The Mayo News and the Connaught Telegraph both carry reports this week about the second and final trial game held by James Horan and his management colleagues as they seek to unearth new talent for 2011. The match took place at Clogher last Saturday and it featured many of the same faces that had turned out for the previous weekend’s initial trial game, as well as some interesting additional ones like former county players Dermot Geraghty and David Kilcullen.
By the looks of it, James and the lads really are leaving no stones unturned in their search for fresh faces on the county panel. I think we can expect to see significant changes in this respect over the coming months, not just for the FBD but for the league and championship too.
In other news, the Mayo News reports that four players – Alan Dillon, Jason Gibbons, Alan Feeney and Richie Feeney – have been shortlisted for the annual Club Stars’ Player of the Year award. The winner will be announced at the Club Stars bash in the Knockranny on December 3rd (the same report says that tickets for this event are now nearly all sold) and, a bit like X Factor and who gets to form the next government of this poor benighted country, it’s all decided by way of a public vote. To vote, click here – voting ends at 5 pm on December 2nd.
The Mayo News also carries a piece about the departure from office due to the five-year rule (i.e. five years and you’re gone) of whole clutch of divisional officers. North, South, East and West – they’re falling everywhere by the looks of it. A bit like Fianna Fail (the fada was omitted on purpose, by the way) once the electorate finally gets its hands on them at some point after Christmas.
Seán Feeney is also in the Mayo News, giving out yards about An Bord Pleanála and how long it’s taken them to reach a decision on the McHale Park planning issue. While Seán undoubtedly has a point (as a National Pain in the Hole, An Bord Pleanála is right up there) but if I were Seán, I think I’d have kept my powder dry until after the decision had been announced. From my experience of Irish quangos, inefficiency is only one of their failings – they tend to do vindictiveness pretty well too. As a result, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this long-running saga has a final twist in its tail.
WJ, Haven’t been to the site for a while but I really enjoyed reading those links. Reading about Possibles vs Probables teams is football escapism at its best. Early days and no facts or results to go on, but, I already have a positive feeling about Horan’s leadership qualities. The county and country have never needed it more (and God knows its in short supply in elsewhere e.g politics.)
Thanks Mike – it’s a quiet enough time all round, with all of us having things other than football to think about. I’m really looking forward to the football in 2011, though – back in the dog days of the 1980s, our re-emergence as a footballing force was one of the positives in an otherwise depressing decade so maybe the same might happen again. A man can only hope!