Mayo are back up in Division One for next year following Sunday’s win over Clare and with that achievement in the bag James Horan’s team now turn their focus to their opening game in the Connacht Championship the weekend after next. They do so, however, with considerable worries over the fitness of Cillian and Diarmuid O’Connor, both of whom came off injured in Ennis.
In this episode of the Mayo News football podcast, we review the victory over Clare and start to look ahead to the challenges now facing Mayo, not least in light of the major injury concerns relating to two key players. Billy Joe Padden is back in the chair for this episode and he’s joined once again by Edwin McGreal of the Mayo News and by me.
Together we discuss the highs and lows of Sunday’s match in Ennis, focusing initially on the injuries to the O’Connor brothers before assessing Mayo’s performance in what was in every sense a game of two halves. We then hear post-match thoughts from Ennis from Austin O’Malley, John Casey and Martin Carney, all of whom Mike Finnerty chatted with after the game at Cusack Park.
Rounding off this episode, the advanced mark gets a mention and so too do the exploits of the All-Ireland winning Breaffy ladies rounders team.
This episode of the Mayo News football podcast is now online and is available to listen to on iTunes, SoundCloud, Podomatic and Spotify. You can also listen to it directly on the Mayo News website as well as here on the blog using the SoundCloud player below or the one on the panel on the right.
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The Mayo News football podcast is sponsored by Ceramic City and Swinford Motors, two fine Mayo businesses with whom we’re proud to be associated.
Not good re Cillian going by Mayogaa website.
Big loss all round in term of playing ability and leadership on the pitch
Achilles Tendon injury for Cillian. More than likely that’s him out of the Championship for this season. They usually take 4-12 months to fully heal. Very unlucky for him as he seemed to be playing injury free for the first time in his Mayo career in the past 12 months.
Big blow for us. Hopefully someone can step up and try to fill his boots. Could be a big chance for the likes of Carr to really step up.
Disaster for Cillian. Achilles is a bad injury to get.
I’d definitely be considering Jsson Doherty to replace him. He has the required grit and physicality. Cillians irreplaceable, but Jason would be my choice here. Im looking at the rest of the panel and I just do not see anyone who’d relish the physical battle as much as Jsson. Its a huge part of the game now. Jason’s a great link player too and can score a free and a ’45.
We’re goosed for this year in any event.
Big boots to fill. Cillian was really enjoying his football these times. Very feared player. Bad luck but we have some strength in depth..
If it’s achilles then he’s out this season bar a miraculous recovery. It means Carr, Coen etc need to step up. Both potential match winners but I’d go with starting Carr at 14 because he can win ball, score goals and pull a rabbit out of a hat. He is also faster than Darren but Darren
showed how class he can be during 2019.
Horan will probably go for neither tho. He prefers work horses. Someone like Bryan Walsh. In fairness to him, he looks better than I thought he was and what I like about him is he clearly shows a desire to get/create goals which plenty of Mayo forwards are less inclined to do.
Regardless. Cillian out significantly reduces our chances this season.
Carr would be the best replacement but he’s not a free taker I don’t think. If Loftus is starting he could take the frees. Towey is an excellent free taker but maybe a bit green in general play. Darren Coen or Jason Doc would also be like for like replacements and have plenty experience taking frees.
thats hard luck on Cillian I wish him well and a speedy recovery. anyone expecting Jason Doherty to come in and “replace” him this year needs their head examined, he has only played one game for his club and theres no way he’d be up to inter county standard fitness or sharpness. give James Carr a go i think in light of Cillian’s injury we could have a short Summer a connacht semi final or final win will be a bonus
A disaster for Mayo’s prospects and for the lad himself. Hopefully, he will return to full fitness in a timely manner. Jason Doherty if fit, would be the ideal replacement, alternatively I would go with Aiden Orme, as he is a reliable free taker and is super from open play. Conor Loftus will probably be the chosen one, but he has had more than enough opportunities at this stage to impress, but doesn’t contribute enough consistently for all of his natural talent. Orme’s tackling and exceptional work ethic is very similar to Cillian’s and he also seems to produce when it counts.
News of Cillian is a disaster as he is one of the top players in the country. You cant replace a player like that, I think it’s a team adjustment to compensate for the loss. Possibly Carr coming in at ff would add more pace and is a scoring threat with Loftus coming in at hf at the expense of Walsh to provide reliable free taking with Towey, walsh, Coen in reserve. Obviously Cillian would still be a loss to the team but not the end of the world. Should Duirmuid also be out for a lengthy period, then we really are in a spot of bother.
Carr for me , he has the physicality too albeit not the same presence as cillian . No matter what cillian will be missed and we will be a lesser team without him .
Heartbroken hearing this awful news on Cillian, for Management and team, and for Cillian and what he must be going through himself.
Wishing Cillian a quick recovery now.
Difficult to keep heads up for Championship on this day.
Yes, Mairead, I agree with you entirely.
I reckon Towey could be the man who gets the nod, im a big fan of Carr and his raw ability but i suspect billy joe and the lads might have been on to somehthing in the pod when they suggested Horan isnt impressed with his tackling and work-rate.
Towey has been consitently getting minutes of the bench in the league and is the best free taker left in the squad so he could be the one to get the nod, but its not down to 1 individual to backfill cillian, all the forwards must step up now and share the load. No more depending on cillian to bail us out in the crunch games, time for others to step up and be the man
Not favourites for Connacht any more.
Our best player. No one else comes close.
A free taking lottery again.
I am so disappointed for Cillian – such cruel luck. Devasting. He is the difference between us winning and losing on so many occasions.
Watched game back,one player stood out is brian walshe very underrated.his link play and fist passing top class.put a few pounds on him and he is one for the future.
Poor Cillian is out we have to move on better now then in a few weeks time. Very underrated player. He would make any team in Ireland, teak tough both physically and mentally. He could still have a role in the background helping the younger lads.
Is Paul Towey likely to be a direct replacement for Cillian? As far as freetaking is concerned I understand that he is top drawer but is he able to bring Cillian’s power to the full forward line? Neither Tommy Conroy or Ryan O’Donoghue are particularly physical so if we have to bring, say Aiden, into the full forward line who loses out? Or would Towey fit into the half forward line? It seems that Jason Doherty is not likely to make it back into the playing panel this summer [or Harrison either, for that matter]. Then if Diarmuid is out we probably need Aiden around the middle unless somebody like Jordan Flynn really steps up. We are really noticing the retirements and injuries now. Chris Barrett and Harrison from the full backline, Tom Parsons and Seamus O’Shea from midfield and Jason Docherty in particular.
Terrible news as regards Cillian, undoubtedly Diarmuid will miss game time as well.. Last week I was saying that so many of our forwards were interchangeable, bar Cillian and Kevin McLoughlin who are impossible to replace with equally as good a player.. One thing that goes uncommented on by Cillian, is that as soon as a Mayo attack had finished with a goal, point or wide, Cillian is hyper alert organising our forwards and our press on the opposition goalkeeper kickout.. In the second half last Sunday without Cillian, Clare won 100% of their own restarts, whereas with Cillian on the pitch, Mayo had good success on the Clare kickout in the first half.. Indeed it was such a quickly organised press that led to Mayo’s first goal Kevin McLoughlin fielding the under pressure kickout from the Clare keeper, Kevin McLoughlin immediately seeing and feeding Cillian who was brought down for the penalty..I think it’s something that we need, and we need an organizer playing in the Full Forward line, from the get go versus Sligo.. It needs to be a more experienced player for me, with enough gravitas for the younger players to react and mark the space or the man on our opposition kickouts.. It will be hard to expect anyone to do it as well as Cillian, but someone has to take responsibility for this aspect of our play.. Darren Coen, possibly, AOS if he played No14, possibly or Jason Doc if he’s fully recovered.. Best wishes to Cillian for his speedy recovery!
Calm down Backdoorsam!! Time will tell how any of his replacements fare. Hope one of us is right.
It’s a devastating blow. Devastated for Cillian and the squad. He’s simply irreplaceable.
I’m absolutely sickened.
This was a disaster waiting to happen relying on Cillian far too much with his history of injuries the man that was never given a chance I think could have replaced him and that’s Peter Naughton I don’t care how bad he’s playing for Sligo in the Mayo squad he could be a different animal but for some stupid reason he didn’t get a look in.
Firstly I feel sickened for Cillian and the squad. I think as fans we need to now temper our expectations for the championship ahead. A Connacht title would be lovely and cap a good year with promotion back to div 1. However I can’t see us troubling Dublin without Cillian I’m sorry to say. On a side note as Aido is getting older I think tactically he should put on a couple of stone (he’s trimmed down a lot which was needed for mobility out the field but not at 14) and make that 14 jersey his. With the mark in place, if he was that bit heavier and stronger he could hold off the defender with one arm and claim possession using the other – i think aido is too honest and always goes for the ball rather than taking man and ball like the colossus he should be. He gets dogs abuse from defenders but never throws himself around – maybe it’s time to get dirty and tougher as as he gets older, his mobility will lessen even more
Firstly I feel sickened for Cillian and the squad. I think as fans we need to now temper our expectations for the championship ahead. A Connacht title would be lovely and cap a good year with promotion back to div 1. However I can’t see us troubling Dublin without Cillian I’m sorry to say. On a side note as Aido is getting older I think tactically he should put on a couple of stone (he’s trimmed down a lot which was needed for mobility out the field but not at 14) and make that 14 jersey his. With the mark in place, if he was that bit heavier and stronger he could hold off the defender with one arm and claim possession using the other – i think aido is too honest and always goes for the ball rather than taking man and ball like the colossus he should be. He gets dogs abuse from defenders but never throws himself around – maybe it’s time to get dirty and tougher as as he gets older, his mobility will lessen even more
Tough luck on Cillian. On a personal level it must be devastating for him.
Of course we are goosed without him, but spare a thought for the player himself who has invested so much time and energy into the Mayo cause.
Roll on 2022. The only good we will get out of this year is seeing if we can shore up our leaky defence structure.
Without Cillian’s scores and organisation at the other end, we could get a hammering somewhere along the line this year unless we fix our defence
Horrendous news on Cillian. So unlucky as no one else involved in the injury. Hopefully he will make a speedy and full recovery. Looks like we will be back to the free taker lottery like the last time he was injured. But Cillian is so much more than just a free taker as was obvious in the second half against Clare. We have plenty of potential in our young players but they are lacking in experience of playing on the big occasions. It is a huge headache for Horan but we should still have too much for Sligo and Leitrim. It will make the Connacht final very interesting should we make it regardless of who we are playing. Never a dull moment when you are a Mayo supporter!
Desperate for Cillian , desperate for the panel, desperate for us all First thoughts are with Cillian I wish this outstanding player a speedy recovery Am gutted. There is no replacing him For sure another person will take his place and give it his best shot but he is irreplaceable We can console ourselves by saying it gives a lad a chance and time for others to step up etc but since 2011 he has been so good for us. He may not always have got the respect he deserved outside the county but I think the vast majority of Mayo people really appreciated him. Would now suggest Galway are warm favorites to win Connacht As for All Ireland glory well 2021 won’t be the year
Disappointing news re Cillian O Connor, his point from play in the dying seconds of the 2016 drawn final was in my opinion his greatest score.
Time now for management to wake up, as other posters have pointed out, is there a ready made replacement goalkeeper.
Cillian has been asked to fo far too much particularly in All Ireland finals, was way out the pitch defending and trying to win the ball mainly in 2nd halves, Mayo totally lose their shape as games move on.
Somebody posted here that Mullin is the man to take Con O Callaghan, in my opinion there is no better guy in ireland to take Brian Fenton particularly on Dublins kickouts.
No point having your main scorer too far out the pitch, other Counties fall into this silly trap.
I wouldn’t say Galway aren’t automatically favourites for Connaught but the loss of Cillian will be difficult to solve. Like everyone I sympathise with him, a great servant. Jason Doherty another great servant in the forwards is on the road back. I would think Tommy C might take right footed frees. Darren Coen I hear does so for his club but can’t nail on a start. Carr has the advantage of a great so called weaker left foot so might be the best option of all. I know very little about Towey. Some very accurate players now. Ryan OD seems to score his marks so frees should be fine at least from right footed side. For lefties we’re back to Kevin Mc who hasn’t been fond of the job albeit more reliable in recent times. AOS took them in his rookie year but that’s long ago and probably wouldn’t have the required percentage. Mark Moran who got a few runs looks a really accurate striker. Fionn McDonagh also leftie but another not a guaranteed starter. Fionn missed one or 2 before when asked but no doubt he can kick a ball. Eoghan Mc also a lefty but no idea if he takes any frees for Westport. If we only dropped from 90% to 80% conversion maybe fresh faces will grab opportunity for a jerseywith 2 hands. We probably now need AOS FF line to add experience in that line and organising others.
We were 4/6 to retain nestor cup at 8am this morning we are now 10/11 or even money . Turf accountants rated cillian a lot more than some of our rival supporters that’s for sure .
Firmly believe Carr should be given his jersey . Chance has to be taken on him .
Interesting Podcast, thinking about what Mayo should do now.. Hennelly would be in goal, .., Well I would definitely abandon the current full back line.. and bring in Padraig O’Hora, Darren Coen and Eoin O Donohue, with a defend first policy.. I would play a sweeper, possibly Aiden in front of them, primarily to stop soft Goals against us.. A half back line of Lee Keegan, Paddy Durcan and Eoin McLoughlin, with full licence to attack.. Midfield would be, Mathew Ruane and Oisean Mullen.. with licence to attack as well, 5 forwards, would be, Kevin McLoughlin, Fionn McDonagh, in the half forward line.. Ryan O Donohue, playing just behind a 2 man full forward line, of Tommy Conroy, and Darren Coen to start.. subs to come on from what’s currently available, Fergal Boland, James Carr, Connor Louftus, Colm Boyle, and depending on who’s available possibly/hopefully Brendan Harrison and Jason Doc, for the Sligo game, I don’t think that I would start either, but bring them on would be a better start back to competitive football.. that’s what I think would be our best algamation of our current resources in my opinion, playing in that formation.. It uses the talents we have better.. Aiden is probably the best tackler in the game, the position dosent need the same athletic ability as midfield or CHF, and while Leroy and Oisean attacking from so deep is a sight to behold, it leaves us with too many problems in conceding too many goals. .. I absolutely don’t think that’s what will happen, but it’s what I would do.
Darren coen , decent football player but not near sharp enough ,his conditioning is not as good as others in the panel
For 3 reasons, I would try h Darren Coen to replace Cillian v Sligo.. he’s an older player and hopefully would try and do the job Cillian does in organising the immediate press on our opposition goalkeeper.. No2, because he talk, and can take a mark, and that’s important today.. No3 he can take frees.. There’s no replacing Cillian, but I think Darren ticks those 3 boxes.. and if it’s not working, bring on James Carr or whoever else you think can play in the FF line.
God help us if we are depending on ‘attacking halfbacks’ – they are backs for a reason so let them defend, conserve their energy and leave space for the designated forwards.
Best wishes to Cillian O’ Connor – a truly superb operator.
@Leantimes Re your rejigging of the backs I would agree and love to see the backs line out in that formation. 100% agree with those selections.
I think KMc would be the man for CHF if I was picking the team. He has the vision, trickery, passing ability and scoring ability plus he can win the 50/50 ball and I would love to see him getting a chance in that position. No doubt the best option for there to bring the other forwards in to the game.
Management will have a bit of head scratching before the Sligo game but we still should be able to field a strong enough side.
@ Shuffly Deck, Don’t forget Connor Loftus is a very good man on frees also.
First of all hard luck on Cillian and hope he recovers well.
The state of Mayo’s defensive setup was going to insure we would not be an All Ireland Contender this year, now that Cillian is out we can but pray for a miracle.
But Mayo have talented defender’s, midfielders and forwards who can match any team in the country.
I am sure The Mayo Management will use that talent to the best of it’s ability.
Our forwards need more support play.
Our Midfield need Oisin Mullen.
Our defence needs a full back and Brendan Harrison.
Come on Mayo.
Maigheo àbu.