The problem I’ve always had with Johnno since he was elected to the Dáil is the way he’s always been so damn diplomatic about everything, forever couching what he has to say – even if it’s nothing to do with politics – in a patina of political fudge.
As a result, it’s refreshing to see that he decided to return Paídí Ó Sé‘s risible “if I managed Mayo or Dublin, they’d win the All-Ireland” claims with a considerable degree of interest when he spoke the other day with Anthony Hennigan in the Western.
He teed up his haymaker with the kind of self-deprecating comment we’ve become used to hearing El Jefe deliver, when he said “unfortunately, unlike Paídí Ó Sé, I can’t predict or guarantee Mayo an All-Ireland” but then out he came with this classic:
I’d like to think that if I had managed Kerry for eight years I’d have won more than the two All-Irelands he did with them, especially considering they subsequently won four when he left.
Heh, heh – well said, Johnno. While I doubt we’ll ever see The Deputy using the kind of unparliamentary language that Paul Gogarty TD came out with recently, it’s nice to see that he’s prepared to speak his mind when the opportunity arises. If Paídí has any sense, he’ll leave well enough alone on the issue now.
I can’t agree with you on this one Willie.
The original piece from Páidí was just some old rubbish to fill a spot in a paper. Nothing more than that. Not worth responding to. Flat-earth stuff. Rubbish.
So I really don’t know what is the point in Johnno saying that if he were in charge of Kerry he’d have won more than two All-Irelands. He’s not in charge of Kerry. He’s in charge of Mayo. How many All-Irelands is he planning to win with Mayo? That’s what I’d like to know.
I am at the stage now where I would like to see how Paudie, or indeed anyone but Johnno, would get on at the helm.
Never having met Johnno , I can only go by the RTE radio documantary and by Duggans book. I don’t doubt his desire to win it but I certainly doubt his ability at this stage of the new decade.
Training the waterford lads above in Dublin is all well and good but I cant count last years Connaught title as progress.
Nice dig at Paudie but that’s about it and in fairness i think he was still being political if not diplomatic. That smack in the puss wasn’t going to lose him any votes in Mayo.
I also want to know about Mayo’s chances of winning, not feckin Kerry’s, or how many JOM would have won with them, his record so far is not great is it. Nor is it looking good if the FBD team is anything to go by. I think it’s time for change ala Obama, new blood in the management because there’s no hunger or desire in the current batch, imo.
Was anyone listening to offtheball on Newstalk last night? I only caught the first half hour of it but they were to have Paidi on at some stage to “fire another rocket” Johnnos way??
Dunno, Spailpin, Paidi is being paid good money for acting out this stage-Kerryman routine in print and he deserved a good kick in the nuts for making an insulting assertion he couldn’t possibly substantiate. I think Johnno did that pretty well, though I think you’re right, Roger, in saying that his broadside won’t have done him any political damage either. Playing to the gallery I think they call it.
I think we’ve gone past the time for a debate about who should be managing us this year – that’s really one for the closed season. The new year is now upon us and once the thaw finally happens, the football will be back too. Johnno is still at the helm this year and we all know that’s not going to change over the course of the year.
I wouldn’t read too much into the FBD panel either, SS – it is only only the FBD after all and we’re missing eight or nine definite championship starters from that list.
I think we should give Johnno a break here. He’s hardly giving an in-depth interview on Kerry football and his desire to manage them is he? He’s simply made a comment to put a Kerryman down, and I personally think that’s a great way to wile away a couple of minutes!
Sorry Willie but I disagree with you. O Mahoney responded to Paidi’s two line claim because Johnno was stung. It went deep and put the spotlight on Mayo and O Mahoneys tenure. Currently the Mayo newspapers are toeing the party line but they are out of synch with the followers. Most people have lost faith in John O Mahoney. Unfortunatly we are tied to him and his political career. Methinks down the line that Paid O Se might have the last line. Would that O Mahoney speak with such animation when it concerns the Mayo team. He is alresdy whinging about the rules, the square ball, the handpass and that certain counties are ahead of us due to breaking the training ban. I for one dread another year of excuses and actually welcomed O Se’s comment even just to open up a debate. Intersestingly I note that Paidi picked mayo and Dublin, he didnt pick Longford, sligo, Meath, or any other outfit. He isnt the only pundit puzzled at the lack of success in two blue chip counties and thats why O Mahony came out fighting. He had no choice.
Sure, Johnno was stung but Paidi was talking through his hole and he deserved to be told this.
I’m equally puzzled as to why we’re lumped in with Dublin in the underachievers category. I can understand why he’d classify Dublin as such but I’d reckon it’s at least arguable that we overachieved by reaching the final in ’04 and ’06. All-Ireland titles in ’36, ’50 and ’51 don’t make us a blue chip county, I’m afraid.
I’m no big fan of Johnno, never have been on this site, but give the man a break lads!
He’s damned when he says nothing, then damned when he does decide to open his mouth.
As the current Mayo manager, what Paidi said was a slight against him, so why shouldn’t he defend himself – and with a simple one sentence answer at that. It’s not like he engaged in a 10 minute tirade of abuse against him.
All I’d like to see now is John Maughan and Mickey Moran come out and call him all the fuck’s under the sun!
A lot of Kerrymen carry an arrogant air about them, but Paidi is on a different level for me. I loved Jack O’Connor’s book and the light he shed on O’se, pretty much summed him up for me.
It strikes me that Paidi’s a man who must play to the gallery first and foremost, so his comment on Mayo & Dublin was no surprise.
Johnno was dead right to slap him back down and De Deputy will be well aware Paidi is acutely sensitive his record as Kerry manager looks in hindsight to be only middlin’. I remember Paidi coming out with a statement in ’08 that he won 2 as manager as did the man who succeeded him, while Pat O’Shea had stepped down with one. Lies, damn lies and all that.
Paidi won a poor enough Leinster championship with Westmeath, who may have been star-struck. That won’t wash with this current Mayo panel. Paidi’s record since 04 has been disastrous and in the case of Clare, shameful.
Johnno’s achievements in three counties should have earned him the right to take this work as far as he wants- the man is not stupid, he’ll know when things aren’t working and walk. Brian McEniff was managing Donegal for a fair while before Sam made for the hills…
The Sunday Indo may have a reply
WHEN IS JOHNNO GOING TO DO REAL TALKING ON THE FOOTBALL PITCH AND CUT OUT THIS SMOKESCREEN TYPE ANTICS ?
Johnno should have kept his yap shut. All Páidí was doing was hopping a ball. Páidí spent all summer saying that Kerry were going to get beaten by whomever they were playing next, including tipping Cork against them in the All-Ireland, but you didn’t hear Jack O’Connor taking him on. Jack O’Connor knows that talk is cheap.
But by responding Johnno legitimised Páidí’s arguments, and today Páidí replies (or whoever is ghosting the thing for him replies) with the sort of restraint that you can use when you know you’re absolutely in the right: http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/pidiacute–s-its-a-fact-john–mayo-are-great-underachievers-2007280.html
I’d love it if Johnno were to slap Páidí down but the fact is he hasn’t. He’s fueled the fire. So does he retaliate now, and if so, how, or does he give Páidí an eloquent final word? Johnno started a fight he can’t win, as if he didn’t have enough of worries. If Johnno wants to shut Páidí up Johnno has to do it on the field, and not go whining in the papers about too much or too little milk in his tae or whatever it is that’s bothering him this time.
Páidí’s decision to respond to Johnno’s putdown was, I guess, predictable but I’m not sure I’d classify it as anything approaching eloquent. Having thrown the first sneaky punch himself, it’s a bit wimpish of Páidí to be asking for no more than “fair shoulders” now. Overall, I thought the whole piece was very defensive and self-serving.
What’s really hilarious, though, is Páidí’s elevated opinion of his own management skills – I’m glad he’d fancy his chances of leading us to an All-Ireland but his record to date suggests that it would be more likely he’d end up going the same way as the last Kerrymen that managed us. Sure, he has his two All-Irelands as a manager (in ’97 beating us after having seen off Tipp, Clare and Cavan – that took some doing and in 2000 beating Galway, a defeat that I’d say still rankles with Johnno) but he also led Kerry to their most humiliating defeat in the modern era (against Meath in 2001) and his recent tenure in Clare was nothing short of a joke. That’s not the kind of track record in management that could reasonably be expected to engineer a serious tilt at an All-Ireland, still less to win one.
I’d say this is the end of this particular storm in a teacup. Johnno got his dig in, Páidí showed his own thin skin (not to mention his monstrous ego) in response and there’s nothing to be gained now for Johnno to take it to another round.
You’re doing Páidí’s management career a disservice Willie. I don’t think he’s a front rank manager either, but he did win those two All-Irelands, restoring Kerry’s place in the firmament in the process, and he won Westmeath their only Leinster title too. That doesn’t make him a bum as regards management.
If Johnno wants to show how many All-Irelands he can win with Kerry maybe he can start by doing better with Mayo than either of his immediate predecessors did. That would be a start.
I’m not disputing Páidí’s record – though you could argue he was fortunate to win both of those All-Irelands (’97 because of the opposition Kerry had to face and 2000 due to Derek Savage’s late miss in the drawn game) and Tomas O Flaharta’s role in Westmeath’s success needs to be accounted for as well – but what’s clear is that it’s certainly no better than Johnno’s. They have both won two All-Irelands and have both brought provincial success to a cinderella county so why does Páidí think his record (or his ability) is so superior to make him so confident that he’d do any better with Mayo than Johnno has? Johnno’s poor record in his second term means that Páidí wouldn’t have to do all that much to do better but does that mean he’d lead us to Sam? I very much doubt it.
I agree that, ultimately, Johnno’s best retort is one that’s given on the pitch but that’s also the only place where Páidí can prove his assertion. When the manager job come up next in Mayo (or in Dublin), I don’t expect any Ventry publican to be on the short-list and so I reckon that Páidí’s claims will never get put to the test.
I would have to say that johnnos record is superior to Paudies , he made galway what they are (/were) , i reckon if i had two clued in selectors i would have a fair shot at winning an all ireland with kerry myself !
That being said johnno will really have to pull something out of the hat this year to earn my continued admiration.
better for johnno to hauld his whisht now and get down to work with his squad.
I am with Spalpin on this one. Johnno has played a cute one on this, he has allowed the waters to be muddied. In essence we are asked to take sides with a Mayo man who percieves a slight. However as Spalpin has said Jack O Connor would have handled it different. Willie alludes that Paidis Kerry only beat Tipp, Clare and Cavan. True but John Maughans highly regarded Mayo were still unable to beat a team who played such poor opposition.
We are in danger of two things here.(A) Ignoring O Mahoneys three years of very poor results (B) Creating a nasty taste in the mouth with a county that despite having the sign over us, has in fact a good respect for us.
To Willie Joe I say this and its with respect. You say we overachieved in 2004/06. I would always expect the third biggest county to produce the goods regularily. We make finals across all the age groups including club. Not winning those finals is the underachievement hence the interest that the likes of O Se takes in us.
O Mahoney is stung and its interesting that what got him animated was a kick in the arse from an outsider and not his own dire managment this time round of a county that deserves better. Outsiders can see us in a different place. Now we are expected to stand by Johnno just because Paidi played a little mischief. Bad enough him complaining about other counties breaking the training rules and whinging about the rules re the square ball and the mark. Already we are attracting the wrong type of publicity. At least O Se has said he would “gurantee” and All-Ireland, and we know that anybody can say that but; John O Mahoney gave us one gurantee and that was this; he would lower our expectations. He has succeded admirably on that score.
I would not like to have POS as Mayo manager, he’s a loose cannon, but I think JOM should concentrate on the job in hand. However, he continues to whine, whinge and moan and that is just doing my head in – training in the ban etc. etc. he’s always at it. We are getting a rep as whiners and I don’t like it, he should shut up and win summat!