174 thoughts on “Cork 1-14 Mayo 1-11: we blew it, badly”

1. Very worrying collapse, same as Louth, 5 up, and nearly threw it away. Today was even worse collapse. Afraid to kick the ball, since league finish. Knock out from here on in, and we make it hard on ourselves AGAIN

2. We were put in our box today. We are now not contenders. Are we a one trick pony who are easy to beat. McStay and co are tactically inept now. I pity the long suffering supporters who were at the match today. There may be fewer supporters at the next game even if it is in McHale park.

3. I disagree. Management messed this one up . Team selection. Style of football. Negative first half. No ball in over the top. We are miles better than this. Wide open down the middle. No cillian yet he played for club. Ruane needs to go half forward. Loftus not a 6. Carney could go to midfield or even inside when carr came off. No plan b whatsoever. At least Carney could field a high ball inside if we even bothered to try putting one or two in. Learned zero from the previous game. People killed horan on here for not trying something different.. . Well what has this wonderful management team tryed today that was any different from the louth . Mcstay just to add injury to insult they allowed aos to do thar at the death when we needed him inside. Embarrassing from whoever is really running that team Mcstay always in commentry said aos inside and stay inside yet that’s not happening.

4. That was a sore loss, I have to admit. In my opinion, it was the worst championship loss since Longford in 2010. Now that we know the teams for next week, I would love Galway- Just a good old fashioned Connaught game

5. Terrible day for the Connacht counties..
   Galway so pedestrian in the second half..
   Comer a massive loss, Walsh continued to totally underperform.
   Now I know why ye always disliked Joe Mc Quillan..
   It’s destined to be Mayo heading to Salthill next weekend, if so I think ye will raise your game massively.
   Galway are in trouble!

6. Possibly Aidan was trying to score the free do be 1pt better than Cork on score difference. Not sure.
   A poor day mainly by mgmt. Changes needed.

7. What was the story with Clifford coming off in that match so early and is comers injury serious. I think that if we get Galway in salthill next week it will be a dogfight and we always seem to perform better when we’re underdogs so maybe this wasn’t a bad thing. Also this loss will tame expectations. Thoughts?

8. JP, Aido looked betwixt and between lining up that last shot. Definitely caught between two minds I think. Needs more composure. Though if he went to lob it in for a goal chance I wouldn’t blame him either. Don’t think he knew himself what he wanted to do.

9. Too many cooks!!! No midfield again. No grafters.

10. Overall it was a poor performance across the board, we were very easily opened up at times today and beat at midfield mostly. Other than ROD and Flynn, the others were mostly 5/6 out of 10 performances. Need to make switch’s around the middle next day, most things creative we do involve ROD, so think we need him at 11, also can’t understand why Callinan would not be in that team and given a shot at CHB, we certainly need to do something there. I have always defended Loftus as a footballer, but he simply hasn’t the horsepower for CHB. TC scored 1-1 when introduced but overall I thought his movement was poor enough also, too many of our lads look out of sorts now. Maybe the back to the wall games will bring the best of out of them!!!

11. Just a thought of mine.
    Is there something not right in the Mayo Camp this past 2 or 3 week, this could explain a few things.

12. Well as people have been saying here the last few weeks of holding back and not showing yer full hand blah blah blah.. its fu cking time now next week to show everyone what we’ve got or else f uck off home for the summer…would be amazed if its not galway we get..

13. What was Aidan doing taking a free and a line ball half out the pitch . Both given away and Cork scored

14. Nailed on we will draw Galway and we might be as well off. Kelly and Comer (who is their talisman not Walsh) not fully fit. It might be just what we need. And if we aren’t good enough so be it

15. Fair play to Jordan Flynn he wasnt afraid to shoot from distance today and it paid off I wouldnt be suprised if a certain Mc Danger who was well able to throw them over himself in his day was working with him all week. If the 17 people who voted Conor Loftus as man of the match on the poll make themselves known I will send them Mr Bean’s latest dvd because its not football matches they should be watching

16. I must say Galway getting beaten gave me a bit of a lift.
    Kildare the best draw as a neutral venue

17. I’m beginning wonder what voice Stephen Rochford is having at the management table after today’s shambolic performance. The lack of any kind of variation to the game plan would suggest he may not be having a whole lot of influence. We saw more variation and creativity when Stephen was at the helm. Hopefully were not seeing the beginning of another McStay / McHale duopoly…

18. Coen is the man to play centre back. The Loftus experiment just has to end now. It should no longer even be a discussion. We missed Aido out around the middle today too due to the entire midfield underperforming. There must have been 6 of their kick outs in a row that were identical in the last 10 minutes when the pressure was on. All kicked stand side. Everyone knew where they were gong to be kicked. We won none of them. Winning one might have broken their momentum. A few lads need to look long and hard at their role in this today including the sideline. I have just now seen the penalty and yellow card incident for the strike on Jack Carney. Baffling decisions

19. Today was a reality check.
    The new championship structure has a group stage.
    League/group tend to balance out. Let’s be honest after losing Leeroy and Oisin over winter, our greatest ever player and generational talent. Plus on top of that
    no Cillian (the championship all time top scorer). Despite some nonsense by poster here that he is a ‘good option off bench’. Today 2 of our 6 starting forward scored.

    The Kerry game was a fluke, without the above we are no longer a top team. So 3rd place in group is where we are at.

20. It looks like our All Ireland was the Kerry game.
    The collapse is mystifying even after the penalty nobody stepped up to get the ball and work a score. The zero interest on the pitch from the players was disappointing.

    Maybe fatigue and all that that brings is seeping in from our frantic start in the league.

    People are right alot wrong with management today. No disrespect to the lad but Kevin Mc was finished four years ago. When I seen him coming on I knew we were goosed. For the penalty, the foul should have been committed further out the pitch.

    Cork were far more alert and aggressive. They targeted Donoghue and sure why not it was encouraged by the referee. I’ll cover myself here I said at half time we’d get nothing from him. But mind you nothing he did influence the loss.

    It’s on management this one when the game was still there with 3, 2, 1 point up no change tactics or sub wise was made. That’s on them.

21. Imagine thinking after the Kerry result that we might be heading into a 50/50 knockout game with Donegal in Ballybofey. We’ve made a right mess of things, that seems to be something we’re good at.

22. O for fuck sake, no excuses for this one,

23. To be honest everyone will want to get mayo play the blanket and mayo go asleep now I hate to see team’s play it it’s boring but we need to get answers for it fast or it’s our summer is over but people should give credit to cork there game plan worked out I do hope it Galway it might put a fight in there blood

24. Couldn’t go. Looking at the group stages objectively, what I saw has come to pass. I’d say Larry McCarthy will be dancing a jig. Favourites completely turned over, and no hopers Kildare and Armagh second and first. Donegal looking good as are Cork. Every game mattered.

    Next ball! I didn’t want three weeks n a row, but given what playing every fortnight is doing to us, bring it on! No home venue an advantage.

25. I’m not surprised.
    1. As I said at the start of the League two of our worst players last year were Coen and Loftus and yet they play every match except Coen doesn’t start against Kerry in the First round of the round robin when we played our best football. He is too slow and only moves sideways and never breaks the line. Loftus is not a defender so it won’t matter who we play if both or one of them is in the half back line.
    2. It was always going to be a tough task minus Lee and Oisin
    3. Mgt seemingly don’t want to listen to anyone on how to split the blanket. Paul Flynn who is a brilliant analyst told everyone about the Louth game but of course they couldn’t listen to someone else.
    4. No point having Aido in there if the ball is not sent in. Basic common sense
    5. They were right to try for a goal at the end except that Aido should have been in there. A draw would leave us topping the group and we are probably better out of Castlebar anyway.

26. If we keep lining up like that formation we will have a week left in the 2023 championship- end of story. Try something different and be brave – we have nothing to lose at this stage

    1. Reape
    2. Coyne
    3. Mc Brien
    4. O’Hora
    5. Hession
    6. Paddy Durcan
    7. Eoghan McLaughlin
    8. Jack Carney
    9. Diarmuid
    10. Stephen Coen (sweeper)
    11. Ryan O’Donoghue
    12. Jordan Flynn
    13. Aido
    14. Cillian/James carr
    15. Tommy

    Definitely used Subs:
    Mattie (half forward/midfield cover)
    Cillian/James carr
    Sam callinan

27. Will we have to travel to Kilkenny, if it’s Kildare.

28. Cut the lad that’s clearly not good enough for IC football and some good will come out of this loss. Better for mgt to find out today than later on when there’s no second chances. It’s the one thing that made me question this mgt team that this lad was still getting picked despite him clearly not doing enough defensively, offensively and having no appetite for winning dirty ball or having the ability to cover ground.
    3 teams in the prelim are beatable and teams in the quarters are not world beaters but hard decisions need to be made now or this campaign is doomed

29. Galway in Salthill…..you can bet your house on it. We never get luck in draws. It may not be a bad thing, put us out of our misery. Im not mentioning the CHB again. Jack Carney should a been hooked at half time. This was lost on the line pure and simple.

30. Fair play to leeroy he wasn’t soft soaping the lads on rte. He was calling it out for the diabolic performance it was.

    Totally inept and deserved. Clueless against anyteam that has even a rudimentary defensive setup. There is a very clear template to beating this mayo side.

    Why on earth is cillian the best finisher in the county playing a club game the night before an important county game where are radar is lacking

    Flynn tbf had least had a go at the posts and it’s time to end the conroy on the bench nonsense. He needs to be starting at this stage

    Why on earth is AOS being indulged as a free taker and ff after a decade of evidence that it doesn’t work. Would breaffy let him take frees?

    Not the end of the road by a long way but That day could hardly have gone any worse. All the supposed expensive brainpower on that management team and completely out thought by a mid div 2 team

31. Galway in Salthill- worst draw for both of us. They would be favourites. 40% chance of winning that.
    Kildare in a neutral venue of there choice, should be favourites for that. But improvement needed. But say we would be 60 chance of winning that.
    Donegal in, I assume Ballybofey not easy either. Longer their in the competition better they are getting. 50/50 game

32. @Glorydays-I enjoyed your Mr Bean reference. Conor is a good footballer and worth his place in the panel, as an option at midfield or half-forward. He is not and never will be a 6 which is not his fault. And 6 is not our only problem-it is our whole defensive system, whatever that is. CHB is a vital pivotal position and I am old school and I want my CHB to be a strong defender, Even at this late stage, management need to make a big call, admit that this experiment has failed and install a proper natural defender at 6.Other positions and personnel also need to be looked at. If we are going to press up to force long kick-outs, we need good fielders in midfield, which we don’t have at the moment, so there might be a case of swapping Mattie with Jack or Jordan or maybe it is time to give Bob Tuohy a go. Either way, I will be amazed if there are not significant changes for next week. Our problems are pretty obvious to almost everyone, or should be, so surely management must be aware of them. Problems don’t fix themselves, so management need to step up and make the big calls.

33. Our time has come.
    Agree we have to try something and not a bad team but not Coen as he slows everything up. We need to move the ball quicker and more direct and forget about the Rochford template that he imposed on Donegal over and across the field and going nowhere.

34. The extra game will do us good ,we definitely need the practice.

35. Conroy & Hession should be starting. I agree with KM79 – Loftus needs to go. He used to get long-range scores but just recycles all the time. At least Jordan Flynn showed how to do it – why was Coen withdrawn – we leaked scores after that?

36. 45 – why would you absolve Stephen Rochford of any blame? During his previous reign we lost every single game to Kevin Walsh’s Galway.

37. We cannot blame the pitch today . the supporters have become complacent .we were sure we were heading straight to the quarter final. We as mayo supporters have to up our game .We spent half of this week talking about colour blindness and the jerseys instead of preparing to cheer and shout the team at the match today. .we are also gone very quiet at the matches. ALL IS NOT LOST. We still have a good team we need to be ready for next weekend with our flags and hats and our voices in good order for shouting and roaring on the team. Let every mayo supporter get to the match next weekend and support the MAYO team

38. Will you stop Jimbo, supporters can’t score for the team. There was a lot more Mayo supporters than Cork, how did Cork win it in that case?

39. I posted before the Roscommon game that our great league performance was due to the amount of pre-season work done by McStay and his management team, while other teams were well behind in the training schedule. Perhaps today and against Louth we saw a certain weariness in the team which is not too surprising, given they have already had a long season.
    How often have we seen teams sparkle in the league and fade in the championship? Especially under new management who are keen to establish themselves.
    That doesn’t explain the performance against Kerry except perhaps that we found the energy for what we knew was a massive challenge whereas against Louth and Cork we couldn’t turn that on again.
    Fatigue I reckon! If thats the case it’s not going to get fixed easily especially with a game next weekend.
    On the other hand it might just be the kick up the arse these lads need!

40. He is a little slow sticks for the reek but he actually has an excellent positional sense which is why I’d name him at 10 but deploy him as sweeper between the half back and full back lines. Between paddy and McBrien – our goal concession rate would tumble I believe

41. Have to agree with Tubberman there Jimbo – blaming the fans for that loss is quite frankly one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard

42. I can’t understand why Mayo don’t play a more defensive structure? There are a lot of people on this blog and outside of it that reference the weaknesses of our attack and I tend to agree. With that in my the bast way to take pressure off them is to have a tight defensive system. The peno we gave away today was disgusting. The amount of times we were ran through down the middle was unforgivable. Loftus is nothing close to a CB and should not be made play there. Completely lost at midfield too. No cutting edge up front. It’s not a stretch to say that Reape has easily been our best player all year. What does that say about everything else out the field?

43. Jimbo if it was down to us the supporters we would win every game but I do love your attitude up mayo but I think our summer is over next weekend

44. How can we have a defensive shape when our backs are continually running up the field. At one stage when Loftus had the ball on the Cork 45 – the two players inside in the full forward line were O Hora and Jack Coyne – two of our full back line. Then when we lose the ball – there is no shape and lads chasing and running back like u12 kids.
    We have to start lads the next day who have real pace and able to at the opposition- I would be starting – Callinan, Hession, McLoughlin, McDonagh, Tommy.

45. I’m bitterly disappointed. The way we folded like a deck of cards in the wind in the last quarter against a division 2 team was embarrassing for all involved. The lack of leadership shown both on and off the pitch was truly shocking. It will be very difficult for the players to pick themselves up after that no matter who we get in the draw. No easy way to sugarcoat this but when the going got tough today our lads just packed it in. If we get in a similar winning position the next day neither the players or supporters will trust themselves that we can close it out and that’s not a good psychological place to be. League seems like a long time ago now!

46. The collapse after the penalty just baffles me, there is a lack of communication there and that is more on the players on the field than the management. I will have to watch back as my head is still frazzled and just home. No leadership when we were up against it is my biggest take from today.

47. Blew it now doubt 57 minutes played and 1-11 to 0-8 ahead and go on to be outscored by Cork 1-6 to no score. Lost the first half by 1 point and the second half by 2 points. Maybe the writing was on the wall with the sluggish display against Louth, did some of the lads lose the run of themselves after the win against Kerry, top after that game and finish 3rd in the group is hard to believe.

    One positive is finishing 3rd was probably better than finishing 2nd.

    Could have Monaghan,Tyrone or Roscommon in MacHale park and now away to Kildare,Galway or Donegal.

48. Not quite as bad as walking out of Limerick in 2014 but crestfallen all the same. Frustrating first half and an excruciating fourth quarter. I can’t recall such a swing against us in recent memory. We’re usually the ones to smash and grab at least a draw at the end. I can understand the anger among Mayo fans. I don’t mean to disrespect Cork and their victory was fully deserved but we simply should NOT be collapsing in such a fashion to a mid-level Division 2 team. We looked completely gassed and out of ideas towards the end.I thought Paddy Durcan tried his best to drive us on the first half but the two misses near the end were unfortunate. Jordan Flynn was superb in the second half, brought the game to Cork when others went missing. Tommy Conroy has to be a nailed-on starter the next time. This talk of ‘finishers’ is nonsense. That all started and ended with the generational Dublin team. We badly needed to top the group. Teams have us well sussed-out and the time-frame for switching-up our tactics is too short. Whatever about our forwards and midfield, we simply do not have an All-Ireland winning defence. The half-backs need surgery and quickly.

    Still in it. But would anyone chalk us down as favourites to beat Kildare or Donegal, nevermind Galway? We can still make a quater-final but if we come up against Kerry or Dublin, we’re in big trouble.

49. Only a win in salthill will get our momentum going again.
    I hope we get Galway in the draw.

50. The hit count on the blog will be stratospheric today..

51. 1. 4 balls into the keepers hands.
    2. Didn’t foul further out the field for the penalty.
    3. Way too lethargic in our build up always, Cork far faster than us.
    4. Beaten for most kick outs & hardly anyone there for the breaking ball.
    5. Nobody ran off the sholder; there by creating an option for their teammate, effectively allowing them go alone & run into trouble.

    It’s a long road now for us but another day out we’re not dead….yet .

52. Southmayo Exile – I agree but that’s what we have to stop doing. There is no balance to either our defence or attack. Not every player can be an attacker in a play. Yes we need attackers from the half back line but get a midfielder to sit deep. There is no value in everyone bombing up the field blocking space for forwards to run into. The best teams in The country have strong defensive structures and until Mayo get one we can forget about All Ireland titles

53. A hard watch. A poor performance.

    How to beat Mayo.
    15 players in own half when defending.
    Catch us on a few and inevitable counter attacks.
    Be within a few points with 15 to go and lift the tempo (we are exhausted at this point as we’ve spent 55 minutes running around in circles).

    Still in it though, just about….

54. I think it’s fair to say we are a better team than Louth and Cork or at least most of us thought so. Why then did we not beat them convincingly?
    Tiredness, exhaustion staleness after a very long pre-season and a full-on league campaign. Management?

55. Forget about Dempsey, Galway were on the edge of ditching PJ until last year’s run. McStay is trying to build a team and it’s 2 steps forward, one back from where we were last year and losing key players. He made substitutions early enough and only 1 was a surprise, Coen taken off. Today was a poor day for the players with only a few performers. The ref was poor but it resembled Galway in Castlebar several years ago when we took over by 5 and then they got a goal to get momentum and we didn’t wrestle it back. For 15 mins of 2nd half we were good today. I can’t help thinking that teams knowing they’d qualified softened their championship battling qualities today, E.g Galway losing too. The doomers are having a field day and WJ has identified some trolls too.

56. McStay needs to stand up and make executive decision re team selection and our tactical play.
    Despite winning league matches posters here have been consistently pointing out the vulnerabilities of our defensive system.
    We have quality players, quality panel. But the book stops with McStay. Team selection for next week will be very revealing …

57. How on earth has our best player in the league by a country mile enda hession not got back into the team yet? He was declared fit nearly 2 months ago ffs, lads like swanny, coen and loftus continue to be picked ahead of him regardless of form

58. Only caught bits of the game due to family commitments, will watch it back later. Seems to have been a complete systems failure Two starting outfielders scoring simply not good enough. Although I don’t see finishing third as a massive disadvantage versus ending up second; likely we’d struggle versus either Tyrone or Galway on recent experience but 50/50 against any of the other four. Playing at McHale Park not much help to us. Next week will either see us play ourselves back into some type of form ahead of a tough q-f or spectate for the rest of the season.

59. .. I’m clutching at straws but the only positive is that the teams in pot 3 look a lot stronger than whats in pot 2, everyone will be looking to avoid galway but otherwise its a beatable bunch. If we can’t beat a soft kildare side or a donegal c team then we are better off out of it

60. Been saying on here for ages the Loftus at ch experiment has to end. Good player butnot there.
    Keep playing players who are simply out of form e.g. Paddy, Mattie, Coen, Loftus and Carr.
    Not sure what’s going on in training but we seem devoid of energy, motivation and intensity.
    We have come up short against blanket defences many times and yet we keep doing the same things when faced with it.
    Midfield is so important and our midfield is not functioning at al.
    Not sure how or if these problems can be rectified this week but now is the time for the management to show what they’re made of.
    Getting out of the Jetland car park was a fecking nightmare even though the crowd was less than a quarter capacity.
    Will still travel next week to one of Donegal or Kildare but I wont travel to Salthill, the worst venue in the country. Pretty sure it’ll be Galway then.

61. @shuffly deck agree with you . Yes was very dissapointing. But as I said some of the comments I’ve seen are absolutely uncalled for.

    I certainly wouldn’t call us the best supporters after seeing those comments here and on social media. Nearly like bandwagon supporters.

    Bad day for sure but come on no need for it . We’re still in it we could come bouncing next week and be at our best you just never know with mayo what mayo will show up and that’s why they are so entertaining at times .

    Give the guys a break wasn’t our day but not the end of the world I’m sure the guys are feeling down enough as it is I certainly hope they are not reading this blog for the comments anyway !

62. O’Donoghue was battered today. We needed to get in and defend him if we are standing together as a team. Players not playing for each other. Set up all wrong. Buck has to stop with Management Team and the set up. Once a team runs at us, we are wide open. So disappointing nothing done all year to address this. Think we have blown any chance we had for 2023 today.

63. @Clare, we are still in it, this is the only one of two positives we can take from today, the other is that Jordan Flynn is the one Mayo player that can beat the blanket with long distance shooting, Cillian O Connor is another that can do this.

    There just seems to be not enough fight in the guys when the pressure really comes on late in the game.

64. Very disappointing today. We have the talent but they play a stupid type of game . They should play fast and direct and cut down on all the handpassing and backpassing. Cillian would have made a difference today and I hope he starts next weekend. Kildare would be my preference .

65. I find the constant mention of blanket and shawl for opposing teams on here laughable at this stage.
    Mayo had 15 behind the ball today when not in possession today and are every bit as defensive as everyone else as they should be.

66. Fumimg after that. 6 points up and concede the next 9. Leaderless all over and a lack of a killer instinct when on top. We’re the easiest team to play against in Ireland, sit back, wait for a self inflicted bad pass or poor decision, counter, score. It’s so easy. We made Cork look like world beaters in the last 20 minutes. Management and players have serious questions to answer, they’re losing support, fast. The Loftus at 6 stuff needs to stop, push Coen in there to hold the middle.

67. Lots of questions for management after that game. Cillian plays 60mins of club football yesterday, surely he could have played some part in todays game instead.
    Loftus at 6 needs to end, id play coen there instead. Conor is a forward, the experiment didn’t work, it’s not fair to the lad to leave him playing there.
    Tommy needs to work a lot harder, he didn’t follow back on two occasions today, very frustrating considering other players who has played the full game were out on their feet.
    Not sure what’s happening with paddy, he should be leading the younger lads.
    Only positives today was flynn and I thought O’Hora did OK too.

68. Hate to break it to you guys, but Kildare know how to play a blanket and can win, if we get them. I was at the Kildare v Mayo game last year in Croke Park and it was very very uncomfortable for nearly 60 minutes. Kildare were ahead and we could not break through in any way shape or form. How does that sound – 3 down against a defensive team on 60 minutes and going nowhere? It was only a strong run from Oisín Mullin the full length of the field and a miraculous goal that broke the situation. Otherwise we looked out of answers, like chickens shuffling about the farmyard.

    This is the problem – we must not go into games against any defensive teams *with complacency*. We need to be strong and ruthless against Kildare if we get them and shoot from outside the D.
    Do we expect these so-called weaker teams to roll over and just let Mayo beat them? I don’t think they do.

69. There hasn’t been two step forwards unfortunately. It’s backwards we are going under this management team. Our style of play reminds me of Donegal under Rochford. That didn’t work out too well for them. Management have gone all in on Loftus at 6 and AOS at 14. It hasn’t worked before, it isn’t working now and it wont work in future. They probably have played 20 plus games this year between FBD, League, Championship and challenges game and they still think it’s working. The majority of fans seem to have lost faith in their strategy, maybe the players have too. If the players don’t believe then we are well and truly in the crap.

70. Worryingly bad end result today but we can only now hope for a good draw. Kildare would be my preference on a large pitch

71. @PM now find that comment on Tommy c a bit harsh he’s only back from a serious injury hes bound to be a bit off did he not score a great goal?

    Paddy is also only back from an injury first game he’s started the last few he came off the bench.

    @ batetheblanket ah I know sure but sick of seeing all the abuse towards the team Atm and asking for mcstay to step down is OTT by some tbh…

72. Big Mike, that might be so but that is not our natural game. Our whole system is geared in a different way. That’s part of why we have issues in defence when we play against teams playing a predominantly defensive, counter-attacking game. Our defence often looks open and it’s sometimes easy to score against us.
    Our style in the Kerry game is the way we prefer to play and it caters to our strengths – power, pace etc. At least, that’s what I think.

73. Ruane at midfield is definitely a problem. He can’t field the ball and teams know this about him now. Tyrone well and truly exposed his lack of fielding in 2021 and he has been continuously getting the run around at midfield since then. Not good for the psychology. I wonder if he would be better at half forward.

    Major questions to be answered but I seriously doubt we’ll be able to get the heads up for the next game. And frankly, even if we do make it through the prelims, we potentially have a Dublin or a Kerry waiting for us and that has the potential to be very embarrassing indeed.

74. I don’t see anyone criticising individual players but we have to get real .certain players are in positions that they can’t function in.This idea that everything will be alright next week is lunacy.we have played 4 championship games and aside from the Kerry game where they didn’t play with any defensive structure for some reason.we have been fairly brutal.Besides the clueless first half today we had managed to get ourselves into a totally winning position and then total collapse .pointing this out is not betraying our fellow county men .posters on here didn’t suddenly come to this conclusion today.it has been commented on numerous times but for instance we are told the game has changed and midfielders don’t need to be able to catch a kickout anymore.well Brian Fenton still fetches a fair few balls from the clouds in games.the quest for an all Ireland is getting weary now and I am probably getting crankier as the years drift by but when issues on a field are obvious to the dogs on the street then obviously people will comment on it .or are we supposed to pretend that today was great

75. Big Mike – you’re 100% right we did have 15 men behind the ball at times today but they were like headless chickens. We bring in Donie Buckley who supposedly is the best tackeling coach in the country but we didn’t put a hand on Cork at times. Getting men behind the ball is on 10% of the battle. Getting 15 men behind the ball who are in sync with one another, setting traps for opponents, aggressive tackles, blocking space for simple passes and tracing runners, that’s 100% of the challenge.

76. Flynn was our best performer, need CO’C back for leadership alone. We’re still in it and we don’t have to play in Castlebar which is a good thing. Galway away might be the kick in the hole we need, we’re either good enough or we’re not, I fear we’re not.

77. The West is Best, the strategy of Loftus at 6 and AOS at 14 worked against Kerry. Were Kerry just having an off-day?

78. @1985 I’ve seen plenty of comments of people criticising individual players particularly conor loftus and Tommy c I’ve seen comments to which I find awful considering the injury he’s had . Not just here but across social media.

79. Yes, Swallow Swoops it certainly looks that way.

80. What to make of that. It is some wreckage to sift through. 10 minutes left we had the code cracked and were on the way to beating a Cork team who had run Kerry and the Dubs close already this year.
    That was some collapse that followed and it is the same problem again. I think the back line are defending reasonably well man on man. It is teams running through us where the trouble is.

    @Swallow Swoops
    I remember debating with you a few weeks ago about how we should go about protecting a lead. That was definitely not how we should be approaching it !!!

81. Matty Ruane not up for the fight as per usual today.Give me a 34 year old Jason Gibbons to boss the midfield any day of the week before Ruane.Carney another man going under the radar standing up with his hands by his sides numerous times today not getting stuck in some Mayo players thought they would just turn up and beat Cork, We are obsessed with ball carrying athletes in Mayo who lack the basic skills and who are too afraid to kick a 20 yard forward pass.

82. Make no mistake people, this was a shockingly bad result against a poor and limited Cork team. There are zero excuses for it. Management had nothing and very few left the pitch with credit in the bank.
    The manner of the defeat is infinitely worse, given the fact we were six points up. Game management still a huge issue.
    We’re miles off the top. For those wanting Galway, beware. They’d wipe the bloody floor with us.

83. @Diehard, completely agree with your last two posts. Some of us saying it all year, its the McStay blue print, all out in the league = burnt out for the championship real stuff. If he comes out with another irritating cliche about “air in balloons” or “We’ll lick our wounds” I swear ill self combust. He looks unconfident on the side line and I think he’s way out of his depth.

    Some posters and fans are mixing up this “blanket” sh1te. We beat the blanket every single time. 6 points up and the game was won. Our issue with a blanket is we don’t flipping have one ourselves!!!! Completely inept at shutting up shop. We’ve been wide open all year down the central channel! Thats our biggest problem.

    Its borderline cruel whats being done to Loftus, the lad can’t tackle or lay a hand on any1, yet he’s continually picked? I swear if he lines out at CHB next week I genuinely give up, he deserves a place on the panel but CHB is a specialist position!!!!!….its not his fault.

    Any other top team managment would be getting lambasted by their own supporters for a collapse like that. No one going down to break the momentum, complete innocent stuff. Supporters are dead right to lay into them. They are after all compensated for their time. We’re the ones paying diesel paying for tickets, food, accomodation, and we’re served up this collapse, and our manager standing with his hands on his hips blowing our his lips. Bluffer. Oh but we’ll be told “ah sure we won the league”….whoopdy fcukin dooo.

84. West is best and all, I saw above that one or two posters believe it will be Dublin and Kerry in the final or coming through the later stages.

    1. Do ye think Dublin or Kerry will play a style like Louth or Cork in the final?
    2. Would ye fancy Mayo’s chances playing a Dublin or a Kerry in a SF or Final?

    McStay and co have a style they like and believe in, and one they hope they can use against the big teams.
    I like that too and I’m not fond of the blanket as an approach.
    BUT Mayo have to get smarter, tougher and more equipped when playing any blanket team. We are currently (1) lax (2) complacent (3) naive and (4) lacking in shooters from distance.

    Please fix all four.

85. Clare I was talking about comments on here .I wouldn’t be interested in reading the crap on social media but in fairness if someone thinks Tommy conroy wasn’t tracking runners then it’s hardly major criticism.again I will say Conor Loftus is being mentioned because of the position he is being asked to play

86. Mind the House – deffo. Your name speaks for itself – mind the house (the goal).
    I think we agreed that the best way to defend a lead was to extend it. I really do believe that is crucial against these blanket teams,
    It’s such a delicate balance for us playing against them as it’s so hard to score against them and doubly difficult late on.

87. I would play Diarmuid at 6 with Paddy and Eoghan Mc either side of him and move Jordan back into midfield with Ryan at 11 and bring Tommy in with Cillian on the bench.
    We are getting rinsed in midfield and while Jordan is fine in the HF line we need his physicality.
    So many poor performances today but we should have shut up shop and saw the game out.
    The form of James Carr is a big worry. He has dropped right off the last 2 games when I thought he was in for a big summer.
    We are still alive though.

88. “Sticks for the Reek says:
    June 18, 2023 at 7:12 pm
    I’m not surprised.
    1. As I said at the start of the League two of our worst players last year were Coen and Loftus and yet they play every match except Coen doesn’t start against Kerry in the First round of the round robin when we played our best football. He is too slow and only moves sideways and never breaks the line. Loftus is not a defender so it won’t matter who we play if both or one of them is in the half back line.
    2. It was always going to be a tough task minus Lee and Oisin
    3. Mgt seemingly don’t want to listen to anyone on how to split the blanket. Paul Flynn who is a brilliant analyst told everyone about the Louth game but of course they couldn’t listen to someone else.
    4. No point having Aido in there if the ball is not sent in. Basic common sense
    5. They were right to try for a goal at the end except that Aido should have been in there. A draw would leave us topping the group and we are probably better out of Castlebar anyway.”

    some very valid points, Coen was dispossesed twice inside the Cork 45, result two points for Cork, one was their first point, other one was around 50 minute. He has no recovery.
    Loftus experiment at CHB at this stage does not look like it will work, mind you he did get no help from midfield and center forward. Still he gave up possession at least three times in Cork half in the second half, not to mention kicking into Cork goalkeepers hands.
    Did Mayo not have any midfield replacements on bench, we had 11 subs.
    We were cleaned out from first whistle to last.

89. Time for players and Management to get the finger out now and stop fcuking about, time to select best team in proper positions and stop trying to make players what they are not. If a player is not good enough for a position then pick someone else there and dont try that player in some other position, if a player is not a defender then he is not a defender so dont pick him in defence and same for midfield and forwards. No more square pegs in round holes. Best team on field and go flat out to win all games. Next game is the last if we dont win. BLANKET DEFENCES is not the real problem, it didnt work for Louth today its only in the mind.

90. Clare I admire your optimism and I know you’re a real fan but, and I mean no offence, you sound like a fan who hasn’t been on this battered bandwagon since before 89 or even the 90’s. Some of us are more than bewildered at this stage and a little less forgiving of seeing our teams repeat the same tactical mistakes over and over and over. Each year brings hope but also a bit of realism. We’re still fans but should fans not demand higher levels of performance? There was no pride in the jersey today. That’s unforgivable

91. Cork game is now history, let’s see what the draw throws up for next weekend. Who knows we could turn our season around with one good result.

92. I’d be worried resources are going to dry up sharpish if we go back the pack to mediocrity. We have to be honest with ourselves and stop living in lala land , we are not a convincing team at all , the lack of bite is very noticeable of late , yeah we had a very impressive victory in Killarney but we all now realise that wasn’t the same Kerry that will be in croker in two weeks time . I’m sure the players are disappointed too . There will be new hope next year but we need a blueprint going forward , the lack of cohesion in our game plan is terrible , it’s very hit and miss hope it works out type stuff . Someone said shur we often have 14 men back , yeah we do but there’s no rhyme nor reason to it , we just have men back . Again I ask a very simple question, when aido is actually up top with one opposing player why do we point blank refuse to kick it in , I wouldn’t mind but what we do instead amounts to nothing . We are not a good enough team to win the all Ireland , I realise that after today but we need to start with long term strategy or we will end up on the scrap heap and potless too . It’s a long road back to the hazy days of 2012 -21 I’m afraid .

93. @Swallow Swoops

    I pay great attention to how we go about Minding the House. I think the back line have generally been OK. I dont recall Mcbrien Coyne and Callinan getting done too many times 1 on 1.
    Teams are getting joy running right through us. Time to clog up the channels and put a bit more speed in the half back line where we look one paced at the moment. Enda is another option there.

94. Let’s face it the League made a lot of us overlook how damaging the loss of Keegan and Mullin would be. Two strong competitors in mind and body. Looks like the loss of those two is starting to hurt us by time.
    A former half back line of Keegan, Boyle and Vaughan wouldn’t be run through by the best attacks in the land and a trio of Keegan , Mullin and Hession/Durkin/McLaughlin would also hold the line today. Alas Keegan and OisinYou can’t easily replace Keegan, Boyle, Vaughan, Mullin with like for like but trying to do so with forwards and out of form or slow backs is a recipe for disaster.

95. Margie, what is the collapse you are speaking about?
    The damage was letting the man through on goal twenty seconds after we scored ourselves. THAT changed the game.
    A three point lead is nothing against a defensive team when you are Mayo with our style that often leaves gaps at the back. I said that here on Thursday or Friday. THAT is Mayo’s vulnerability against these defensive teams. We need to be further ahead than three points going into the final minutes. Five is a bare minimum cushion. Defensive teams can win a kickout and score easily sometimes against us. It happens all the time.
    The only thing we could do then was try and score and Cork were locking everything down.
    They were also getting their kickouts away.
    I think we got caught between defending a lead and trying to score then.
    Once they went level nearing 70 minutes, it was always going to be white knuckle territory. It’s super hard to go up and try and find a score under pressure against a massed defence on 70 or75 minutes when you’re desperate.
    Mayo lost the ball and they counterattacked.
    They also got their own kickouts.
    It’s super delicate stuff, in my mind.
    For me, blitz the blanket with long range shooters is the answer and do it early. Don’t be leaving it to the last ten minutes.

96. Very disappointing our collapse from the 53 minute today that despite a very soft penalty we had no reaction . At least lads have one more game to redeem the situation and if we are not good enough to go through then so be it …we won’t be wasting money in July travelling to Dublin etc. I remain confident that these lads will pull through next week and regroup …

97. Stats dont lie Aidan O’Shea scores from play at 14 the chief scoring position in Gaelic football.A great player for Mayo but not a Full Forward.
    1 shot he had today at the goal, a goal save by Martin early on.Move him to 11 or Midfield or an impact sub.

    Galway sub 0
    Kerry 0
    Tyrone 1 goal
    Roscommon sub 0
    Donegal 2 points
    Monaghan 0
    Galway 0
    Ross 1 point
    Kerry 1 point
    Louth 0
    Cork 0

98. No doubt about it today was disappointing. But was it really that unexpected? Now I know some people were looking down their noses at Cork all week. Despite the fact that theyre a big strong athletic team who should have beaten Kerry? Do we ever really learn? We are always looking to blame someone for our misfortune. It is our No 6 or our manager or the referee etc.( All were admittedly not great today). But maybe we are not as good as we think we should be. Winning the league was great, but no barometer for championship. Beating Kerry was great, but in mid May after a six week break. We lost to Roscommon, were poor v Louth and lost again today. It is reminding me so much of 2021. James Horan was almost canonised after we beat Dublin. He was lambasted mercilessly and unfairly when we lost to Tyrone 4 weeks later. Kevin McStay was a hero four weeks ago when we beat Kerry. Now some reckon he should go. Unbelievable. Go through the team. We have an inexperienced goalie, two new lads in full back line, a raw recruit in the half back line and a couple of inexperienced attackers. It showed when we came under pressure. Yes our No 6 had a poor outing. Paddy had a bad day, Mattie had a bad day and some of our other more experienced players did not play well. Guys were giving out about Coen, other lads were giving out when he was taken off. People were calling for Hession and E McLaughlin to play, others complained that we shouldnt be making attacking subs when we were in front. We lost. It is very disappointing. Galway lost, Roscommon lost, Monaghan lost, Tyrone could not even beat Westmeath. I wonder are they all tearing their hair out in those counties. Sack Joyce, Burke, Vinny Corey etc. This is sport. It is unpredictable thank God. There are no outstanding teams but as usual Dublin and Kerry seem best placed. I was surprised by Galways defeat and if Sean Kelly has a serious injury they could be in bother. Next weekend is a new ball game.. While Donegal and Kildare will be buzzing after their wins this week, Galway will not feel so good about themselves. Roscommon, Monaghan, Tyrone and ourselves will all be on a downer, but the year is not over for any of the twelve remaining teams. Meanwhile the supporters should back their county. I think its just as well that we are away next week, because if the blog is a yardstick then Castlebar would have been one negative place next Saturday or Sunday. Our players have enough to contend with without their supporters being on their back as well. Maigh Eo abu

99. Losing Today Could be the Kick up the Arse everyone needs after all the Hype following our win over Kerry.
    There has to be a major shake up of the Management ,Team and Tactics for next weekend. The whole Squad Management and Players need to have a serious look at themselves after Todays Performance and Ask Themselves the question Where Are We Going??
    Players.
    Some Players have to be dropped while Conroy, Hession, Callinane, Cillian, Eoin Mc have to start.
    Tactics.
    Aido has to stay inside at All times and We have to bomb in the High Ball to him . What’s the point of having Aido there in the first place. No ball kicked in high v Louth and again Today v Cork. Nothing learned. Mix up the play go direct at pace , players coming off the shoulder only way to beat the blanket.
    Training.
    Players seemed tierd Today except for a 15 minute spell
    at the start of the second half. For training this week there should be 3 requirements defending , Tackling and shooting no sprinting just ball work. The Players look over trained maybe it’s time to just do ball work only.
    We have a solid panel of Players and a competent Management Team yet there are serious questions to be answered by next week. The Back Line needs major surgery everyone knows this. Callinane and Hession must start , CHB needs a change of personnel. Carney to MF. Cillian and Tommy to start in the Forward line.
    If Management persists with out of form players again for next week then it’s all over.

100. Poor form from team today.
     Poor form from many of the posters on here since.

101. The year, including league was always about pacing – not a sprint, but a marathon. Seems Dublin and Kerry now have all the advantages. Possibly Galway v Mayo in Salthill next weekend. Can’t see there being much appetite, attendance wise – 10,000 at best. In truth, we’ve both blown it..

102. The Heather is Rising – what hype after the Kerry game?!

     It’s bad enough national pundits writing that rubbish, never mind ones on here.

     2023 has been the most low key Mayo championship season in a long time. Match attendances would back that up too.

103. – Successful management teams are ruthless… and show it.
     – Let’s see if there is any in this Mayo management team.
     – Ruane, Carr, Carney, Durkan and Loftus should NOT start next Sat.
     – Flynn goes to midfield and he marks one of the midfielders, OComnor mark’s the second midfielder he needs to stay there and stop roaming leaving his opposite number free.
     – The Cork MidField and half forward line destroyed us. Deane did a lot of damage as did his replacement Sherlock.
     – ROD shipped a lot of heavy hits including a belt to the face which went totally unpunished.
     – Its all very well having plans, processes and plays but there was no grit, little energy and no fight shown today. Something is not right.
     – We used to.laugh at Jim Gavins robots…we have the Mc Stay bots who.can not even find the on switch.
     – The only thing that can be improved in a week is attitude. The team owes it to themselves to at least go down fighting.

104. Poor form from posters on here .as this is a mayo blog what exactly should the conversation be .possibly what an outstanding display of attacking football and a tremendous exhibition of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

105. Just a few general points on today

     – We got to see some excitement from the group stage format today, final positions could have been changed depending on the outcome of last minutes kicks in 3 of today’s games. If this was hurling, this would be hyped up
     – Fickle nature of sport, the narrative will be that Kerry & Dublin are timing their run, Donegal are recovering their confidence and Connacht teams “flattered to deceive ”
     – Benefit of this format is that teams can develop given more game time, for example Cork have progressed well since the Clare defeat.
     – The draw tomorrow cannot come soon enough
     – I hope Rory wins tonight…..

106. The negative bandwagon hoppers aren’t proper supporters. We can do without that kind of support. Best ever when we’re winning, worse than English soccer supporters when we lose. Some threatened to leave and off with them. We’re either supporters or we’re not. The players are amateurs who give huge free time to playing for the county. Sure they’re passionate about their sport but still a massive personal sacrifice and not deserving of the crap being spoken. If we win the next day what will the doomsayers have to say then? Saying we’ve no midfield is also more crap, our midfielders ran Kerry ragged. A Cork midfielder got MOM today and fair play to him, we cannot dominate that sector in every game. Only 2 games ago we were saying how invaluable Diarmaid was and this week he’s back from injury and still put in a fair shift. Mattie was below par too but those trademark runs were simply not on this time with the system Cork set up and the slippery pitch. For sure we played poorly but the extreme doom is ridiculous. Not having to win played into it, Galway lost a game they should on paper win too. We have a talented panel and another game to win, this time it’s knockout. We’ve overcome similar adversity and doom and gloom before. Let the players get on with it, they know themselves they are better than that. I don’t want to see any of these doomers in the stands in Salthill or wherever we go next. In the live arena positive support is a big plus and negative a big minus.

107. Given that we didn’t top the group, finishing in 3rd place is far better than finishing in 2nd place, our opposition other than Galway should be much easier to overcome and we avoid the luckless McHale Park.
     It is a damning indictment on the Mayo County Board that our county ground is far less suited to the Mayo style of expansive football than probably any other main ground in the country.
     To the Mayo Management team I would say, you have had no answer so far to the blanket defence systems deployed, so why not try bypassing the blanket by sending it over the top straight to AOS on the full forward line.

108. Very hard to understand why Fergal Boland is not in this side.
     That was shocking game management but it not new its been like this all down the years.
     Remember 2014……remember Limerick only happened because we could’nt close out a game in Croke Park

109. I think Shuffly it’s understandable there’s lots of frustration this evening.
     I think most of the frustration comes from the shock that such a big management & background team can’t get a consistent performance from this panel.
     Up and down in league, won league final, poor against Roscommon, looked great against Kerry and terribly flat last 2 games. We’re not building a good run or any momentum. And yes, these players are amateurs but it’s management’s responsibility today to get the performance needed to hold onto first place in the group. Saying today wasn’t a knock-out and that’s a factor in today’s flat performance reflects poorly on team preparation. Looks as if once Kerry were beat, complacancy set in.

110. Shuffle Deck – the sideline display was pathetic, no defensive structure what’s so ever last man defending through out the game, the Louth game was a warning. 6 point up and we went on to concede 1~6 without reply. We as Mayo supporters are allowed to question poor displays like this. Too many good players started on the bench today and a quite a few poor ones started. Why has conroy not got more game time so on so forth we are not that good or the management are delusional

111. BTW I was at the game and I consider myself a proper supporter, whatever your definition is.

112. Some of the main reasons supporters are frustrated are:
     1. We are so naive out on the field.
     2. We keep making the same mistakes that are avoidable – for example what was AOS doing taking a sideline kick on the Cork 45 when he was the player who should have been inside waiting for ball to come in.
     3. Players who are playing poorly are been left on and constantly starting.
     4. We have no defensive structure and not much of an attacking structure either.
     Management should pick the team for the next day based on performances in the four championship games to date – Ros, Kerry, Louth and Cork. I think based on that there should be 5 new starters next weekend

113. The performance by both players and the management team today was dismal. We had a relatively simple job to do i.e draw or win, which clearly was beyond us. In terms of four Championship games so far, with the exception of the Kerry game, we have completely underperformed. Clearly, Management are not learning from each game and adapting to the different teams we are playing. There is no doubt that the half back line experiment is not working and needs major change. We seem to constantly loose our shape, play too laterally, too slowly and really struggle against a blanket defence. The latter is not a new phenomenon, but we appear to have no answers for it. Whilst hugely disappointing for the players, management principally need to take responsibility and make changes. It is not acceptable given the cost for people to attend games and the fact that the management are no doubt well compensated for their time. Perhaps the mirror needs to be shone on them after the results of the past few weeks and that they start earning their corn.

114. 3 terrible hits on ROD x 2 and Carney went unpunished today. Also not a penalty. Saying all that, Cork deserved their win. We were physically inferior today, bossed around the place.

115. 1985
     I’ve no problem with anyone discussing the match or the performance or lack of it.
     It’s the group harping back to managerial appointments, the one’s selectively targeting certain players for their performances today and the I told you so group that we’d never win anything while this player was here or that one there. We’ve won a league with a new management and new team, only seen a couple in my lifetime.
     Maybe I’m just sick of reading it 1985, sometimes all the negativity after a loss is just as mindlessly overwhelming as the glowing positively is after a big win.

116. Who can we meet and when is the draw. I’m beginning to cool down now. We have the players but management have a lot to answer

117. I think after multiple years & multiple management teams, you just get fed up seeing the same mistakes repeated again & again. We won’t be contenders again until we start to kick the ball more, our current set up makes winning an AI impossible. Same failings as last year have reappeared, the goals have dried up and we insist on handpassing the ball up the field , we’re far too conservative as an attacking force and bar the Kerry game , we’ve been awful to watch since game 6 of the league. Look at the intensity of Jordan Flynn today, that’s the level required and he was one of ones at it

118. There has been a worrying lack of bite to a lot of our play in recent games. I’d wonder is everyone involved on the same page. You only need to think back to the first Horan and Rochford years when everyone knew what they were at, and did it very well and usually bullied the opposition.
     We were a long way from that today, we were outfought and outplayed in the last quarter.

119. There is lots to moan about tonight , it was a disaster of a result but for me the stand out was the general lethargic effort and I still can’t get my head around cillian playing club instead of today . They have not become a bad mangement team overnight , we won the league and beat Kerry in the first one but the last two games were just as important and we have been terrible on the line and on the pitch .

     I wear my heart on my sleeve and like the vast majority in here only want Mayo to do well but I’m honestly not sure do I even want us to make the quarter final proper after today . It’s soul destroying at times following mayo football .

120. Anyone know what the attendance was today? I was on the far side and was not sure if the PA man said 5000 or 9000.

121. Shuffly Deck you need to look at it tactically- when Mayo employ a high press (which the forwards do well) they better be sure they have the upper hand in midfield (they don’t in the air). Otherwise they leave themselves wide open if they don’t win the long kick out with acres of space to run in to and overlaps/ goal chances created by the opposition. I encourage you to rewatch the Roscommon game or the game today or even the all Ireland in 2021 focusing on this particular issue.

     Matty and diarmuid are fine footballers but neither are dominant fielders and most counties have good fielders in the middle. They do not work well together as a midfield combo but one with a natural fielder could work. Diarmuid does have a tendency to wander as Margie mentioned above and this leaves Mattie isolated but diarmuid does so many other things well so I’d probably put diarmuid with Jordan or carney.

     What Mayo need to change in a week:
     1. Attitude and intensity all over the pitch (not acceptable today for a Mayo team)
     2. Midfield pairing
     3. Centre back position

     What Mayo need to change long term:
     1. Develop Cynicism when leading.
     2. A better defensive structure with sweeper throughout game and a defensive plan when leading.
     3. Ruthlessness in team selection – best players in training should play.
     4. A plan to beat the blanket (in fairness Mayo have done well against Louth and cork to a point but let big leads slip but what happens if we win next week and draw Derry in a qf?
     5. Stop repeating mistakes tactically (management and players) over and over. Learn, change, move on

122. Watched the Sunday game and Peter Canavan certainly is not writing us off. I hope the players and Mgt were watching Paul Flynn’s excellent analysis of how to beat the blanket. Always learn from the best.
     Maybe the extra game will help.

123. 9000, 8500 from Mayo

124. Think after multiple years & multiple management teams, you just get fed up seeing the same mistakes repeated again & again. We won’t be contenders again until we start to kick the ball more, our current set up makes winning an AI impossible. Same failings as last year have reappeared, the goals have dried up and we insist on handpassing the ball up the field , we’re far too conservative as an attacking force and bar the Kerry game , we’ve been awful to watch since game 6 of the league. Look at the intensity of Jordan Flynn today, that’s the level required and he was one of only ones at it .

125. We should be positive about that last 20 minutes today, Give us a break, Kerry or Kilkenny get stick if they dont win an All Ireland any given year for gods sake.But in Mayo you cant be critical.

126. I have to agree with Sean Burke here the Cillian question for me doesn’t add, we can’t afford to ship him out to play club and bring him back. Everyone is needed now. If he was fit enough to play club he was fit enough to be involved. Something just doesn’t add up in this set up. Very disappointed today. But shur the hope kills you

127. Not going to name names but if we dont select a proper half back line next day then its all over. We do have the half backs if seleced in position. Maybe same could be said about midfield.

128. Joe, I agree with you about Jordan Flynn today. We need more of that. Backing himself and having the gumption to shoot – it proves we have it somewhere in the team.

129. Jimbo.
     I’m really sorry I was part of the reason we lost today. I contributed to the conversation about colourblindness and I should have known better. I promise it won’t happen again. If that’s all it takes, I would have done it 60 years ago.

130. I think even the most optimistic and pragmatic of us would have to admit that today was just a disaster – but not fatal, that might happen yet depending on the draw. Our run into a potential QF is made much more difficult in terms of draw, no week rest etc.
     It should now be clear to all that we need to position DOC / POH at centre half back.
     Unfortunately, Jordan Flynn is badly needed in midfield based on recent poor performances in that area.
     Changes need to happen – otherwise its game over.

131. Nephin that made me Laugh, thanks for realising the error of your ways

132. A tough night I’ve no doubt lads,

     The sun will rise tomorrow and you’ll still be in the championship.

     I do find it utterly astounding that you beat us comprehensively in Killarney and yet finish 3rd.

     Bottom line is Mayo are league champions and will be in the mix I’ve no doubt.

     Chin up lads tomorrow is another day.

133. The biggest thing missing today was intensity. Armagh today played with great intensity and won. If mayo could up the intensity for longer periods of time then alot of the other wrongs will right themselves.

134. Thanks Justoutsideballagh.

135. I want to get Galway in the draw. We always show up when underdogs . We looked like shite today but we’ll move on. Does anyone know what time and station the draw is on tomorrow

136. Asked why having got into a winning position in the 56th minute after substitute Tommy Conroy had scored a goal, Mayo effectively collapsed and failed to score during the final 20 minutes, McStay replied: “I am going to have a good think about that one because we dried up obviously., No sh*t Sherlock , ps why didn’t he have that think after the Louth game.

     McStay said everybody on the bench was aware of the importance of Aidan O’Shea free deep in injury time. Had he pointed, Mayo would have clinched second place in the group on score difference., If everyone was aware why was O’Shea taking such an important kick , especially as he was just lobbing the ball in looking for a goal

137. 8.30 am rte radio 1 John.

138. Thanks very much @West Kerry

139. Great post nephin.clearly nothing negative can be said in any way or you are deemed to be a traitor.I have being going to mayo games since 1979 and don’t need to be told what a real mayo supporter is nor would I call other mayo supporters opinions crap.on watching game back astonishing that a punch down on top of the head isn’t a straight red card

140. I’ve no issue with criticism of overall team performance and tactics, nor if people suggest ways we could do better but throwing out management in the first year? which in my opinion has made good progress and won the league, built the panel well for the future and won more games than we lost. It’s ridiculous. We built during the league bar Monaghan game which we used to give lads a chance. Progress has stalled and gone backwards today and no problem acknowledging. But continued over the top attacks on specific players and management is way over the top after defeats.
     As regards what constitutes a good fan, in my opinion someone who does their best to encourage the team using their vocal chords. Yes we can analyse as the game happens but players feed off encouragement. I bet players could hear some of the groaners today and some of them are serial repeat offenders. I know this has lost us games in the past. Why do they even bother going to games? And others are keyboard warriors and trolls. Ros are not a poor team nor are Cork. Jack OC said on Sunday game Cork will pose problems for any team. We were 6 up. We lost the last period badly, happened the best (Dublin) against us in 21. As for picking the team, management gets to see them in training and has the big picture on squad depth which we saw Dublin do in their dominant period. Who do I trust more to know better experienced management or disgruntled web posters?
     I want people who support our team to show up next week.

141. Is comer and Sean Kelly injured does anyone know. Also any injury problems from today. Or does anyone know why Clifford came off so early?

142. Need Sam and Cillian back, even Cillian off the bench. But blanket defence coming again next week

143. Ah now, I don’t see many I told you so comments, I see people highlighting incidents and decisions that have led us to where we are today.
     The management is one of the key factors here. We have the players, I still think we are contenders.

144. Following the euphoria of the Kerry win I was critical of our inability to close-out games much to the annoyance of some ‘keep driving forward’ posters.
     Then came the Louth collapse & the coup de grace today. As we don’t produce/develop top-class scoring forwards, our only hope is play pragmatic keep-ball & endeavour to manufacture as many scoreable frees as possible.
     It appears also that we wilt when burdened with expectation – Monaghan in the League as well as the more recent collapses. McHale Park is now somewhat of a graveyard for expectations – the groans from supporters promp/ accentuate that malaise.
     We appear to lack that collective character to draw upon in adversity & decend into everyman for himself which translates into everyone’s task becoming no one’s task.
     Despite all that, as we need a cause to perform – jeopardy is that cause, I confidently expect a top class performance next week providing we rejig up-front and bring on two or three scoring forwards.& have a bit of cop-on when required.

145. John o donnell it’s after the 8.30 news on radio or TV.

146. “built the panel well for the future”, shuffly deck bar Tuohy who have they built into the panel they inherited?

147. We can fix the issue at 6 and have the players to do it.
     More worrying is midfield.
     We have no way of rustling up a couple of guys for that position in a week or 3.
     Our issue is not opposition blanket defence our issue is our own defence
     As well as this how are we going to change the cultural issue of us losing leads and getting in trouble in games we should be closing out.

148. I’m just asking but who is the Mayo blanket defence Coach in the set-up?

149. What would the thoughts be on this team id like to know
     1. Reape
     2. Coyne
     3. Mcbrien
     4. Sam
     5. Hession
     6. Swanee
     7. Durcan
     8. Diarmo
     9. Jack carney/Bob touhy
     10. Fionn mcdonagh/ Eoghan mcgloclin as a sweeper
     11 Tommy/ Ryan
     12 Jordan Flynn
     13 Aido
     14 Cillian/Carr
     15 Ryan/Tommy

150. Thoughts?

151. Decent team – would just swap your players at 9 & 12 tbh.

152. @John o donnell I was wondering the same about Sean Kelly and comer

153. Sean Kelly left Carrick in a protective boot. He was injured in the dying minutes of the game for that last Armagh point and stayed on hobbling which possibly could have caused more damage..
     He was superb today, winning the penalty, and scoring 1 1.
     Dylan mc hugh and Comer were injured midweek, both also look doubtful for next weekend..

154. Mayo Exile – how is the Monaghan league game an example of us wilting under expectation?

     That was do or die for Monaghan and meaningless for us, as the team selection showed. We won the league game that mattered 7 days later.

     Way too much talk about us failing to break down blanket defenses. 5 points up vs Louth with a minute to go and 6 points up vs Cork in the 57th minute.

     Problems are in our own defense. I think we have the personnel available to fix that, if changes are made.

155. Kelly is a class act Tuamstar, could play him anywhere, huge boost for whoever draws Galway if he is missing.

156. Does Mcstay have the ruthlessness required for inter county management? We’ll know by this time next week

157. Comer was fit enough to be considered a sub. Only a paperwork error denied him being able to play today. My bet is Comer and Kelly will be playing next week.

158. The match was won until we thought we had it won.
     The management thought it was won and so did the players.
     Thought they would coast home without having to tackle or foul or anything.
     No decent all ireland contender throws away a six point lead.
     James Horan once said he wanted to take the bullshit out of Mayo football. It came back with a bang today.

     Finished a match we were leading by 6 points with 8 forwards and one midfielder on the pitch.
     We started with only 5 defensive minded players and took two of them off with 20mins to go.

     Any team worth their salt would have had an injury when the goal went in. Then re organised the team to play with a double sweeper and hit on the break. Mayo had no plan to close out the game. It was embarrassing, to allow 1-7 in a row (1-5 by one player) is just junior B stuff.

     Whatever team goes out the next day need 6 defenders who can mark their men and a midfielder to hold the centre waiting for the kickout.

     Reape,
     Coyne, McBrien, Hession,
     Callinan, O Hora, McLoughlin
     Coen, Ruane
     O Connor, Carney, Flynn
     O Donoghue, O Shea, Conroy.

     Subs
     Harrison, Plunkett, Durcan, McHugh, Touhy, O Connor, Mc Donagh, Carr,

159. @Tuamstar is it known if Kelly, McGrath and Comer will be fit for a weeks time

160. Stand out players today were Cillian and Callinan. Why Because they didn’t play. Any time we lose our best players are the lads who don’t play. Stephen Coen improved once he was taken off. Hession and E Mac disimproved once they came on. Reminds me of the days of R Feeney. Blamed when he played. Canonised when he didn’t. Have to admit I am seriously concerned about Conor at chb. But more worrying were Paddy and Mattie. Just not playing well at moment. Interestingly Kildare whacked us in a challenge game just before we played Kerry. We then beat Kerry well and Kildare draw with Sligo. Sport is so unpredictable. Some strange results today. Remember saying months ago we might be damn glad that third place stays in competition. Now some might say we are wasting our time anyway but there is little or no difference between any of the teams playing next week so we are not out of it. To the poster who compared us to Kerry and Kilkenny. Well Kilkenny have 36 All Irelands, Kerry have 38 and just in case anyone forgot, we have 3, so probably not the greatest comparison. I would reckon about 35% chance v Galway, 45% v Kildare and a 50% chance v Donegal. If we play to our potential all those rise by about 15 to 20%. If we play badly they decrease by same amount. Amazingly Rochford and Buckley copping some flak tonight. They were great lads a few weeks ago and indeed a few years ago as well. Lost on the line? 6 up with 15 to play. But then again Maughan lost it on the line x3 Horan x4 Rochford x2 etc etc. The only ones who didn’t lose it on the line are the ones who never managed.

161. All 3 Connacht teams beaten today and all 3 suffered huge WRONG gamechanging reffing decisions , Mayo suffered 2 huge gamechanging reffing decisions. I just wonder can anyone ever remember Dublin ever suffering from such a reffing decision. Despite the decisions of the Ref Mayo beat themselves, Mayo sideline who had more good days this year than bad days really need to look at themselves. I dont rate Cork at all, even on their best day they are poor team deserving of Division 3, …Mayo on todays performance on the playing field and the very poor decisions on the sideline are also deserving of nothing better than Division 3. I know we have to be much better than this.

162. @Leantimes. I think four Connacht teams beaten today.

     Felt bad seeing Ryan O’Donoghue diving as the last man back, trying to prevent the Cork shot on goal.

163. While we’re no longer contenders for now I’d say we have 40%+ vs Galway because Kelly likely out (should never have been left on after injury) and that’s a huge blow for them, 55%+ vs Kildare based on what I saw vs Sligo they looked a lower division team, beat Ros today who kicked a bucket load of wides. For Donegal would have said 65+ a week or 2 back except they’re turning the corner but still think 55+.
     Also Galway management managed to lose to good players today (1 marquee) due to a paperwork error, not exactly inspiring and they lost. Balanced by O Neill missing for Armagh due to silly red. Armagh are back in the race. Paddy Durcan had 1 bad day coming off injury and people writing him off, how often have so called fans done that to Diarmaid over the years and how often have those 2 dug us out of holes? huge servants to Mayo football. And Paddy took on responsibility in shooting for scores, something some her me have been asking to happen with blanket teams. Jordan nailed his today, Paddy didn’t, scored a beaut vs Louth though. Forgotten?

164. The ref today was poor, gave players being mauled little time to offload, more than once a Mayo player had hopped or soloed the ball while being tackled and he gave a free for over carrying anyway. On one occasion Padraic O Hora surrounded 1 v 3 , cleverly dropped the ball, protected with his body without touching, managed to get up despite players on top of him, lifted ball with his foot by the text book and got the ball out of the melee within about 1s and ref still penalised him.
     The red that wasn’t was a complete cop out if he or a linesman saw it, pure intent and frustration by the Cork player. The penalty was soft and very little contact but they can be given so we were exposed too easily there.
     Most of those mistakes were before the final quarter so not blaming him for the end result but if doing his job we’d have more on the scoreboard before that chapter.
     The momentum swing was the gifted kickout from a player who’s been doing well and improving all the time. In the air he’s looking more like Clarke used to, man and ball. But today’s one serious blip he hopefully doesn’t repeat.

165. Still fuming after that collapse-3 points in a tight game and looking in complete control, a Cork mistake and Tommy buries it-game over. At least it should have been, but this is Mayo, oh so frustrating. We were very poor overall and very few emerged with any credit. We clearly continue to have a problem with blanket defences, much more than other top teams. (Kerry and Dublin both stuffed Louth, but we scraped a win). So we are restricted to lowish scores, which puts us in right bother because of our own defensive frailties. We simply are not able to score enough to compensate for our defensive shortcomings. Some people suggest that we employ a blanket defence-well if we do, it is not very effective. Getting 15 behind the ball does not constitute a blanket defence and I am not suggesting we go all out blanket. We need proper organization, a proper structure, proper defenders with a specialist 6 and the employment of a sweeper system. We need to be a lot harder to score against, and, until we are, we can forget Sam. I know we have Donie Buckley, but his speciality is more man to man marking. What we need is a specialist defence coach in tune with the modern game and I don’t think we have one. As a passionate Mayo fan, I give and praise when it is due and I feel perfectly entitled to be critical of the team, management and individual players when I feel it is justified as long as it does not involve personal insults and I would take great exception to being called “not a proper supporter” by some. I criticize precisely because I am such a passionate supporter, who wants the best for Mayo football. This is how I analyze and discuss a game with my friends in a pub and I don’t see how it should be any different on this great forum. Some people don’t seem to want to see problems-“it will be all right on the day” – it won’t, unless the problems are addressed. I am a lifelong Mayo supporter thro’ thick and a lot of thin and I resent any suggestion that I am not a proper supporter. I support, with all my might, the team on the field. I have waited all my life to see Mayo win the All Ireland and I am beginning to run out of road. I just want to experience it once-surely not too much to ask of a county with such a strong tradition, strong club structure and sufficient resources. To quote the Sawdoctors “To Win Just Once”

166. Good post Glasagusdearg

167. Watched the goals back again. O’Donoghue had a huge turnover and great composure to set up Conroy. Six points up, surely a signal to drop a player back, instead the ball is worked up the field, Diarmuid tries to get out in front for a ball he was never going to intercept, Loftus attempted an awful tackle but never held him up, McHugh got back and though contact was minimal the player went down, player was running right into O’Hora so tackle didn’t need to be made.

     That passage sums up one of our issues, inability to force other teams into hard scores. We didn’t pressure the kick out, so assuming we aren’t pressing the kickout surely the signal is to drop into position, only we don’t seem to operate a drop and have a sweeper or two in position to cover. We go man to man and get cut open.

     The other problem we have is inability to stay patient and drag a blanket around the pitch.

     Funny part is I believe we have the players capable of sorting both problems if we changed tactics a little bit and coached them.

168. Shooting the lights out in February is having its consequences now, is it true cilia. Played club match at weekend, it’s bit late now to be getting rid of trials of players at certain positions when the dogs in the street knew they were not up to it, not the fault of players, management weakness.
     On that collapse yesterday there is something wrong, and when I read a clean bill of health coming into the game, and I read our all time top scorer played club football at weekend and not on the 26, doesn’t add up

169. Blanket defence is killing Gaelic football as a spectacle & the forward should get the advantage when attacking. Dreadful decision to penalise Carr for over carrying – he’s got through 3 defenders in a few steps & penalised – soul destroying. Likewise with O’Hora, as described. But we were more than naive at 6 points up – it’s really a problem down the years with Mayo. A new word for our lexicon – CYNICISM! CYNICISM!
     We’re too NICE

170. Could management now bring in Darren Quinn from Garrymore the most in form scoring forward in the club scene at present, left footer and free taker aswell cant do any worse than whats there at the moment.Conor Diskin of Claremorris should be looked at aswell as a target man in our full forward line.How they wernt looked at at the start of the year summed up McStays knowledge of club scene.

171. Galway, of course it’s Galway we never get any luck with draws but we’ll take them on. Kelly and McGrath out I hear and Comer didn’t tog yesterday so that could mean something. @Tuamstar was talking abt Seán Kelly and McGrath yesterday

172. Well what do you know – it’s Galway v Mayo – I’ll have the fry ready ?

173. And Tyrone v Donegal SeaninGalway, what were the chances 🙂
     Galway will likely look for game move to Sunday, be interesting see how that’s handled when GAA stated wanted keep Tailteann stand alone for to highlight importance.
     Our game be GAAGo only.

174. Sniper makes some excellent, insightful points – we need to remember that the form line has been erratic since the league final, when we were saved multiple times from near-certain goals by an inspired C. Reape on the day. The Kerry performance was very encouraging, to be fair to players and management alike – but it is now starting to look like the exception rather than the rule. Playing against the blanket is deeply frustrating to watch and it must be a nightmare for the players to come up against week-in week-out it seems, yet other top tier counties have persisted, have innovated against it and eventually have broken through it. For better or worse, it’s now an embedded part and parcel of the inter-county football scene and we seem to be unwilling or unable to respond to this reality with any fresh tactical thinking. Given the collective experience of our large management team, it is surprising that previous encounters with Kevin Walsh didn’t seem to be called upon in our preparations for yesterday. Most worryingly, we could not cope even when Cork went much closer to all-out “conventional” for the last 20 minutes yesterday. Prior to the game, the feeling would have been that if Cork went for a more open approach for a substantial portion of the game, we would take them.
     The effort of our players cannot be faulted in my view – they are great lads and are a serious bunch of talented footballers – whatever happens in Salthill next weekend, they deserve a coherent and well-thought-out game plan. The team selection simply has to put our best foot forward from the throw-in: a poor start against such opposition will not be retrievable. The game plan has to incorporate our undoubted strengths (pace and raw running ability on multiple lines, a big ball-winner inside, consistent mark/free takers) but it simply MUST not be blind to the very obvious tactical approach which the opposition have been using for the last two years. No more than us, Galway cannot simply change their approach over the course of a week – why would they! Given it’s our third encounter meaningful encounter with Galway this year, the importance of both sidelines and their capacity to plan before the game and then respond in real-time as the game unfolds has never been more acute.