The team for Saturday’s All-Ireland quarter-final clash with Offaly at Hyde Park, Roscommon (throw-in 12.30 pm) has just been announced: full details of the team and subs are on the Mayo GAA website.
The starting fifteen is unchanged from the Connacht final and here it is:
Mayo (MFC v Offaly): Paul Mannion (Mayo Gaels); Brendan Harrison (Aghamore), Niall Freeman (Aghamore), Ciaran Twomey (Ballina Stephenites); Ryan Quirke (Claremorris), Conor Walsh (Balla), Conor Horan (Swinford); Danny Kirby (Castlebar Mitchels), Sean McGarry (Ballina Stephenites); Fergal Durkan (Castlebar Mitchels), Mícheál Forde (Ballycastle), Sean Kelly (Moy Davitts); Cian Costello (Castlebar Mitchels), Darren Coen (Hollymount), Cillian O’Connor (Ballintubber).
Tony Duffy’s side is now a well settled one, as this line-up is also the same as the one that took the field in the Connacht semi-final against Leitrim. It’s always hard to know how things will pan out in a championship game at minor level but, for what it’s worth, we’re strong favourites with the bookies to progress. For anyone looking for more info on the game, the Mayo News podcast is, as ever, worth a listen. In the podcast, Ed McGreal and Sean Rice point to our inability to dominate midfield against Galway and the way that these failings were masked by that second-half goal spree at McHale Park. The lads reckon that, regardless of what the bookies are saying, we’ll need to perform far better than we’ve done to date if we’re to make it through to a third successive All-Ireland semi-final at this level.
Willie Joe did you hear anything about the County Board meeting last night.
Was supposed to address the review and appointment of a manager?
Would hope somebody would be appointed to take charge of the trip to NYC in October. Let the review take its own course.
Best of luck to them!
I haven’t heard anything about the meeting last night – I thought that no decision on appointing a manager was being taken until the review is completed. While there’s still no need to rush the appointment, we’d still need to be starting to think about who might be the man for the job. By the way, has anyone else heard anything about how the review is progressing? All I’ve heard or seen is the announcement that it was going to happen.
Anger has subsided.
Co Bd can appear again and continue their push for FG.
We dont need a review or to make major changes our underage structures.
We need to appoint a full time man to bridge the gap between minors and seniors and make sure our underage structures are working to a consistent plan, as Liam O’Neill, John Tobin and anyone who appears to know anything about football have been saying.
We then need to look hard at what management talent is available inside the county, draw up an interview panel that is able to make the right decisions – not the same old commitee that has done it in the past. no more than 4 people consisting of 2 people who know football in the county, a trusted recent ex Mayo player and one person from outside who knows what is required to get to the promised land.
that committee needs to call anyone who they think has anything approaching the pedigree of an inter county manager and interview them rigoursly. Ray Dempsey, Noel C, Tommy Jordan, tommy Lyons are a few names that spring to mind. We dont need to go down the celebrity banestoir route like the MWR pools. I mean Mick O’Dwyer, for fucks sake. No offence to Micko but if we were even linked, its a complete insult to the county we dont deserve to ever win another an All Ireland.
East Cork Exile you are dead right- any county that takes Micko on board deserves failure… They’ll have an initial bounce as he whips up interest and enthusiasm but that drops as soon as he leaves- He has no interest in minor development and leaves no legacy. I know that many on the ground in Laois are horrified that his mates are batting eyelids at him again… but I’d say he’s only bidding up the ‘expenses’. He’s also a disaster for club football as the whole summer fixture list is put on hold for him.