not a bad dislocation!
Barry Moran or aos at ff for a period of any game when we can cover out the field would cause havoc if they were played the right type ball, a high dropping ball with either of them isolated near the goal simply would have to work. They can win such a ball with ease and are strong enough to hold onto it and turn to goal or hold it for an incoming fella like Jason Doherty or CoC. Mayo still seem to play predictable stuff up front, maybe sticking one of the really big fellas on the edge of the square for 20 minutes and drop it in every chance you get. If even 50% of the passes were right they would be won and put Mayo in the driving seat since we have goal scorers in Doherty,o Connor and Andy Moran.
To cap it off, Alan freeman makes himself wide open and available a lot of times in the games, near the goal, and rarely receives the pass that could kill any defense, he stands with the arms out in disbelief after a bad shot or blocked shot is taken rather than give him the pass to take the score. Frustrating to say the least, we seem to not look for a split second to see what’s available.
I fully agree that B Moran should be included in our team but at centre half forward with A O Shea at centre half back S O Shea and Donie C F and totallyagree with S Mchale at corner back
The rest of the team picks itself with K Higgins and a much improved K Mclouglin in the half forward line
I sincerely hope that there is no ntrouble in the camp and if so that every one involved sit down and thrash it out no holds barred.It is no way to carry on we all know that mistakes were made on and off the pitch and everyone should be big enough to admit it .We are very close to closing the deal and the whole country know that this was one we let go I would like to see more of Jason Doherty D Kirby S Mchale K Keane getting more game time in the leagues.Regarding C Mortimer, I think it is up to himself to approach the manager as no one told him to leave and if the management feels he has something to offer then by all means give it some consideration personally I dont have much respect for any player that carries on in that manner, it doesn’t happen in the Kerry’s orTyrones or any other successful county.
He’s not new but I thought Pat Harte was superb. also David Drake for Ballagh looked good.
Carry on like what though Philo ? Wasn’t a fan of certain antics of his either but you can’t dispute his record but I think all this mini celebrity thing is starting to creep its way back into some players in the Mayo set up again.
A few of them are a bit too fond of twitter in my opinion.
Mort would have to go, cap in hand to management and ask for a second chance, if I were jh I’d have him back but with the understanding that it’s not a guarantee that he would be starting every game or even playing in every game. Morts scoring ability might indeed be too good to go unnoticed and he may be a starter again at some stage. He’s an arrogant bucko,but I like the arrogance, it was very welcome when the hill 16 crowd were jeering him before he took any frees, he didn’t care and knocked it over. That’s the thing, he has the ability to go with the arrogance. While it can be argued that others are quieter but also lack the confidence to do what mort can do.
Hope we don’t have to wait til next week for jh to say he’s going to stay on and get Mayo over the line in 2014.
Mayonaze;
We still have a inept midfield. AIF and semi final proved this in 2013.
Can you tell me what choices we have for midfield? Scoring forwards and Aiden Kilcoyne should be much higher on our radar? Sorry for Aiden Kilcoyne yesterday, that leaves him out of County contention for 2014.
By then we may have unearted men that can score. Seems you were not in Castlebar yesterday. I also was in London, it seems one midfielder who plays one bad game is banished and other big name midfielders who don’t
perform are always kept on for the whole game regardless. That is why this County will never win Sam
Interestingly Dublin ( rather naively) flagged the tactic of running AOS into the ground at their press night in Dublin before the final. It was reported on in an article in the Western People. Nobody picked up on that.
In hindsight ( which I excel at as do many more posters!) we would have been far better off putting two out and out defenders on MDMCAULEY and O Sullivan and leaving the two o Shea’s to play their own game from whatever nominal position on the field you like. Play 4 midfielders 2 defenders and two attackers. But of course that ship has sailed.
There was me thinking that our two regular midfielders had done so well this year that they were both nominated for an All-Star but instead it turns out we have “a inept midfield”. It’s true that one learns something new every day!
I thought they were poorish in the first half myself. Great drive from the twon of them in the second. Gibbons did well only because Knockmore’s midfield is the weakest part of the team. Fair play to the lads for putting their bodies on the line and fighting tooth and nail for every ball for the whole game in Kilcoyne’s absence.
Ah well if its a cap in hand Mortimer needs then he is better off without Mayo and let the struggle go on to find forwards who can score on the biggest stage. This is where good management comes into it. Anyone who can improve the chances of success should be drafted in, regardless who they are or what people think of them.
We see where the paley waley policies have got us in the last two finals.
Tom61.
You are 100% correct about some Mayo players again. After the Donegal game one player [deleted].
They should take a leaf out of the maganificent Clare hurling team players.
The didn’t say a word until they won the McCarthy Cup. Again we have the immature (won nothing player) making the usual empty drum noise. Grow up and be men and act like men.
True Grit – I’ve deleted that comment you made about the player after the Donegal game. Although you don’t name him, it’s pretty bloody obvious who you’re referring to. Just to be clear, this site isn’t one for spouting bile about Mayo players – house rule 8 refers.
Edwin McGreal has and interesting and detailed assessment of each Mayo player’s performance in the AIF. Food for thought, and shows how the mistakes cost us but also, which we (and I certainly) forget, the positives that many if not most players demonstrated.
It’s here: http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18663:looking-back-before-we-look-forward&catid=14&Itemid=100008
One thing it doesn’t do (and is not meant to I guess) is take into account Dublin’ s play and tactics.
Anybody know what the breakdown of Mort’s scores were yesterday, play/frees?
One also has to consider the difference between club football and top county fare as I think that that was where Mort was weak. What did he get from play in top [Semi finals/Finals] games? I don’t have details but as I recall not too much. Also he was poor at giving the ball when he was not in a good position to score. He might be worth a place in the panel for his free taking but that is as far as I would go.
Regards Aiden O’Shea at full forward I do not think it would work as he seems to slow to turn and it certainly did not work in the latter stages against Donegal last year. We need to adopt a horses for courses policy and there is no reason why Aiden should not be replaced if the game is not suiting him as in this years final. It having a policy of giving one of our midfielders a planned 40 minutes without having to worry about lasting the full seventy could also be considered.
On the other hand I have long felt and said that Barry could do a job at 14. However Alan Freeman should have first run there next year with Danny Kirby also getting a look in.
Finally could we have a little less of the rumour mongering about splits, rows etc, please.
WJ I think the word ” two” midfielders is the problem. The game has changed dramatically as regards the formation of teams kind of like what happened in soccer decades ago.
I now believe we are into an era where half backs, midfielders and half forwards merge into one large midfield unit……almost a 3-8-3 formation. The day of the two big guys who can fetch high balls is almost gone. What seems to be happening now is that you have to have a few ( at least 4 or 5) lads with a blend of skills and attributes around the middle and it’s possibly getting that blend right that holds the key to being succesful in the future. The o Shea’s have to have a role in this kind of setup but mostly as attackers rather than defenders. I feel Aidan put huge energy into defending in the first half particularly and that did not suit him.
Plus of course you need 2 or 3 out and out forwards who can inflict woeful damage when they get possession.
i disagree mort is not a team player and also he is keeping lads of the team who deserves a chance time to move on also the remark on the mayo player v donegal was unfair
Are people seriously forgetting that both Barry and Aidan have been tried numerous times before at 14, with little/no success?!
Think that’s a bit unfair on Mortimer to say he’s not a team player, how many games has he won for Mayo over the years?
How many “team players” had we in the final?
Not Mortimer’s biggest fan by any means but morals don’t come into it.
Well Tom , if its not cap in hand then I think Mayo is better off without him. Who’s terms is he going to return on, surely not his own or we risk another childish sulk the next time he’s asked to sit on the bench. If all Mayo players behaved like this , then we would have the bare 15 . As with anything in life, there can only be one boss.Lets not forget he walked out a few days before a Connacht final and let his team and county down
Sorry, but just catching up on all the days comments and have a couple of thoughts on two earlier contributions in particular:
Pebblesmeller,
I’m sorry but I don’t agree that Horan and his team will have a much better grasp and appreciation of their failings than we do. Patients shouldn’t self-diagnose and writers have editors and so on…
Good supporters like most people writing in this great blog have a clearer and better view from the outside in than the management have of things going wrong. Let’s hope the county board delegates who represent the clubs, as well county board officers exercise the good vision and while endorsing another year for the management team, make it clear that they must communicate more and fill the obvious tactical deficit in planning for and managing on big match days. They should insist on JH taking on a very experienced good tactical selector that he should listen too, because tactical awareness and not listening appear to be his weaknesses.
For example to prepare properly to gain tactical advantages in semi finals and the Final against the best teams in the country in any given year, when say your backs are to busy defending and can’t break out at will to bail you out. And the unforgivable failure to drill our forwards, mid-field and half-backs in a push-forward system for Cluxton’s kick-outs is further serious evidence of a need for a much more experienced man on his shoulder. Fail to plan, plan to fail.
For all his strengths, is he a big enough man to see where he falls short in a couple of serious areas ? We will soon see!
Mac’s Left Boot,
I agree that O’Connor and Dillon need to have their injuries sorted and be well rested.
However, there are a few others that also need to have a good rest, chief among them has to be Aidan O’ Shea. He needs a real good rest. If/when Breaffy get knocked out, he should take a full break (incl. college) from all sport until after Christmas. McLoughlin looks like a similar rest would do him a lot of good. Others like our super flyers Higgins, Keegan, and Boyle might not show it but they too need a good off-season lay-off. Rest is a great appetiser for going again stronger and better.
I don’t disagree with any of that, diehard – my problem was with the the use of the word “inept” when describing our midfield this year.
Someone (not sure who) was asking if there was any report on Conor Mortimer’s recent club championship outing for Parnell’s – here’s one. Mort scored 1-9 (four points from frees) operating at full-forward in what looked like a bit of a duck shoot. By the way, most of that round (last sixteen) of the Dublin SFC produced one-sided matches – Vincent’s, Brigid’s, Ballymun and Sylvester’s all had facile wins as well as Parnells. It might be better to reserve judgment on how well Mort is going up here until Parnells come up against one of the big guns. They’ve got Jude’s next in the quarters.
Bit like Carlos Tevez I suppose and we all know what happened there!
Mortimer wasn’t going to play in the Connacht final anyway so you wonder who let who down.
Don’t know who that lad is or what county he plays for , but my position on C M remains the sam.
Sorry. Same.
Regards Mortimer playing big games ie AI Finals and semis etc he played very well v Tyrone in 2004 quarter final and was good v Fermanagh in drawn and replayed semi final. In 2006 he did well v Laois in drawn and replayed quarter final and very good v Dublin in semi final. He scored well in all those games both from play and frees. Unfortunately he did not perform well in either All Ireland Final. But I really cant remember any Mayo forward turning in an outstanding performance in any of the finals we have been in since 1989, with the exception of James Horan who was brilliant in draw and replay v Meath in 1996.
Oh I’m sure you know alright Nephin but can’t admit it but the principles are all the same whether you are an amateur or are good enough to be a pro.
Never has an “e” been more important :-O
I saw him on twitter last night correcting the papers, he says it was 1-10 make of that what you will .
I would bet my life on the fact Horan would never take mort back .
Wouldn’t it be great if JH could get today’s forwards up to his playing day standard for direct drive and scoring accuracy. That’s where he needs to concentrate his own coaching effort.
@ mayomark
True enough, but it’s a very simple tactic, 6 foot 5 and super strong will always have a high probability of winning a dropping ball near goal. What’s needed for it to work is proper coaching. These fellas win ball dropping from the heights at midfield all day long against big men, and they will have much less competition near the edge of the square if a coach/tactician sets the forwards up properly once those bigger men are put in that forward position during a game. Even if a sweeper is used by the other side, a ball can be broken down and out towards other forwards. It can be set up very simply, it’s getting the players to follow the instructions that seems to be difficult, sometimes they just do things that beggar belief, like kicking a high pass to a small forward with 2 defenders hanging out of him.
Our forwards have a huge amount of improving to do, which is encouraging since we got to 2 finals by counting on the midfield and defense to have an input with scores. Imagine if we actually could get the forwards scoring from play!!!!
Agree with Cloud9’s summary above.
We need to give some established players a rest at this stage & try out a few newcomers.
Peaking somewhat later in 2014 may be the way to go.
We also need to swallow our pride for the overall good of Mayo Football & give everyone a clean start in 2014. If management are getting a clean start then so should everybody else.
Attempting to carry on without the likes of Mortimer, Feeney, Freeman, etc, will be totally counter productive in the long run.
On the evidence available so far there is a serious credibility gap that their replacements are or ever were of a higher standard.
I agree WJ………the O Shea’s are anything but inept
With all due respect to him his analysis of aos is in stark contrast to the experts of the game in national media and I think maybe his breaffy allegiance has tainted his view. The dogs in the street know aos should have been taking off and I think his comment re. Not the type of game to bring barry moran in shows this. Did barry moran not help keep cian o sullivan quiet last year? And I think he showed in his club performance saturday and he can offer more from play and dont forget his distribution of the ball so maybe horan should have given him more time and allow him go forward. Maybe the local media should focus on stop building up some of our players (we did it to mort and we are doing it to a few more now). Do you see kerrymen and the dubs do that?
Maybe an overall analysis of the year is worth looking at on the whole. We took our foot off the gas in easy games in last few mins against donegal too so to win an all ireland you need to finish strong. Maybe some lads got complacent and we didnt make changes. Jim gavin pulled a man off after 16 mins vs kerry. Horan brought on Doherty and had given him no game time all year, and gave bm no game time vs donegal and 5 mins vs Tyrone. There should have been more competition and lads should have been given more game time in previous games. This all Ireland was sickening especially how we got the kickouts so wrong
I wonder is there an intense cb meeting still going?
Just in case anyone starts to add the possible return of Pearce Hanley from Brisbane, forget it! He score more than twice as many Goals and three times as many Behinds in the AFL this year compared with last year. He’s becoming a bigger star over there and seems well settled there now at age close to 25. He’s a big loss for Ballagh and Mayo but a great personal success for him, and good luck to him.
Though McGreals analysis were interesting and insightful and a damn sight better than what A Henry had to say in the Telegraph last week. No lazy journalism from Edwin but a thorough investigation of all performances plus some moderate opinions.
He’s doing well, been following him closely over there. In fairness to him he would be wasted playing Gaelic football, his fitness levels would be a huge wake up call to a lot of inter county players in Ireland, modern methods have turned him into a fine athlete.
Mortimor physically would get eaten alive at inter county level now. He was not missed last year, nor this year, and it was he that walked. He was not pushed. Our supply to our forwards is what did us in the second half. Unless Mort could field the ball, pass to himself in the half forward line, play himself in to the full forward line and score, he was no use to us. Look at the fucking match again, our half forward line imploded, it wasn’t addressed and our full forward line was living off scraps. Mort my arse.
Sean Bourke, I’m thinking the same thing myself – a very important meeting for sure and the fallout from it could have major consequences for Mayo football next year. The County Board may wish to assert their authority at this one and look for some answers – Horan may decide enough is enough and call it a day. My own opinion for what it’s worth would be, that regardless of the fact that he’s still held in very high esteem by most Mayo people, he may not be the one to take us over the line !
Cheers for depressing me as I’m about to go to bed!!!:P I’ve been a long time admirer of his talents and a strong advocate in the call for his return but unfortunately and sadly for Mayo it is well established and old news by now that hanleys primary interests lie in Australia.
History will record it as a massive loss to the county, and it sickens me when I read of so called mayo “supporters” who appear to delight in his antipodean success. The better he does out there the less chance there is of the county’s greatest talent of a generation returning to don the green n red again. So enough about Hanley:(
excellent analysis from Mcgreal and I do not see any bias towards Aiden O Shea and by the way Cian O sullivan was playing corner back last year ,not midfield so Barry Moran was not marking him.
So called is it? What kind of Mayoman would want another Mayoman to fail at something he wants to do as a well paid career so you won’t be sick! Maybe a ‘So called one?” Get over it and sleep well !!
Mayonaze, so we should all hope that he fails in Australia and then we will all be Mayo supporters as opposed to “so called Mayo supporters”.
The lad is a professional sportsman now, its his living, his choice, his life.
Think most lads, if given the opportunity, would make the same choice.
He is rather injury prone though so at least there is some good news for you after all.
So….what’s the news from the CB meeting?
Professionalism has turned him into a serious athlete. The training methods used by most serious inter county teams are on a par with most professional outfits. Mayo being one of the most progressive and modern, by the way. It is the 24/7 professional lifestyle that really makes the difference. The full rest and recovery times being achieved and double or triple sessions per day when needed.
According to Indo today, Horan will meet with backroom team this week. James Nallen excepted to step back so we may see the introduction of a new face of two. Indications are that Horan will be staying on.
I promised myself that I was not going to get involved in such a futile debate about Conor Mortimor but I think a few things have to be said. Mortimor was not going to play in that Connaught final because he did not deserve it. It was up to him to train hard, impress the management and dislodge an existing team mate from the starting forward line. He could not and did not do it and so was benched. He refused to accept managements decision and left the panel. Now, who let who down? Is the senior Mayo team only there to accomodate Conor Mortimor and his whims? Is this argument going to constantly raise it’s ugly head whenever our attack lets us down? Sweet Jesus do we not have enough on our plate without going through this all over again?
Just because Mortimor scores 1-9 or 1-10 in a club game does that automatically mean that he warrrants a place in the side? He scored 1-10 in a 20 point win over a Templeogue Synge Street team that scored 2 points from play, out of a total of 5 points!!! They were also without Denis Bastick and Eamon O’Gara. So, the context of him hitting such a fine tally is that the match was slightly more competitive than a training session. It was hardly the white heat of All Ireland final day.
Mortimor scored similar fine tallys for Mayo against equally weak opponents. He had his day and he was good, not great, but good. The future of Mayo football is not him.
Well, I know that Peter Burke was asked a fortnight ago if he would stay on for another year. I don’t know his reply but I know he was asked. I think given the journey this team has been on, the year-on-year development they have shown and also the feeling that we left the All Ireland behind us this year that the sensible option is for Horan and Buckley to stay on. There must be a greater effort put in to integrate fresh faces into the forward unit, in particular, and that an attacking strategy is developed to get the best out of those players. An improvement in our tactical reactions, substitution usage and game awareness must be demanded. If we get those 2 things right, and keep our outstanding defense and midfield in place, then we will win next year. But those 2 things are the hardest to get right.
Hon Mayo.
Well said Nephin my thoughts exactly … Just worried that it happened again days before the most important one of all? Everyone not on the same page which is such a pity/crime 🙁
Do you think Buckley would stay if all that crap did happen before the most important day of all ? I hope he does I really do … Miwadi and biscuits needed me thinks !!!!
I don’t know Livenhope, but like you, I really hope he decides to stay. I guess 2 things will form his decision. 1 Will he be given enough of an input – like he wasn’t given in Kerry. 2 Does he see potential and “stuff” to work with and improve or does he think they are as good as they can be.
Word from last night’s county board meeting is that JH will be sitting down with the county board officers next Tuesday night, not this week as reported in the papers. And the main bone of upset at the meeting was the issue of tickets for the AI final rather than any other issue of football or the management
I actually thought that Mayo did quiet well with the tickets. When you see half the Hill in Green and Red and more than half the remainder of the stadium likewise it certainly was not like the 2012 AI final. I have been to every Mayo match in Croker since ’89 and I never saw a Mayo support like this years AI final.
More worryingly, if that was the ONLY issue raised at the meeting, I hope it is not a case of “heads in the sand” stuff. We all want what is best for Mayo but let’s not cod ourselves there are not questions to be answered.
Cian O Sullivan played corner back last year and marked Michael Conroy.
Eamonn Fennell played Midfield for Dublin
True Grit… We won’t win Sam because of what exactly??? Gibbons has hardly been banished! Maybe he’ll get another chance in the league but at the moment if have OS/Moran ahead if him.
For you to describe our midfield as inept if baffling to say the least. You asked me what our options are in midfield? If you go to the games you can see who is playing and the usual subs. The reality is we have a very strong midfield. We had a very poor day in that area in the final. I disagree with you about the semi tho, SOS had a great game that day.
My point about Gibbons is that he had a stinker in London a few years ago, no one can disagree with that. A decent midfielder should be lauding it against inferior opposition like London. I also said that perhaps he is coming of age, so I’m not ruling him out. I don’t know, but I’m not overly concerned as we have lots of options in this sector.
The reason we haven’t won Sam this year is cos we didn’t score enough of our chances.
Yeah David I’m hoping gibbons can keep improving. There r just so many options in midfield. We nearly have too many!!! I expect Moran to roar back next year.
Fully agree Pebblesmeller – heads in the sand wouldn’t be acceptable.
But it may be that the old story of the meetings before the meeting may have come up with an agreed strategy where there would be a united front formed to support the senior team management.
However, I also heard from someone inside the camp this morning that while Horan and Buckley will be continuing on for 2014, there is going be tactical expertise added to the management team. If that transpires, it will be a serious improvement provided JH listens and takes the tactical advice.
For instance, it’s not well know outside Kerry, but former goalkeeper Johnny Culloty was the experienced tactical eyes and brain in Jack O’Connor’s three All-Ireland wins. Though not a selector these days, current manager Fitzmaurice courts his advice. It’s a man of this calibre and tactical awareness that we need JH working closely with and listening to.
And it seems the rumour about Donie Buckley being considered for the Laoise job was confused with another Kerryman who looks like he’s going to land that one – Tomas O’Flatharta.
Tickets? That’s got nothing to do with the issues Mayo have at the minute and if it had then we are badly misguided in our quest. We had poor tactical heads on us in a game we should have waltzed through, even allowing for the wides in the first half we allowed Dublin to dictate to us at midfield and had no answer at all to Andy and conroy being smothered up front. Tickets were the least of our worries.
Lets look at our one dimensional forward play, how we can change during the game if its not working and get proper tactical help in place to win Sam. Tyrone and a few others would kill to have the team we have, we need to smarten ourselves or end up looking in the shop window all even longer.
Tickets? Ugghhh
I want what’s best for Mayo. Hanley playing football for our county is better for Mayo. If that makes me a selfish supporter then so be it. As a Mayo supporter my sole concern is the success of the county team.
I think regardless of the great support at the final, there was a lot of dissatisfaction with the County Board, regarding the location and distribution of tickets and they probably felt it necessary to be seen to deal with the fall out from this immediately. As regards the Team Manager, it would make sense they discuss this among themselves before meeting James next week. How they deal with this very sensitive issue following another A I loss, must be foremost in there minds. Unofficial contact I would imagine has already been made with James and both sides will have their own opinions on where we go from here. One way or another the fall out from this meeting / meetings will make for a very big news item all around the Country.
I hope your right Cloud9 and that we will get the necessary tactical knowhow added to the team. There’s not a lot wrong elsewhere and a one point defeat leaves us in a good position for next year.
It should be easy enough to get the squad motivated if they see that there will be more thought put into matchday plans and tactics. That’s the few percent that could get us over the line. Players will feel that they didn’t lose the AI because they were inferior as a team to Dublin so there’s no need for us to go backwards from here.
was thinking the same thing Pebblesmeller…of all the serious issues to deal with, the tickets situation was not one of them.
Does the CB take and publish, any meeting minutes from the meeting? or is that asking too much?
Ohh hope you’re right too cloud 9!!! ????
Question marks = smiley face not questioning your comment !
People,we don’t know for sure what was discussed at the meeting.Someone mentioned tickets and everyone throws their hands in the air.I’m sure everything important to the future of the team got an airing.Mayo Mchale why do you think there will be fallout from the meetings?.I’d hope they would meet in a businesslike way and iron out any problems inhouse-I’m sure every county is doing the same with an eye towards next year.Why should Mayo give the whole country a blow by blow account.Iron out any gliches, move on,nothing to see here.
I’ll ask again….Does the CB take and publish, any meeting minutes from the meeting? or is that asking too much?
Don’t know Mister Mayor but I doubt it. Have you heard this from the Mayo News:
Mayo vice-chairman Mike Connelly stressed to the Mayo News that nothing has changed in regard to Horan’s contract.
“We’ve lost two All-Ireland finals, things didn’t go well last Sunday week, but from our position nothing has changed in relation to James,” said Connelly.
“We don’t need to ask any questions of him, he has two years left on his term. So he needs to tell us if he can’t stay or if there’s an issue.”
The last paragraph seems like a bit of a fishing expedition, where they haven’t heard from JH. I hope that the ‘business as usual’ aspects of the comments are just more support play in public until JH meets his management team this week and the board officials sit down with him next week. Come that stage, I certainly hope that he can’t be serious when he says: ” We don’t need to ask any questions of him ! “
Yeah I read that cloud9, it’s hard to gauge whether there is something in that .
When JH was asked about his future after the game and on the Monday, he didn’t say he was definitely staying on , he just said well go away and have a think about it.
So as much as people think players and management owe nobody anything etc, I believe it is up to Horan to clarify his intentions .
By the way, of course that was Mike Connelly speaking to them last week, not since the meeting last night!
Off topic, when are the NFL fixtures out? they came out October 10th last year.
tfg says Interesting to read your comments – I Listened to Mile Finnerty and John Casey on MWR, they were both running out of superlatives re the O’Sheas not nearly as complimentary re Gibbons.
I ‘ve read all the blogs etc. The aftermath after AIF could be summed as follows:
Its like playing a game of cards called 25. 6 people play the game with each 2 playing together (called partners). When the game is over the players start talking about who should have played what card, when and where, and who made the mistakes. Funny thing is the all got 5 cards and had to play in turn. Same way as JH picked his team and how they played.” If “has 2 letters but is has the biggest question. There are 2 simple words to describe the final WE LOST. “Experience is education but its fees
are high” something I was told 55 years ago. Today is tomorrow that never comes.
Lets management and players stick together and God knows what 2014 will bring.
“We dont need to ask any questions of him”. God, only some fella from the County board who knows nothing about the game could come out with something like that. As his employers you have about 8 questions to ask him about the events leading up to and on 22nd September. Having said all that i do hope he stays on. One bad day at the office doesn’t turn him into a bad manager overnight. Also take on board some tactical genius who can be a spotter in the stand wired up to Horan.
At least we have the league to look forward to. I see a few mayo heads on the compromise rules thing, well done lads but don’t get busted into pieces.
Is O gara from Dublin in there? Or diarmuid Connolly ?
True Grit – an interesting analogy but of course unlike the card players, JH knew the cards he was holding including the forwards’s form. He also knew the cards he would be dealt by Dublin like Cluxton’s kick-outs, but he didn’t negate them. At that level, tactical planning and preparation are essentials. Fail to plan – plan to fail.
was thinking the same thing david….we dont need any injuries from that daft series that would jeopardize our league or c’ship next year
I suppose we’ll just have to wait till next weeks meeting for JH to let them and us know what he plans to do.
I’m hoping though, that the CB folks are smart enough and have already discussed their thoughts “informally” with Horan, and sought his, so as to avoid him and his team getting torpedoed at the next meeting. That would end badly for us all.
Yes hope some of the Mayo lads don’t get injured from the International Rules serious. In respect to the original topic, it’s hard to look past Castlebar Mitchels and Breaffy, tough to say for a Westport man! I often wonder if Mayo played the semi final a week later like Dublin did, it would have given less time for the nerves to build and less times for bust ups in the camp to develop, just a thought. It’s time now to move on, hope Horan wipes the slate clean and the group stick together, we wernt far away last time.
Does anyone know anything more about Cafferkey going travelling in 2014?
I saw it mentioned in the Indo today.
Christ I hope it’s shite, it took us long enough to find a full back of his quality.
My hope is that Horan needs Mayo as much as Mayo needs Horan. We’ll have to wait and see what the man decides to do. Either way he owes us nothing. I hate that “Owes us Nawthing” cliche to my pit but I’ll make an exception for James Horan. We are so fortunate to have him but there definetly is some twerking needed. Excuse my crass media indoctrination (ungoing) I meant to say tweaking.
Anyways on the subject of the ticket thing, I have a question to pose.
Our job in all of this thing is to support our team. Do I have that bit right? I hope so. When our captain Andy Moran was withdrawn and took the shotgun position on the sideline, did anybody catch the tumbleweed that passed.
The game was in “the melting pot” I just gotta highlight crass cliches, it’s a flagelllation thing that I suffer from.
Anyways, I tried to start a chant “Mayo! Mayo! Mayo! repeat, “Mayo! Mayo! Mayo! repeat Mayo! Mayo! Mayo! repeat. That was it my voice peetered out, three rows back from the field in The Davin.
I am shy and I felt frustrated and awkward. People were starting to look at me strange and I went quiet. I have always felt that a voice in the wilderness is still a voice. The tumbled weed prevailed to my shame. Were there others? I’m sure that they were, we just didn’t do our job well enough.
If the shoe was on the other foot and we were ahead by the one score with three minutes left we would have been shitting the proverbial thing that thwarted our country, for now. Would the Dubs have been silent enough if Brogan was reined in.
We supporters and passionate men and women from Mayo, need to do our job too.
It mightened have made a damn bit of difference. We’ll never know.
“Come On Mayo!!!”
I mentioned that already about the wall of silence, Mayo fans need to learn how to roar on their team in unison, when the team needed the fans, they weren’t there in enough numbers. Same happened last year, plenty numbers but not enough noise.
Joe, I agree and wrote about this on another thread…i too was in the davin, upper mind you, and while trying to rile the supporters, on my feet I might add, ppl looked at me like I was stupid.
I’ve been to many games over the years, most recently college football here on this side of the atlantic. When the game is in the melting pot, as ours was,…everybody and I mean everybody, is STANDING, on their feet and going crazy. It does make a difference.
In those last 10 mins, I was disappointed to that many of my county supporters sat on their hands in their seats.
From what was posted on here prior to the final, I think the board did have a serious issue regarding tickets to discuss.
From the postings it seemed clear that Cairde MaighEo members felt let down by the board because it seems that the seats/rows allocated were somewhat inferior to those expected or those allocated to ST holders with many saying that they would abandon CM and become ST holders instead.
If this was an issue discussed then we at least know that the board is concerned about supporters and the need to accommodate their concerns.
As for the issue regarding the final, management and team issues IMO the lessons learned should be obvious , everybody is aware what they are and the gist should be on how to improve the situation for the future instead of a post mortem.
The least disruption caused now should yield benefits later on……….All those involved over the past year need time off and rest and no great changes except for a few new forwards to be given the chance, if available.
MaighEo Abú
Dan , heard that a while back and was thinking about it today. I may well be wrong , but maybe Ger felt sure he would have his Celtic cross in his pocket by now and was free and easy to enjoy a bit of life as a young lad . I wouldn’t begrudge him, but I hope he can postpone it for 12 months and all us Mayo fans give him a fiver each, not a lot I know , but x 100,000 he could travel in comfort . Oh I hope Croke Park isn’t reading this .
Yeah I agree about the support issue, ie not been vocal enough and really only been vocal when things are going our way , which defeats the main purpose of support imo .
Man united have a great home record down through the years, next time they concede a goal at old Trafford, listen to the deafening roar of u n i t e d united united before they even get to the half way line to kick off .
I’d love to see an independent supporters club set up with like minded individuals involved, willing to organise some vocal support during the games, I’m not for one minute suggesting an attempt to start a soccer type atmosphere. Just a simple gathering of supporters, encouraging some noise and colour , it would grow in popularity if organised properly and there was a proper code of conduct expected.
Great idea sean.
Do the County Board have a say in what tickets they get from CP. I have had the Croke Park ST for a few years now and up to this years final was always in 304/305 .Final seats in 309 , not bad , but not as good as before. Had playing the Dubs anything to do with all this.
Nothing wrong with a soccer type atmosphere per se, that support that was missing could have been worth a point or two. So after all the blame game, maybe the ones to really blame are the fans! Might be on to something big here 🙂
Joe i saw that tumbleweed going by around the back of the canal end. I also saw green and red clad people heading for the exits with a good 5 minutes to go. Not many but a couple of dozen. What message does that send to the players on the field if they see people leaving? I also heard from somebody i know who was in the lower canal that a Mayo fella nearby tried to start a Mayo Mayo chant late in the second half but nobody joined in. In fact what happened was that 3 young girls dressed in blue in front of him turned around to him and chanted “you are all alone, You’re all alone” or something like that. God i hope that was not you Joe Ruane. Having said all that i think we had terrific support for the minors and i think that made a difference to them. I did not see a single Tyrone supporter and there was a major tumbleweed moment when their goal went in. I went out for a pee after the minor game and looked out over the back of the canal end and could see hundreds of green and red still coming in through the turnstiles. Obviously having missed the entire minor match and probably watched it in the pub and cheered the minors on from there! Christ i thought, “what jennets.”
Sean Bourke I couldn’t agree more. I know from years gone bye when I did my thing one encouraging voice could really make me believe in me. Could we organise something for next year on that line.
Someone tried that idea last year through Facebook but it cant work unless its done on the Hill IMO.
Sean, great idea. We do need some sort of organised and meaningful “chant management” on big days. Too often its just left to chance and it never gets off the ground. We had enough numbers there on the 22nd to shake the place but it never got into top gear.
Great idea Sean , but how would we get them all seated together , probably easy enough in Connacht , but on the really big days. I’m in no way knocking it and would love it to happen , but there is a big difference in someone wearing green and red and a true Mayo supporter.
Heard it the Monday after the final. I don’t blame Caff but he could do a lot of travelling between now and next June and be back for when it really matters.
I haven’t joined a club in twenty years but I’d sign on any dotted line for a Mayo Vocal Supporters club. If they can’t hear us we may as well watch mid change tranvestites on the telly. No offence Marty. Call the way I see.
“Come On Mayo!!!”
Tried starting a “Mayo Mayo” chant too, and I kept it going for long enough too, got no response. Got so bad at one stage, when the Dublin fans were in full voice, a good friend of mine just stood up and shouted “Will ye f**king sing?!?!”
Felt as if it was slipping away then.
Of course playing the Dubs had something to do with Nephin – after much haranguing the ST people eventually told me that Dublin supporters had been allocated the central sections and Mayo were in 307/309 with a few sprinkled in 304.
@ Sean and Joe – Looking forward to joining that club :p
That wasn’t me Jim. I appreciate the concern. I had two Bulmer six pack drinking half time comming in drunk Dubs to contend with. Leave the rest to your mind.
“Come On Mayo!!!”
Had a good long discussion about this with a friend of mine and I have spent the last 2 weeks thinking of, designing and pricing some pretty big Mayo flags to hang up at league games to add some colour.
I really think we need something like this.
Lads,
I can be contacted at mayomark51@gmail.com
If ye email me, we can get some sort of an email dialogue going with a group of us about what to do.
I think we need to do something. The notion of being a supporter seems lost on people!!
Sean, drop me a mail there and we can bat around a few ideas! Same with everyone else, lets get something going! My match day group has 10 in it willing to do the same!
The logistics would be difficult for the games at hq but if it were to be a runner in Connacht championship , it could Work out even having lads spread out around croker.
Realistically our first championship game will be in Hyde park v Roscommon, we could organise through online communication to meet at one end of the ground , bring colour and voice along with you and take it from there. If it gathered momentum, it would be a fantastic sight to see a massive gathering in McHale park for a Connacht final v Galway , ( if it went that way of course) and by the time we got to croker if we did, lads and lassies could be bouncing their ideas off each other as to what way we could maximise our potential as supporters to benefit the team, ie organising banners together , times to get chants going etc.
I’m only typing out loud here , it could be a ridiculous idea in practice but if it did come off it would have to be an underlining rule , we support our team the Mayo way, sporting and in the spirit of the GAA, no attacking players verbally abusive shite, no drunken lunatics hanging on etc .
I’ve probably put too much thought into this, need to get a life.
And if we all contribute to a pot we can get proper flags done up. Lots of colour and lots of noise. As said above, it doesn’t have to be like a soccer ultras group! Just 20 or 30 like minded people who wouldn’t let the fella next to him out in the cold if he started a “Mayo” chant with 10 minutes to go in an AI Final!!
It’s a pity we weren’t all sitting closer together 🙂 I was hoarse trying to do the same in the lower Cusack, to little or no avail. Happens every time, when we should be shouting the loudest, that’s when the Mayo support goes missing
Needs to be a bit more imaginative than “Mayo Mayo” me thinks, maybe have a competition on here for a few new short songs or chants. This was tested last year and clearly didn’t work so hopefully this time it will.
Kinda sad though that something like this needs to be “organised” given the amount of fans Mayo have always had.
Oh thank God at last !!!! Check my posts for past few years same thing vocal support me always ending up like an eejit roaring and shouting like you Ann Marie was in the lower cusack row z standing looking behind beside and in front of me odd few the exception but not what was needed my voice was gone for the week my sister a few Rows back doing the same thing we really needed to be the 16th man that day and weren’t !! 🙁 myself and Martyn Hughes set up the sea of green and red page for Tyrone match which even if I say so myself was a great success .. Was harder to do for All Ireland even though we did our damnedest because of who would get tickets and that’s the big problem if everyone was able to get season tickets and be able to sit together would make a huge difference I think and have someone responsible in each section to get it going !!! I’m all on for it anyway #needstobedone!!! Leaguefinal2014
Well I was in the top deck of the Cusack and we were giving it loads right up until the goal effort from O’Connor that wasn’t! It’s our fault again I suppose. We went too mental/not mental enough/didn’t get enough tickets/were “out-coloured” like last year/took the Hill/didn’t take the Hill – delete as appropriate.
Look, 5 mins to go in the first half I felt our goose was cooked and that we were in bother. It didn’t stop me roaring though.
With you all the way on that one Joe!!!
Me too #seaofgreenandred Ann Marie 🙂
Brilliant idea!!!
Start it off the Liveinhope, send an email to the above address and we’ll rope in some of the others on here. Worst we can do is come up with some ideas 🙂
I remember the Fermanagh replay 2004 when there was a crowd on the pitch, a group of lads from Ballyglass (I recognised one who was from there so made an assumption, a friend of a friend!) singing “Mayo, Mayo, Mayo, Mayo” in the tune of Put em Under Pressure “Ole Ole Ole Ole”.
I have to say, I thought it sounded pretty ok! And after the minors won Sunday, I am convinced I heard it coming from the Hill and it sounded absolutely terrific. First time I had heard it since!
Either that or I am going mad!
Nothing more powerful than MAYO MAYO when ALL shouting it together Tom!!!
According to the GAA Season Ticket website, you can create seating groups.
Seating Groups…..see below taken from the GAA website. Takes some organizing me thinks.
“You may want to sit beside friends or family who are similar Season Ticket holders at some or all matches during the season. You can organise this from the ‘Seating Group’ page in your Online Account.
You can create a Seating Group and invite other Season Ticket holders to join it or join another Season Ticket holder’s Seating Group, if invited. You are free to cancel or leave a Seating Group at any time.
You must renew or purchase a 2013 Season Ticket in order to join a Seating Group. A full User Guide can be found here”.
@sean & MayoMark…considering the “pot” and funding for such a supporters group, flags, banners, hand towels (very popular with fans at games here in the US) you would want an efficient and transparent funding mechanism to do that.
One that comes to mind is “crowd funding” where individuals can collectively pool their resources (dollars, euros etc) online to fund an idea or objective, such as the one we are talking about. From what I know ( not much) its rather easy to setup and administer.
One such website is Gofundme dot com ( I deliberately used the narrative so WJ’s sensors wouldn’t block it 🙂 )
Anyway, once on the site, scroll down the left side, and you’ll see they have a section for “Sports, Teams and Clubs”. Here you’ll find many examples of similar crowd funding efforts to the ideas we have here for Mayo supporters. Anyway, carry on, back to work!
We have a seating group but you can only have a maximum of 10 unfortunately.
Am gobsmacked at the last posts. Ultras, do away with “Mayo Mayo” chants, get more colour, get more hippy type Kumbaya shite going in the stands. Last year it was that green and gold stood out better than green and red. One guy saw Mayo people leaving with ten minutes to go this year. Possibly those were some of the crowd who were attending their first match since last years All Ireland final. I saw them leaving before half time in 1993,1997,2004/06.
Did the Clare crowd have special chants and group hugging sessions during the match? A dynamic takes place and I have seen it many times. When the Mayo minors were doing well the crowd were behind them. A sticky patch occurred near the end and it was eyes through fingers stuff in silence and then Conroy lit the torch. The crowd responded.
When Mayo were going well in the senior match the crowd were likewise. Then we saw when the noose tightened, same old mistakes come in, switches that should be made not made, switches made when patience was required, the crowd picked up the vibe. Its nature, its part of who we are, we have seen it happen so often that we know the script by heart and a pathetic soccer style ultra type thing wouldn’t lift the team.
Unfortunately the tempo is set by the lads on the pitch. Unfair but true in my opinion. Tackling the way they did v Galway and Donegal will have you grabbing throats. Turn overs, quick breaks, shuddering tackles raise the crowd, gives confidence. When a war is fought the civilians get out of the way and wait until its over, they don’t influence the result. Football is war with civilians watching. They cannot do anything about what happens on the pitch.
We need forwards, we need leaders on the pitch like Dooher, Dara, MDMC,Canavan etc that do it on the big day. We know we have guys that will get us to that big day. Equally we also know that a number of them freeze when the fire gets hot on that final day. A combination of Knock, Craogh Patrick pilgrimage and a trip to Lough Derrig cannot help those guys.
You want to get the crowd baying and barking? Do what Davy Fitz did, be bold, be brave and trust your youth. Nineteen year old O Donnell opened with a rattler to the net. No effing choreographed singing and flag waving needed there. The primal scream within us all comes out at a moment like that. It feeds through the stadium, empowering one group and draining the other.
Bad misses from frees drain you, bad misses from play drain you. Losing the ball and not chasing back as a goal is being cooked drains you. There is only so much you can take watching the match. Ger Brennan at a vital stage moves up and lobs a monster. That kills you and lifts them. A Dublin player hangs out of a Mayo jersey, you see it and bay. The cavalry arrives and you pump your fist, retribution but then you see the same Dub has a grip of not one but two Mayo jersies and both are allowing him to swing them. You now shout but its at your own to effing lash him, the dynamic has been taken from you and they see that they are able to get in our faces.
Last minute/seconds and we get a free in, a debate takes place as to how long left.The four mins allotted were gone,we see it on the big screen, there was only a single option left and that was stack the house on a rocket at the crossbar area and pile in. We clipped the point and headed for home beaten once more. Faint hearts wont win fair ladies and so we keep turning up in the dance hall looking for the wife.All the chanting in the world, all the colour in the rainbow wont do it. The players have to.
By the way, I am a bit sick of this attempt to involve the followers as part of the failure. If the team does what it is supposed to do the fans follow suit. Mayo supporters, the ones who will be at FBD, League, various challenges etc are the salt of the earth. When you reward people who dont go to matches other than gala occasions then expect them to act like they normally do…observers who head for the gate when the blood flows.
John you must be the grumpiest/angriest man in Ireland!
John – I understand your frustrations (ones I’d say all Mayo supporters share to some degree) and I think there’s a lot of truth in what you say about on-field failings sucking the life out of supporters in the stands on final day. That doesn’t, however, mean that others who may have a different view about how to engineer noisy support should be ridiculed – house rule 3 on comments refers.
John, I agree with you. I find it a bit rich that it appears to me that some of the blame for losing ANOTHER final is being laid at our door. There is no other county in Ireland that has such big numbers and such a following at matches. I remember the first league game this year v Donegal and there was a huge crowd present. We got tickets from, and indeed travelled from, all over the world for this years final and I spoke to Dubs in Croke park that couldn’t get over how many Mayo supporters were there. They couldn’t believe the numbers. And yet it is our fault??
We kicked the 9 wides in the first half? 6 of them very scoreable. We failed to make the necessary changes throughout the match to help us get control of the game? Everyone posted here prior to the final that it was our jobs as supporters to get as many Mayo people into Croker for the final and bring as much colour as possible. Well we did that. When the teams ran out and for the parade we roared them on and out-shouted the Dubs for 85% of the match. In fact, they didn’t get going until the last 15 minutes when, we all knew and felt, the game was done. It is a 2 way thing. The players feed off us to get them going and into the game, and we feed back off what we see on the pitch.
John, I agree 100%.
So there is an opposition to getting some flags and colour at games :S
Wow. Just wow.
Aye, Pittsburgh Steelers comes to mind there, love the hand towel effect. So simple yet looks so amazing! Not something we could do at an FBD League game v GMIT though 😀
By the way John, nobody is looking to form an ultras group, or to do away with the “Mayo Mayo” chant, or sing more “hippy” crap in the stands. I have no idea what the motivation is behind your trying to make people who want to make an effort feel stupid.
Well done.
excellent stone cold 😉
Agree with vivid description of how oxygen is sucked out of supporters by the ups and downs of the on-field performance, and none worst than conceding a goal or missing two or three scores in a row. Remember the dominant signing and chanting from the Hill in the 2006 semi-final, and how it even went quiet when we took the lead near the end. That said I commend all efforts to organise supporters in to more vocal groups on match days.
Another big factor on final day in particular is the arrival of thousands of the prawn cocktail brigade. The stilettos, fur coats, the Sunday Times art section, needles and knitting and the children with their Game Boys… – they simply had to be there but often haven’t a clue.
We’ve seen them all, while a lot of die-hard supporters can’t get a ticket. Unfortunately, those special appearance attendees don’t chant, shout of sing in public. And they certainly won’t know what a hang sandwich is!
But with corporate sponsorship an essential part of most sports, I’d say we will have to put up with this side effect for a long time yet.
Fully on board with the flags and the colours and happy to donate.
John Cuffe I see where you are coming from in that atmosphere derives quite often from what is going on on the field , but tell me the picture of Heffo on the hill wasnt impressive , or when the Dubs sing come on you boys in blue , they sing it when they are winning or losing , they are great supporters of their team.
as al pacino said its a game of inches, the inches are all around us , if one flag or one chant inspired one point we’d be heading for croke park again on Sunday.
Yes Roger, the dubs are really impressive and inspiring, and the singiing, it does lift their team. The heffo banner on the hill was great too.
Think I mentioned it to you already about the Heffo flag, it was class. And made me think that if they can make the effort, why can’t we?
So if there’s an extra few hundred flags ,banners and a more vocal support for 2014,will it have a negative impact somehow?
Mayo support is fantastic in many ways but I do feel it has always lacked a bit of genuine gusto , I’m not going to go into it too much as people tend to laugh at my opinion on this matter. I think it runs deep, a lack of genuine pride in our county by some, not having a traditional county song etc.
Reading Tomas O Shea’s article in the examiner last week , these sentiments dawned on me again, listen to his passion for Kerry, all things Kerry, the culture and tradition etc, it’s very evident .
It’s like when the Galway man sang the west awake or the tipp man sang the galtee mountain boy.
I’m rambling on here and not really ariticulating my argument very well but I strongly believe in what I’m saying at the same time,lol.The day I see us get to an all Ireland final week and the only song on the airwaves is the boys of the county Mayo ,blacksod bay etc and everyone going into croker from Mayo has a flag along with them , is the day I’ll be happy that we have played our part.
That Heffo banner (I think there were two of them there in actual fact) was, from what I gather, the work of the lads in St. Vincent’s. Regardless of your allegiance you’d have to say that it was a great tribute to him and the perfect day to do it too.
Yeah there were two; one with his face and one “Heffo’s Army”
They were class.
* O Se *
That’s a reply laced with passion, John Cuffe 😉 Nah, I wouldn’t be placing any blame at supporters’ doors for this one Pebblesmeller. Not at “real” supporters’, anyway, and to be honest I doubt anyone posting here was found lacking too much on the 22nd when it came to shouting encouragement from the stands. I suppose I was having a rant above about those (ahem) less frequent attendees who go mute or missing when things get a bit rough. But ultimately, no blame whatsoever. I like the ideas above (especially the seating group, especially when it comes to bigger games in Croker) if only for the element of craic and colour they’d bring.
Should’ve added too, am happy to get involved (shure why not) – thecailinrua@gmail.com. Can’t sew for crap though 🙂
Right Mayomark….and Penn State games!! 😉
Your right of course about the FBD type match, but I’m thinking more like a connacht final in McHale park…like some folks from our “supporters club” stationed at each entrance, handing out Red and Green emblazed hand towels, as the supporters pour into the stadium……sure maybe I’m like Sean and just dreaming 😉
Very well put John. Crowd responds to what they see on the field. Always.
True, but it also works the other way!
@MayoMark
I’m up for this and even though I’m over here, I could lend some technical, financial and logistical support. I can be reached at
mayormaccheese@outlook.com
Cheers
Totally agree John. It is up to the team go out and plant the flag.
Maybe stone cold, John is just telling it as it is…..
So true MisterMayor. The team feed of us too. The extra flags, colour, noise can only be a good thing!
Huge amount of retirements from the Ballina team announced.
From HoganStand: “Former county stars Ronan McGarrity, Pat Harte, Colm Leonard, Liam Brady, Eanna Casey, Brian Ruane and Aidan McTigue”
It’ll take a lot for them to recover from that.
Best of luck in your retirement lads!
I agree with Cuffe and pebblesmeller up to a point and God knows we could have done with a couple of those skimmers going over. The lads should be able to get the job done on the field because this is what they train so hard and sacrifice so much to achieve. We are the priviliged watchers in the stands. We respond with our primal roars when the team play well and remain silent if they struggle and falter. Frustrations anchored by passion render the true supporter mute in the times argueably when the team need us the most. Regardless of intense physical preparation, battoned by intense mental preparation, sometimes the best of teams can lose focus and get discouraged and need support.
I had a pig of a day and am losing focus myself and need to head to the nest.
“Come On Mayo!!!”