We’re already well into Christmas Eve so it’s definitely time to check out of here for a bit ahead of the big day tomorrow. Hope you all have a great Christmas and get to enjoy some time to relax before the madness begins all over again early in the New Year.
The snow is falling down outside, gets colder day by day, I hear people crying, it must be hill 16
Only six more sleeps .
Feck it 13 more sleeps .
Happy Xmas to all !!
Nollaig shona agus athbliain faoi mhaise daoibh. Bainigi sult as Nollaig. Ta suil orm go mbead Sam ag teacht go Co Mhuigheo i 2019 le cunadh De! Mile buiochas do WJ as ocht an blog seo. Ta se go hiontach ar fad. Go neiri leath agys do clann i gconai WJ.
Happy Christmas Willie Joe and Mrs Willie Joe and family and happy Christmas to everyone who contributes to this blog and makes it a must for all things Mayo football
Happy Christmas Willie Joe to you and family. Many thanks for your brilliant blog. Best wishes to contributers and heres to a, successful 2019.
Happy Christmas to one and all who post here and especially to you Willie Joe for keeping the lights on. Really looking forward to the year ahead. Roll on Carrick
Happy Christmas Willie Joe – what a service!
Happy Christmas to Willie Joe & all. Looking forward to 2019
Merry Christmas WJ and all supporter of the Green and Red
Happy Christmas WJ and thank you. Rearing to go again. Excited for 2019 Mayo GAA.
Merry Christmas WJ and all the ppl who make this place so much fun. Let the games begin!!!!!
Merry Christmas to everybody.
Happy Christmas and a successful 2019 to everyone watching the boys singing outside Elverys can’t wait for Carrick on the 6th
Happy Christmas to all of you on here. Thank you Willie Joe for all you do. The journey continues.
Thank you Willie Joe and all our fellow bloggers.. it’s great to be at this stage and looking forward to another cracking year in Mayo GAA. I wish you all happiness and peace this Christmas and especially in 2019. We’re one year closer to winning Sam so why not 2019!
Was so impressed with Connacht playing Leinster last week…so similar to our own exploits against the juggernaut of Leinster. When we learn how to protect our advantage we will be unbeatable. I have a feeling that day is close for both ourselves and Connacht. Always believe. Maigheo anois agus go deo . Míle buiochas Willie Joe
Would not agree with Connacht comparison. Connacht beat Leinster in the final of this competition in 2016. They stepped and closed the deal. Flew into Knock with the silverware, not with excuses.
If any Mayo Senior Panelist needs abit of inspiration, he should sit down and watch Rte’s Documentary Players of the Faithful.Its about how Offaly halted Kerrys 5 in a row in 1982 after been beating by them in the 1980 semi final and the Final in 1981.Best Gaa programme I have seen in a very long time.
I haven’t watched it yet, TH, but have it recorded and will do so later on. Looking forward to it. If you want more of the same then Michael Foley’s ‘Kings of September’ should be of interest. One of the best GAA books I’ve ever read.
I thought the documentary on Tg4 on Thursday night about Cora and her season down in Australia was a great watch.It had access all areas of training , dressing room and games. The difference in lifestyles of an amateur and a professional sports person was an eye opener even for ladies rules. Cora came across really well and was a standout performer in every game despite basically picking up the ball on the steps of the plane arriving on the same day as her first training session… A worthwhile watch..
The story from Offaly 82 was take them on man to man and just not try and contain them. A message there for James and team next year. Its only fifteen against fifteen on the field.
[Deleted].
Comparing Kerry of the late 70’s and early 80’s to the Dubs today is realistic.
Kerry back then were the one and only Gaelic team that have a semi of a professional set up.
The Dubs are an out and out professional team at the moment, none of the players are allowed to seek media attention ( this could be used by the football pundits to give a guy a roasting if he plays badly ). Jim Gavin wouldn’t allow that, ie, players posting photos of themselves and their girlfriends while on an exotic holiday, even though many of those Dublin players have 5 All Ireland titles those players know they are replaceable.
The Dubs wont be on top forever, we will be all looking to see if Gavin starts to show any signs of getting fed up either in 2019 or 2020. I saw this in the former Kerry manager in both semi finals of 2017, some of his decisions were baffling at the time, ie, leaving Enright on Andy Moran to get roasted. I remember telling a Kerry guy in our club here in Dublin that Eamon Fitz had lost his touch.
I wish James Horan well in 2019 but am still wondering if he will have the full control of all his players ?, most managerial changes start with a renewed spark, but will be looking to see if James can bring something different this time.
Happy Christmas to all and let’s hope anybody will beat the Dubs in the semi final / final of 2019.
I got a ticket for this year’s final but didn’t have any interest in going, gave it away.
New winners are needed in 2019, hopefully the Gaa can help to ensure thus.
I think realistically theres only 3 teams who can beat Dublin on their day in 2019 and thats Mayo, Kerry and Donegal.I think we are still the only team who can live with Dublin’s pace and power man for man in Croker .But Kerry and Donegal possess so many of the greatest forwards in the game at the moment and so with a good game plan they are well capable of beating the Dubs.
Kerry can boast a forward line of David Clifford, Paul Geaney, James O’Donoghue, Seanie O’Shea, and there latest talent from Dr Crokes Tony Brosnan while Donegal have Michael Murphy, Paddy McBrearty, Odhrán Mac Niallais, and Ryan McHugh.
I think when we compare our forwards that started v Kildare in June ; Kevin McLoughlin, Aidan O’Shea, James Durcan, Jason Doherty, Cillian O’Connor, Andy Moran in comparison to Kerry and Donegal we fall short in terms of scoring potential and if we come to the summer again still depending on Cillian and Andy inside to rack up big scores we will fall short.We have to find 2 Inside Scoring forward with real pace whether that man is Brian Reape, Conor Diskin, Darren Coen, Ciaran Treacy, James Carr or Conor Loftus that will be the main objective for James Horan in this years National League.is it still Mayo Achilles heel!!
I realistically think neither Donegal(over reliant on Murphy) or Mayo(dont have the scoring forwards) will beat Dublin in 2019. I think Kerry are licking their wounds and will challenge in 2020 but 2019 is a rebuilding exercise. Galway could step up and have the forwards but again they wont beat the Dubs with that defense. Monaghan and Tyrone could shock the Dubs in a QF or semi but its very unlikely. Dublin will complete the five in a row bar a fluke result.
A shock defeat in a QF is not a problem for the Dubs anymore as its now a 3 game qualifier. That one-off opportunity to catch the dubs cold coming out of leinster has been removed by the super 8’s. It overloads the players with extra games and necessary recovery and also fans who have to travel up to 500km round trips to support their county. Again not a problem for dubs. Half an hour on bus or Luas and home in time for dinner. The dice is now heavily loaded in favour of the boys in blue. And they know it.
Hi All,
Seasons Greetings to every Mayo person. As you know I have posted here for many years and have always tried to make constructive and supportive comments and I once had the pleasure of meeting WJ myself and he’s a gent. However I find culmores comment disgusting….I know us Dubs aren’t all angels with comments but I came from a Mam and Dad who never stopped working to feed us more than burgers and chips. It’s a typical blinkered view of us Dubs because of some assholes but we are not all the same. Happy New Year to All
Kind Regards
Martin the Dub
Team I would to like to see start for Leitrim Fbd game on Jan 6th
1.Michael Schlingerman Kiltimagh
2.Ben Doyle Westport
3.Brendan Harrison Aghamore
4.Cathal Horan Kilmovee Shamrocks
5.Michael Plunkett Ballintubber
6.James McCormack Claremorris
7.Oisin McLaughlin Westport
8.Matthew Ruane Breaffy
9.Michael Murray Ballina Stephenites
10.Fionn McDonagh Westport
11.James Carr Ardagh
12.Conor Diskin Claremorris
13.Darren Coen Hollymount
14.Brian Reape Moy Davitts
15.Ciaran Treacy Ballina Stephenites
That’s a daft comment from Culmore in fairness. I can assure you no one on the Dublin panel is eating burgers and chips and no one on the mayo panel is eating cabbage and bacon. Over the years I’ve had some great banter with the Dublin fans and have always found them to be sound of course there are exceptions to every rule and were not exempt from having the odd Gombeen among our supporters ourselves. Happy new year Martin the Dub to you and your family. Hopefully we will get to lift Sam soon in the coming years for me it’s not about beating Dublin or Kerry it’s about laying a ghost that’s being haunting us since 1951
@TH, To continue the conversation. I’ve been watching the 2017 semi and final with an eye to what we were missing. In my view the 2017 final we would have won with several points to spare if we had just three more types of player.
– We needed a full forward over six foot who could win his own ball. This was worth at least 3pts extra. We lost an ocean of ball that was kicked in. Andy and Cillian were simply not that kind of player that can win ball in the air.
– We needed more of a footballing midfielder starting. Tom Parsons and Seamus OShea are solid hard working physical players. But I thought Dublin got a lot more out of Fenton and Mccarthy in terms of attacking Mayo and putting us under pressure. Generally SOS and Parsons will run a hard line and turn back to handpass it to a usually stationary support. Alternatively they immediately turn back out from the closing down defender and lay it off straight away. Now, compare to Diarmuid and the pace and subtlety of his ability to step defenders and attack teams.
– We needed one forward with elite pace and decent scoring/football ability. With the amount of clean facing goal posession we had at some stage such a player would surely have bagged or setup a second goal.
With the above three players I’d see us having scored 2-18 rather than the 1-16 we scored.
The good news is that in terms of our squad for 2019 we can have Diarmuid at midfield, possibly Brian Reape at 14 and the likes of Ryan O’Donoghue as that roaming pacey option.
Then what gets forgotten in mainstream media is the likes of Eoin O’Donoghue, Paddy Durcan, Brendan Harrison, Stephen Coen, Diarmuid, James Durcan and Cian Hanley are all in or coming into their peak years. Their game composure is still on the increase.
Many happy returns, Martin. I’d agree with Backdoorsam that Culmore’s comment was daft rather than anything else. If anyone believes we’ve got an edge over Dublin in nutritional intake (childhood or adult) then I’m afraid the record would suggest otherwise. Seeing as you objected to it, Martin, and I’d respect your opinion, I’ve deleted the offending bit of the comment.