Photo: Irish Examiner
The pre-Salthill press event was held the other evening, to give the Fourth Estate plenty of raw material to work with for next week’s pre-match coverage, and some stuff from then has already started to appear. Colm Gannon in today’s Mayo Advertiser is the first of the locals to provide some coverage on this and his piece with quotes from Noel Connelly is here.
You’ll no doubt have seen some of this from other sources already, such as the news about Cillian O’Connor and the bit about the other injuries that are by all accounts on the way to clearing up ahead of the Pearse Stadium showdown on Sunday week, as this was already reported in some of the national media. Aside from Evan Regan’s longer-term rehab (and I’d be firmly of the view that he should remain on the panel while he once more regains fitness), we look to be in a good place at the minute from an injury perspective, which is exactly where you’d want to see us to be at this time of year.
Prep-wise, it sounds from that piece with Noel Connelly that we’re ready to roll too, with the joint-manager saying that “maybe three or four places” on the starting fifteen for Sunday week are still up for grabs but that decisions on these will be made this coming weekend. Then we’ll really be ready for action.
The Mayo News tweeted after the event the other evening that Keith Higgins, Colm Boyle and Barry Moran were all in upbeat mood and raring to go for Salthill. If this is indicative of morale in general within the squad (and I think it’s reasonable to assume that it is) then it sounds as if this particular group of players still has plenty to give on the big stage. Hopefully, Sunday week will show that this is indeed the case.
On a separate note, you may also have seen news about the recently launched initiative by Mayo GAA and Smart Lotto to raise funds that’ll go directly towards training and welfare for all football and hurling players lining out for the county at minor level upwards. A piece on this worthy development in this week’s Mayo News is here and if you want to contribute to the fund by taking part in the Smart Lotto draw, then click here.
I have it on good authority from a man that knows his Mayo GAA a lot more than myself that Galway will be waiting in the long grass for us on the 14th. He is predicting an ambush of some sort on us on the field of play in Pearse stadium.
Only saying what the man said. He knows his stuff. We will need to be prepared and ready for what is thrown at us. This will be no 2013 repeat. Expect anything lads and be ready to deal with it.
Well after seven years since a Connacht title, and still no win in Croke Park since 2001, I should hope that Galway are planning something.
Of course they will be better than in recent years. They’ve had a managerial upgrade; they’re at home for this fixture; they have two championship games already in their systems; their opponents have a lot of mileage on the clock. None of this will be a surprise to anyone in Mayo.
Not exactly waiting in the long grass.
theres no long grass any more Jim Flag we all know Galway will throw everything at us and they may even use the blanket and we know they have good forwards and a handy improving midfield and of course an astute manager but I think Mayo have a good team too and if we concentrate on our own game we should have a couple of points to spare if not and the Backdoor is to be our lot then that shouldn’t mean the end of the world
Its time to weigh it all up now and give a prediction, league performances and status, galway failed to gain promotion where as Mayo succesfully held onto their div one status without breking sweat. Galway still look weak at the back especially the full back line, we will exploit this and their half forward line wont be that keen on tracking any dash our bucks make . Galway not within as asses roar of Mayo players s&c level.
10 points plus , easy peasey. (mayo -2 @11/10 print your money)
Backdoorsam,just wonderin where the idea that Walsh is an astute manager comes from?.He didn’t exactly set the world alight with Sligo; and as for Galway waiting in the long grass Jim,I think this Mayo side are seasoned enough at this stage not to be highjacked.I’m sure your friend that knows his Mayo Gaa can see that.If we cannot beat a mid div 2 side, be it in the long grass,short grass or whacky backey grass then I’d be afraid for our chances at the business end!
Opt2 in fairness Kevin Walsh hadn’t a lot to work with in Sligo I guarantee you he will bring this team on a good bit plus he has two all Ireland medals in his back pocket he can take out and show his players
Galway will be much closer to us to the last time we met by the seaside. These Mayo players are no shrinking violets at this stage and will be well aware of the “ambush”. Put it this way, if we are level with 5mins to go, Il back us to come through. I don’t think we give enough credit to ourselves sometimes.
Looking at the Galway supporters on another page it seems to be the train of thought that we are bigger and more physical then will probably come through….not one of them mention the fact we have good footballers….they don’t rate us….well lets show em.
I think that the only way Galway can get anything out of this game is if they attempt to replicate what Tyrone did in the league game in Castlebar by getting 15 men behind the ball and using their pacey half forwards and corner forwards to break at speed. However, as this is not their natural game, it would be doubtful that they could perfect such a hard tackling defensive gameplan in only a couple of weeks. We need to ensure we do not have a cold start in Pearse Stadium (10 weeks without a competitive game is a long time) or we could find it hard to claw back any early defecit if our shooters are not on song. Even if this were to play out we should be capable of a grinding out at least a draw which might not be a bad thing in the longer run as more competitive games will help bring us on for whatever else lies ahead this summer…
Backdoor Sam,
Galway tried most of their 3 in a row All Ireland team in management with pretty dismal results in terms of winning Sam and had to wait for a Mayoman without even as much as a Connacht Senior medal to make the difference. So I don’t think that Kevin Walsh’s two medals will necessarily make the difference this time. And would I be right in saying that another Mayoman – Peter Forde – was manager last time they won Connacht?
There was a time when Mayo were very susceptible to being caught in long grass – and sometimes short grass – but I think James Horan changed the mental approach and unless Holmes/Connolly make a total bags of it or more likely if the years catch up on our lads – as they did with Galway in Salthill 1967 – we have nothing major to fear.
Whether they play the blanket or not if we put pressure on their defence and force turnover ball as we did in 2013 and have ball winners in our full forward line we should win – and win comfortably.
It maybe that Stephen Rochford will be having visitors from Galway sooner than later.
I hope that Mike Connolly is aware of the possibility.
Think it was Liam Sammon in 2008 AndyD.
Its amazing how us Mayo supporters jump from one ship to another. A few weeks ago it was all doom and gloom. Now its the case that we will be winning our first game very comfortably by 10 points. We should be running to the bookies. You couldn’t make it up! The facts of the matter are, we are a division one team and Galway are a division two team. Yes we should beat them but I wouldn’t be singing it from the rooftops that we are going to hammer them. We seen Monaghan escape in similar circumstances against Cavan a couple of weeks ago as we did against Roscommon last year. It took experienced lads to come off the bench to garner both wins. Now is not the time to be showing arrogance but to be showing quiet confidence in our lads. What people get up to in the privacy of their bookies is their own business.
Having nothing better to do last night, and despite a truck load of recordings to watch, I had another look at the league highlights from the Monaghan match.
We looked very very good that day, and I was more impressed at how good we were when it was 15v15.
We should have come on a fair bit since then and despite everything, I’m glad we had the time to rest train and recuperate from Easter Sunday until now.
All this talk of long grass makes me wonder do Galway not have a groundsman employed at Pearse Stadium? I know a guy with a tractor who’d be happy to cut a bit of fodder for the winter.
Also If the grass is that long, are you better off playing a big target man full forward who the other players are able to see, or a little guy like Mark Ronaldson who’ll hide like a ninja and strike when the moment presents itself??? Answers on a postcard …
HSE ,obviously directed at me re the ten points and the swing in thought since Dublin league game.
Upward curve started straight away with a great performance down in cork , very unlucky to lose , Donegal wasn’t great but still signs were there that Dublin game was just a bad day out maybe due to training schedule . Then you have Galway , great forwards albeit some of them have to prove themselves against top county teams but boy are they fairly weak 1-9 . I know it was only an aul challenge I seen Galway play Dublin in but I just can’t see how they will manage Mayo , different level completely . My only worry is comer might get the better of our full back as hes a mighty bit of stuff . Caff or Keane , I’m not sure .
And don’t forget Galway had some good leads in the league only to give them up and lose those games. The Galway forwards didn’t look so hot against Kerry last summer, if a junior b player kicked or even attempted such atrocious shots he’d be taken off the field. I think there’s a touch of Eugene Magee to some of the posts about Galway hiding in long grass, there’s no long grass, we see Galway a mile away and today I’ll put my neck on the line, Mayo by at least 5 points. I think Roscommon may be a tougher game, but even they can’t have the know how on stopping Mayo. Of course on the day anything can happen, but unless Mayo are asleep they’ll win Connaught again.
Just played the Mayo players fund lotto,what a great idea from those guys at smart lotto,home grown company in Mayo too! Great knowing that the money is for the players benefit and gives us another way of offering the lads our support even if we are the other side of the world
Well said hopespringseternal ,,,,, don’t often agree with comments but totally agree ,,,,, would settle for 1 point victory and build from there , ,,
I doubt if we will get caught out by complacency. We are rightly wary of Galway as indeed we should be. We are better than them but……..That said its football and its a funny auld game! And on the day just about anything can happen from injuries to key players, conceding fluky goals, bad reffing decisions or indeed coming up against a team who play better than they ever did before or are likely to ever again. That’s what makes it so fascinating.
Cmon Mayo!
The big factor that will decide this game is Mayo’s mental state of mind. If they have regained the hunger and desire of the last 4 years Galway won’t cope with it. If they’re stale and lethargic we won’t see Croker this year. I expect Galway to the first to the victim of Mayo’s wrath, Limerick will not forgotten.
I need to see our 6 forwards to make a judgement. Need 2 new faces at least. Kirby is one at FF. wait n see. Ta can’t bate Galway ta get the blood up. Weel win if weer good enough. Simple as that. I wonder will there be much sledging?????? ????????????????????
Sure our Galway team may as well not turn up. Training not going well, moral isn’t great and sure, we couldn’t keep a ball kicked out to this vastly superior (both in terms of physicality and football ability) Mayo team. Mayo 10+. See ye in Salthill, we will have the red carpet rolled out for your boys 😉
The gap in Connacht is narrowing all the time however Mayo should have enough know how and experience to win five in a row Connacht titles this summer. Last year in Machale park Galway scored 0-16 and they missed a penalty if they tighten up at the back then i would expect no more than 3 or 4 point win for Mayo.
I can see you now Mikey, in the pub with a warm pint of brownish Guinness in hand, telling all the oul bucks how Mayo are cock sure on th’oul internit. They’ll laugh and say something like ” Walsh will win nothin, what about the hurlin?”
For you younger people Ill tell you all, Mayo can beat any Galway Team on their day and Galway can beat any Mayo Team on their day , In all my days as a Mayo Man. if Galway are the Team to win Connaught I support them all the way . I have their two All Ireland on tape, Back in the 70s 80s and most of the 90s Connaught were laughed at , Leinster and Munster won all the Sam’s . This is a new crack that has crept into Connaught Football ., Hate thy Neighbout. I supported Roscommon when they were Connaught Champions and shoujd have beaten Kerry . We are all from the West .COP ON
Really looking forward to this game after the long break, jersey ready now just have to find a new stick for the flag!! I think we will win, not sure of the margin however
Tried to register on smartlotto.ie for player welfare fund but seem to come up short on agreeing the T& C’s. At the bottom of that page is a “back” button. when I press that all data entered disappears and hitting the reload button does not help. Is there an “accept T & C’s” button which I am missing?
People are underestimating Galway. Lundy is a good addition to their league team and does a power of work. Great influence in Club semi and final – a better player than last year, overshadowed even D Connolly in Club semi. Comer their standout U21 could cause us trouble and Shay Walsh has pace, skill and a lot of potential. If he’s going well that’s a good forward line and Conroy scored 3 or 4 from play last year from Full Forward. The final score that day flattered us, big game experience was very useful. Croke Park nerves skewed their result against Kerry, should have been 5 up when they were 5 down at the start.
Their midfield improving too and no doubt we’re better 1-7. Midfield and blanket tactics could make things tight. I believe Mayo will win because of built up conditioning & more game changers on the bench. But I would not be shocked if Galway beat us. Mulholland had them on an upward curve and Walsh astute but no guarantee he’s better than man before. Also unlikely they’d have learned all lessons from last year in one game. Us favourites but not smoking hot ones.
Don’t know if Kevin Walsh is astute or better than the last few Galway managers but what i do know is Walsh was the last manager in Connacht to get a win over Mayo (2010 v Sligo)
Apart from the few 30 years olds its not an old Mayo side but the panel under Horan clocked up a lot of mileage in four years how much has that taken out of certain players tried minds and bodies is possibility though modern day footballers are probably fitter than ever before.
I was in conversation with a RTE Radio Panellist (who won an All Ireland senior football medal a number of years back) he rates Galway very highly, he believes that they have great forwards,potentially very good midfield and if they improve in defence they will be a major force. Benny Coulter said on the Sunday game that Galway were the best team he saw in Division Two.They played most of the League without the Corofin players. Corofin’s win may boost Galway also, remember what happened in 1998. During the league Galway beat Roscommon in the Hyde.They also have two championship games under their belt. Did Galway just go through the motions in Carrick on shannon? If Mayo do not bring their A Game to Salthill and if leaders on the field do not stand up we will be out of the Connacht Championship. also Cillian is just back playing which also a worry. Mayo underestimated Roscommon last year and almost paid the price. If Mayo underestimates Galway on Sunday week and do not bring their A Game they most certainly will be out of the Connacht Championship.I am following Mayo for nearly fifty years and down through the years they have a history underestimated teams, example Roscommon 1986, Galway 1990.Galway 1998 Roscommon 2001 and Sligo 2010 on each occasion we were knocked out of the Connacht Championship. I sincerely hope history does not repeat it self on Sunday week.
I think Barry Solan has a step on most other fitness coaches. Studied in an extremely advanced place so he is at the front edge to have our guys functional and explosive. He’d work wonders with lads like Kirby, DOConnor, Freeman, Parsons. Tall lads with big frames. Need alot o thought to get tall rangey lads stronger.
The Player Fund Lotto might be a great foundation for a global one night sign up or once off play competition in venues and all linked via online mid west radio. Like they did with that pub quiz three years ago.
Clock is ticking. Who will emerge victorious from Salthill?
Well I have said before you have to be realistic rather than optimistic.
So let’s look at the facts…….
League Performance
Galway got to try out some new faces due to the Cooking lads club commitments.
They showed that they can still play some attractive football.
They identified that there defence needs attention having lost a number of leads. They seem to be working on that based on their tactics against Leitrim.
Missed out on promotion but didn’t suffer any heavy defeats.
Overall not a bad league for them.
Mayo experimented with new players and positional changes.
Also tried the blanket defence with limited success.
Suffered humiliating defeat to Dublin.
Showed well against Cork.
Div 1 status secured earlier than other years.
A campaign of highs and lows. Hard to know if it was a success or not.
Management
Galway
Walsh has the team buzzing and his pedigree with limited resources shows that he can get the best from his players.
Physical player in his day and you can be sure he will expect the same from his players. No more soft touches.
Mayo
Partnership have tasted success before at club and county level.
After rocky start it seems that they have the buy in from senior players.
Far more cute than the image they protray to the media.
Teams
Galway have coasted for the last number of years. Nice team to watch with some truly gifted players but don’t seem to have the self belief to take it to another level.
The blanket defence or cynical fouling may make them a harder team to beat.
Expect a huge performance in Salthill fueled by pride and the desire to impress Walsh.
Loose and it will be another year of the perils of the back door.
Mayo have been knocking on the door for the last 4 years. Competing and regularly beating All Ireland champions in their search of Sam.
Croker has become a second home. Defeat has only been by the slightest margins. Will the new defensive ploy help us close out games? Who knows.
Verdict
All through this rant I have put Galway first because I firmly feel they will come out second in Salthill. You have to give them something 😉
It will be a tight tough encounter that Mayo will emerge victorious from based solely on our stage of development.
It’s not just S&C but big game experience, tactical know how, and consistently playing against the best teams the country has.
Galway will be looking for revenge but that didn’t get them anywhere last year and though Walsh will try to harness that anger again that alone won’t do it for them this year either. Galway just haven’t improved enough from last year to worry me.
Great first game for Mayo they’ll be tested and surely that’s what everyone wants.
Mayo to win by 3.
Can’t wait for the game. Most of our injuries seem to be clearing up and the mood in the camp sounds good. If we can bring our usual hunger and intensity we should have the makings of a good performance. If we turn up and perform I believe we’ll win, irrespective of how much Galway have improved or not.
I’ve heard Galway have good forwards,Mayo always find it tough in Salthill and that Galway won’t fear Mayo.
I’ve also heard that the pope is catholic this morning too.
Mayo by 4…minimum.
Lads some of ye still overconfident IMO, if we win I reckon margin will be tight. A Leitrim supporter said Galway got away with lot of fouling in Carrick, he wasn’t complaining he said they played the ref and Leitrim didn’t. Rumour has it this ref likes to let things go so players and fans will have to be patient on Sunday week. I think we’ll edge it but would be happy with even the tightest of margins. Sport is entirely unpredictable, a quick blitz by either team could be the difference.
I’m hearing from a Galway point of view that both Shane Walsh and Peadar O Griofa are out of next weeks game.
Not sure what the O Griofa injury is but have heard that Walsh has a fractured arm.
Whatever chance we had before this news is gone now in my opinion.
JP – interesting comments about Barry Solan.
There has not been muich about him, but he is another one who could add value for us. If he is a step up from Ed Coughlan then that’s something to get excited about.
As you say there is work to be done on the newbies and it is vital that, if they make an appearance, they can bring strength as well as freshness to the party.
I wish Galway player Shane Walsh all the best as he broke his hand in a car accident last night on the N17. Sadly and more importantly a man in another car lost his life. Condolences to family and friends. RIP
Shane Walsh’s arm/hand was broken in a fatal car crash on friday night,
I see that Shane Walsh was involved in a car accident, one man dead and walsh broke his hand. Poor fella dead and young Walsh won’t be bothered about football for a bit I’d say.
Terrible stuff for all involved.
I honestly worry about so many Mayo supporters. Do we ever fucking learn???? All this about beating Galway, statistics and all that shite. Can anyone remember, (once again), “a far superior Mayo team” being beaten by “lowly Leitrim” in the Connacht final all those years ago???? Of course you don’t, that’s reality.
@joemc….think is safe to say that the majority of mayo supporters i know have been given plenty of reality checks in the past few years…a few harmless stats guarantees nothing on sunday week and i hope we know that…news of shane walsh accident really puts things into perspective …terrible for all involved ..
Sad news indeed for Shane Walsh and all involved
Joe Mac not quite sure what reality of a game played against Leitrim all those years ago has to do with the reality of the potential outcome of the match against Galway on the 14th?
On another topic mentioned by WJ and a few above, have visited the Smartlotto fund raising site, what a great idea, been waiting for something like this for years as it gives overseas supporters like me a way of contributing………….have just done mine for the next month.
I did notice that it only seems to accept Visa debit or credit cards, I tried in error last night with my Master card and was unable to register, hope this helps those having problems.
MaighEo Abu
St Pats Oldie, I worry even more now… to have to explain. The reality is, that on that day Mayo were completely overconfident of winning and ambled up and down the field, it was going to be a walk in the park. Leitrim came out of the traps with fire in their bellies and attacked mayo with venom and enthusiasm and won a game which Mayo should have won hands down. I was at that game and was thrilled for Leitrim, it was as good as an All Ireland for them.
What I am trying to say is that every team we meet should be treated with respect and caution. Then we can play to our full potential and win. Jim Gavin, for the Dubs, always says that they focus on the next match only and respect whoever they are playing. By the way, It’s Joe Mc.
Don’t see here or In fact have never come across Mayo fans disrespecting Galway. Many times we beat a fancied Galway team against the odds and Galway beat fancied Mayo teams. I would be delighted with a one point win but in paper I see us winning by 4-5 points. Now paper can count for fuck all so I won’t be surprised if Galway beat us either…roll on the rollarcoaster
Joe Mc. If you honestly think the Mayo camp are not taking Galway seriously and are looking beyond this game well then you should start to worry.
What happens in the past can only be learnt from.Have Mayo done this? I’d say we’ve done it in spades.
I love Mayo as much as the next man and could never be thrilled for any team that beats us:-?
I guess it take all kinds.
St Pats Oldie. You are not reading me. I said nothing about the Mayo camp. I am talking about the comments here and the apparent lack of respect and caution for Galway. Simple as…. Have Mayo learned all the lessons from the last few years, only time will tell.
Once again, you are not reading me. I was thrilled for Leitrim. If you saw the joy and happiness that the win created for them, and unless you were as you purport to be, anyone would be happy for them. To see a county like that celebrating is good for the soul and great for the game of football. The house rules prevent me from commenting further.
Such a big deal made on people’s predictions , sure if you think we will win by the narrowest of margins or twelve points , its just a difference of opinion . As for the players they couldn’t give a damn what we type on the forums , our job is to be in salthill and get behind them and that’s the only thing we are responsible for .
Joe Mc,
For the life of me I cannot see why Mayo were so over confident against Leitrim in 1994.
The 1993 Connacht final was the worst ever and they took an absolute hiding from Cork in that year’s semifinal. They were also languishing in the lower reaches of the NFL. In fact it was a few years since Mayo had put on a god performance in a game that mattered.
On the other hand Leitrim had beaten both Roscommon and Galway en route to the final. Had Mayo been meeting either Roscommon or Galway in the final would they have been over confident?
Anyway all that is totally irrelevant for Sunday week. James Horan, with his philosophy that it is performance that matters changed Mayo’s thinking regards overconfidence. Since London in 2011 we have not shown any symptoms of overconfidence even in the 2013 CF v London having demolished both Galway and Roscommon en route. I don’t think that the change of management will have changed the players attitude in this regard, not yet anyway.
Finally, Kevin Walsh may well have been the last manager to beat Mayo in Connacht but he was also one of the few to lose to London in the championship.
Hello, from what i can make out, a cloudy warm day is forecasted for the 14th in the afternoon with a North Easterly wind. Nice to hear that they had a training session on the pitch. Ciaran2
Joe Mc your saying that it has nothing to do with the Mayo camp but rather the opinions of some supporters. Do you honestly think the opinion of any supporter will have an impact on a game? Did the over cocky Mayo support cause us to loose to Leitrim?
So what if people predict a landslide or narrow victory that as Sean Burke states is just a difference of opinion. Remember opinions are like arseholes we all have one.
With regards to Leitrim win I’ll stick to my guns. Never happy for any team that has just beaten Mayo.
Don’t know why House Rules would prevent you from commenting further? Bring that fire to Galway.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with having expectations beyond June 14th. AOS in an interview with news talk last year said the championship starts in August and if Mayo fail to reach the QF it would be expected by most as a disappointing year. Indeed Dublin Kerry Cork Donegal Tyrone Monaghan would all expect to feature at QF stage. Meath Galway Down and Roscommon will also be hoping to secure a QF berth and that would be a good season for any of those 4. For Mayo in contrast anything less than a semifinal appearance will be considered regression and that’s the way ur will be for Mayo unless they have a few years in the doldrums . Overall there is something very predicable about the bigger picture in the Championship. …Dublin, kerry and Donegal can we look beyond those for the 2015 winners…..
I wouldn’t put Donegal in the same bracket as Kerry and Dublin.
Donegal and Mayo are both under new management and have to prove themselves again to a certain extent. I’d have doubts that either new management setups are as good as their predecessors, but there’s opportunity to prove that wrong
I’d understand the point that your trying to make Joe Mc and I’d agree with you too. No matter who we are playing I don’t think there is anything to be gained from saying that we’ll have an easy game and will win it comfortably. I remember before the league semi-final last year against Derry, there were people talking about not would we win but how much we should win by and how much we should make in the bookies from the win. The point is, talking about handing out hammerings etc. before a game is futile, as Joe Mc said, we should have leaned this from the past. We have to let our players do their talking on the field of play, which in fairness to them they have done most times in the past no. of years. A lot of people from outside the County would love to see us win the All-Ireland title but there are also a lot of people who love to see us fall on our faces (especially Galway people) because of some of the rubbish some people go on with. James Horan talked about this, trying to take the nonsense out of Mayo football.
Just after watching Waterford beating Cork in the hurling and what a game, what entertainment, of the highest order.
Thank you HopeSpringsEternal for getting what I’m on about, being overconfident. Some don’t seem to realise that my only focus is for Mayo to win, It’s not personal or childish. We have just missed winning 2 All Irelands and after 60 years I just want to see them win one.
And do you think by some supporters thinking we’d hammer Derry in last years league semi final it was somehow partly responsible for the defeat. James horan did wonders for Mayo football but he doesn’t own the minds of the Mayo support . That rubbish does my head in , id wonder did he even attend Mayo games before he managed as a lot of these Mayo heroes don’t even go to championship games after they finish up their involvement .
I’m baffled as to why ye are getting so hung up on this issue ,come here and tell me this what are ye goin to do if we do hammer Galway , go into hiding?
Sean, there’s a cure for being baffled. Two spoons of Syrup of Figs 3 times a day , for a week. You’d even be afraid to cough. 😉
Ah look Sean Burke, the only point I was trying to make was that I don’t think thats its a good idea to be saying that you think the upcoming game against Galway will be an easy peasy game for us and that we’ll win by 10 points plus. If thats what you think will happen then thats fine by me but I don’t think its of any benefit to our team to be coming out with comments like that. It only riles up the opposition’s players, supporters etc. when they see comments like that. If you feel thats a good thing, then thats up to you but I wouldn’t think that its a good thing.
P.S. If we did win by that amount I’d be delighted but I’d never be shouting from the rooftops before a game that we were going to hammer an upcoming opposition, no matter who they were as I wouldn’t see it as been of any benefit to our team. My feelings would be, as a supporter that I’d never try to do anything to harm the chances of my team. I’d feel that everyone: the team, the team’s management, backroom staff, the county board, supporters, fans etc. etc. should have their game faces and heads on at the moment. Thats my opinion anyway.
HopeSpringsEternal, couldn’t put it any better myself.. Well said. I really didn’t see a point in replying because it only leads to more hassle so, as I said, ” bring on the Syrup of Figs”. 🙂
Think main thing is the TEAM don’t get too overconfident themselves.
What WE think is not relevant to the outcome. Personally, with new management and other factors (for me I would still be worried about whether we have strong enough scoring Power), team need to focus on being fully prepared for a battle – I DO think Galway will raise their game and be gunning for us.
Concentration, right attitude, focus all very important.
Come on u boys in RED & GREEN!
Very optimistic watching 2006 under 21final under the current management. Kilcoyne was man of match. Great performance by Seamus o Shea and Barry Moran. Ronaldson and Conroy got lovely points. Tom Cuniffe, Chris Barrett and Keith Higgins very good. Varley got lovely point too. This is definitely the right management for the change over. I am sure Cillian snd Aidan will be glad to see James Horan in the stand. Everything looking good. Ciaran 2
Spot on Hopespringseternal. Too often I have seen over confidence from our supporters followed by a major let down and then the people who had been crowing beforehand turn on the team. Hasn’t happened too much lately other than league semi defeat v derry and theres no point getting worked up about league but it has happened in the past in championship where many of us were dead sure we would win only to suffer demoralising defeats and no team better than Galway to enjoy taking us down.I remember 1990 when having been beaten in AIF we were turned over in Tuam. A similar result happened to us in Salthill in 2005 and 2007 both after having reached AIFs in the previous year. We did the same to Galway in 1999 when they were AI champs. The fact is Mayo v Galway games can take a life of their own and on many occasions the underdog wins. I certainly would not take Galway for granted. The fact is that we don’t know how Mayo will perform under new management so we wont really know until Sunday night how things are shaping up. Hopefully the very confident Mayo fans will be proved right but I am too long on the road to be under estimating the difficulty of an away game v Galway
Ok then, it will be a tight game and Galway are a very good outfit although I really think we will win by a handsome margin I’m afraid I’ll affect the teams performance by saying that. If Galway Win i’m going to be delighted for them as they are a western team and whoever we draw in the qualifiers will probably beat us too. I’m also going to get myself a half and half scarf , one side Mayo and the other Galway . If you want to meet me before the game , I’ll be easily spotted , I’ll be the guy with the Mayo top singing maroon and white forever , just to show them we love them.
Sean Burke I think you got it spot on. Bound to win now. Oh no I shouldn’t have said that. 😉
Would have to agree with hopespringseternal and to win just once above.
Also to those who say there is no long grass anymore, think back to last summer and the long grass that was in the Hyde. There was a beast waiting for us there that day and we very very nearly did not make it out of there alive. I would expect a similar beast laying in wait for us this Sunday waiting to pounce on anybody expecting an “easy peasy” stroll in the park. If that beast fails to materialise and show up for battle, then no harm. Just be prepared for an attack. We have been caught too unware on too many occasions before. This is Galway away after all. Enough said.
Anyone who thinks this will be easy is delusional
I’ll end this by admitting to being deluded.