Okay, it’s Monday morning once again and the countdown can now begin in earnest to another showdown with the Dubs, once again at Croke Park. It’ll be the third time in a row in the League that we’ve faced them at Dublin’s permanent residence (which also betimes goes under the somewhat misleading title of ‘GAA HQ’) and, if you add in as well our two championship clashes that have taken place there over the last two years, this means that Saturday’s match is the fifth on the trot where they’ll have had home advantage over us. Sure, hadn’t we Morty still playing for us the last time they were sent West to play us?
There’s little or no news at this stage about player availability and all that but I don’t think we’ve any new injury concerns to fret over so, despite all those interesting team selections put forward here on the site over the last few days, I’d expect no significant change from the side that started against Cork on Paddy’s weekend. It could be as late as Friday, though, before we see a teamsheet for Croke Park.
The Dubs, meanwhile, will be without their pugilistic defender Philly McMahon who got a straight red for that thump on Mark Lynch in the Derry match last time out and it’s also very likely that their U21 contingent – who include Jack McCaffrey, Eric Lowndes, Eoin Ó Conghaile, Cormac Costello and Paul Mannion – will sit this one out too, as they’re gearing up for the U21 Leinster final against Meath the following Sunday.
Saturday evening’s match is also unlikely to see a return to action by St Vincents’ duo Ger Brennan and Diarmuid Connolly – my understanding is that they’re not returning to the fold for a little while longer – but Kevin McManamon and James McCarthy, who both missed the match in Celtic Park, should be back for this one. I’d say there’s a good chance that the likes of Rory O’Carroll and maybe one or two more of the heavier hitters will also feature on Saturday evening.
The Dubs have, need we remind ourselves, a good record against us in recent times, having won all three of our meetings last year, which means that the last time we got the better of them was that memorable All-Ireland semi-final clash back in 2012. We’re certainly due a win against them at this stage but do you think we’ll get one on Saturday evening? Time to vote on the proposition.
How will we get on against the Dubs?
- Win (72%, 227 Votes)
- Lose (24%, 77 Votes)
- Draw (3%, 11 Votes)
Total Voters: 315
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When will they ever get to show off their spanking new “Away” jersey? We’ll have to request a change from their “Home” to Parnel Park 😛 I fancy us to nick this one by 3 points ( thats my prediction league rightly fecked now 😀 )
I’m tempted to think that this will be like 2012 all over again, an ascendant Mayo team getting the better of a tired pack of Dubs still hungover from their triumph the previous year. However we all know that Jim Gavin has far more depth in his squad than Gilroy had two years ago. Still, with the U21s, Vincents lads and Kilkenny gone we should be pushing on and keeping the momentum generated with the victories over Kerry and Cork. We’re looking far better at this stage in the league than we did last year so I expect Mayo to win. A loss would be a serious setback as we should be looking to lay down a marker for the year by beating three out of the top 4 teams.
Midfield is still a worry though and I’m sure we’re all interested to see if we’ve learned anything from the final last year and developed a proper strategy to deal with Cluxton’s kickouts and find a way of imposing our game onto them.
I’d prefer if he put out an experimental team, we lost a good close game by the odd score and then we ambush them later in the year in the championship.
Just seen that Paddy Power have Dublin at 8/15 for this one, we’re on offer at 7/4. Insane odds for such a game in my view – details here.
where do you think the game will be won and lost Mick? I think if we can get more than 50% possession it should see us win by couple of points
Not to state the obvious but a lot will depend on the starting line ups of each team. Dublin could have MDMA and C O’Sullivan at MF, with a FF line of O’Gara, Andrews and McMenamin. Those two lines will be hard to stop.
I don’t fancy the Mayo FB line against the power, pace and direct running of those three. Harrison, Caff and whoever else could struggle and I can see goal chances. Advantage them.
Our midfield will probably remain as O’Shea and Gibbons. Again, it’s mobility and speed against strength and primary ball winning. With our HB and HF lines doing their job on the breaking ball then MF should be OK. No advantage.
Our HB line is exceptional and I can’t see Dublin getting any joy out of them, especially with them missing a few first choice players. Advantage us.
Our HF line should at the very least break even. If KMac continues his upward curve Higgins gets a run at his man then I can see us winning this battle.
Our FF line is where I’d like to see us do damage in this game. We will likely be up against a weakened Dublin FB line. Advantage us.
All-in-all I think it will come down to each team’s FF line. Whichever line can contribute the most will probably be the winning of the game. I voted for Mayo but it’s a tentative vote.
good stuff whats the story with richie feeney is he comming back if not he will be missed up mayo
Cant see Richie been involved in this one more likely Derry before we see the Castlebar lads back Declan
Any news on David Clarke? There seems to have been very little information in this regard and it seems extraordinary that he is nearly 9 months out after what looked a fairly minor injury at first. His return would steady the defence considerably in my view.
I know that this site is against rumours and the likes, but he could be out for a considerable while yet, which is such a shame for the poor fella. His whole career is beset by injuries.
The Castlebar lads were all training with Mayo on Friday night. Whether any of them will be in the selection process or not is another matter. Not going to vote on the poll until later in the week until more news filters out.
It’s a funny one this as I feel we have it all to lose and not much to gain. If we win then great, it puts us in a strong position for a league semi-final and we also get 1 up on the Dubs. But, it’s not March we want to be beating them in Croker, is it? So while a win would be nice I don’t think it would matter an awful lot for the Summer months.
Now, if we were to lose then I am afraid it could do alot of damage to us because the picture COULD be painted that we just can’t beat the Dubs in Croker!!
I certainly don’t fear them and I do think that our management will have a surprise or two in the selection/tactics that they will employ on Saturday night. For now I am going to let the hare sit and ly in the long grass.
It’s a tricky one alright Pebblesmeller. All things considered, I think we need to win this one for the sake of our heads. Four defeats in a row against Dublin in Croke Park would not be good for morale no matter what way you spin it.
Any source of confidence we can gain when it comes to playing Dublin we should take. This is an opportunity to beat them on their home ground and put a seed of doubt in their heads. Without any real threat of relegation hanging over us, we should absolutely go for it bald-headed.
Worst case scenario, we go down fighting and have a much better idea of where our team is at.
Dublin have so many weapons at their disposal that they can hurt us from so many areas.MDM, KMac, BB to name three…however, they rely on having possession and then moving at a very fast high tempo straight through the middle…route 1, so to speak. I believe our FB line are still vulnerable to this and granted its very hard to stop (more so now with the black card) when the ball is on the 14 yard line, so I think the key to this matchup will be midfield. Not so much how Dublin will play it, but more so how we will play it….I think we wil need to employ a four man diamond formation for this match. The point is, we need to deny them possession in the midle third, if we do that, odds are we will outscore them.
You’re also forgetting the impact of Cluxton on the game. He has (almost highhandedly) changed the face of GAA with his approach to how a goalkeeper contributes to the game.
For instance we all know he can kick it very accurately 50/60 metres into the chest of an on running half-forward. Add this to the fact he has a ball boy beside him throwing him the next ball on command.
When Lee Keegan makes his runs up field to score he is generally 30 metres out by the time he taks his shot. Immediately after the ball goes wide/over the bar Cluxton will have another ball 50 metres down the field in under 5 seconds.
That’s a serious counter attack.
Advantage them !
that should have read single-handedly not highhandedly
The draw @ 9/1 aint bad either! but i’d rather a win Mayo win so maybe the way to go is lump on @ 7/4 and cover with the 9/1???
LOoking forward to that game now I see McCarthy is back he is so much better the mccaffery highly overrated in my opion hopefully mayo will win and get. A few goals against them also they need to put s cluxtion under pressure with kick outs to and not to give him much option.
I think this would be a great opportunity for Horan to introduce Richie Feeney at some point in this match. After his black card in the club final he’ll be anxious to put that behind him, he’ll also be much fresher than the other Castlebar lads as he had very little game time and, it would go some way towards mending fences after the goings on before last years final !!!
I think if we get the win on Saturday we’ll go on to win the league, which is something we really need to do imo. The confidence gained by winning a national title cannot be underestimated, it could be the mental difference that gets us over the line in September if we’re in the final. Back to Saturday night, i beileve we will win it, our fitness levels are coming slong nicely, aswell as key men like coc an vaughan back in the fold, should be eneough to squeeze us over the line. Mayo by 2.
Hi All,
Best of luck on Saturday, it should be a good game and I agree with Willie Joe that the odds on offer are crazy its a real even money game in my opinion.
Kind Regards,
Martin the Dub
I think if we are to win there is a few thing ms we have to do.Command midfield which in not so sure we will.Aidan will need to be,on form.We need to hassle them for 70 mins around there own back line.If we don’t contain their backs we are fucked.We must come up with a way to reduce the impact of their attack.Hopefully we will bring a high intensity for the game.We need to make the best our our possession and not fuck about and over carry in the forward line.I think we could expose the Dublin back line with high balls into freeman.Id live to see our lads ready and waiting for the off load from freeman.There will be plenty of goals and f we get more we will win.Really looking forward to this one.Would be nice to walk out of Croker with our heads held high and the chests out.
I can see gavin taking the sting out of this by playing a team well below full strength. He can say afterwards that he the u21s were away, the vincents lads were out of the equation (who could easily tog if he wanted) and he has a few injuries. If that is the case then Im with Roger Milla, put out an experimental team also and play them at their own game.
Also, if alan freeman has a good game, and with a bit of luck he will, can we please not start harping back to ‘what might have been’ ad nauseum? The fact is you can have good games and bad games (freeman when he came on against the dubs in 12 for instance was one of his poorer showings) so maybe let’s knock that stuff on the head before it starts.
Hopefully conroy gets a run out and puts them to the sword also.
Jaysus Pebblesmeller, the long grass is very cold and damp this time of year. Wait until the drier, warmer weather. 😉
Hmm just having a think putting an experimental team out.Will Gavin be hoping that we out strong team so that we get the thirst for victory out of our system for last year so that in the likelihood that we meet in Championship out thirst may not be as strong.That,make sense? I think we should in fact put out experimental team Meet them in championship then and use the hurt from last year to put them out of championship.Just a thought is all
With Dublin having to play Tyrone away in their last game, you’d expect them to be going all out for a win against Mayo. They won’t want to give us any kind of encouragement for the year ahead, in terms of us breaking our losing sequence against them. It’ll be very interesting to see what team will line out for them. Also I think it’s going to be very interesting to see who will line out for us at no. 12. Will it be Keith Higgins, Andy Moran, Adam Gallagher or even Richie Feeney? Or will Andy start in the full-forward line, will Sweeney get some more game time instead. You’d think that the Castlebar lads will be anxious to get some game time, with the competition for places hotting up. With Dillion and Barret on the way back, you’d think that the A v B game in training, would be worth going to see! Also it will be a really big test for the two Jasons, Doc and Gibbons. This game could have a big bearing on their seasons ahead? Not forgetting McHale and Harrison, will they get a start against the Dubs? Lots of questions to be answered.
I see what your saying there mayomaningalway, but beating Donegal in the league last year certainly didnt fulfill our hunger for revenge when we met them in the championship and quite frankly annihilated them.
These odds are after all decided by where the bookie expects the bulk of the money laid is going to come from. With Dublin’s greater population [and propensity for bettting?] the odds on Dublin are always likely to be shorter. How many shops do Paddy Power have in Mayo?
Now, if we can forget Mayo for the minute and picture the scenario that often occurs with other teams in other matches. The three full backs are man to man marking and a quick, high or low ball comes in, which the forward wins. Now at this stage there is loads of space. The forward turns the back or the back, as often, slips. Now we have a loose man heading for goal, in space, unmarked. It’s three against two backs and in reality, what can they do except pray that it’s saved or some other miracle.!!!
Now, my point. If there was cover in that open space, the problem wouldn’t arise. I use the word “cover” as distinct from “sweeper” because I sometimes detect here a resistance to a sweeper. I don’t understand why. It needn’t be a definite player, maybe even a combination of players but we need it to cover that hole.
We didn’t win the AI – they did, and right now they are the team everyone wants to beat. Let there be no doubt, James Horan and his team needs this win more than anything else right now. Remember we’re still searching for our best fifteen and what better place to test a players metal than against the Dubs at headquarters….
Growth must be much better where you are, Pebblesmeller. There is not much long grass around my patch.
Ya fair point Juan.Winning the league would be mighty for the lads confidence.
Dublin will be down on number of championship starters for this game and their only wins thus far has been against Kerry,Kildare,Westmeath all sides at the bottom of the table and at least two of them will be relegated.
Mayo could have up to 12 championship starters for this game and will have a point to prove after the All Ireland final defeat. I think Mayo will win by 2-4 points and Alan Freeman probably MOTM.
Totally agree. I really think winning it could drag us over the line mentally if we reach the AI final this year. Winning it done Cork and Dublin no harm in recent years.
Why not go for a win, which virtually guarantees a semi-final place at Dublin’s expense?
Ill go with Doc for MOTM if he starts which id say he will.
I’m going to back us at them odds.
What the hell has changed so much since the refixed league game v Dublin in Castlebar . I seem to remember Mayo dealing very well with Cluxtons kick out . Has he improved that much, or have we forgotten what we did that day.
To hell with all the mind games, the game is there to be won so let’s go and do the business. Weak Dublin team or not any win against the All-Ireland champions and any win at HQ will be welcome. We’ve put down markers against Cork and Kerry so let’s do the same with the Blueshirts.
Can’t see James making too many changes and I would like to see Mc Hale mark O’Gara. Thought he got away with murder in last year’s final so I’d really like to see someone put manners on him and Shane might be just the man.
Yeah, I was actually reading about this on one of the Dublin gaa forumns, they mentioned about how we dealt so well with his kick-outs in that game and that was a big reason why we destroyed them by 0-20 to 0-08. Cluxton is liable to make mistakes, when he is put under pressure. Remember the kick-out against Kerry in last year’s semi-final not going past the 20 meter line, then he gave away a penalty from the subsequent loss of possession in the throw-in. I’d love to see us put him under a lot of pressure in this game to see how he reacts.
With trepidation I dip my toe. Two wins in league for Dubs last year. Year before in match played after fog postponement I never saw Mayo play better including Mort.
McHale at full back and Danny Geraghty were outstanding . For some reason so that was their kinda high water mark. Dublin to win by 6+ because the manager sets new targets and challenges. They cannot afford to lose this one and who better to meet when your hungry than us.
Maybe, the size of the pitch has something to do with it, as it’s easier to close down space In McHale park as against CP, but you’re right H S E, Kerry managed to do it. So it’s not impossible.
What are the odds for a draw I think it could a draw hopefully mayo do well and the dub fans are on time only joking
Yeah the thing is Dublin are not firing on all cylinders at the moment, while we are coming nicely to the boil. You’d expect Dublin to be better than they have been in recent games, especially against Westmeath and Derry. They looked really open at the back, at times in their last game. If we play to our best, we should be in with a great chance.
There isn’t a Mayo man, woman or child who wouldn’t love beating the lard out of the Dubs on Saturday evening and we might just do that. And if we don’t I’ll probably trapes home yet again in the usual foul humour. But I don’t think it really matter a huge amount in the long run whether we win or lose as long as we put in a good performance. Even if we went on to win the league, nice and all that would be, the only thing that will really satisfy these fellas (and the rest of us) is an All Ireland title.
That said what I would like to see on Sat evening is:
1. A good solid display from our defence – no goals conceded.
2. Further improvement from Freeman and Doherty if he gets on
3. Higgins settling into his new role and causing real trouble for them
4. Aidan o Shea and Jason Gibbons or Seamus o Shea laying down a real marker.
5. A surprise (of the positive variety) …..a performance or tactical strategy that moves us up a notch or two.
After another AF loss last September I didn’t know what to think or where where we go to next?
But after the emotions settled a bit, I remembered an Albert Einstein quote that an old priest (that tried teaching me) quoted whenever he was looking for elusive answers: “The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them”.
Has the level of thinking been raise to solve our significant problems?
In my opinion, it may have reached it and passed it by.
I like the building of strength in depth that has gone on and a building of confidence and good form among many forwards,.
But after Cluxton performance in the AIF and the influence it had, what have we done to replicated it in some way?
Why would anyone mess with a top class winning back line? In a strong football county like Mayo, we can surly find good forwards, because it doesn’t make sense to rob Peter to pay Paul. Get Keith and TC back to their familiar positions ASAP.
We’ve genuine great talent and now competition at midfield
Play the forwards that should have played full games last year – Freezer, Doc and Feeney, along with the born again Kevin Mac and fully fit Cillian. That leaves Andy (our captain) slogging it out for the final slot, possibly with Mikey Sweeney (deserves a start again this week in Croker).
It’s not rocket science – just a little higher level thinking – I think?
We must not underestimate how important it would be for Mayo to beat Dublin in their home patch on Saturday evening. Let no one tell us it’s only the League and in the big plan of things it doesn’t really matter, as no AI is ever won in March and all that sort of stuff. Well I’ll tell you right now, it matters a great deal to Mayo, first up, it would get a monkey of our back, and secondly it would set us up nicely in the league. But most of all it would give us that swagger and belief that successful team always seem to have, and would ignite a bit of passion in the whole squad that could carry us on to greater things down the line…..
Good observations there Cloud9. Love the Philosophy!!
Trying to make a forward out of one of the best attacking full backs in the country will always be crazy to me as well. It is so fucking simple, let’s find a forward to do the job of a forward. It’s the same logic as putting a corner forward into the full back line, i.e. Cillian OConnor.
I don’t think it will be game time or lack thereof that will decide his freshness this week!
Hammer the Dubs or get hammered by the Dubs. Each scernario has its own merits. We already know from our last meeting that we’re not that far away. A close fought loss would tell us that we are still good but not good enough. A close fought win wouls leave us whining that we beat an understrength Dublin sans Mcmahon, Connelly and Brennan etc. In other words we would learn nothing. Personally I’m going with the Hammer the Dubs option.
Will Club 51 be unveiling their banner in Croke Park? Where will ye be?
What are the odds on Dublin going down? I mean if we and Tyrone beat them and Kildare beat Westmeath and whoever else they have?
#justsayin
I always leave a bit uncut, just for occasions like Saturday. 🙂
Fair play, Martin. Best of luck also. I have a feeling it could be a cracker of a game.
I hear you Joe Mc but the thing to remember is when you withdraw a player from somewhere out the field to play as an extra defender in order to help close space and sweep up breaking ball in your own defence, you are leaving a opponent free and unmarked. Against some more defensively minded teams that may be OK but, against the Dubs if you go with that tactic, I believe, the free player will just move up the field into an attacking position and push and compress the play into our defence. All it really does is invite another opponent into the attack.
Agreed .Higgins best in back line.
There is a bigger picture to all of this and I think we should not lose sight of it. What were our objectivies at the start of the season? What were we all thinking when we went to MacHale Park to see them play GMIT, or to Ballinlough to see them play the Rossies? The general consensus was….
1. Is the hunger there? Can the players go to the well for another season? Is the intensity there?
2. We need to retain our division 1 status, anything else is a bonus.
3. We need to bring in fresh faces and try to bring competition for places. Everyone has to earn the right to wear that geansai. No more favouritism, no matter who you are. The man in form gets the geansai – end of.
4. We need to get a functioning half forward line and, in general, an attack that works.
5. We wanted management, or a representative of management, viewing the game from a better perspective other than pitchside.
6. We wanted to try and be innovative with tactics and selections, be less predictable.
Now, that I believe they were our objectives back in January and they should absolutely remain as our objectives for this Saturday because the answers are as follows…
1. The hunger most definitely is there. No question, and we should be proud that we have players /management that continue to give their all in the pursuit of Sam even after all those heartbreaking disappointments.
2. It’s almost a certainty that we will retain division 1 status.
3. Harrison, Drake, A. Gallagher, McHale, Gibbons, Docherty and possibly Sweeney have all pushed their case for inclusion so far. My view is that if they have been good enough thus far we should trust them this Saturday in Croker and see how they do.
4. Trying Doc, Higgins and A. Moran on the ’40 is all part of this.
5. Every game so far has seen Horan/Buckley/Prendergast in the stands or certainly split from the main group on the line.
6. See no.4 above. With Feeney to come back inot the mix yet.
Win, lose or draw this Saturday we should not lose sight of the bigger picture.
Dublin’s odds on being relegated are 33/1 (we’re 25/1, Kerry are 13/2, Kildare 1/16 and Westmeath not priced). Kerry will relegate Westmeath if they beat them on Sunday (which they undoubtedly will) and the jig will also be up then for Kildare if they lose to Derry (which they’re very likely to do as well).
Spot on Pebblesmeller Couldn’t agree more. Hunger was then main thing I was looking for earlier on in the year and I have seen it in spades. Getting excited for the year ahead
very good post, one of the more sensible posters on this website, no BS.
Pebbles, I feel that’s the lesser of two evils. If we don’t leak goals it would be a huge boost to the team.
Good synopsis Pebbles and this should be a good test of Number 6 – can we bring some element of surprise or innovation to the game and can we impose our game plan rather than counteracting theirs ?
BTW I will have a little of that 7/4 on Mayo, seems a bit skewed to me. If Paddy Power were basing the odds on this site’s poll we would be about 1/4. Are we a bunch of mad over optimists or is it cheap to vote when you don’t have to back it up with hard cash ?
Anyway long live the optimists !
Lads is anyone having issues with season tickets not being scanned properly. I know people who have attended both Kerry and cork games yet their gaa account says not attended! What’s more the gaa are being assholes about it, responding by email that no attendance records can be manually changed. There is obviously something wrong with their scanners. I bet there will be no systems errors when it comes to deducting the money from accounts for summer championship games. I think its a disgrace that they refuse to change the records because if their own f**k up
Yes, yes, yes! I am locked in a war of words with them at the minute, and we have been contacted by loads of others who have been affected (yet they are denying there is a problem). It’s all over social media and MWR featured it twice last week. Completely unsatisfactory, as they have updated some records while refusing to update others, thus setting a precedent which is surely a little dodgy on legal grounds.
We’ll have a post on the Club ’51 site before the week is out telling people what to watch out for when their tickets are being scanned – apparently it’s not as simple as hearing the ‘beep’!
If you do spot an issue, be sure to email the season ticket office immediately as under the new T&Cs sneaked in for 2014, you must report any issues within 10 days of the fixture (and then they’ll refuse to update you anyway).
The GAA have explicitly said that they will not be updating anyone’s attendance record after the Dublin game, as per their email yesterday: “PLEASE NOTE THAT ATTENDANCES WILL NOT BE MANUALLY UPDATED FOR ANY PREVIOUS OR FUTURE FIXTURE AS THERE ARE PROCEDURES IN PLACE AT EACH VENUE TO ENSURE THAT ATTENDANCE IS RECORDED ON MATCH DAY.”
At best, it’s desperately poor customer service.
Because what good is a semi final spot in the league if you play right into their hands in the process? I believe Gavin will do this with the mind games of the championship in mind. If we put out a strong side against his experimental side and win, we were expected to, so no skin off his nose. If we put out a strong side and just scrape by his weakened team it builds this ‘brilliant-squad’ thing that the dubs are pushing (and is faultering of late). It is no-lose for him and no-win for us. However, if we put out the same type of side it takes the sting out of any ploy he might be considering and it also keep the dubs guessing. They are on a low ebb at present, a meaningful result against mayo could restore their confidence.
My attendance has not been recorded for the cork game, and 2 other people on my account have not been recorder for the Kerry game. Iv been in contact with Croke park for the last 2 weeks via email and Phone. They claim there are no issues with the scanners. Its plain to be seen that there are major issues with them. They are refusing to update the attendances and yet they have updated some peoples. Seems very unfair to me. Very poor form from Croke Park.
It is also worth pointing out that Horan took a huge amount of flack for moving higgins into the backs in the final, and for bringing on Doherty also, who hadnt played in ages before that game. Now we are saying that higgins should have been at the back for the entire game and doherty should have started!
Which is it?
I dont believe it would get any monkey off our backs. Come august/september and march is long forgotten. In fact a win in march can often work against you in september, with talk of peaking too early and all the rest of it. The best thing to do is to try to win the game, but not lose sight of the bigger picture in the trying.
Maestro, I am talking about Higgins only. Let’s not confuse the issue.
I have had the same problem with season tickets for my 3 kids not being scanned correctly at both the Kerry and Cork games. No problems outside Castlebar so far. I have been emailing them daily since the problem with no success and getting the same generic response back. I even sent in photos one of the kids took on her phone to show they were there but still no joy yet. I rang today and they said they would see what they can do!! There is only one juvenile stile it seems in castlebar and the one guy to scan all tickets which is crazy.
Yeah, me too. My 2 daughters walked in behind me in the same turnstyle for the Cork game but 1 of them was not recorded. I contacted the correct website on the Wednesday but was given the same story as you all. 4 out of my 6 mates have all had the same problem. I did however get an email about “bring a friend” tickets for a tenner to Saturday nights game but as yet no response to another I email sent last night !!!
We are not letting it lie there though because one of my mates is in the legal profession and he spent a while looking at the terms and conditions of the ticket purchase and the contract involved between buyer and supplier. It looks like there could be a breach of contract between the buyers, i.e. us, and the supplier, i.e. the GAA. We bought the tickets on the understanding that if we presented ourselves and the ticket at the game then the attendance was recorded at the scanner and we were admitted. If the scanner failed, or any other system failed, that it the responsibilty of the GAA and its systems and no fault of ours. Therefore, we honoured our side of the contract but the GAA didn’t fulfill theirs and hence the possibility of a breach of contract.
Another question that should be asked is this, if our attendance did not register on their system why then were we admitted into the ground? Surely in that scenario we were unpaying customers and should not have been allowed in!!!
It reminds of the old days when an auld buck would sit in the kiosk with a USA Assorted Biscuit tin collecting fivers from everyone going in. The “offical” attendance would be announced as 3,000 when there might be double that in the stand alone!!! As the auld buck would say, “one for me, one for the GAA”.
Now though they have on-line systems and scanners and cards as season tickets and account holders and account ID’s etc. etc. etc. blah blah blah and they expect us to believe that they cannot back date attendance records!!!
We will see my friends, we will see.
Pebblesmeller, that’s a very well set out post there, questions were indeed asked and we all wondered, and after a stuttering start which I suppose was to be expected, it’s looking like there ticking all the boxes and things are shaping up nicely. What I don’t understand though is, your opening and closing lines refer to us not loosing sight of the bigger picture. Surely for Management, players and supporters the bigger picture is never far from their minds but in the mean time, as well as blooding new players, they must get on with the business of the League and the challenges that it brings. Survival in division one as you rightly say is a priority but we’re not quite there yet I think. We’re now at a point though where were we to win on Saturday, winning the League could easily become a reality and for a team bereft of national titles at senior level, this would be a huge shot in the arm to all concerned. And don’t underestimate what a win over the Dubs, even if it’s in the League would do for team morale – it would be priceless in my opinion and would not in any way distract from the bigger picture……
For a start, if we don’t win on Saturday, it’s 2 months without a meaningful game. It we do win, it’s a chance for 3 games instead of 1 to see our Castlebar lads in action, as well as more matches for Mikey Sweeney/ Cillian O’Connor/Tom Parsons/Andy Moran and in particular Chris Barrett to get up to competitive match sharpness. It would also arrest a 3 match losing streak against the Dubs which is just as important to our mindset.
Unless we lost Connacht, we won’t be playing Dublin until the final, and we will have showed our hand at that stage (as will they), so I don’t think there’s any point in “keeping the Dubs guessing”. Also, I think you may be overestimating the potential mind games involved in this one.
Winning is a habit. We should never shy away from winning winnable games.
Great stuff Pebblesmeller. I wrote something similar to the GAA season ticket department yesterday (as yet unacknowledged) and I am not letting this lie.
We were certainly wondering the same over here – it certainly seems there could potentially be a breach of contract – we should combine forces on this. There is a huge amount of anecdotal evidence from here and other sites to indicate that this is a significant issue and it is starting to gain momentum.
And telling paying customers that any problems which arise in future will not be rectified (I ask you!) is surely in itself questionable under the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act.
Sorry folks for hijacking this post – we are only distracting from the more important issue at hand which is of course Saturday’s game.
WJ can pass on my email address if anyone wants to get in touch regarding the season tickets debacle- there is strength in numbers, my friends 🙂
Sure can – anyone wanting to get in touch with Anne-Marie on this issue can either say so in the comments here or mail me at mayogaablog@ymail.com and I’ll take it from there. It sounds like one hell of a screw-up by the GAA and, to paraphrase someone else in a very different context, the way they’ve been dealing with it borders on ‘disgusting’!
That’s awful over the cards would ye be able to use them now on sat and I think croke park should take responsibly since it’s their system. CAnt wait for sat.
Just to add my tuppence worth on this;
1. I had my first ‘issue’ with our season tickets at the Mayo/Cork match last weekend. My Daughter and I went in one turnstile (tickets scanned by a guy), rest of the family went in another turnstile (tickets scanned by teenage Girl).
2. Checked our attendance on Tuesday and mine and Daughter (who followed me through the turnstile) were marked ‘not attended’
3. On Post Mortem we both decided that the Male ticket scanner was very inattentive, he scanned my Daughter’s card upside down while I was distracted in getting them all inside the ground.
4. The others (4 other in the Family) who were scanned by the Teenage Girl opined later that she was very diligent in ensuring that the cards were scanned properly.
5. Contacted ‘season Tickets’ (Incidentally like everything else in the world these days this in an outsourced service, outsourced by the GAA to tickets.ie so when you contact seasontickets you are actually contacting someone in tickets.ie) and was informed to check back on Thursday.
6. Checked back Thursday and still the same.
7. Checked back Friday and all was updated, I don’t know if we were manually updated or if the missing scans were indeed uploaded
I have some Sympathy here for tickets.ie/GAA if the person charged with ensuring that your card is scanned properly does not do his/her job then it becomes a bit of a mess (Seems to me that they would likely let you in by flashing your card, if only the scanner was connected to the turnstile then all would be well)
My advise; take it upon yourself to seek evidence that your card scans properly.
Digits I couldn’t agree more with your points above – that’s exactly as I see it. Winning is a habit and in Mayo’s case even more so , especially against the Dubs….
I’m not a believer in the “if they do this we should do that”kinda thing.This game will be forgotten come the late summer.As Digits said,just go out and try and win the effin game,and lets not try and be overthinking or 2nd guessin what Gavin is/isn’t plannin-plenty of time for HIM to be at that craic
Joe I hear you, but im more inclined to have Ger be told, stand back there by the 14 and, dont effin let anyoen pass you. If your man moves out, so be it, let him go! he wont score goals from the 21 or further out the field. yes, he may get a couple of points…but he wil have to earn them from longer range where the completion/success ratio is much lower and options are less.
Now simple in theory, but to execute is the key!
I dunno John…we want this, at least if not more than them. It will however be a real good baromemter as to where we are at from a capability perspective. We should win though, I’ll have to do the sums before predicting a winning margin though 😉
yeah, I dunno abou the monkey on the back either mayo Mchale…since when is there a monkey regarding the league? sure we havent won it in a while, but thats not anything to be going mental over. We are howver a team that that is the longest serving in Divison 1 and thats not winning anything but its sayign something! Getting back to the monkey/back etc, I dont believe Dublin are a monkey yo us either…yes they beat us three time last year, but still I wouldnt say its a monkey. they were the form team last season but one seaosn doesnt make it a monkey for us.
Anyway, enought about the monkeys. I expect we will win this one, and gain the confience to push on and win the league.
Kildare have as much chance of beating Derry , as the real Four goal McGee has of replacing Freeman on Saturday.
“As the auld buck would say, “one for me, one for the GAA”.
Thats brilliant Pebbles!
What a mess, I’m afraid to check me own.
I’d love to see us going all out at the start of this game and really taking the battle to the Dubs. If we are on top, I’d love to see scoring a goal or even goals. That’s what was missing in the All-Ireland final during that first 25 minutes. When we hit goals against Galway and Donegal last year you could just see the confidence flowing through our veins. In 3 games against them last year, they scored 6 goals while we only scored 1. Before the Cork match, a lot of people were saying that they were playing some great football and looked to be the most exciting team in the country. Mayo came out and beat them well. We are now at the stage where we want to move onto the next level. On our day we can beat any team but to beat the top teams consistently is where we want to get too. The Dubs will be missing some first choice players so we have to take advantage of this. When we met them in last year’s league semi-final, some of our key players were missing. They took full advantage of this, on that day. I hope that we do the same to them. At the moment in Division 1, you’d actually say that Derry have been the most consistent team so far. It won’t be an easy game against them in Castlebar. Apart from their first-half display against Cork away from home, they have being playing to a very high standard, so I’d like to see us wrap up the two points on Saturday evening. Donegal were the best team in Ireland in 2012, Dublin were the best in 2013, who will be the best team in 2014? Now is our chance to push on and try to claim this honour, continuing our present good form against the Dubs on Saturday evening.
And the best team generally wins the AI!
Mayo mcHale
You make a very valid point about how beating the Dubs would boost morale in the squad. I hadn’t considered just how important that is for this particular group of players right now who really have endured an awful lot of pain and disappointment.
Of crucial importance is not to suffer a bad beating. That could do a lot of harm……not that I believe that this will happen.
That would be great diehard! I know some people think that we have missed our chance, the last two years but I was just thinking about the Dubs in the early nineties. In 91, they lost the famous four game saga against Meath (games they should have won), who went on to the All-Ireland final that year. Then in 92 they lost the final against Donegal, who they were raging hot favourites to beat. Derry beat them in 93 in the semi-final by one point and went on to win the All-Ireland. Again they made the final in 94 but lost to Down. Finally they got over the line in 95 against Tyrone. It just shows that there is still hope for us as this is James Horan’s fourth year at the helm. They kept the faith so should we. Put it this way we have as good a chance as anyone, of landing the major titles and a better chance than most!
I am very hopeful. As I have been saying since Sep, if they have the appetite they certainly have the ability to go all the way. And the appetite certainly seems to be back in a big way.
And I have a feeling we could see a big performance on Sat night. I certainly hope so.
Yeah, you’d just love to see us keep up the consistency of performances. For example, Doc scored 1-3 from play against Cork. Can he do something similar against the Dubs? He does have the ability. I’d love to see Kevin McLoughlin get back in goal scoring form too, remember the goal against Cork in the 2011 quarter-final, that was a beauty. I wonder has he scored a goal for us since? Again he has the ability to do it as well.
I will let you know how we get on regarding the breach of contract issue.
He took flack for having Keith babysit a crocked Dublin forward, rather than let him raid forward and drive overlaps against the Dubs that fecked-up day. And he deserved the criticism he got for that! A shadow could have looked after O’Gara at that stage.
He should also have given Doc much more game time last year and he (rather we) paid the price for that too. Hopefully, he’s not going to repeat that again. The Doc, Freezer, Cillian and others need lots of games to build confidence and understanding.
So there’s no contradiction.
I agree Mayo McHale – the picture doesn’t have to be very big!
Sure it’s great that we have more options in defence and at midfield.
But the picture is very straight forward. We had very good backs, and midfield last year.
It was our forward options that were the problem. Fix the damn problem and allow the great parts to just get better.
We were very close in the last two years, so I say we should fix the parts that need fixing and quit messing with our backs!
The big picture is giving the next generation of Mayo senior players what we all really want – a winter of Sam visiting every club, pub and school in the county! Can you just picture that ?
WJ sorry to continue hijacking this thread, we will have to organise somewhere to collect all this info. Pebblesmeller, there has been a huge deviation in the T&C’s from last year, renewing season ticket holders were not informed of this (and is a totally different matter) Should we have been? 2013 & 2014 T&C’s below;
2013: https://www.gaa.ie/content/files/GAASeasonTicket2013TermsConditions.pdf
2014: http://www.gaa.ie/content/files/GAASeasonTicket2014_Terms&Conditions_1_1.pdf
Point 53 is a new one too!!!
Apologies again WJ for adding links here.
I agree with putting Keith back in his proper position but as for surely finding good forwards well that search has been going on for as long as I can remember
Cloud9, that would surely make all our dreams come through !!!
I dunno lads i can’t agree with ye regarding Higgins. It’s not necessarily about getting the best 15 out on the pitch but more so getting the best team out there. I can see the rationale of playing Higgins in the half forward line and I agree with it, almost alone, but I still agree with it.
Higgins is the best corner back in the country. No doubt. An All Star. By moving him to the half forward line I don’t believe he would ever be an All Star forward or even a prolific scorer but, it just might make the difference between us winning tight competitive games or losing them. It is a work in progress and undoubtedly it is far from being the perfect tactic yet, but, I honestly believe that if we can perfect his role on the ’40 it will give us so much more towards a functioning, penetrative and creative half forward line.
We have plenty of quality cover in the corners and I think we need Higgins more on the ’40 than we do in the corner.
But hey, what do I know?
No worries, Mick – it’s a topic that’s clearly of interest and one that definitely needs sorting so fire away.
Thanks for the replies guys, seems its a widespread issue after all. It’s simply not good enough, and bad form from the gaa to just give the generic bland reply that they cannot manually update records, especially when it appears they have updated some peoples tickets. While it doesn’t affect me personally as I live overseas I still hope the momentum continues on local media etc to correct these mistakes. Some people are now right on the edge as regards the minimum attendance requirement and what if there is more cock ups at the Derry game? It’s just not fair. Has anyone called the gaa season ticket office or is it only via email you can communicate about this issue?
I dont recall one from kevin mc since, it really was a thing of beauty !
His last one would have been the goal scored against Leitrim in the 2012 Connacht semi-final. Not as memorable as that cracker against Cork in 2011, though.
Pebbles,
Myself and my Mam & Dad attended the Kerry match in Castlebar. We all went through the same turnstile/scanner. Mams card and my card confirmed attendance. My Dads card attendance was not updated. I emailed them and they updated it for me no problems. If they are denying that they can do this I can email you a copy of the email they sent me…
If you wouldn’t mind that would be great. Thanks.
You won’t believe it. I just received an email from seasontickets.ie explaining that, on this 1 off occasion and as a gesture of goodwill, they will alter my attendance record for the missed scan.
100% record is intact.
1-0 to the little guy!!!
Just received an email from seasontickets.ie explaining that they WILL back date and correct the missed scan on my account. They said they are doing it as a one off gesture of goodwill and that any other complaints from this date on will not be accomodated UNLESS there is also a complaint by the county board hosting the game.
Everyone just make sure that the ticket is scanned and “bleeps” with the scanner.
I got that email too, Pebblesmeller. From Ronan Murhpy, the GAA Ticketing Manager, no less. They are agreeing to update my record as a goodwill gesture to me personally (clearly they were lying!).
If they think that puts this issue to bed, I’m afraid they have another think coming.
They have admitted in the email that “mistakes can be made”. Therefore, If an individual consumer has a complaint, they should be entitled to have that complaint investigated, and it should not be too much trouble to ensure that a reasonable solution is found.
Quote from the mail below (in bold): “We will update your attendance for the fixture in question here as a goodwill gesture to you personally. Please note that there will be no change to attendance made based upon a post-facto email for any fixture or from any Season Ticket holder where there were no issues reported by the County Board. There has to be a line drawn at some point to ensure the continued integrity of the attendance tracking; the corresponding access to All-Ireland tickets and the appeals process itself. Your email to us is that line. This is not a decision we have taken lightly as you can appreciate.”
I am not the one causing issues to the “integrity of the attendance tracking”, and I take issue with the tone of the mail, and the implication that my query was doing so. I have proof of attendance, and I am paying for the service, and surely to god it’s not too much to ask that a paying customer gets the service they are paying for without having to go through this rigmarole? What if there’s an issue at the Derry game?
I don’t get very angry very often, but by god, I’m annoyed by this.
It must be the red head, fiery? 🙂
I reckon we should revert back to the auld buck in the kiosk. Sure, are we not in recessionary times?
Not usually 😉
USA biscuit box it is! And hopping the wall on final day 😀
I got the same email. Made it sound like they are doing us a favour.
I sent them back another stinker. At this rate I’ll never be let back into Croke Park 😮
Cheers WJ, it would be great to see him score another memorable one like that one soon!
Pebbles,
That’s grand, but you shouldn’t have to depend on a goodwill gesture if you attended the game. It should be recorded, full stop.