There was an element of Groundhog Day for the large home support at MacHale Park yesterday with another red card for Mayo proving hugely costly as the county crashed to a third successive Connacht championship defeat to Galway. The latest edition of the Mayo News football podcast captures the action from this tense and cagey Connacht quarter-final clash at Castlebar.
The show opens after the final whistle had sounded as host Rob Murphy does some post-match triage with Mayo News regulars Mike Finnerty and Ger Flanagan. Then we get a flavour of the in-game action with Rob and myself. Back to the post-match analysis, Mike gets the thoughts of James Horan and Barry Cullinane, while Rob catches up with Martin Carney. There’s also post-game reaction from Stephen Rochford.
The Mayo News football podcast is proudly sponsored by the Oxford Arms in Camden Town and the show was edited by Emmett McNamara.
This latest episode of the podcast is now online and is available to listen to on iTunes and SoundCloud, either by clicking the player below or the panel on the right. Alternatively, you can also listen to it on the Mayo News website.
The County Board will Im sure make sure Tom Parsons gets the best treatment and after care available to him. Would it be possible though for Mayo Supporters to set up a gofundme page for Tom to help towards his expenses in the months ahead when he more than likely wont be able to work.
The signs on the Breaffy side of the Manulla river reminding us of our famine of 67 years are a disgrace !
Professionally done but in bad taste.
It makes me wonder whether Some Galway supporters have spent the last number of years hating the success this great Mayo team have enjoyed,
I suggest that these posters be left there as a monument to the bitterness of these (minority?) Galway supporters !
Ahh it’s a bit of banter .
What’s a disgrace is we have lost to Galway three years on the trot . Managers have been sacked for less.
Unfortunately, you’ll always get the few goms everywhere. As regards going the qualifier route, it was always going to be the toss of a coin, so Mayo shouldn’t feel overwhelmed for what lies ahead. But I think Mayo now need a powerful motivating force – I know the AI is that, but what about starting a “Let’s do this for Tom”. It would give the panel an immediate impetus to get back out on the training field! Seeking motivational stimulus is really needed now.
Our weakness now is dealing with a packed defence which forces us to take shots from the forty. Either we sharpen up from this range or throw in a rangy full forward who can win at least fifty percent of what’s thrown in at him.
Continue developing fringe players, don’t know where it leaves Nally Boland Gallagher?
People throwing sly digs at Rochford left right and centre, a man who has led us to 2 AI finals in his first 2 years. Tell me, who would they rather see as manager? Who is even out there? Certainly not James Horan, he’ll stay with Westport for a couple of years at least. People say Rochford has’nt won a trophy, thats oul soccer shite talk if you ask me. Much rather be contesting AI finals than picking up the odd Connacht title and going nowhere after it.
I agree with Mayo dunphy who else is out there other than Horan and he’s not going to leave Westport in fact I think Westport In the not too distant future will provide a huge bulk of the Mayo team.
Bonfire nite wont be long coming around for those bloody signs to meet their waterloo..Least of our concerns tho..
Very happy with Rochford as a manager, he is a bloody brilliant tactican and works well with Mayo.
I would love to see those signs in Manulla kept, it will drive us on. Instead of letting those splitting tactics from a county who couldnt get 2000 fans up to Mchale a few years back lets use it as a gift. It is very true that is makes no sense for the quality of a team we have not to have won, lets change that.
We have a brilliant evolving team and managment.
Mayo Abu
It’s not a sly dig . I’m saying it’s fair to question some of his decisions. This blind loyalty stuff is grand for match day but I don’t see anything wrong with being critical after a game , what’s the point in following it if you can’t make observations.
Losing to Galway three years on the trot might not mean anything to you but it does to some of us . Frankly I don’t get some of ye but I can’t influence how others think , the crowd was a joke yesterday , people with fookin picnics with absolutely no passion or interest in what was happening on the pitch . Go home you non football people please.
I’d wonder how much the poor MacHale park surface played a part in that awful injury Parsons got yesterday? i feared serious injuries would happen on that bumpy surface and it not possible to play good football on it either. Time for the county board to fork out the cash for a new surface ASAP
I worry for Tom Parsons if its a cruciate or something worse this is terrible news. I know too well the pain and rehab involved in a ripped cruciate, happened to me in a league match here in Dublin a month before my 39th Birthday.
I must say Willie Joe I have’nt read all your house rules but my rules are simple and fair, none of my comments are a personal attack on you but to be fair the management has gone stale and we deserve better. They are as follows.
1, Rochford beaten by Galway 3 years on the trot.
2, Left sided free kicks 20 yards from goal should NEVER be missed even at junior club level.
3, Once again the bench was shite yesterday, no impact when they came on
4, Too many players not up to the fast championship pace, ie, Coen and Durcan ( when having to defend ).
5, Keith Higgins Mayo’s best player by a mile, even in his first football game this year.
6, From what I am hearing there were boo’s / celebrations from some Mayo supporters when Ger Caff was’nt named in the first 15 before the match, I am not a fan of Ger’s, like the many Mayo footballers that went before him he was good at once stage but this is 3 or 4 years ago, too nice / lacks aggression / too slow of the mark / plays from behind.
7, Sure Mayo will gain momentum, get easy teams in the 1st two rounds via the back door, but come the semi / or God willing the final, the same old failings will re-appear, ie, missing handy frees, one of the O Connors decide to get sent off, keegan will try and rescue us, debate as to Aidan O Shea’s best position, bad substitutions, etc.
8, There is a real sense of dejavu now, lose to Galway, and we have a second chance, this is not the sort of temperment needed to win the All Ireland.
9, Better to go out tamely in the qualifiers that be beaten in another final.
10, The Dubs will win this year, unless management can do something drastic, need to start by converting Nally / Vaughan or a another into a MOBILE midfielder / ball carrrier.
A lot of people seem fairly confident of Keegan been back for 9th of June? This is hardly a certainty as we don’t really know what the clinical features of his injury were and rehab from these types of surgery can take some time? If there was extensive ligament and particularly tendon(been avascular and taking some time to heal) damage that came with dislocation i’d imagine it would be closer to a 6 month(at least) proper return to action where he’d be able to fell comfortable physically in the ‘white heat’ of battle?
It hurts like hell Sean, especially growing up near the border in the South. Hurts nearly as more as the AI’s. But perspective is needed, Rochford didnt instruct Diarmuid to get sent off or Higgins the year before. At what point do players have to take responsibility for team performances? True some of his substitutions are questionable, and deserve to be critiqued. But its the “managers have been sacked for less” comment that irks me, as if theirs a qeue of top managers waiting for the job. Theirs only 1 trophy that matters as you well know, and no manager has won it in 67 years. Rochford has come closer than most.
100% agree with your comments on the support, twas shocking yesterday. I was in the bacon end and the looks ya get for raising your voice or letting out the odd bad word is horrendous. As someone said, at least the qualifiers seperate the hard core from the sunshine supporters. Their was 100 times more noise against Derry/Clare/Cork with only a fraction of the “supporters”.
First time comment but I agree a go fund me page should be set up for tom Parsons as just a thought mentioned.
They should put the signs from Manulla up in the dressing room before the next games…..if that doesnt motivate the team, I dont know what will.
The younger players need to step up. If they cant step up against D2 and D3 opposition in the qualifiers, they have no hope of stepping up against D1 opposition later in the year.
In spite of everything, there was a kick of the ball between the sides yesterday
This team is far from finished
Atmosphere was dead but I suppose crowds react to the game and there was very little to shout about.
Loss of Tom Parsons was the worst outcome yesterday. We know we can do the back door route but Tom is a serious loss and his impact is immense. Not sure we can replace him in the middle!
Barry Cullinane was a pain to listen too with his poor mouthing about the Sligo game next. Martin Carney must have watched a different game if he thought A O Shea played well yesterday? he had little or no influence on the game looked well off the pace and if O Shea plays well Mayo win simple as that.
This is not a farewell to arms for Mayo. They will be back next month and so will we, wherever the Draw will bring us. Best wishes to Tom. Mayo will miss him greatly.
A few questions for Management to consider, perhaps: Should we start with both a left and right -footed free taker? Even though he is a lovely striker of the ball on the run Kevin should should not be tasked with free-taking duties; what are the plans for Barry Moran and Danny Kirby ? Is there anyone with the height ,strength and mobility to replace Tom? Apart from Aidan and to a lesser extent Seamus . is there anyone to claim marks at midfield, and be mobile? Should we go with a proven score -getter in the half -forward line rather than a willing worker?
Thanks W J for this wonderful site
“A lot of people seem fairly confident of Keegan been back for 9th of June? This is hardly a certainty as we don’t really know what the clinical features of his injury were and rehab from these types of surgery can take some time? ”
He said on RTE yesterday he’d be back, I’d even say he seemed adamant
Just listening to the podcast. Good stuff as always.
Still bitter about the defeat. The sending off cost us the win. What in the hell was he thinking? If he only gets a one game ban for that then the rules need changing. For such an experienced side who have played in so many high pressure encounters it amazes me that O’Connor would react in that way. Of course there is going to be niggle in a game like that but to react like that is bang out of order.
Gutted about the Parsons injury as well. All the best to the lad.
On a positive note we’ve got Lee and Cillian to come back so all is not lost. I know it’s an easy thing to point out but having another forward who can put over a few points from play would make such a difference and take the load off Andy. I cannot follow club football over here but there must be surely somebody out there who can put the ball over the bar? I think this team will dust themselves off and can grind their way to the super 8’s but we cannot rely on the experienced core to save the day and drag us over the line again. The fringe players need to step up and make an impact. Only so many times the big guns can go to the well.
Not impressed with Galway at all. So much talent in the forward line and they offer up that. What a waste of their forward players. The bench won them the game.
I see some of ye mentioned the support and its interesting that prior to the match people on here were talking about there being a really powerful mayo support really getting behind the team but it didnt happen except for the booing when yer man got the red and when andy scored a point the crowd sounded sedated. As for the signs thats classic trolling but the only way to beat the sign makers is to win the all-Ireland. Tipp supporters removed the “what has happened in the world since Galway last won the all Ireland” from their website in September 2017 and I was relieved they had to take it down rather than angry they had such a thread.
On the support yesterday, I think the lack of atmosphere had a lot to do with the hardcore supporters and season ticket holders being dispersed out to the edges of the stand and the terraces. I was down in section 108 with a few more, every time we tried to get a chant going nobody around us joined in. Normally we’re all bunched together on once a good number starts, it spreads. Saying that I think it’s unfair to blame supporters. God knows we get enough shit from those outside the county. I’ve felt for the last few years the good will towards mayo is gone. People enjoy putting us down now. The abuse is constant but countered with “I supported mayo in the all Ireland” like we should be grateful. Well fuck your support, we don’t want it nor need it. Time to circle the wagons.
First of all let me join in wishing best wishes to Tom. He will be a hugh loss and leaves serious issues for our midfield going forward. The game itself was a dreadful affair One of the worst ever clashes between the counties in terms of the quality of football. For Mayo it was very much on a par with the type of performance we have been putting in at this time of year over the last five years. So from now on it is one game at a time and it is good that there is a break till round one. There is no point in looking beyond that game against whoever comes out of the hat.
Finally wonderful podcast again Well done to all concerned.
I was sitting near the Mayo rooster man during the game he wore himself out shouting and roaring at the team at one stage he let a roar and I mean a ROAR of Mayo Mayo Mayo Mayo Mayo Mayo anybody else here. It was like he was looking for survivors in the crowd a call to arms to support this great team a few hardened souls like myself and a few around us kept the chants going but amazingly in our own home ground we got strange looks. We should take a lesson from the Kop who roar on their team in good times and bad. We need more Mayo rooster women and men for the road ahead. Incidentally some of the women that go to the Mayo games are more passionite and vocal than the men and are a credit to their county.
Tend to.agree with the comment that the qualifiers bring out the fierce hard core Mayo support..That game against Cork last year was one of my most stressful and exhilarating as a Mayo supporter..
Lads as a Galway fan Ive been asked to keep quiet a few times at hurling matches and me and my kid have got dirty looks for roaring for Galway just come on Galway stuff we would never verbalise the opposition maybe the odd roar at our own lads to lift it. Its a funny thing really people sitting there quietly looking really put out if anyone shouts. Its a funny old game as they used to say.
I really couldn’t give a sh1te about their 3 billboards, LOL – they made me laugh, typical of some Galway supporters – I’d ask who do they think they are, won’t be long till it’s 20 years till they’ve won a championship game in Croke Park let alone Sam – let them buzz off with their negative aul sh1te. Someone should get 6 Mayo flags & stick one on each corner.
Thoughts are with Tom Parsons & his family, it will be a long road for him that I’ve no doubt he’ll face bravely, he will be sorely missed from the team.
Lord only knows what the summer will bring BUT bring it on.
Up Mayo.
I was near the big flag that was on the Albany Terrace just before the game. Indeed I even helped them hold it up.
One man started complaining to take it down. I felt like telling him to fuck off home and watch it on tv.
Fair play to the group who brought it along. I hope to see it in the qualifiers.
I did tell them theyd be as well off watching it on tv. But in hindsight nobody is obliged to roar them on. We should mobilise through whatever qualifiers we are in and try to stand/sit together.
I’d agree with that Sean, wherever the noise is, is where I’ll want to be.
The go fund me page for TO is an excellent idea.
However a couple of questions:
1) How is it set up.
2) Is this something that the County Board will be taking care of ie expenses while off work etc.
I don’t think there was evidence either way today of a bright future this year for Mayo or of an eminent decline .
Many people had said beforehand that Mayo are usually poor in May. Fair enough there is substance to that. There are even good reasons and they are the same reasons we are bad in the league .
But you can’t then switch to saying that based on this performance it’s the end or a near terminal decline of this team.
Fact is Galway were in the League final 6 weeks ago playing peak football for them , and I believe this as much as anything will be their eventual undoing much like Kerry last year .They are in better shape for right now than the Boys of Summer.
This game may have just been a couple of weeks too soon for Mayo.
But , even then , they barely beat us with fourteen players ,Tom P and Lee , Harrison , and Vaughan not there , and many defencemen not yet back at full fitness. Cillian and Diarmuid played big parts.
On a separate note the substitutions are a puzzle wrapped in an enigma best summarized by Anne Marie’s BDMC( or bonkers decision making craic )
I doubt the code to this BDMC can be broken by anyone here but whatever reasoning is behind them should be re-examined. In the circumstances yesterday they were very borderline and disappointing . Imo they ultimately cost us the game.
I’m a huge huge fan of Stephen Rochford but as the on air commentators suggested “ no one wants to win this game “.
We needed a bullfighter who would pull the last couple of swords to down the Galway bull . It was his game to lose.
Posters here rightfully rue the lack of Shane Nally on the bench yesterday . I do think he would have made a difference coming in as a sub yesterday and this was knowable in advance .
Fact is he is a midfielder or left half forward . Both positions became open yesterday . But even being unable to predict that one could have concluded that Walsh was always going to go Ulster on us .
That’s what Galway are about now ( despite their protestations here and everywhere ) and when they need to change out of this method of playing I predict they won’t effectively be able to.
But predicting they would go all Ulster practically demanded Shane Nally be at least on the bench . He could pop a few shots from 40 yards and after Galway moved out to counter that it could open up space behind the cover and within shooting range.
You can also watch the game again and you can see that there was no threat from us on one whole side.
The left side of our attack is unable to do what they are tasked to do ( in this situation ) Which is to pull the defence out of position through the use of a lethally accurate shooting.
All Galway needed to do was block our right footed players on their ( only ) shooting side and job done .
This was predictable .What was also predictable was that we would play badly against that system . Again we almost pulled it off despite all the shots we fired at our metatarsals .
Though the return rate was poor we got 27 shots off yesterday . <50 % conversion . Hey , I’ve an idea , only for these massed defenses , why not up the Ante and pop over 40 shots between Loftus on the right half forward line and Nally on the left , McLoughlin ( also )on the right and Andy in the center .
More than a few of these shots would have gone over ( especially when playing with the wind ) and possibly provided the reaction from their defense that we needed .
We waste so much time and energy passing laterally against these systems . We need a bullfighter to unlock them . We simply don’t possess Dublin’s quality up front so we can’t do what they do . I’m serious about taking forty yard shots for this kind of situation . Surely it’s not that primitive . Surely no one is going to be depressed if our shot conversion rate drops to 40 % ?
I would put a left footer ( or a two footer ) in at # 15 . Right footers are unable to do the necessary ( in this particular situation ).
Finally , can we FFS JUST STOP SENDING IN SHOTS SHORT !! The pre game warm up before a predictable massed defense should be to pop over shots from selected distances . Over the FN line !
Yesterday , half of our pre game warm up should have consisted of all our players taking long range shots from right and left . So for both range and accuracy they weren’t dropping shots short even if 60 % of them went wide .
Before Stephen Cluxton changed the game forever with his 6 second turnaround and laser passing no one would have agreed this was possible . Now it’s routine .
Could we adopt different approaches to massed defenses ? Just Run up the field , give it to a well primed and positioned shooter and just shoot it . Plan to do that forty times . By the time we get to the end of Summer maybe our conversion rate will be 50 % ?
Now this is a crazy approach , except it’s less crazy than doing the same thing over and over again . Like yesterday .
Mayo 88. Option 9 is total rubbish. Give me losing in an all Ireland final any day than going out losing in some shitty qualifier in the arsehole of nowhere!!
Great news. Tom Parsons planning on returning to the green and red when able . Per RTÉ .
Link
https://mobile.twitter.com/rtegaa/status/996086311378341888?s=12
Re the Mayo support, no team in the history of the GAA has as passionate, numerous and loyal support as Mayo… But we could and probably should have been louder yesterday… The stagnant lateral football played yesterday by both team’s doesn’t do much to get you going… Having said that, If Tom Parsons hadn’t been injured and Mayo won a far worse match I would be happy today…. At best now Tom will be out now for a while… Do we need to bring, Jason Gibbons back into the fold?.. Would he come back?.. Maybe Donie when 100%.back to full fitness can do a job there, but then aren’t you robbing Peter to pay Paul?.. Maybe Diarmuid could play midfield?… But he’ll be out for the next game!.. I have only in the last hour watched the whole match again… If any of ye want to do the same,. Have a look at Galway kickout and to the wing just after 72 mins on the Clock… RTE show the incident a few times, Cillian does most definitely NOT foul the Galway player, it’s a totally legal dispossession.. The Ref gets the call completely wrong.. And even book’s Cillian, is this because of Cillian’s reputation?.. Of course the Galway player having been dispossessed in such a dangerous area makes it look like a free out, but it’s most definitely NOT … This free out leads to the Galway goal! Just because the RTE Co Commentator, Dessi Dolan calls it as a free against Cillian, doesn’t make it so.. Some negative comments to as regard’s the playing surface, it is a huge improvement since the Tyrone game… The pitch was in pristine shape all of last year.. The problem was the Two FBD match’s played in January, against Leitrim on a Wednesday and against Galway the following Friday, in absolutely atrocious weather… No way should any match have been played in such conditions, the pitch resembled a battle field after them… Here in Mayo, we have had a bad cold and wet spring and the pitch has not recovered from these match’s…
Re: The go fund me page for tom, think its an excellent idea, and should be set up. Its the least the lad deserves. If it was only a few thousand wouldn’t it pay a bill or two while he’s out of work. BUT, I have a funny feeling the GAA won’t allow it, they would’nt like not getting a piece of the pie, might damage the “amateur” status of the game…
Great work as usual Willie Joe. What did people make of Ah Refs thoughts on the game? They made some great points on nally and the subs. Keep up the good work love the podcasts ,best in the business.
https://ahrefcomeon.wordpress.com/2018/05/14/hindsight-is-a-great-thing/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
“9, Better to go out tamely in the qualifiers that be beaten in another final.”
Holy hell. It took us, and specifically James Horan, years to rid the County of this absolute nonsense.
Give me heartache in September every day of the week over a repeat of Westmeath and Fermanagh in the qualifiers in years gone by.
Just watched back the 1st half of the game there.Stephen Coens performance yesterday in that half was very poor.He gave away bad handpasses on 3 or 4 occasions and wasn’t really under much pressure.When he does get the ball hes does not look very confident on it seems to lay it off straight away when he gets it and he usually handpasses it back as he can’t seem to break the tackle or carry the ball forward like Keegan Higgins or Durcan.He also lacks pace as we seen when making Sean O’Shea from Kerry in the league.Made no turnovers or tackles in that half either.I just can’t see what he contributes to the Team.I have nothing against Coen don’t kno him personally .
it was great to see him Captain our Minors and Under 21s to All Irelands in the last 5 years but I feel that painted over the cracks.I feel he just is a very limited footballer.
Left footed frees a serious Issue for Rochford to address.Its has been clear for years.Kevin McLoughlin is not comfortable at taking frees , why persist with it.He missed 2 simple frees and passed the ball back instead of shooting on another occasion. Evan Regan or Shane Nally have to start as both are well able to kick frees from there left foot as they do for there clubs.We can’t be giving tight right sided frees to right footed players.
For the Qualifiers why not start Nally midfield for the injured Tom Parsons and I think Evan Regan deserves a shout instead of Jason Doherty who is having a bad run of form of late.
I totally agree with a special fund for Tom. They give so much to us and have done over the years we have an opportunity to give back something.
After yest ive been contemplating if we as supporters put too much pressure on these lads.
They have given us grest years.I know the player fund covers all players but Tom will need an awful lot of aftercare now.
Let’s do our best. How do we get it going?
Are we in this together fully?
Evan regan is the obvious answer to left footed frees.
It’s funny I thought that we’d know more about Mayo after yesterday and I for one was very despondent shortly after the game: living in Galway and the prospect of getting merciless stick at work (a prominent former Galway all-Ireland winning captain among them!) after losing brings out such feelings. But the more I think of it now we still don’t know where Mayo are at. They only lost by a score to a real contender after a real struggle. Are they still building towards July/August? Their slow build up play in attack was exactly the same at this stage in the last 5 years (not just 3) which suggests we are still not at full tilt. Does Roch know what he’s doing? He made questionable calls in the last 2 years while losing to Galway but still guided us to the AIF. Are we still working the cobwebs of last year out of our system? We wouldn’t be human if we weren’t. No team bar Dublin has played well for much of the following year after contesting an AIF. It was the same last year until the QFs too. Has much changed since last year? Not really – pretty much same players and same management. Where will this end? We haven’t a clue. Chin up – no one will want us in the qualifiers.
Our supporters are a bit like some soccer fans of English clubs such as Man Utd. Very quiet at home but loud and vocal when they travel. It’s the real hardcore supporters that travels to the away games. They have a strong bond with the team and back them loudly and vocally when they travel.The atmosphere in Ennis, Limerick and Croker last year was great. At home some of the fans who turn up are very passive just waiting for something to happen and they tend to be quiet if things are not going great on the pitch. Now before anyone gets offended I accept that the paying customer has every right to be as loud or silent as he or she chooses. Playing in mid may doesn’t help either.Both team and fans don’t seem to get up for it until high summer I thought the atmosphere was very dead yesterday despite the fact there were over 20000 Mayo people there. Anyway roll on the qualifiers. All is not lost.
Leave the billboards where they are. It is true that a sizeable portion of the Galway supporters feel this way about Mayo. Maybe the posters tell the truth? The only reason they hurt is that there is an air of truth in them. The problem with disappointment, pain even, is that you have to feel it in order for it to make you go beyond where you would be expected to go. These posters are not some smart alec journalist looking for a shock statement to get readers. These were put up by real life Galway people who went to the bother of getting them printed, etc.. Reminds me of a story of a priest who trained a club team I was involved with. One of our players got a belt in the nose and there was blood everywhere. One of the selectors got a spare jersey (no towels in them days!) and was about to run onto the pitch to clean the blood off. The priest said, in not too priestly language, where are you going leave that effin blood where it is. We won the game easily. Leave the billboards where they are.
anyone know the story with Crowe and Nally , did they just not make the first 26 or did something happen. In my opinion both should have been at least in the 26 .
Some risks taking on who to name on the 26 yesterday and they backfired. With Tom and Diarmuid out there are two places up for grabs. Also Both midfielders taken of and Barry Moran not used! Why was he there so? Not considered for full forward either which used to be done a few years ago.
Is leeroy going to be fit for 4 weeks time? If so one more to be filled and possibly two. Who gets them spots. Nally should be a cert.
Also while I appreciate a lot of people mean well I understand the GPA have good cover in place for inter county players so Tom should be looked after by that.
I grew up most my life in Galway (I’m 41 now, moved here when I was 3..) those posters are exactly what the vast majority of people in Galway think…the amount of stick I get is ridiculous at times. Most of it is in jest but there’s a good dollop of venom thrown in the mix. And the irony is most of these so called ‘Galway fans’ never go to league games and rarely go to a championship game. In fact, the galway support is pretty sad for such a big county.
Anyway, that’s enough about the signs.Maybe we’ll slowly claw our way back into the championship and beat Galway in the final…;)
Feel bad for Tom today . WJ would you be willing to spearhead a go fund me for Tom parsons on this blog .
With the open draw in the back door Mayo could get beaten by Galway in the super 8,s and still go on to beat them in the final. So it could be a long year yet!!…The other thing is, I don’t believe anyone was cheering that Ger Cafferkey wasn’t playing, but the fact that Chris Barrett (an all star, hard nut, corner back)was in to do a job on Comer!
Lee should be fine, as far as I know he is back training. Just fell shy of making yesterday. Would like a home draw, but would take a trip to Tullamore etc. A couple of games, if the draw is kind to us, and we are back and running again
Is Matthew Ruane still involved?
Left halfback – while I’d be happy to highlight an initiative of this kind it’s not something I’d be in a position to lead.
I agree Chris Kelly. Although I love Coen his passing and composure repeatedly let him down yesterday. Not for the first time. I think he will come good in years to come. Maybe use only as a sub for now ?
GPA insurance cover is the same as club player cover to the best of my knowledge. Away trip to Waterford or Belfast is just what we need to get the show back on road. Got stuck in a waiting room today and after reading a leaflet on toe nail fungal infections 34 times I eventually gave in and read the Independent sports section. Martin Breheny wrote a 500 word piece on the game in which he took the opportunity to have a dig at everything Mayo has done wrong in the last number of years. He just about stopped short of mentioning that the foot and mouth outbreak was on the year we won the national league. He’s the journalistic version of that raving lunatic from up around Claremorris who the lads keeping videoing and posting online. To add insult to injury he never even had the common decency to mention Tom Parsons and the gobshite is the GAA editor of Independent News and Media. There’s more class in the nail fungus I read about.
A comment here says Rochford is a bloody brilliant tactician. That’s blind faith at its best. He cannot beat Galway, cannot won a Connaught title, cannot get the best out of AOS , cannot make use the league to shape a team for championship, cannot get discipline out of his players. Cannot make changes that wins the game, can make changes that lose games
Best wishes to Tom Parsons. He is a man we will miss this summer and we do not have a replacement for him. Our hand is much weaker today as a consequence. Best wishes to the Galway team for the rest of the summer. For the record I hope we do not meet them again until the league game next year. I never met a galway supporter who genuinely wished us well. Plenty of the kind who wished we lose by a point. This should be our starting point and our motivation but in thruth there is rarely any evidence of this. Coen has come in for a lot of stick, but I disagree with much of it. He is a fine footballer at club and county and I believe and he has many fine games in the Green and Red. The standard within this group is consistently improving. In 2017 I witnessed the best football ever by a Mayo team in my lifetime. I have great faith in Rochford and Co and I wish them well for the remainder of the season
Agree totally re go fund me page for Tom
Galway fans hit new lows with them posters on the way into Castlebar does anyone kno have they been taken down yet? They have done nothing in Croker for 17 years.Beat an average Kildare side in a final in 98.
I don’t think Stephen Rochford is a brilliant tactician but I do think the whole management setup is well above average – most of the time. Tactics didn’t lose the game yesterday – indiscipline and a bit of misfortune (Toms awful injury) had a lot to do with it. Along with this and not having a good left footed free taker or a replacement for Tom or Seamie ( Barry Moran left on the bench) we still could have won.
The one thing that really annoyed me was announcing a fake team. I doubt if he will get Ger Caff to allow his name appear on the starting 15 again if he is not going to actually start.
Liam stopped reading Martin Breheny shite in the Indo long time ago.
JC I suggest you put your name forward for managers job when it becomes available. I am sure you would manage the team to beat Galway, win a Connacht title, make AOS into superman, not only use the league wisely but win the damn thing as well , get rid of all our indiscipline and make the crucial changes to win us the big championship games. A Messiah awaits.
Still thinking about poor Tom, hope his pain has eased at least. A true warrior with one aim, to bring Sam home to Mayo. No doubt his colleagues will be doing everything they can to achieve that aim, Looking back at the game we weren’t that bad, still in it till the end, bad luck, bad decisions on and off the field, didn’t help. But we still could have won it playing badly, had we been a bit more composed taking on shots for scores, Water under the bridge now, and we move on.On a positive note, Durcan and Hanley when they came on looked like they can create something up front, given time, and game time of course, Midfield is going to be a problem though, maybe we have options there, not sure, but it’s not all doom and gloom, as a handy game or two in the qualifiers and we will be good to go, toe to toe with anyone, its not the end of the road yet, simply a pit stop.The journey begins again on 9th of June. And I have no doubt Mayo will be fit and primed and raring to go.
I don’t buy into the level of criticism Rochford receives from some here. James Durcan dropped a ball short trying to be too precise with a fairly claustrophobic defense in front of him. I felt if it went over the lad would have relaxed and done damage. . Seems to have pace and a good side step. Cian Hanley was quiet but my guess is both showing up better in training than lads dropped. Drake keeps getting game time presumably because he’s good in training games. Nally tends to be good in the league but has he the pace for Intercounty half forwards or has he the size for midfield? Boland a very good passer and a good shooter when he gets space but we saw in Salthill last year he lacks the size to be a line breaker when faced with mass defense.
With hindsight Barry’s experience may have benefited us more than rookie Hanley.
Regarding left footed free taker Evan has failed to become a dangerous corner forward although he sometimes shows potential. We have a few lads who can hit a good free from the wrong side… Cillian, Andy and Diarmaid, maybe just take our chances with one of those 3. Guessing Kevin Mc getting 2nd highest % after Evan from the right in training but missing 1 can dent some players confidence. Big game free taking is about nerve and overcoming too much time to think. Cillian very good at recovering from a miss.
I’m positive about plenty… Lads coming back have 4 more weeks, Eoin OD did fairly well for debut, Barrett did well considering 1st game back, Keith Higgins as sweeper (great footballer), think we’d have won by about 3 if we had 15 in 2nd as would have far more ball.
I’m negative about 2 things.. 1) new midfielder to be found to replace Tom (maybe AOS the answer) will be the biggest challenge and 2) shooting from right apart from Kevin Mc and Andy.
I think we’re very likely to win our first qualifier because only 1 or 2 in there near our level. Round 2 we can hopefully have all the previously injured lads at 100% and Diarmaid available.
In first half we had to work the ball around to make half chances against the shawl and wind was tricky enough. I think shot selection in that half was OK, we just needed 1 or 2 less wides to avoid our crowd getting agitated. Shot selection in last 10 or so of 2nd half wasn’t great and we could have pushed 5m nearer for some of them as although we had the wind, space to swing the boot was tight. Players had the balls to shoot, just like Evan last year but it just didn’t work out.
To win just once – they are observations of our management and the truths are that he can’t win a Connaught title. He can’t learn how to beat Galway team that are by no means a top team and this is with him having excellent set of players at his disposal. So I think realistically it is fair to look at that and think to call him a bloody great tactician is a strange call. Did I say I could do better? No . But if I put myself forward for that role I would understand people will comment on my outcomes just as they do in any job.
Sorry, but this stuff about the manager not being able to win a Connacht title is a bit of a cop out. How about his players? Higgins sent off last year and DOC this year for, frankly, stupid and indefensible behaviour. If those lads don’t get sent off, I say we win both games. I don’t see how the manager can be blamed for that and it is part of the problem I feel, with what we the fans are doing wrong. As Cullinane said on the podcast, ‘DOC is feeling bad, I’m sure Vaughan was feeling bad too after last year’ – he is right. Feeling bad is not much good if guys wont learn from their mistakes, and that is the players rather than the manager that is to blame for that.
It was a similar thing when people were blaming rochford for hennelly’s criminal handling errors in the AI final – basic individual unforced errors are not something the manager can be at fault for. I disagreed with the swap myself, like a lot of people, but I cant say what actually went wrong was the fault of rochford. The same applies in this game.
That isn’t to say that Rochford gets everything right all the time (no manager does), but the defining factors in those games were o my mind, not of his doing.
True that hennelly made the mistakes in that final but he was given the chance to make them. His previous game was against Galway where a bad kick out cost a goal so to expect him to play well in a highly charged replay with little match practice was asking too much. I’d suggest that is why he made those errors
Same with bringing in Durcan and Hanley the last day….they did ok but it’s unfair to throw them in like that. These are examples of the manager making the same mistake over again
I agree. Hennelly was put in unfair position to be suddenly placed in goal in such circumstances, hence the performance. Hanley and J Durcan suddenly expected to come into huge game with no previous game time and perform was unfair . Naming cafferkey as playing to then hear the cheers is unfair management on Ger. To continue to destroy Mcloughlins confidence by asking him to take frees destroys his confidence. The list goes on and on …
Well done to Keith.
The only logical explanation I can think of in relation to the introduction of James Durcan and Cian Hanley was that in the league final Dublin introduced Colm Basquel and Con O’Callaghan, two young lads with pace, in the second half and they contributed 3 points between them to help build a four point lead with 14 men against Galway, it looks like we tried to do the same thing but it didn’t work for us.
Galway learned from the league final in that in the closing stages they took off one of their sweepers, pushed up against our 14 men and brought some fresh legs on up front including an extra forward which lead to them scoring the winning goal.
I posted these points before the Galway game, in relation to areas we needed to improve on this year, the same things still stand for the qualifier games ahead:
1. Our substitution policy, we need to make better use of our squad.
2. Avoid Russian roulette finishes, we avoided the bullet against Derry, Cork and Roscommon (the first day). We received the bullet against Galway and Dublin. We should try to aim for the ideal lead of at least four points+, late in the game and run the clock down then if we have to.
3. Improve our team play in the final third. Even in the league this year in the games we played well in we missed a number of goal chances for the want of an extra pass to get the ball to the man in the best position. I thought that the first goal we scored in the 2016 U21 All-Ireland final was an ideal example of this.
4. See new leaders emerge, who will be the man to stand up and take the game by the scruff of the neck to get us over the line in a tight finish.
5. Improve our discipline, we had a no. of players sent off last year in games, so we need to avoid that this year.
Where is Liam Irwin,an awful lot of players were shouting for him to be in team,I believe that most supporters just want to give out about management,if Stephen was a good enough footballer to win an all Ireland with Crossmolina,and manage Corofin he knows what he’s doing,this calling for players who are not playing is not based on facts,the facts are being seen in training where the squad are doing as much as most people do in full time work,by the way that is not meant as a cheap shot on Liam,but on supporters calling for something to happen,without the knowledge of what is happening at training
Liam is living in London, Corick Bridge.
For info, all – I’ve just now completed adding Sunday’s results and relevant coverage on it to the 2018 results page. Loads of links there (32 in all) for anyone who wants to take a closer look on the game. It won’t alter the result, sadly, but at least you’ll learn more about why we lost.
Liam Irwin playing for London. Came on in second half against Sligo the other week. Didn’t start due to injury he picked up few weeks earlier. He put a couple of nice points over but had limited supply into him.
Ah, Liam Irwin. The new Richie Feeney. Or is that Shane Nally? 🙂
Swahili, I may trademark BDMC. I have a feeling it might become common parlance before this season is out.
I do like a manager who is not afraid to take a risk, therefore I agree with an extend with the Hennelly analysis above (not that we need to go there yet again) but an entire stadium of supporters – on both sides – felt it was the wrong call. There are risks, calculated risks and downright baffling risks.
Definitely think most cheers Sunday were for Chris Barrett, not a swipe at Ger, but why name Ger when the world and its mother knew he was unlikely to start?
TH whether we like it or not Galway came along in 98 and did what we failed to do three times in the previous two years – they took their chances and won when we did not. So while it’s annoying as hell, they have grounds to gloat even twenty years later and we have no choice but to suck it up. If the shoe was on the other foot you can bet your last euro we’d be doing the same. All the more reason to be confused about our apparent lack of appetite for Sunday’s game.
Liam, I hope the sustained reading of the toenail fungal infection information was purely for Breheny avoidance purposes – it’d be understandable, in fairness.