The GAA/GPA All-Star awards ceremony took place this evening in Dublin’s Convention Centre. As well as the All-Star awards collected by David Clarke, Brendan Harrison, Lee Keegan and Colm Boyle, the county enjoyed unprecedented double success in the individual awards, with Lee winning the Footballer of the Year award and Diarmuid O’Connor winning a second successive Young Footballer of the Year gong.
As well as becoming the first player not just from Mayo but also from Connacht to pick up four All-Stars, Lee now becomes the first Mayo player to win the Footballer of the Year accolade. A bit like David Clarke’s All-Star, there’s a wistful what-might-have-been element to Lee’s winning the FOTY award, in light of the unjust way his involvement in the All-Ireland final replay was ended prematurely, to say nothing of the crude smear campaign waged by Dublin in the run-up to the rematch in order to engineer such an outcome.
Despite this, however, it’s still a fantastic individual achievement for the Westport man, which, along with his fourth All-Star award, confirms his standing in the national game. We’re truly privileged to have a performer of his class in our ranks.
I hope there’s a big mantlepiece in the O’Connor household. By picking up his second successive YFOTY award, Diarmuid has now emulated big brother Cillian, who bagged the same award in successive years, winning it in 2011 and 2012. Although injury curtailed Diarmuid’s effectiveness in the latter stages of this year’s championship, it was still a year to remember for the young Ballintubber man, not least given his starring role in the county’s U21 All-Ireland success.
Congrats to all the lads on their well-deserved awards. Special congrats to Leeroy – what a player, what a leader, what a man.
Richly deserved. Now drive on for next year.
Good man Lee! That’s brilliant to see him win the award, well deserved too! Fair play to Diarmuid as well. That’s great to see two Mayo men winning these two awards. Roll on the FBD League!
Well done to Lee fully deserved. What a joke Hurler of the year. How a player can win the 2 awards is beyond me.
For Lee , It’s definitely just rewards for a truly great player with all the attributes to become even greater.
And the same goes for Diarmuid. We are truly fortunate to have these heroes playing for Mayo. They are a breed apart.
Well deserved! Well done to all.
Well done to both of the lads. I’m sure they’d trade it for the big one, but the awards are well deserved.
Nothing jokey about hurler of the year. Gleeson has absolutely been the standout hurler all year. Consistent and been doing it since very early in the year without showing atlny signs of burnout.
@dreamyslepply Gleason taken off in Munster final cleaned out. Callahan gives finest display at full forward in am all ireland and does not get it. Go figure!!
Super win Lee Keegan, what an inspiration to all young footballers in Mayo. You did your talking on the pitch which is where it counts and thumbs up for your comment on some journalists.
Well done to Diarmuid as well and not forgetting Clarke, Harrison and Boyler.
Good luck to Castlebar and Westport clubs in their upcoming matches. Come on the COVIES .
Lee is to me the finest attacking wing back in the history of the game. Brings everything to the game, pace, power, athleticism, two footed, defends brilliantly, scores consistently – a joy to watch. Diarmuid looks to have the same qualities in spades. With the other young lads Durcan and Harrison as well as u21’s the future looks good. Congratulations to the All Star winners.
Delighted for both Lee and Diarmuid. Two truly great footballers. What a privilege it is to watch them both play our beloved national game at the very highest level. Congratulations lads – well done and well deserved!
Well done gents and fully deserved. The line about Lee emptying his pockets and putting his phone, wallet, Colm Kavanagh and big Dermo on the dresser still and always will put a smile on my face whenever I think of it.
I think that game of inches has now become a game of millimetres.
Well done Lee Keegan and Diarmuid O’Connor, loved Lee’s comment about staying quiet
Massive congrats to all especially Lee recognized as TOP MAN by the people whose opinions are genuine, and therefore matter most, ie players. ( Wonder what the outcome would be like if the selection panel came from Dublin sports journalists / ex players.) Fair dues to Lee for reminding the city scribes, in his interview, of the motivation, “getting paid for what they write”, for their scurrilous campaign against him before the replay.
Like the winner he is though Lee had the last laugh, a la what do u think of that Joe Brolly!!
Yeah joet1480 great line, but I think would prefer a Celtic Cross in his pocket like them lads have anyday.
Well done Leeroy and the lads. Have to say though with these great players we have I am depressed that we have not won an All Ireland.
Fuck, the best keeper in the country playing only 1/2 a game, and the best player in the country only playing 1/2 a game and we only lost by a point. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! I’ve started crying again.
Congratulations to Lee Keegan and Diamuid O Connor. 2 top quality players. Keegan especially is something else altogether, some of his score are incredible and that goal in the replay was just beautiful. Too bad that he was not on the field for the whole game
Proud of the two lads. Well done.
Well done to all our bucks but fuck sake , brings back the sadness , its horrid depressing to think this fine team has not won one . Some very ordinary teams have won all Irelands in comparison to this Mayo team. And the Clarke decision although ive said in here no sense in harping on about it , it really doesnt sit well. Pretty sure lyster used the word “weird” when describing indirectly the decision to drop clarke , think ill just go along with that.
@dreamyslepply Gleason taken off in Munster final cleaned out. Callahan gives finest display at full forward in am all ireland and does not get it. Go figure!!
Not the first time that someone seems to have mistaken the Hurler of the Year award for a Man of the Match award.
Well done d o Connor and lee Keegan totally desversed what you opionon on a glee son getting hurler of the year
@dreamsleppy Waterford were beaten by 21pts in the Munster Final!! Top gaa players perform on the biggest days like Lee Keegan. Callahan gave the best display in the last 25 years at full forward in the final and also scored 1.11 in the Munster final. The 2 blue ribbon events in the hurling calendar. Austin Glesson while a very good hurler taken off in one and did not reach the other.
Congratulations to Lee and Diarmuid. Now on to 2017 and lets finish the job
Delighted for both Diarmuid and Lee..Quite an achievement to have both Senior player and young player of the year..Fair play to Michael for acknowledging the weird end to the season for Clarke..Hard to believe it’s less than 5 weeks since replay..Unlike many I haven’t nor will I watch it back..I’d be on the floor..
Congratulations to both Lee and Diarmuid. Doing us all proud along with the rest of the team! Hope Lee’s award in particular insulates him in some small way from any further gutter journalism or punditry next year. The blood still boils at the thought.
Congrats! to all the Mayo footballers and the award winners = also to Diarmuid $ Lee on there special footballers of the year. Not forgetting Kenny Feeney and Mayo hurling teams.
Can ‘t wait for 2017.
Great accolade to be selected by your fellow players, delighted for all concerned. Keegan is a serious defender, class attacker and a true leader. DOC had an injury during the season, and will be a serious player in the future. Proud of these players and look forward to supporting them again next year.
Congrats Lee and Diarmuid, we’re very lucky to have you both.
Awesome Lee Keegan we knew you deserved it !!
Delighted for all four lads. Diarmuid and Lee – well done! Delighted also for Colm Boyle and especially Brendan Harrison who has really emerged as a top class player.
What distinguishes these four lads? Attitude, attitude and more attitude! I hope the rest of the panel are inspired by them and come out next year with all guns blazing!
@castlebarred……you started me off there.
Well done all….I let out a huge cheer in the car when I heard Lee won. Absolute class
Onwards and upwards for 2017
Lee’s the best gaelic-football player in the world! That’s something to say, but true! Fantastic. Well done Diarmuid as well! We got loads of committed talented players. We just can’t leave it there, the summit is way in the distance just now, the same distance as it is for everyone else. But we know way to the verge of the summit better than most , let’s NOT get NEARLY there,next time . JUST GET THERE!.. Congratulations to David Clarke and Brendan Harrison as well…… On the hurling, Gleeson, easily the best young hurler in the country, but Surely Seamus Callannan has to be the best senior hurler in the country. Just my opinion.
Congratulations to Lee and Diarmuid. I feel very proud to them both. To Kenny and the boys well done. What a great year they had To be recognised by your peers is the ultimate honor among sports people the world over. They are a great inspiration to all our young people. Indeed all our players are a great source of inspiration to Mayo people everywhere. I like to describe them as our heroes . Can’t wait for 2017
Congrats to the lads tonight. Proud night for the individual’s involved and the squad and backroom team behind them. Still can’t make sense of how thousands of people on the outside of the team could see that changing the keeper was madness and those on the inside thought it was going to be a masterstroke. Bloody all star though deserved over his career only rubs salt into very raw wounds . Hopefully this will give the lads the 1-2% needed and not eat at them .
Well done DOC and KEEGO. I’ve said it b4 but Keegan is the best Mayo player I’ve ever seen. By a mile. A real big game hunter. ( I will qualify that by saying that CMcD had the best ability and I’d loved to have seen him with this team. Unfortunately he played with teams that didn’t handle pressure in finals).
Check out the hill16army twitter timeline for some light entertainment lads. Incredible stuff
Congrats to Lee and Diarmuid on their player of the year awards and to Colm, Brendan and David. Great achievement for all.
Congratulations to all Mayo players getting awards tonight and all other players indeed. Lee Keegan definitely best player in country no argument. However WJ with all respect it’s time to let go the black card issue now which technically was the right decision to give at the time. It’s the inconsistent application of the rule that is the problem and until technology is used in such decisions it will always be the case of swings and roundabouts some decisions refs get right and some they don’t.
But now saviour the night without resentment and look forward to next year in hope and confidence.
Talking to some Dubs and their not happy with ‘only’ 6 All Stars or that Cluxton didn’t get one. Not sure that Keegan decision will please them either.
@JBL..Absolute meltdown on hill 16 ..and twitter. .and Facebook. .How I laughed..
I just hope that management persist with clarke for the entire season next year … no ifs buts or maybes
Left him work and perfect his long kick outs if they see that as a weakness
Meant to post earlier today to predict that Leroy would win it. Had no inside information, but felt that with the players voting he stood a real chance. Same obviously applied in the hurling vote, which I have to say I found truly bizarre.
Anyway well done to both Lee and Diarmuid. Brilliant, feel energised all of a sudden. ‘Mon ’17.
……………I like Dubs…….Lived among them for 11 years in the 80s………Heck, even my sister married one…….But I can certainly tell ya, there’s some bitchin going on over on Reservoir Dubs right now over the number of All-Stars they got and the biggest shock of all……..our Lee’s POTY, the big insult that was to B Fenton etc. etc………..Fair play to the Dub who came out and remarked that if the Blues got all 15 All-Star slots, they’d be bitching about the subs missing out !!
…………..But many level headed Blues on that blog are very respectful of Lee and all of those who laid out their 15 All-Star selection had him in there, together with Harrison and either Boyle or Durcan. Indeed much disbelief expressed about Patrick D missing out on selection.
Cant believe dubs didnt get all 15 All Stars. Rural bias again just like the tickets. Poor auld dubs never get fair play. Time for Whelan, A Brogan and maybe even the good Doctor Hickey to take to the media again to protest. Its just not fair. Also cant believe philly didnt get 2 All Stars, one for the drawn game and one for the replay
Congrats to Lee and Diarmuid on their fantastic achievement, it sure makes up in some small way for that AI. It should also put a spring in our step come the spring, to go finish the job in 2017. Mind you our forwards will need to step up to the plate for this to happen.
Great summary “To win just once” Pity the Poor dubs, everyone against them !
Wonder why ?
Say the Dubs like Mayo don’t give a shite about All Stars and POTY awards. They have the All Ireland medals in there back pockets and that’s what’s important. I now what Lee would do for one of them and the awards would be in the bin!!
To put our position in the gaelic football world into context , our only way of moving forward is to beat the Dubs in both league and championship next year. To win the league would be the way to go in 17, we should go for it.
Is Lee Keegan the first man from Mayo to get the POTY anybody know. Also is this the first time a county won both POTY and YPOTY in football.
Congratulations to all the winners, epecially Lee & Diarmuid.
One thing left to do & they can do it.
Well done to both, fierce proud of them.
But christ, this whole awards night has just re-opened the wounds of 5 weeks ago.
I was on the road to recovery and looking forward to January, now it’s all ‘what might have been’ again.
Can someone confirm who actually votes for the player of the year? Is it fellow players or a select group of journalists as with the all-stars?
So so proud of our boys winning last night.
All well deserved and voted by players for players also proves how brillant our lads are regarded in the country.
Also can I just add how brillantly they spoke on stage last night.
Pure class on and off the field especially Lee’s little quip to media and gaa pundits and severe critics of Mayo football. Well done Lee!!
Roll on 2017. Mayo Abu.
PJ McManus. I’m open to correction here but I think Michael Donnellan won both in 1998. Dublins Jack Mccaffrey and MDM in 2013, Kerry both in ’07 , Tyrone I’d say in 2003. Keegan is our first senior POTY and I think Higgins won YPOTY in 2006 . The O Connors own the franchise more or less since 2011.
As Willie Joe has pointed out Lee is the first Mayo player to win the senior Footballer of the Year award. And yes the award is decided by the inter-county players and not the journalists.
I join with every one in congratulating Lee – what a player he is – and Diarmuid. Onwards and upwards in 2017! Mayo abu!!
Irish independent have 13 photos of gaa award winners and not 1 of them is a pic of a Mayo player, somebody has their panties in a knot at the “indo” it seems.
Well done to Leroy and co, now please rest a while and the hit the National League hard and win it.
Thanks for the information John.
This is an absolute disgrace, the GAA will have to up Dublin funding next year and not allow other counties footballs for 10 months of the year……..
Absolutely delighted for Lee. So well deserved; he stood out a mile this year. Congrats to Diarmuid, David, Brendan and Colm as well. We should have had the entire Half Back line and think Paddy Durkin extremely unlucky and probably would have got one if we had not got the other 2 Half Backs. Hopefully everyone will pull together and bring home Sam in 2017
Congratulations to Lee and Diarmuid , didn’t think Lee would get it after all the scurrilous attacks on him by ex Dublin players pre All Ireland’s, it just makes it more sweeter, and also for David Clarke for the way he was treated, it just goes to show that there are a lot of decent Gaa people out there.
Regards Brolly I don’t know how people let him him get under their skin, he is just a bollix and a knacker, and he got away with insulting Marty Morrissey, a gentleman, he should be banished from television for good.
Looks like ex Dublin players can’t resist putting the boot in with Lee post All Ireland either..Vinny Murphy (never heard of him so he must be on the go a while!) is perplexed as Lee did very little except pulling and dragging out of Connolly..Their noses are incredibly out of joint with that announcement. .
The only way dublin can go in 2017 is down, theyre whining today but that’s nothing to the whining next year if they have to hand the league and Championship titles over to some other team.
A few facts, recent League titles galore, recent Sam maguires galore, 11Leinster titles in 12 years , buckets of money given to them by sponsors, buckets of money given to them by the gaa, 60 full time paid people developing the club players in the county, huge numbers of clubs and players to choose a county panel from, referees bending the rules to suit the dubs, a dublin based media that pressures referees before the big games, have home advantage in nearly all games, get the same dressing room each home game, warm up into the same end each home game. Beat a team that is from a county with 1/10 the population of the mighty dublin and after all this,
Still not happy ?
Too much sweet stuff like runaway success has made the dubs tummies sick.
Jaysus lads some people on this site are pretty much obsessed with Dublin.
4 leagues and 4 all Ireland’s in last 6 years is all the history books will say. I don’t care how they did it, they have the medals and we don’t. We need to look on how we can improve on last year and get over the line.
Well done to our four all stars, and the two players of the year. Great to see we have such talent in our team. I think we would be all ireland champions if Lee didnt get black carded, he has turned into some footballer, and to think he didnt make the cut at minor level, a great example to young lads who misses out at minor level. 2017 wont be long coming around and please God we might go all the way.
Mayohusband,
Mayo are looking very hard to find the way over the line. My post was not about that, it was about how the hell can dublin fans not be happy after all they have won recently. And why are they bitching about a few allstars? They should be sitting very contented in the high throne instead of mouthing about who’s the best player in Ireland today!
@Dave I think your post mentioned more than the Dublin fans!!! but I do agree they do bitch quite a bit. Another way to look at it though was that if we won the league and All Ireland and went unbeaten for 22 or whatever games it is and don’t win either player awards and win 6 all stars would we bitch??!!
Congratulations to both Lee and Diarmuid on their well deserved awards and great to see that their talents has been recognised by those that count,i.e. their peers.
MaighEo Abú
Lads the campaign was started by Whelan and continued by other lesser Dublin names. All of Whelan’s fellow panelists said nothing – too afraid that they would rock the boat. How could they go for pints afterwards?. To portray them as journalists is a joke. To portray the media outlets they work for as producing quality output is therefore a joke. Whatever about Vinnie Murphy commenting at least he is not a paid journalist. When you are paid to write something you need to leave your prejudices at home and you need to show your character and bottle. O’Shea, Dolan, Spillane, Brolly, O’Rourke, Lyster and Cahill showed none when Keegan, AOS and others were subjected to a biased and personal attack by one of their own. They circled the wagons.
Blaming Whelan alone is not right. The other paid sheep around him also need to look at themselves. They need to look at themselves and ask did they really do a good enough job for the money they were paid.
Sinabhuil, agreed the national media was totally biased in the run up to the finals. If I were the manager I would be seriously considering withdrawing all interviews with RTE and the national papers next year. Speak to SKY and local mayo papers only, maybe that would focus RTE into looking into the quality of their pundits.
Regarding the all stars, I am finding th bitching form certain Dub social media sites quiet entertaining, the arrogance is amazing really. Personally I dont take much notice to the all stars, really couldnt care if we won any or not. Football is a team sport where the prize is given out in September.
Mitchels through to semi final..playing corofin in Mchale Pk on Sunday…Douglas on form again today..he’s scored 2 35 in the last month..2 17 from play..some statistic..
Just the 1-5 for Neil Douglas today!
Irish ExaminerVerified account
?@irishexaminer
Ger Brennan urges officials to keep close eye on Lee Keegan, via @JohnFogartyIrl http://shr.gs/4s8qTQe (GM)
Delighted for Lee and Diarmuid they deserve their awards. Delighted for all our men that won all stars and our senior hurling team too they won awards as well. Heard today in Ballina David Clarke is staying on for another year obviously I don’t know if that’s true or not but I hope to God it is and I don’t mean any disrespect to Robbie Hennelly by saying that.
Hennelly in my opinion is nervous and has been caught out too many times. He won’t improve. Can’t be relyed on for big games. If Clarke stays on then new no.2 in my opinion us wanted
Congrats to Castlebar on the win today. Well done to Neil Douglas for keeping up his scoring rate. I was delighted to see James Durcan chip in with two long range points from play also, as the Mitchels will need this going forward, more of their forwards scoring from play. They would be in trouble if Neil has an off day.
I see that Enda Varley kicked three points from play in the Dublin county final today so that was a fair achievement for him. Well done to him!
P.S. Saint Ger Brennan was sent off in that game as well on two yellow cards, the second for a high challenge.
For us next year though, we just want to be the best team in Ireland. Forget about the Dubs and just concentrate on getting our own house in order. Roll on next year!
I was at the Dublin final today, HSE, and Enda Varley played really well, his best performance to date for Vincents. He scored three nice points from play – the first right from the throw-in – and got another one from a free. Ironically, his former Garrymore clubmate Morven Connelly was in goals for Castleknock. As you say, Bishop Brennan got the line and, to be honest, Vincents played far better after he went off. Mossy Quinn got five points, three from play – there’s life in the old dog yet!
Willie joe is varley benefitting from good play maker in connolly ?
Yeah fair play to Enda, I was just reading the report of the game on the RTE website. It’ll be interesting to see how he gets on in the next few months. Yes Bishop Brennan is a better title for Ger! Mossy must be getting on in years now alright.
Worth giving Morvon Connolly a run on county team? Clarke needs back up.
It’s probably doing him no harm, toughnup, but Connolly was way quieter than usual today. Aside from a few nice, long defence-splitting passes into Mossy Quinn he didn’t do a whole pile today and didn’t get on the scoresheet.
Even though connolly seems quiet he is adept at creating space for others. Does it very effectively for dubs.
@ touphnup – plenty of good candidates out there for that No 2 keeper spot – Rory Byrne and Mattie Flanagan to mention just two…
45 that’s good. High hopes for flan alright. Good prospect. The goalkeeping position has evolved so much in last few years.
Well done to all last night, especially Lee and Diarmuid. I think the Mayo management needs to have a serious look at how they are going to use these 2 special players next year (yes these are 2 special players).. I think Keegan needs to be given more freedom and should be used in a more offensive way, not always marking the danger man on other team. Also Diarmuid needs to be used closer to the opposition goal.
Just my thoughts as these 2 guys are real match winners and game changers.
Maybe we should lobby for the All Ireland final to be played in Chicago , has worked for their baseball team and Irish rugby ( congrats to both) might put an end to all the hodoo and curses ????
Solitaire’s the only game in town. Two more long standing friends have left the building this week, Chicago Cubs with us for the last 118 years and the Irish rugby team for the last 111 years. What have i, what have i, what have I done to deserve this…
Me thinks, too much unneccesary concern being expressed in this dignified blog regarding the reaction of Dublin Hill 16 bloggers to Lees well deserved accolade. POTY
Worth remembering that a Hill 16 blogger can be any prick with a smartphone ( either owned or stolen ) seemingly without proper moderation, and probably far removed from the vast majority of genuine Dub supporters who undoubtedly are great followers and charachters.
A keeper could play on for years and clarke is not that old in keeper terms ,
He has rejuvinated himself , agree totally we need a no 2 for behind him , Agree with posters above and John cuffe … Robbie has been tried and just doesn’t cut the mustard .. no offense or personal attack on him
If you think about it logically and with any rational , if we had left well alone Sam would be West this winter
Firstly, congratulations to Lee and Diarmuid on their awards, hugely deserved and the outrage of some Dublin supporters hints at a sense of entitlement that would shame Pee Flynn.
Secondly, there is an interesting article in The Times this morning regarding Irish/American voting in Ohio. They interview a lady called Colleen Corrigan Day, a former director of the Democratic Party for Cuyahoga County in Ohio, which includes the city of Cleveland. Her people originally come from Achill and she is also secretary of the Cleveland Mayo Society. In that one county in Ohio, 400,000 people identify themselves as Irish, of which 250,000 claim roots in Mayo. That’s a quarter of a million people in one county, in one state, who claim Mayo roots. People often forget that America is more than New York, Boston and Chicago.
How many fundraisers have been held in Cleveland? How many county board officials have contacted Mrs Corrigan over the years or even know she exists? If only 1% of those people in Cleveland who claim Mayo roots gave $100 each, that’s $250,000 you’d have raised. Can people not see the resources that are waiting to be tapped by a competent and well supported commercial director. How many more Mrs Corrigans exist throughout America and elsewhere just waiting for that phone call asking them to help?
Has Rory Byrne ever played for Mayo. I’ve seen him quite a bit and he seems
Like a fine keeper. Good kickout, shot stopper and commands his area. Mattie Flanagan will no doubt be there in time but may be a bit young yet. I’d like to see him play for in goals for balla though for his own developments sake. On a separate note it’s funny to see the dubs so apoletic about lee winning player of the year. As Ireland showed last night no team is unbeatable and I sincerely hope it’s us that ends their run.
Enda varley 0-4 from play and MOTM in the Dublin county final. Would he be worth a shot again ?
Brilliant to see that Mayo men scooped both young player of the year and young player of the year. Nothing short of deserved on both counts.
We are living in an era of brilliant, and outstanding Mayo players.
With regard to the Dubs, it’s they way the love the complaining and the banter, more doing it to rise us than anything else. They have the same attitude with regard to Galway’s hurlers complaining about the venues of the Leinster championship. Dead pan jokes etc.
Brilliant post there Liam! The benefits of a commercial director far out weight the cost. No Vision at all at all.
I spotted an obvious mistake, re player of the year titles. Man Lee player of the year full stop, and you’re still young to boot 🙂
Would be interesting to find the breakdown of the national paper sales in Mayo.
Then a check back to the journalists who ran the stories on Lee in the build up to the Final.
It our choice whether we want to buy their trash !If you catch where I’m going.
How the national newspapers ( editors) and possibly other media allow themselves be influenced by ex Dublin players in blatant attempts, to influence a referee ,in the week of the Ireland final should be looked at and seriously queried.
It seems to be the Dublin norm that they will control the media at all others expense.What’s worse, it seems that this ploy worked, as Lee certainly didn’t get the benefit of the doubt.
If the GAA can’t/wont do something about it then we as Mayo supporters can.
We can also influence the nationals.
A warning could be issued to the nationals to refrain from printing any derogatory Mayo opinions and anything that can be perceived as an attempt at ‘getting at’ the referee in big matches.If the national editors, persist then ……………
News paper sales can be the motivating factor to get compliance.
I believe the word Boycott was invented in Mayo.
Ned – It was three from play and one free from Enda for Vincents yesterday.
Goes to show you the damage a weak referee can do in an All Ireland final.
Thank you Maurice Deegan.
NiallMc1983
He played with the Minor team in 2010, in Castlebar the day Ros won the Connacht Final. I think Mannion might have been in goal but I am not sure about that.
Ya would like to see Rory Byrne has no 2 to clarke
Robbie has had his chance and personally can’t see any way back for him , the clock is ticking on a lot of this team ,
We need assurance in such a critical position , we lost two championship games this year due to unforced errors
Clarke has no 1 for me with Byrne at no 2
Agree @johncuffe, Morven C worth a trial. Got a raw deal from Johnno way back.
Congratulations to Diarmuid and Lee. Both men won their awards on merit. It’s gas to see that” Tramp” Vinnie Murphy complaining because in his day he got away with everything.
Diarmuid Connolly is a bit like him. Pity Leroy was not around then. All I can say is F–k the lot of them. We got our rewards. Looking forward to 2017
Congrats to Westport and Louisburg on their wins today!
So after Ireland’s win over New Zealand, can we learn anything from it. Before the match Joe Schmidt said something like, the only way you know how good you are is when you play the best teams. You have to measure yourself against the best and find out how to beat the best. That is the stage we are at now.
After the game he made the point that all of your replacements have to be as good as the starting players. We still have not reached this stage. The Dublin and Kerry subs have made more of an impact than ours have in the big games in 2014, 2015 and 2016. This is something that we have to address and the mantra of finishing with your strongest 15 on the field is something for us to think about in 2017.
Also Ireland beat New Zealand in the end by producing more flair than they did. Ireland were solid in defence also, so getting the balance right between defence and attack will be a big priority for us next year. No matter what sport it is, it’s usually that bit of extra flair or magic that allows teams to win the major trophies. This is what our Minor team did in 2013 and our U21 team did this year. Produce something different. That’s what our Senior team will need to do next year.
Ireland did finally beat the ABs. It has taken a long time to do that. In that time there has never been any whingeing or mean spirited references to funding or player pool. Of course the ABs have greater funding and player pool. So what!. That is the challenge. Man up and beat them. Well done again to Ireland.
Congratulations to everybody who picked up dinner jacket award.
Well done Lee and Diarmud. The future looks brighter than ever. Both of ye are deserving winners. Mayo will get there. What a privilige it is to be a proud Mayo man when there is men of this quality wearing the green and red. How lucky am I, they take everydream from you and make you dream again for real. Mayo till my dying day.
True Grit …. Fab Vinnie now says he never said Keegan is not a great footballer as per his most recent tweet.
Problem for Vinnie is Leroy is not from Dublin , and is rated superior by his peers to any of the alleged GREATEST TEAM. He,s around long enough to know if in a hole he should stop digging … but maybe not enough grey matter for that !
Well done to O Connor brothers we will probably never see two brothers win back to back Y P O Y again a great achievement by two very talented players also congrats to lee and our all stars great times to be a mayo supporter
Liam, you talk about the Mayo diaspora in Ohio, some 250,000 claiming Mayo ancestry, amazing. Well I don’t know about what the Mayo county board knows about Ohio,or how they could go about exploting this potential remorse. However you might find that the Mayo brand has been damaged by certain people, representing Mayo in that state. You’ll find a few people who move in high political circles in Mayo know plenty about Ohio, but instead of Mayo getting any dollars from Ohio, it costs us plenty to send them there. Don’t think Mayo gets any benefit from these expensive people we keep sending to Ohio,. It would be some benefit to Mayo if the next time they go, if they were never to return, but we’d never be that lucky. Still I suppose they put Mayo on the map over there to people of a none Mayo background. They might sell a few newspaper’s, for all the wrong reasons, when there in Cleveland. Thankfully not all Mayo people are the same.
I’ve read your post 14 times @leantimes and I’m still none the wiser. Any chance you’d give us a clue? Liquor and keyboards mix like oil and water….
It’s probably unnatural to still feel delighted about this on Monday morning but I do. So proud of Lee and Diarmuid for this recognition from their peers. And I feel even more delighted that it has driven so many of the Dubs out of their minds.
Honestly, I know there is a significant proportion of them who are sound, but they would seriously want to take their companions aside and have a word. Everyone spent Saturday laughing at the likes of Reservoir Dubs, Hill 16 Army and the commenters on their pages.
At the end of the day, I certainly wouldn’t have begrudged Brian Fenton but I will never be able to figure out how a bunch of “supporters” who have a team like that, who have Sam in the county can still only find satisfaction in being bitter and obnoxious towards the team they beat. There’s something not quite right there.
Meanwhile I’m pretty sure both Lee and Diarmuid would trade their awards in a heartbeat for a Celtic Cross.
As regards a media boycott, the Irish Independent was responsible for the majority of muck that was written about Lee, with the Examiner chipping in too.
FBD fixtures have been announced and 2017 isn’t far away. Sean Burke I’d leave the league where it is – if we stay up that’s all we need. There is only one show in town for us next year again.
It has been quiet amusing all weekend reading the Dub “supporters” pages, arrogance or what. While there are alot of sound Dublin supporters out there, I have spoken to many before and after games and had no problems, shaking hands in victory or defeat. That said all the ones I have met were in the stands, those in the hill maybe a different breed. I would have had no problems with Fenton getting it as he had a super season, “back and sideways” Kilkenny didnt deserve it though.
Boycotting the Indo would have zero effect as the population is in Dublin and that is their target audience. A boycott of RTE like Tyrone would be an option. Whelan is the main instigator there, he has a massive chip on his shoulder beasuse he has no AI medal, started in 1996 a year after they won and finished in 2010, a year before they won again, poor Whelo.
Its all about the championship, the league needs to be used as a training ground to introduce new players. Some of our established players need a break like Cillian, Higgins, Diarmuid etc,, they dont need to be playing the league until very late on. staying up is good enough, we dont need to win it. Dublin go full out for the league beacuse its the only competitive games they have until AI quarters, leinster is a joke, Meath and Kildare should be ashamed at how they have given up even being competitive with the population they have. Mayo have a tough Connacht campaign with sligo,Galway away and Ros so a nice buildup to August.
The FBD, well I have zero interest in it, I will be there as its Mayo but really it should be done away with, it serves no purpose in an already long, long intercounty calendar.
Well done Lee and Diarmad and all other All Star recipients. Cant believe some elements within the Dublin supporters are so bitter. By and large we were gracious in defeat to Dublin in October. I cannot understand why they cannot display something similar
In fairness Damo, there will always be an element within every county supporters setup that appeals to the lowest common denominator. Most folks who care even the slightest about GAA understand how all stars work, and would never begrudge a deserving winner.
I stepped away from GAA related social media some time ago, and I’ll never go back. Some of the ill-informed vitriol and misdirected outrage would make you weep for humanity. What’s more, it poisons you with it’s toxicity. Since I stopped reading it, it stopped affecting me, – and I’m all the better off for it. I’d recommend this approach to anyone.
Great post Jaden..
Wouldn’t be getting too upset with the media…..in fairness our record in finals is good fodder and in fairness, if it were any other team with a similar record, we would probably slag them a bit too. Its up to Mayo to change that.
Regarding the panel, think it’s time we bit the bullet and really make a concerted effort to establish an experienced as possible 25+ players that can do a real job if called upon on championship match day. What I mean by that is that is that the game is really a 20 man game these days and we really need to look to pick teams and have substitute strategies to better manage our ability to win the games that really matter. To my mind that has been our one real downfall….being able to push on down the home straight. It forever feels that we are a spent force at the close of big games and we never seem to be able to muster that kick of energy when required. To do that we need a squad with up to 25 that are interchangeable and can really make a difference if called upon. We really need to be aiming to get our close as possible best 15 on the team for the last 15 minutes or so in the very big games. At the moment we probably have 17-18 players that we know can deliver for us, however we need to increase this to 25 or so, be able to use any of this 25 to start the game and deliver our normal performance but be able to hold and strategically introduce real game changers, whomever they may be. That’s not just because Dublin did that in the replay, it’s just an area we have been very poor at to date and I think we all know its critical these days. There is no reason that we shouldn’t heve a squad to rival any of the big teams at this point of this squads cycle.
To this end I think Management should pick a specific squad for the league next year and guarantee all players game tome in 5-7 matches – there is a lot of potentials mentioned here, but there is no way to know if they are ready or able to cut it at senior level unless they are given real and consistent game time and I think the only way we can do that is to pick a specific league squad of probable and possibles, let them know this is their opportunity to make the championship squad, that there 10 or so places up for grabs and the best performers will be chosen in a fair manner giving each enough time to prove themselves.
As an example, from last years squad, I would take Hennelly, Crowe, Nally, Drake, McDonagh, Carlon, Reape, Loftus, Regan, Coen, Freeman, Keane, Cafferky, C O’Shea and add the likes of O’Hora, O’Donoghue, Akram, McHale, Gibbons, Kirby, Ruane, Boland, Irwin, Gallagher, D Coen, Ronaldson and Douglas. I’m sure there are a few others that have been showing enough potential and there will of course one or two established players that may be coming back from injury and may need game time. But essentially it would be a specific league squad and lads will know the prize at the end of it but more importantly that they will get reasonable time to prove themselves. We actually have a reasonable league programme wrt home games which would also help. I believe I really do think that we have been poor at really seeking to bring talent through, an example being Harrison (who has been in the squad a few years) – if we had not lost Cafferky, Cunniffee and Barrett would he have got proper opportunity? He ends up with an all star. It’s a suggestion anyway
Agreed, Jaden – I’d make the same recommendation too. I was never a fan of or have had much to do with Facebook but, since the replay, I’ve largely pulled back from using or, indeed, looking at Twitter. At first it was like breaking an addiction but, a month on, I feel free of it and have quite a sense of liberation as a result. When all that stuff broke about Lee’s POTY award it wasn’t something that greatly bothered me in the way I know it would have done had I been following it blow-by-blow on social media.
Just after reading Clarke is considering retirement Massive blow if he did decide to retire. Can only imagine his frustration at being dropped for replay though.
I see there’s a couple of retirements in Roscommon. In today’s independent.
“Roscommon manager Kevin McStay will have to plan without the services of Geoffrey Claffey and Niall Carty.”
Where did you read that Sean Burke ?
Yep and Carty was minor in 06 , so only about 28 or so. Tough year ahead for ros , not sure everyone in the set up from CB to players are unified at all. Pity for them if true as they really need a decent championship next year or thier trajectory is in serious downward spiral. Not our concern though all we need to do is beat them when put in front of us.
Sean
Where did you read that? I heard different over the weekend
Was that the interview in today’s Western, Sean? My reading of it was that he was open to staying on but would need to sort work/family commitments to be able to do this. He sounded positive enough, I thought, about staying on next year.
Thats the way I read it, he was positive about carrying on, but needs to sort things out with work and has a young family.
This was up on HoganStand:
David Clarke is undecided about his Mayo future.
The Ballina Stephenites goalkeeper, who won his first All Star on Friday night despite being sensationally dropped for the All-Ireland final replay, admitted to the Western People that he is contemplating retirement after 15 years in the green and red.
“I don’t know yet. I’ll probably have to talk to the management. I’d probably have to see can I sort something at work,” said the Tubbercurry-based garda, who is Mayo’s first All Star goalkeeper since Gabriel Irwin was honoured in 1989.
“When you’re 33, you’re working shifts, you’re up early on your days off minding a young child, it’s a difficult choice.”
If we have an anspitations of winning an all Ireland next year we need clarke in goal … end of
Mayo management should apologise to him , guarantee him no 1 and maybe even captain
Not getting personal Willie joe at hennelly but we will not win an all Ireland with him in goal, I would like to emphasise that !!
Dublin last year In the semi final and the replay this year emphasise that !!
Wouldn’t believe anything on that hogan stand. Copy and paste (of the bits they want) is all it is
That makes sense now. Hogan Stand are notorious for lifting original content from other sources, often without attribution, and putting their own slant on it. I’ve just looked at their piece now and it’s clear to me that the quotes they’ve used aren’t a fair reflection on what was in the Western today. It’s like they started with the headline and then retro-fitted the quotes to line up with this. One quote they didn’t use, which was in the original piece, was the following: “Management will be doing their own review so I’ll have a chat with them and see what everyone is thinking. But it’s an honour anytime you get asked back into the panel so we’ll see what happens.” That doesn’t sound to me like someone who is planning imminent retirement.
That’s a fair old spin on his words, click bait is the phrase I believe. Clarke should come back, not sure about Robbie, that’s a tough question, I like him in goal but he stumbled badly for that penalty and will he ever trust himself in a high stakes game again? Even cluxton has shaky moments,so maybe Robbie will be ok?
Hennelly will be back. Said himself he couldn’t walk away on that note. I hope he does come back as that moment shouldn’t define the guy.
It’s not up to the player as to whether he comes back or not. It’s up to the manager. Players should not decide whether they are on the squad or not, they should only decide if they want to make themselves available for potential selection or not.
Personally, and this is nothing against Hennelly as I don’t know the lad, but I cannot see anyway that he could be selected again for a “big” game, i.e. an All Ireland final. Unfortunately for him, particularly at this stage of his career, he will always be only one mistake away from over-the-top heavy handed criticism. He could be man of the match all the way through next years championship but one mistake in a semi-final or final and it will be all for nought. All back to square one. All back to this years replay!
From the managers point of view also, how could he put himself in the position of taking a gamble on a player who has previously failed when the heat was at it’s most intense? Whether any of us like it or not, sport at the highest level is a cruel place and any weakness will be exposed in the full glaring view of what can be an unforgiving public. Sadly, the doubts and concerns we had in relation to Hennellys ability were proven to be well founded on the day.
When you add up the mistakes, the errors of judgement (taking a kick out with only one glove on because the ref had rushed him!), the lack of composure (rushing a kick out, with minutes to go and us in the lead, that went straight out over the side line and the resulting line ball led to a Kerry penalty!) and poor decision making (coming for a long ball v Dublin in 2013 that Brogan just flicked to the net!) that Robbie has been guilty of over the last 3 years I believe that there is enough body of evidence to suggest that the negatives in his game far outweigh the positives of his excellent shot-stopping, his accurate long kick outs and ability from 45’s.
The time to end the debate is long over.
If Clarke unavailable we might be damn glad of hennelly