Image: Seaofgreenandred
2013, with its soaring highs and crashing lows, is almost behind us: two weeks tomorrow is New Year’s Day and once the lads get back from Dubai shortly after that the FBD will have started up and the first of those Club ’51 banners will have been unfurled.
But before all that, the above infographic – which comes courtesy of Seán Óg at Seaofgreenandred – neatly sums up all you need to know about what happened for us at senior level this year. Double-click on the image to see the infographic in all its glory, as it spells out all the essential facts on a year where we came so close but which we leave with so many regrets about what might have been.
Season tickets arrived yesterday, FBD and league fixtures pencilled in to the calender and the flights to JFK are booked. F**k it, there is no point in stopping now. Let’s keep it going for another year and you never know, this may be our year. If the players and management are committed and determined to give it another go then we should be more so. We are not far off and there are 28 or 29 other counties that would love to be in our position.
As was said in ’89, Keep the Faith.
Hon Mayo.
That’s the spirit pebbles!!
It will come down to learning the lessons and not making as many.
Well said David.
Great info graph (new term on me), one for the wall and the addition of next year will be interesting.
One small error on the caption over last years final, giving Donegal a 5 pointy win, but a loss was a loss none the less.
Spotted that too and also a typo in David Clarke’s name. Great idea tho – I really like it !
I have an inkling that Santa Claus is going to bring me a Season Ticket.. Fair play to that Santa, he’s a great man.. Bring on the FBD
Thanks for pointing those out lads, if ye have any other ideas for a new one I’d like to do another one.
I would be quite confident about the year ahead. Hopefully we will have more luck with injuries than last year and the extra experience and pain endured will harden our resolve to finish the job.
I was not as devastated about last years result as some appear to have been, disappointed yes, devastated or dejected no. I see, and saw prior to the final, Dublin as a top quality team and for that reason I could only see us scraping through. Apart from injuries we have been unlucky to meet with top quality teams in finals unlike, for example, Galway who met “softies” in Kildare in ’98 and an overconfident and complacent Meath in ’01. Some finals are more easily won than others, 2010 being the easiest of the recent ones. My test for quality: where did the finalists, particularly the losers, go in subsequent years.
As I said before the final we are like medieval pilgrims on the Camino, we do not know if the horizon ahead marks the end of our journey or merely another hilltop along the way but whichever we will march on until we achieve our goal.
Don’t think Andy it’s fair to belittle any County their AI wins, teams can only beat what’s in front of them. Sadly for us though, with a bit more belief we could and should have beaten a few of the teams we met too.
Agree Mayo McHale. Any team that wins an AI gets my respect for stepping up and closing the deal on the day. Donegal came there in 2012 to play in their second AI appearance and like 2002 they won – no speeches about winning it next year. I most definitely respect them for that.
Kerry ’97 was a very ordinary side with only 1 outstanding player in Fitzgearld. They were also a side we had beaten in the semi-final the year before so there should not have been inferiority complex. That was as handy a final as you could hope to get and yet we failed to perform and lost. And, in my humble opinion, Dublin were waiting to be beaten in the last 10 mins of this years final and yet we couldn’t do it. As I said here before, the winners write history and the losers make excuses.
Galway got their handy (I don’t think I’d ever call Meath handy) finals but made it count by winning them. That’s the difference.
From what I hear the panel went back training 01 Nov, some before that, and word has it they’re even more focused and driven that the previous 3 years.
So while we’re enjoying the festivities these lads are preparing for what will be another huge year.
2014 will be another rollercoaster and we the supporters are lucky ones that get to enjoy it!
Can’t wait – C’mon MAYO…
I am of the same mind AndyD , that was far from my worst final , i was physically ill in 2006 , went home to bed and turned off every light in the house, deleted up for the final and the game itself off the skyplus.
we are in shape to win this thing , we are in the conversation every year now , 2004 and 2006 showed us how far off we were.
Will burnout be a factor? That date you said meant they had a month or so off.
Hardly enough I think.
Maybe the training they are at is just to keep them ticking over?
Heard they were back in camp in early November aswell.
Lads and lassies I have a problem here. Can anyone answer it???
Can anyone explain to me why, in my opinion and that of many others, the best team in the country and the best Mayo team for years, failed to perform on the biggest day in the GAA calendar and the biggest day of their sporting life??
Don’t anyone tell me Dublin were a better team, they were not. If Mayo had taken their chances, etc; etc; they would have been out of sight at half time and would be the new All Ireland Champions.
Where were the plain, dogged guts, the desire to win at all costs???
We are now told to move on and have hope again for next year. We have to be positive, blah, blah, blah!! We dared to hope this year because we had a great team.
You can analyze all you like and make as many excuses as you like but the question still remains Why, oh why, oh why???
I would suggest these are no more than bonding sessions at this stage, a way of keeping everyone on board for next year. Last thing the Manager would wants right now, are players announcing there retirement from the Co panel. I would imaging they will be allowed relax and enjoy Christmas and the well deserved team holiday – then and only then, should they be eased into winter training. It would also be reasonable to assume the FBD will not figure to prominently in their plans in 2014……
MM, How about one for our brilliant 2013 minor team?
Can MacHale Park really hold 42k?
I wouldn’t say Kildare were softies in 1998, they bet the 95,96 and 97 All Ireland winners on route to that All Ireland final, they were seen it the same light as Donegal were in 2012 e.g their manager received most of the praise.
Has anyone left the panel?
I thought collective training wasn’t allowed for Mayo until December 29th?
According to here it can http://www.harlequinhotelcastlebar.ie/mchale-park.html Wikipedia said 36000 though. Working on the minor one now.
They can all train individually, with programs supplied to them by the trainers/physios/S&R lads. There is no-one going to stop them going to the gym, going for a swim/run/cycle. The old rule of thumb was that you lost approx. 50% of the fitness/stamina/power you gained from training during the season, in the odd season. That is why it has generally taken 3 seasons to get physical and conditioning levels up to the required level. If you like it is a case of 2 steps forward and 1 back. So, in effect, you are developing 50% each season. With the fitness levels required now, as evidenced in the final when BOTH sides were seriously fatigued after 25 mins, you cannot afford to allow that to happen. If you are in it to win it you have to keep those fitness/stamina/conditioning levels up and only allow for the rest and recovery, which is just as important.
“in the odd season” I meant in the OFF season.
Pebble
How much of a rests too much? Am I way of the mark thinking that a 2 or 3 month break with just light ” tick over” training is too much?
How can pro sports players run for a full 90 minutes, and still no sign of fatigue? Remember the great ciaran Mac in 2006, he ran the length of the field at pace to receive the pass for his winning score.
How were Dublin and Mayo fatigued after 25 minutes? Surely they have have short periods when the ball is dead or the other end of the field where they get a breather?
It’s a very interesting conversation, maybe we have to use the guys that can commit to the training rather than the athletes that won’t or can’t commit.
David,
I think a 2 month rest is pushing it and 3 months is definitely too long. With player specific training programs designed for each individual, taking into account their position on the field of play and their physical attributes, added to the increased knowledge of injury prevention through prehab and the increased awareness of the importance of rest and hydration, I believe that the players can (assuming they want to) continue to train alone at a relatively high level. At this stage the players must be trusted to maintain their weight/body fat ratios etc. during the off season and return to collective training in relatively good shape. I could be wrong but I believe that the “break” from training is more important from the mental side of things moreso than the physical. The constant mental fatigue of preparing to train, getting to training, training, watching your diet and sleep patterns, recovering from bangs and knocks, etc. etc. can be draining and a switch-off is needed.
“How can pro sports players run for a full 90 minutes, and still no sign of fatigue?” Because they are exactly that, professional sports people. Professional athletes don’t have to get up for work at 6am or 7am and then maybe drive an hour to work and then work an 8 or 9 hour day. Then go home, prepare a proper meal, drive maybe another hour to training, train for 90 mins, go home, wash your gear and get ready to do it all again tommorrow. Professional athletes can lay in bed until 9am, travel 30 mins to “work”, train for 2 hours, have a phsyio or a massage work on them for 30 mins, be fed a pre-designed meal to replace calories/carbs etc., throw their gear in a basket for someone else to worry about, get their boots cleaned for them and then f**k off home with their €50,000 pay cheque to their wag. Different world I am afraid.
Ciaran Mac’s point? Will we ever ever forget it? But that was a different time and a very different game back then. The game was played at a much slower pace, the intensity wasn’t as high so it was easier to conserve energy and Mac was an animal of an athlete so there were very few players that could do what he did that day.
As for the 2 teams being fatigued after 25 mins? I think it is understandable when you consider a number of things.
1. Both teams started explosively, very very fast and very very intense. That is the way Dublin started all season and Mayo had to match them to stay in the game. No-one pushed the Dubs to their physical limits as much as Mayo did that day and that is one of the reasons.
2. It was also a very warm day (27oC I think?) with little or no wind/breeze at pitch level. This is important because it is more difficult to breathe in warm still air and get it into your lungs. I am no physician but I believe your system has to work harder to get the oxygen out into your muscles etc than on a cooler day. At the level of intensity which the game started at, it added to the fatigue factor.
3. Nerves, anxiety and fear are all mentally draining and all the players would have been experiencing some, or all, of these emotions. Some players would suffer more than others and experience would play a part in All Ireland Final day but nerves/fear would have played a part in the fatigue shown by the players.
4. The severity of the hits and the impact of those on the players in the opening 25 mins were pretty severe. The 2 fittest best conditioned teams in the country went at it hammer and tongs and that resulted in both sets of players being exhausted early on. Players can run faster now, are heavier through better S&C and are carrying less body fat. As muscle is denser than fat, the impact of two 75kg players colliding at 15kmph with no regard for their own safety will really take it out of the body. If this impact happens 6 or 7 times in 25mins then you would certainly feel the effects of it.
At the end of the day, the 6 easy scores we missed from 9 chances in the first half did for us. We should have been (even allowing for the Dublin goal) 6 or 7 points up at half time. Then we could have conserved energy by playing a counter attacking game and withdrawn a half forward to play as an extra defender.
Enough said I think.
Hon Mayo.
Pebblesmeller – that has to rate as a jaw dropping diagnosis on the GAA and Mayo field of play. Wow!!! We have a genius in our midst. Brilliant stuff!!!
Yeah totally agree, what a superb piece of analysis Pebblesmeller. Good to have you back in the fold after a lot of the rameis that was posted after the final.
Thanks lads. The heart and spirit were broken after the final but time moves on and so will we.
Yes pebbles
Well written piece.
Merry Christmas to all and lets hope 2014 is the year we finally land the big one.
WJ mentions “soaring highs and crashing lows” above and no better way to describe it. It’s been a rollercoaster of a year but what has been consistent is the great sense of community, passion for the game and the craic here on this site.
To all you Mayo folk at home and abroad – be safe, warm and happy over the next few days and see you back here in 2014 for another crack at the big one.