Photo: Sportsjoe.ie (Inpho)
As has already been mentioned in the comments, the Mayo News confirmed via Twitter a bit earlier on that Corofin manager Stephen Rochford has this evening allowed his name to go forward for the vacant post of Mayo manager. Here’s the tweet confirming this hugely welcome development:
Stephen Rochford has confirmed that he ‘accepted a nomination’ today to allow his name go forward for the Mayo manager post. #mayogaa #gaa
— Mayo News – Sport (@mayonewssport) October 29, 2015
The deadline for nominations is this coming Sunday (November 1st) and so I suppose we could see other candidates emerging before then. However, with the Crossmolina man now a confirmed nominee for the job and by all accounts in the process of assembling a serious backroom team, he looks pretty much a racing certainty to get it. Which, on the face of it, you’d have to think can only be good news.
Great news, I hope he is successful and gets the backing needed.
Am I glad that things are now moving on. It has been strange times on the blog of late!
By all accounts it looks like it will be the only nomination. It will be interesting to see what his backroom team will look like in the finish.
I wonder who it will be did someone say t mcentee I don’t want to start rumours
Its great to be hearing some positive news again. Stephen was 27 when he started his coaching career, he was a selector with the Mayo minors at that time so it just shows that he is a ambitious man. If he is the only nomination then that would make his appointment pretty straight forward. Best of luck to him anyway if he is to be our next manager.
Great news for anyone worried we would struggle to find a decent candidate.
Fingers crossed there aren’t any more twists in the tail between now and the appointment of the new manager.
Stephan was a guest speaker at the Health and well being seminar held by Westport GAA tonight.He seems to be a down to earth sort of a fella .Good luck to him
Delighted. The outstanding and obvious candidate, especially if the rumoured backroom team is true.
However, the county board can still nominate a candidate of their own. It’ll be up to the clubs then, so bearing in mind the standard of genius that some clubs put forward as delegates, anything yet can happen.
Too much made of the potential double jobbing between club and county as the club scene will take a break over the winter months and there’s no certainty that Corofin will get out of Connaught.
Exciting times.
thank goodness he has officially stepped up. Best of luck to him, i can only imagine that the current players would relish the thought of working with him and his ideas. Can you imagine if he were to steer Mayo over the line next year in the league or championship? he would be a sought after commodity. who else is going to be in the race along with him? or can it be a 1 horse race?
“There is a tide in the affairs of men which taken at the flood lead on to fortune”, and all that. If a man has ambitions to lead his county at all then this surely is the time. The team is in place, resolute in the pursuit of the Holy Grail as they have shown, needing only a bit of tweaking and a bit of luck, such as avoiding ejits of refs like Cormac Reilly. Better by far to be taking over now than in a few years time when a team has to be rebuilt, possibly with less talent. And I cannot for the life see how a County Board could turn down his candidature or come up with a candidate of their own.
Pebblesmeller….You said that Rochford is ” the outstanding and obvious candidate”.. We have to be realistic and accept that he’s also the ONLY candidate and will hardly be turned down by the Co Board when he is the only manager in the entire country that has shown any interest in the job. Whilst it’s potentially an exciting appointment, we all need to face the realism that his appointment brings no guarantee of any higher success than that achieved by Messrs O’Mahony, Maughan, Moran, Horan and H/C.
Welcome aboard SR. If you do as much for Mayo football as JH we ll be witness to an entirely new era!
Hope the team regard you as highly as the Galways.
Two or three additions to lineup over the spring …tku!
Less talk about Holy Grail all around…tku!
Proper procedures on and off field including something new up front and back behind is as much as will be required of you and your charges.
If the end result is deserving of great rewards,then so be it…if not, sure isn’t that life!
He wouldn’t be my first or second choice, but what do I know. My fear is that he may not be able to hit the ground running. He will not get the support he needs to move to the next level. H & C done a fine job remember last year but ultimatly failed because they did not ratchet it up again from JH. If he gets the jobb I will support him all the way.
Doesn’t matter if he’s the only candidate as long as he’s the right one. From the outside looking in he looks good to me. Hopefully the rumours of his back room team are also correct. After that it’s back to the start and see where he takes us. But I certainly get a warm fuzzy feeling from this news!
Out of interest PJ, who would be your first or second choice out of realistic candidates?
Leaving Horan aside, I don’t think there are many (if any) candidates who would be a better prospect that Rochford.
Rochie is a very astute man. As I’ve said here before, the corofin lads will leave you in no doubt how good the they think he is! Leaves no stone unturned, and the most minute detail that most managers skip he doesn’t! Each player knows his job from throw in to final whistle! This is a very progressive move should it happen, and another proud day for Crossmolina ?
We have to be fully behind him.New impetus was needed certainly.
He has to be hos own man but also take advice on board and then reach his own decision.
I really do think this bumch of players need to go all out for last effort.Realistically if we cant do it this year its probably the end.Roscommon and Galway will become a force in mext few years in my view.Ros have good young lads coming and Mayo will need to match that.Its now or never.
great news, this means we have at least one very good candidate in the race , perhaps another one might emerge but I am aboard the Rochford wagon,
AndyD is right , its time to take the tide at the flood , not just the short sightedness of a senior draw that might avoid kerry and dublin but also the graduation of two massively talented minor teams to U21 eligibility , I am harping on about this for the last few months but U21 is massive this year!!
lets not eff this up ! this year could set us up for years!
Delighted that Stephen has allowed his name to go forward for the post of Mayo manager.
This is great news. Assuming he gets it, it will add a positive vibe to Mayo football on and off the pitch in terms of new ideas, excitement, potential new players all of that.
I think people will be excited to see a lot of new faces in the FBD.
For example the first FBD game will have a well above average attendance on the back of it. Similar the league games.
Not even second choice?! Who do you have ahead of him then?
From what I have heard of him, his attention to detail and general preparation is as good as anyone in the game, and his training is something players really respond to.
The way he stopped Connolly in the Corofin-Vincents game was quite ingenious. That to me suggests a very high level of understanding of the game. He didnt buy into the hype, he just studied the guy, found the way to play against him and matched a player to suit that specific job. It also suggests that he is capable of using ‘counter-punching’ tactics the way maybe horan wasnt, but the corofin attacking plan suggests he knew when to stop as to not over-subscribe to that style either, while H&C didnt. He strikes me as something similar to eamon fitzmaurice in his style.
I think we could be onto a winner here.
Cue the board appointing someone else…
Delighted, as this could have become some mess if he wasn’t interested, however his interview after the County Final was as big a come and get me plea as you could get, so I never had much doubt his name would go forward
I’ve no idea of how he’ll do (provided he gets it which is about 1/50 at this stage you’d imagine!), but we have no choice but to get behind him. Moaning about it isn’t going to achieve much right now! I’m sure it won’t stop some though
If the rumours of that backroom team are true, then it would be great news.
One thing about his Corofin tenure, he’s not afraid to leave out big names and seems very shrewd tactically. They play a lovely brand of football, and play very specific systems tailored around the opposition. They have the best club pick in Ireland but they still get the job done so effectively. It’s just a pity he can’t bring Sice and Steede with him!
Anyhow, exciting times, and roll on the new year!
Earlier yesterday I speculated that there could be a nomination for Rochie later in the evening – given that most committees won’t meet over the weekend.
That cuts both ways; if other nominations were emerging from inside they ought to be known now. External candidates might be somewhat different, but as many have been saying: realistically who is out there?
All this is another way of saying that, come Sunday, Rochie may be the only candidate (and one that I would be very happy with).
In that case the County Board should be able to fast forward the ratification process. Why not have that done and dusted next week, so that it won’t be December before he cou could bid the time of day to the panel?
Delighted he got the nomination.
I was seriously worried that he might not put his name forward.
After Horan saying he wasn’t interested, where would that have left us?? I could just see Maughan being parachuted in through being the only interested candidate.
Much as I admire the man for what he did previously, it would have been a serious backward step. Still, let’s not rule it out completely just yet…
You just can’t rule anything out when it comes to the crazy world of Mayo GAA
Steve you should remove that comment. Putting rumours you read about a potential member of the mayo management team you read on another forum isn’t what this blog is about. You clearly have no insight into how the dublin club team is managed and just want to spread rumours without any basis or understanding.
Stopping Connelly is not an easy task I grant you but Keegan made a good fist of it twice this year. I still have great time for him as a footballer. Tubberman you have I feel a better idea on this subject than I have but for what its worth my first choice was JH and my second was Buckley. JH brought a new approach each guy was challenged to improve their game, he operated a system that appeared to be fair and everyone bought in to it. Getting to the next level will involve a continuation of existing systems that have proven to be successful..
My friends in Corofin have always praised SR. But Corofin is no ordinary club. While we have some good clubs in Mayo I am not sure we have many to compare with them. Here’s the thing. A friend had a young man who was hoping to make the mayo panel and he was all excited that SR would be appointed and he wasn’t for what ever reason. He spoke very highly of SR.
Best of luck to Stephen Rochford I hope it goes well for him during his tenure if he gets it I’m just looking for consistency and for Mayo to be competitive if we win Sam it’s a bonus obviously we would all like to win Sam but I don’t think we should put a time frame on it that it has to be next year r were finished keep improving and see where it takes us
Stopping Connelly is not an easy task I grant you but Keegan made a good fist of it twice this year. I still have great time for him as a footballer. Tubberman you have I feel a better idea on this subject than I have but for what its worth my first choice was JH and my second was Buckley. JH brought a new approach each guy was challenged to improve their game, he operated a system that appeared to be fair and everyone bought in to it. Getting to the next level will involve a continuation of existing systems that have proven to be successful. We have always been very good at reinventing the wheel. Ask yourself if you were happywith the way we competed over the last few years. We should never return to the days of just being nice lads from Mayo.
My friends in Corofin have always praised SR. But Corofin is no ordinary club. While we have some good clubs in Mayo I am not sure we have many to compare with them. Here’s the thing. A friend had a young man who was hoping to make the mayo panel and he was all excited that SR would be appointed and he wasn’t for what ever reason. He spoke very highly of SR.
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Steve – I’d agree with John in Dubland that it’s not helpful at this stage to be speculating on the merits or otherwise of a possible member of Stephen’s backroom team should he be appointed. For the record, though, I’d personally have the height of respect for Tony McEntee.
Remove the comment so WJ. I am not in the business of causing upset here and never have. Apologies.
going to head in and have a look on that forum steve you have piqued my interest!
Some more info here in The Mayo News:
http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23021:rochford-throws-his-hat-in-ring-for-mayo-job&catid=14&Itemid=100008
@Catcol
While I agree that SR will in all likely hood be the sole candidate and one which I am delighted about, we still need to follow the proper procedure regarding his appointment.
The reason we seem to end up in a mess a lot of the time is because we fail to adhere to proper structures and procedures. A motion was put forward at the last CB meeting regarding a transparent contract being drawn up between the CB, players and management outlining all the roles and what is expected of each other. It was agreed that delegates (and as a consequence all supporters by way of press reporting) be allowed debate this agreement before its implemented.
This is a great opportunity to finally get a proper “job description” put in place as was intended by Castlebar when they put forward the motion at the county convention last year. Stephen Rochford will understand this and I think we should all let proper procedure happen for once in a Mayo mamagerial appointment.
Hasten slowly….
No worries, Steve, just deleted it now.
I would of preferred James Horan , i just think with this present panel and at this time , Horan was the man to come in.
But will be behind the management no matter who it is as that’s a supporters job and that’s all one can do as a supporter . We have no influence whatsoever in decisions ,even in soccer they can influence sack the board , manager or whatever in GAA you’re told to shut up and mind your manners ,even in here you get slaughtered if you don’t toe the line by some as if they are entitled to push their opinion on you.
Rochford despite all his fans in here has it all to prove and do shut up with all the corofin nonsense . It’s a far cry from an all Ireland Sunday with 80k and the whole country hyped up to a paddys day final . Horan came from club I hear you say , yep but he was also on Mayo teams in massive days out .
We will see and I hope I’m wrong but I believe it’s the wrong choice at this time.
Liam, agree with a lot of that.
However, both can and should be done. County Board should have charter, contract, job description all nailed down and, assuming they want him and he wants them the details can be agreed or amended with the least delay. The problem is we have lost time already, but if it is only one candidate, this is an opportunity to speed things up.
BTW, the ever alert Mayo News have more on that appearance by Rochie in Westport last night: http://tinyurl.com/ncknhmk
@Sean
I’m as big a supporter of James Horan as anybody. However, given that he didn’t want to come back at the moment what is the point of anyone here lamenting on what might have been. Think it’s time we focused on the new management.
Stephen Rochford was the Mayo minor captain. It’s nothing to be sniffed at and was a starter with Crossmolina. It ticks the box enough on that front.
We’ve had enough ex-players at this point. Rochford, like Wenger, like Mourinho, like Jack OConnor all played just off of elite level. They’re not scientists or suits when it comes to the smell of the leather on a match day.
“look it”, I would not be getting too excited, “Outside influences” will have a say in this process yet, and i would say the oppointment will come as a “bombshell” to the lot of ye.
Counting no chickens yet on this – we have made that mistake before. But I do feel that if it were to come to pass that this would be an excellent appointment and would go a long way to healing the divisions that have been created (or rather, exacerbated) by recent events. And that is before a ball is kicked in anger.
Sean, you’re right, Rochford has a lot to prove and the step up from club to intercounty is a very big one. Look at how well Corofin’s ‘big guns’ performed at intercounty level last year, for example. That said, I’ve felt for a long time that Rochford would be next in line for this role – I’m pretty sure I even predicted it here well over a year ago, though I didn’t anticipate it happening quite so soon. Like most others I have heard many good things about his attitude and way of working over the past few years that would fill me with a quiet optimism that if this comes to pass, it will set us on a good path in the long term. I don’t expect us to win Sam Magure next September a year into a new management structure. That would be the stuff of dreams. But I get the impression that Rochford will have his eye on the bigger picture in terms of bringing along our younger players and I would imagine that he would like to play a role in building a mroe streamlined and integrated path to progression for them in that regard.
As for James, I hold him in massive regard and would have had no major objections to his return but I would have been a bit uneasy. He had four years, and I can’t help thinking that one year out isn’t enough at this point. I would, however love see him return at a later stage further down the line. Earlier this week he mentioned he was enjoying “learning stuff about our games” and he has in the past made reference to the fact that he is learning as he goes which is interesting to hear. It would be great if one day we were to be the beneficiaries of that knowledge further down the line.
Interesting times ahead yet again on this journey.
I’m not sniffing at anything if that’s directed at me . My preferred choice was Horan for the reasons I have given , whether he didn’t feel it was a good idea to come back, personal reasons or for reasons that aren’t known , i was just stating my opinion that he was the best equipped at this time.
Time to move on I agree though and looking forward to getting down to pairc ui rinn on the 31 St of January already. New management is always interesting if nothing else. Corofin team plays a lot of classy forward type play , be interesting to see if he brings a touch of that to Mayo
It’s part of a phrase of speech, was not directed at you.
Anne Marie, in fairness Corofin only had 3 in the starting Galway team- bizarrely! That’s not down to a huge gap between club and county it’s down to several reasons, which I’ll outline in a sec
Firstly on the guys that were picked
Liam Silke had a very solid year, despite still being only an under 21 this year. His first year starting for Galway, only came in late in the league too so straight into the deep end
Gary Sice had his best year in a long time for the county, was immense v Derry and Armagh and got a cracker against us
Lundy has been burnt out since March, granted, however he was Galway’s best player in 2014. I still think these are 3 of galway’s most important players and I’d take all 3 for Mayo in a heartbeat
Now for those that weren’t picked. two of their best players Kieran McGrath and Daithi Burke weren’t available due to injury and hurling commitments respectively. Ian Burke withdrew from the panel himself. Kieran Fitz is long retired. Tom Healy gets bizarrely overlooked in goal at times. I guarantee Steede and Farragher will both start for Galway next year also, they were late re-joining the panel this year due to the All Ireland run.
Galway’s three best players on the under 21 team (which gave us a beating too) were Corofin players also- Molloy, Brady and Conor Cunningham. Only one starts for Corofin senior team, yet they still dominated against Mayo and Roscommon at under 21 county level
Managing such a high quality squad is as close as you can get to managing at inter county level for me. Corofin are riddled with county players and those who played underage. This has always been the case over the past 15 years when they have been cleaning up county titles, yet it’s only now they’ve won an All Ireland (since 98). Think Rochford’s role in driving them over the line cannot be underestimated
he manages his squad brilliantly too.
Thanks Ciaran for that background info on Corofin and Rochford.
Fair play Ciaran, some great info and analysis there – you make a compelling argument! Corofin were conspicious by their rather low profile on the Galway panel this year and I certainly thought Lundy who I thought would set the championship on fire last year, but as you say, long time on the road without a break. Makes for nice reassuring reading as a Mayo supporter too. I have only heard good things about the way Rochford manages.
Didn’t the Rossies beat Galway at U21 this year? Damien Comer would be up there for me as one of the best contributors, but that’s an aside anyway. And as Roger Milla said above U21 is absolutely massive for us next year – we have a big point to prove.
Hello, This Rochford sounds like the bee’s knees. All that impresses me is that he was Captain of a Mayo Minor team and that he is familiar with some of the current squad from his time as selector. If he was selecting James Nallen in support as opposed to someone from Armagh i would be more impressed
How can one judge the worth of someone managing talented Galway footballers.
I watched the 1st half of Mayo v Dublin in 2012 last night and it was breathtaking what James Horan had done with the team.
So looking forward to hearing what the players have to say.
Hopefully there will be other candidates.
Ciaran 2.
What a difference a day makes. Following on from all those negative comments of a few days ago, Willie Joe did us all a favour by posting that photo of Lough Tay. Mind you, I’m still hurting at the thought of Willie Joe’s 80k bike ride over the Dublin/Wicklow mountains last Sunday:)
It’s of course great news that Stephen Rochford has allowed his name go forward for the Mayo job. Fingers crossed now that the Co Board won’t throw a spanner in the works, purely to get back at the players – to show their authority, so to speak. Hopefully that won’t happen and other than putting in place this Charter the Board spoke of and getting all sides to sign up to It, we should have a new Management team in place by mid November.
Should all this go according to plan, we then can only wish Stephen well. Talk of landing the Holy Grail or stuff like that should be put to one side. No matter how good a Manager he is, or how good the panel of players he has available to him, he will still need time to bed in. And in sport as in life, thing never seem to go as smoothly as we would like.
I agree with MayoMcHale’s note of caution about support from the County Board! Think Billy Walsh and the IABA! Remember that the players took the power out of the County Boards hands to the extent that some CB’s officers did not know that there was discontent in the camp! It is only natural that they are wounded and my fear is that they won’t put their full weight behind SC and his team! For example they rejected KMcStay because he made demands they felt were unreasonable! There is talk of Tony McEntee being part of SC’s team and this will be expensive. Will the CB see this as an unreasonable demand?
Anne-Marie the Rossies did beat Galway at U21s this year tne hastings cup final and Connacht final in Tuam.Damien Comer would have been the stand out U-21 for Galway this year, M Farragher surprising only a sub for Galway U-21s.
Back to topic of Rochford, would have to wonder will there be any more nominations or is it just Rochford?
Had a nightmare last night that John O’Mahony was also nominated for the job…. by the Galway County Board!
As I said… a nightmare!
Just hope the simmering fear of implosion of this remarkable and resilient group of players can abate,and we can all look forward again to putting our best foot forward.Despite our recent turmoil I am constantly inspired by the efforts of all our players .As an ordinary supporter all I can hope for is that our county board renew their faith in our players and potential new management .Our heart and souls rhymes with their success or failure.No pressure!
Tubridy didn’t ask Jimmy McG if he would have any interest in the Mayo job. Pity.
Ciaran Yea I agree that was great analysis on Corofin
His desire to get the job has been well documented up in our neck of the woods (Galway) for a long time. Corofin put contingency plans in place for a good while ago.
It has always been acknowledged that the Corofin job was seen as a stepping stone for Stephen to hopefully one day lead Mayo, I think its coming much sooner than he expected!!
Best of luck to him and Mayo, he’s an ambitious forward-thinking manager who highly thought of up here in Galway.
Corofin’s success has paradoxically been counter productive to inter county success. Geographically its a huge catchment area with 6 primary feeder schools. Football is the major game played in the area. Belclare area once had a team of its own. If ever there was a case for splitting a catchment area in the interest of fairness its Corofin. Would I believe boost club competition immeasurably!
Hollymount,
You would swear that Corofin has a population of 20000, Some of your facts are little exaggerated there, Corofin GAA has two feeder schools, Belclare and Cummer, the other schools you speak also feed other GAA clubs, Sylane feed Kilconly, Annaghhill feed Monivea-abbey and Turloughmore, Castlehacket feed Annaghdown, Cornundrum feed Annaghdown and some kids from Ballinderry play football with Killererin. Belclare pitch is 4 miles from Corofin pitch. You forgot to mention that within eight miles of Corofin there are a lot of GAA clubs, Claregalway, Killererin, Tuam Stars, Annaghdown,Kilconly, Monivea-Abbey. Corofin also compete with Sylane and Turloughmore with dual players. The reason for Corofin success is not numbers it is purely coaching under the careful eye of Frank Morris in the last 20 years. For a club with no tradition they are an example to us all. Sure in fact did Claremorris GAA coaches not have Frank Morris down to advise on there underage structures and see the result this year with a Minor A title this year. Some people think the success is a one season wonder there success is a journey of 20 years and more never thinking of short term underage success win at all cost, the plan is to feed the senior team and have everybody else involved in the club at whatever level they can play at. Yes Mr Rochford may leave but they will still be the team to beat having won 4 of the last 5 Galway under 21 titles.
Gavin Duffy asked on ITV Sport about rumours linking him to backroom team. He was caught on the hop and his attempt at deflecting the question only seems to suggest that there is some truth to the rumour.
Momentum starting to build.
I like what Gaaloopie says! Any way of having Frank Morris cloned. Well done Claremorris again.! It’s not all about drama festivals and fringe festivals in that town!!
Delighted that Stephen Rochford has accepted the nomination.
During these long weeks of uncertainty there have been moments that should give us great hope for the future:
the courage, unity and belief shown by the players, the decency of Noel and Pat in stepping aside quickly, and the responsible and timely decision of James Horan.
Personally, I’m very happy that Stephen has accepted the nomination. He’s a fine reputation and done very well with a very good club side, so hopefully he won’t find the step up to much if he gets the nod from the powers that be.
I’m just wondering what will happen if Stephen get’s the job and goes all the way back to the All Ireland club final with Corofin. Mayo will have played most of their league games by that time that competition is over. I can’t see him being able to stay in charge of both sides, I wonder will the county board force him to step down from his current job or let him double job until it’s over?
Will the players be happy for him to double job through so much of the league if that’s what happens. Of course from a Mayo point of view, Castlebar might meet them in a Connacht final and knock them out and we won’t have to worry about that 😉
Lets not underestimate the ability of cb to put a spanner in the works..would be quite happy with rochford and rumoured backroom …however it all comes at a price ..another package that might be turned down.
First time poster, one has to ask the question about the Claremorris minors, where were they for the mayo minors.
Yes Luke you really have to try to see the positives in the situation. For me, it was seeing Stephen Rochford decline the offer from James Horan to join forces and having the courage to go it alone with his own team. The future may be bright after all.
No bother Mayo Mick/Anne Marie
Thought I’d put the mind at rest a bit Anne Marie 😀
You’e very correct re Comer actually, but he would have been the marquee player overall!
I do agree with the overall sentiment though, that it’s a big step up from any club team to inter county, but I’m sure he’ll relish it. Not many in Galway club circles would have a bad word to say about him on a personal or professional level which is very positive
Looking forward to 2016 already. We probably won’t have his full time commitment for the league but it’ll be interesting to see how much of an effort we put into it
^^^ Assuming he gets it, which lets be honest is 99% likely you’d imagine 😉
[Deleted].
WJ what was my last post not allowed up?
JP 2 – at the risk of giving you a Papal handle, I’ve altered the one you’ve used as there’s already another well-established JP who comments regularly on the site.
DB9 – you’re not allowed to make sweeping assertions about named players such as “he’s not county standard”. If you’re going to critique players, you need to be prepared to back this up with something better than this. And I’d stay clear of calling time on particular players as well. As a new contributor, you might want to have a read of the house rules (here) before posting another comment.
Claremorris minors! I was told none of them were picked!
Interesting to see if there will be any other nominations especially now that SR has been nominated. Am away at present and wondering if anyone has a link for the Western People articles from last week and especially articles about CB meeting?
Looking but can’t seem to find any links. Also was the players letter read out at this meeting?
Magic Mayo – it’s time to give it a rest about the letter. Lord knows, you’ve mentioned it often enough here. Let that be the final time.
Re Claremorris minors, I was at the Mayo minor final and I’m afraid I did not see any individual who might have made a difference to the county team. It was a very poor minor final. I was also at the match [mismatch?] v Galway. Whatever happened to Mayo minors this year appears even more mysterious when one considers Galway’s subsequent performances. Like the Irish rugby team I think injuries played a big part in Mayo’s 2015 minor demise.
Magic Mayo, I’m sure it will be in time available in the Rochford Files,,, sorry WJ couldn’t resist. Hope this nomination is well oiled and well supported on stand and field for all concerned.
Sorry WJ, I didn’t realise that the letter was a topic off limits also. We’ll leave it there so.
Watched the Jim McGuinness interview on the Late Late Show last night and was shocked to hear him say, that some on the Co Board wanted him to fail, even to the detriment of the Donegal football. This would never happen in Mayo – surely not ?
Gaa loopy, SR could not possibly have missed with Corofin. Look at the quality of players consistently on treadmill. As for e. g. Sylane primary being a feeder for Kilconly how many were involved in relegation battle with Kilkerrin Clonberne? Last player seemingly was a retired Corofin player back in 80’s!
I see JP Lambe is not putting his name forward for treasurer next year.
Have to say that Hollymount Carramore got a big run for their money v Melvin Gaels today, winning by two points after extra time. I have no connection with either club but it was such a good day for football and a little bird had told me to expect a big challenge from the Leitrim men so I went along. HollyCarra were on top in first half and also first half of extra time but Melvin G won the other two “halves” decisively. Were HollyCarra a bit complacent? If so it’s an attitude which will not work in the Connacht Final.
Great to read some positive comments again,,,dull few weeks ,,, anyway hopefully stephen gets it and good luck to him and the team ,, bring on the FBD !
I see that both the Leinster (St. Vincents) and the Ulster (Slaughtneil) champions were beaten today. The Munster champions (Austin Stacks) have already lost, so only Corofin, the Connacht champions are still standing. It just shows how hard it is to retain the club provincial championship. The All-Ireland series is wide open now, so whoever wins the Connacht title will have as good a chance as any team of winning the All-Ireland title.
@ Liam I also read somewhere that Aidan McLoughlin PRO will be moving on from the role because of term limits or some such …
That’s a big shock in Dublin I don’t think even WJ here saw that coming? Connolly held scoreless.
St Vincents are out. What surprised me was the length of time they lived at the top in Dublin. The competition there is massive. Ballyboden will not be a soft touch either who ever is meeting them next Feb. I am not expecting Portlaois to topple them in Leinster, but stranger things happen. Corofin could be the only semi finalists returning to centre stage next year.
Great words by John Cuffe in 2013. They are equally valid today.
John Cuffe says:
September 29, 2013 at 11:16 am
Absolutely delighted to see the gloves coming on and the real questions being asked.My piece Harvest Time was in essence a cup of coffee and biscuit to have while we pondered. Harmless in essence with maybe a few posers.
Thank god people are now coming out and calling it as it is. This is Mayo we are talking about and Satan himself can lead us over the line if that’s whats needed. However we have gotten trammeled in the narrative. Its all first names lovey dovey stuff, “James, Alan, Andy, Ger” or worse, their Twitter handles. When you get that close you become part of the picture, not a critic or expectant. Criticism is viewed as treachery when criticism, valid criticism, should be viewed as informative and welcomed……….
………………………….
The manager and players, the county board and its camp followers are the servants of the Mayo people. The represent us and reflect us. They are not an elite or closed shop. Don’t ever forget that. Next season I want to see a clear out of lads who , great players they are, cannot function on the last day of the season.I don’t want to read what I read last year that Such and Such wont retire wont retire until they won an All Ireland. The arrogance, no mention “of course if picked by the manager”.
Every All Ireland won recently has been part won with a couple of “dogs” on the pitch. The term “dogs” was given to me by the great Pat Lindsey, it is a term of affection given to scrappers and enforcers. Mick Lyons, Ricey McMenamon,Pat O Neill, Joe McMahon,The Iron Man From Rhode type of guys. Toss in Connolly and Brennan from Dublin this year. First picks on any team I would send out. We need them in Mayo and they are there. Unleash them .
Lets stop elevating and hanging on every word that is crumbed to us begrudgingly. Lets ask the questions we want to from those who represent us. They are not an elite, they are but a portion of a journey started back in 1951 and soon some of them will step down and back into the green and red hordes. I have seen kings crowned in Mayo and they weren’t even corporals but we do that time and time again. Stop it.
*** Mick Mulderrig won his first All Ireland at 19, Peter Solon was also 19.
Sorry that your club St Vincent’s were beaten today, Wille Joe! Ye had a great run!! Well done!
I sure didn’t MO2015 and I wasn’t the only one! Big, big shock.
Mayo Magic, i am puzzled as to why you would quote John Cuffe from 2013.
John was a little down in the dumps that day. Who exactly did he not want to see in 2014?
I agree we may get a bit over familiar with the names but hardly something to rant about.
I am not sure he wanted dogs on the team. It was obviously written in the heat of the moment.
Ciaran 2.
We don’t need that much to get us over the line. We have the players no doubt we just need to get the best out of them on the big days which thankfully lie ahead. Hopefully Stephen can gain the trust of the players and spur them on to finish the job.
So, only one nomination. Just hope the CB don’t try to pull another fast one, by nominating someone else.
No, from the statement they released, it seems he has the job and it’s only a matter of confirming his backroom team. Unless I read it wrong?
Well best of luck to Stephen. You’d love to see everyone in the county getting fully behind him now, the county board, players, supporters, former players, local media, former managers and fans. We’re all in it together!
http://www.mayogaa.com/news/368080/Update_Re_Mayo_Senior_Football_Team_Manager
Why didn’t the other clubs at least give their nominations? When H&C stepped aside I was sure this Mayo job would attract plenty of interest and with more than one nomination.
Mayo Magic, don’t see why you have to be critical of the outgoing Management team. We know James Horan brought a lot of pride back into Mayo football during his time as Manager and with a bit of luck might have gotten us over the line.
Last years following their appointment, joint Managers Pat and Noel wasted no time in spreading the net and brought in some new players to strengthen the panel. It would be safe to assume that following an acceptable run in the League they knew more or less the squad of players they would face into the Championship with – in other words, they were the best players available to them at that time. The fact that it didn’t work out is now history and sadly marked down as yet another failed attempt in our quest for Sam. I’m sure that on reflection, both Management and players would accept mistakes were made on both sides – fair enough.
But now you appear to be telling the new Management Team who ever they might be, how to do their job. Now unless you are in a position of influence, I would respectfully suggest that you allow the new guys time to bed in and find their feet. I have no doubt they too will scan the horizon for any new talent that’s out there and should be well capable of making up their own minds as to what dogs will represent Mayo in 2016.
“Lets stop elevating and hanging on every word that is crumbed to us begrudgingly. Lets ask the questions we want to from those who represent us”.
Assuming that this logic is carried across the board and extended to those who are running the business of Mayo football off the field, I have no issue with it. But no-one is a “servant”. Not county board officials, not managers, not players. Particularly not the players, who owe this jersey or indeed, those who make the choice (for it is a choice) to follow Mayo football, nothing.
Well said Anne Marie; now do you see how good condensed pieces can have the proper effect?..like a good machine gunner’ short accurate bursts
I’m not the best shot Citog, I like to cover all the angles just in case 😉
In simple terms he has to deliver the big one. Furthermore, he has to be seen to be moving to the next step by the players or he too will be out on his ear after a short period.I am concerned about his lack of experience at this level. In saying that I was concerned about Horan too when he took over, but did well.
Must instil into the team to close out games when in winning positions
I Wish him all the best