The New Year has dawned, a freshly-minted one whose narrative has yet to be determined. Stretching out ahead of all of us is a year with a whole load of possibilities, though also one in which there’s still a whole pile of Covid to deal with.
On the football front, we can at least say with confidence that 2022 will start in a different vein to 2021. Twelve months ago we were just after losing the Christmas All-Ireland final to Dublin and the early days of the New Year were dominated by that raft of retirement announcements. And no prospect of any matches ahead of us any time soon.
A year on and, yes, another All-Ireland final defeat racked up – the lads on the podcast nail very well the ongoing sense of deflation and frustration we all still feel so keenly arising from September’s loss to Tyrone – but at least this year the start of January brings with it the imminent resumption of inter-county action.
Having matches to look forward to always quickens the pulse and it’ll be no different this year. Only the lucky few will get into the Dome on Friday evening to see the FBD clash with Galway in the flesh but one thing the pandemic has done is to make watching a livestream as normal as going to a match and watching the action in person.
How we’ll fare out more broadly in 2022 is anyone’s guess but that script will, as it always is, be written game by game as the season progresses. The contents of Chapter One will be revealed on Friday evening and I for one can’t wait to see what it contains.
Happy New Year all – off we go yet again on another year of following the fortunes of the Green and Red.
Happy New Year Willie Joe and to everyone! Roll on the football ??. New Year, New hope ?
Has anyone else had problems getting season ticket, can get as far as trying to pay and thats it
Happy New Year No great appetite for football at the moment Still a bit down after last year, not so much because we lost because I expected Tyrone to beat us, but because of the reaction afterwards where everyone went out of their way to look for scapegoats. It was a poor performance on the field and a poor performance off it as well Hopefully when days get longer I will get my appetite back because there is no better feeling than supporting the red and green
Happy new year to all and especially you Willie Joe. My few football mad friends here in Meath can’t believe the information in the archive and the fact that there is a link to all the media reports on the games.
Best bet of the last 70yrs without fail . Lay mayo
jp2 I had a little problem renewing my season ticket. After my card was rejected a few times, I remembered that my original ticket was linked to my club’s hurling section whereas I had been entering the football section. When I corrected this, the renewal went ahead with no problem.
How will we ever get a better chance than last year? We had the players , the team , the management all been there before , everything was in place we were fooking magnificent in the semi final from the second half on ,no other team could pull that back and push on like we did against the dubs ,why oh why couldnt we just bring that momentum into the second half of an all Ireland final against a ok decent side but defo no dubs of 16 17 type team . All I ask is we look at why it went tits up ,we started so well aido cathjnh the throw in , score , tommy ,ryan all looked so comfortable .
Thanks again wj for providing a fantastic mayo gaa forum , even In my most pessimistic thoughts i come here to read the blog and comments. There truly is no county to compare when it comes to the what I call the 24/7 obsession .
Jp2, Any luck since ?
Seán Burke we were out muscled in the middle of the field.
Stephen Coen named as new Mayo senior captain excellent choice mister consistently , a lucky captain and has form , the captains tag seemed to weigh heavy on some players shoulders over the years and maby effect their performance but Coen seems to be well able for it , and great to see Tommy and paddy as vice captains , new year new hopes what’s done is done 2021 is gone ( but not forgotten )let’s hope lessons can be learned we get up and go again and move on because what else can we do because we have the players no doubt
They should have named Mullin vice captain for the craic 😀
Coen was the obvious choice for me given his age profile and leadership qualities, all the best to him
Yeah agree with Sean – very hard to see how wel get a better chance again – the last 2 years suited us hugely with straight knockout and Galway struggling more than ever to fulfill their potential
Kerry, Tyrone, Dublin (in that order) are well out in front as the main contenders for 2022 imo. As bad and all as Kerry and Dublin were in their semis last year, Kerry were a Clifford injury and Dublin were a retaken 45 away from reaching the final. Both will only improve this year. I was fierce impressed with Tyrone this year and their attitude since winning has impressed me even more – very little over exuberance and plenty of looking forward to defending their title in 2022
But 3 strong contenders is certainly better than 1 which has been the case for so long until last season. Am hopeful of this being the most compelling season for a long time – I’ve a feeling also that potentially some of Cork, Meath, Armagh, Kildare or Galway could go on a deep run aswell which would really shake things up nicely. I think Donegal’s race is ran and Monaghan have probably hit their ceiling.
As for Mayo? Connacht will be one hell of a battle this year, and then 3 knockout games to come after that. Very hard to see how we can lift it after the final debacle this year. If I had to predict it now, I’d say we’ll do enough to stay in division 1 and I think semis is the best we can hope for in champ. But who knows and all that
Anyhow here’s to 2022, and let’s hope we get a season with minimal disruption, and with full crowds throughout championship
Good news about Stephen Coen for sure.
Congratulations to Stephen. A great appointment as captain and one that is fully deserved. A truly dedicated footballer that will never put himself or his media profile before the team. The appointment of Stephen (coupled with any other changes the manager may seek to make on his final year in charge) probably comes a year too late in terms of rescuing our dire situation of 70+ years without lifting Sam Maguire, but it’s a fantastic appointment nonetheless. Wishing Stephen every success for 2022.
Coen as captain. A good start to 2022
Paddy Ban – is that confirmed about Oisín or speculation? I haven’t read it anywhere
Paddy Ban – no news has been confirmed as yet about Oisín so I’d prefer not to see speculative claims of that kind posted here.
Happy New year to everyone.
RE the season tickets renewal….the website is a disaster. As slow as a wet week and no means of assistance from anywhere bar a FAQ section. I still cannot reconcile how the GAA think a 25% price increase in these pandemic times is a fair price! Added to the fact that Mayo season ticket holders will have to travel away for every game thereby further increasing the cost of things.
RE our season ahead? I have only this morning listened to the most recent podcast and I have to admit that my thoughts and feelings on that whole shitshow of a final have not softened one bit. For all the talk that Horan says about “learnings” and “continually improving” I have yet to see it from management. Yes, the change of captaincy is a good thing and Coen obviously has something about him as he has captained his county at minor and U21 level, lifting All Ireland trophies in the process. He also has captained winning Sigerson Cup winning teams so there’s leadership there. On that point, I couldn’t for the life of me understand how O’Shea was our captain up to now. I know doctors differ and patients die but I cannot see what he possibly brings as captain, especially when his own game and form is under such a cloud, and, when he brings unneeded attention to the set-up in terms of his media profile. Proof, if it was ever needed, was in the ill-timed ad in the lead up to the All Ireland final.
For me, in terms of winning an All Ireland, if it is apparant that Hennelly and O’Shea still retain starting jerseys and have major roles withing that starting 15, then the “learnings” that Horan constantly preaches about have been ignored.
A hard running, off the shoulder game where your half backs are expected to man mark the opponents best players out of the game AND also be the creative force of your attack… allied to a non-scoring half forward line that does not kick the ball, will not win an All Ireland. Selecting a keeper who consistently makes the same game defining error, at the highest level of the game, and building a team around a player who cannot impact the game for the full 75 or 80 minutes will not win an All Ireland either.
So for me, a change of captain is not the only change we need to see this season. Otherwise it’s Groundhog day.
@Pebblesmeller, ..I agree with allot of what you say, however the position of Goalkeeper is the most specialized in any Gaelic Football team.. Now that David Clarke has retired, I am not convinced that there really is a better candidate than Robbie Hennelly in Mayo to fill the No1 jersey, if there was by all means play whoever is the best in Mayo.. Overall Robbie had probably his best year in the Mayo team, in 2021 and his excellent semifinal performance was crucial to our qualifying for the All Ireland final.. To my eye lessons not learned were obvious, in what happened after we beat Dublin, right up to the final whistle on September 11th.. No point in rehashing several shortcomings, that led to the less than best possible version of Mayo’s capibility on All Ireland final day.. And unless the penny finally drops as to where the buck stops, it’s more likely that we repeat the failures of the past the finally enjoy a new dawn.
PS. .I think Stephen Coen is an outstanding and natural choice for Captain, wishing Stephen the best if luck in his role!
Lads is it just me or does Robbie get an awful ride from some lads on here?. I mean if you look at the goal Con O’Callaghan scored in the all Ireland of 2020 vs Tyrone’s second this year, was there not a lot of similarities between the 2?. Funny I don’t recall Clarke ever having the negative commentary in near the same manner. Some lads really seem to have issues with Robbie and I’d be very interested to understand the motivations behind the continued negativity they have towards what is our first choice keeper. It certainly seems to go beyond the football he plays in a lot of cases.
Happy new year Willie Joe and all. Good decision making Stephen Coen captain. A guaranteed starter and natural leader.
FDBinashui – I could understand the stick Robbie got at times when David Clarke was sitting on the subs bench. However right now I don’t think there’s a better alternative. To give Robbie his dues, he was one of the main reasons we beat Dublin last year. Aidan O’Shea probably won’t make the championship 15 if certain injuries heal and other players step up who I’ve high hopes for. However, I don’t see the same level of competition in goals.
Some people seem to have the knives sharpened before the season even kicks off this year. It’s kind of dulled my enthusiasm for the whole thing, moreso than losing the final last year.
I think Colm Reape has earned some game time in the goalie jersey.
He has been a central foundation stone of both of Knockmore’s county title wins.
He is the more comfortable sweeper keeper.
Wide Ball I think we were spoiled for choice when we had Clarke and Robbie to choose from but it was horses for courses on certain days, and Clarke made several mistakes in his time but seems to have been impervious to critique from certain quarters. My feeling is a lot of the stick Robbie gets is because a lot of people simply prefer to parrot what they read from certain columnists, most of whom wouldn’t be fit to lace the boots of an inter county player, let alone have valid opinions.
Definitely Robbie has been harshly treated by certain sections of the media and supporters. Robbie has made mistakes, some big ones but so has every player to ever play the game yet he seems to be treated differently which is unfair.
I have absolutely no problem in trying out new keepers and Reape should be some games to see how he goes, but he has to prove better than what we have to keep the shirt, it can’t be a change for the sake of it because there eems to be fan pressure.
As for the sweeper keeper innovation that seems to be the favor of the day, if we don’t have a player equal or better than Morgan to play this (and I can’t see that we do) then it shouldn’t be attempted. Some team this year will test this out in the league with an inferior keeper and get absolutely destroyed. Also Morgan won’t get the freedom of the park he did last year, teams will be wise to it and hammer him. As of now sweeper keeper is a fade that might quickly disappear. Just because one team uses it doesn’t mean we all should.
Hi folks, just wanted to wish all here a happy, healthy and safe new year. I hope Mayo do well on the field and make good progress in the Championship as it would be good for them going forward.