With the four candidates who have been nominated to fill the vacant post of Mayo manager now identified, it might be useful to outline the broad shape of the process from here, a process that, all going well, should see the new manager of the Mayo Senior team in position before the end of this month.
The first step has, of course, already been taken. Nominations for the position had to be submitted to Mayo GAA ahead of last Friday evening, by which time Ray Dempsey, Kevin McStay, Mike Solan and Declan Shaw had all been duly nominated.
Details of the proposed backroom teams for all of the candidates bar Ray Dempsey have also been announced. Naming these teams was not necessary under the appointment process, nor is there any issue with a management team not being named.
From here on, the selection process is being dealt with by Mayo GAA within the framework of a management appointments policy that forms part of the Mayo GAA Operations Manual. These were put in place under the chairmanship of Liam Moffatt and the policy has already been used for the appointment of Maurice Sheridan to the U20 manager’s position and Seán Deane’s appointment as manager of the Minors.
Under the process, all nominees are sent an application form, which, once completed and returned, is followed by a formal interview.
The interviews will be conducted by a sub-committee appointed by the Mayo GAA Executive. According to a piece by Michael Gallagher in this week’s Mayo News (paper and digital variants) that sub-committee was due to have been appointed by the Executive last night.
The reason this couldn’t have happened sooner was, according to that piece referenced above, because the nominations had to finalised first. Members of the sub-committee are obliged to sign a declaration that they have no conflict of interest with respect to any of the candidates nominated.
Under the appointments policy, the sub-committee comprises at least five people, drawn from the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer of Mayo GAA, the Coaching Officer of Mayo GAA, a former county player, an external HR person and ‘AN Other’.
The interview process itself has two parts. The first is a twenty-minute presentation where candidates will, according to that piece mentioned above, be expected to outline their “vision for the position, skills, experience, team expectations, backroom team and resources required, management style, indicative budget and why he/she is the best candidate for the position.”
This is followed by a competency-based interview. Anyone who has either conducted an interview or been interviewed for a job over the last twenty years is likely to know all about how this works. The group doing the interview identifies a number of key skills – competencies – and then the interviewee is asked to provide specific examples highlighting where they used that skill to good effect.
The appointment sub-committee will have to, based on each candidate’s presentation and the interview they do, agree on which of the four should be recommended for appointment. This will be no easy task: four excellent candidates have been nominated the post and they’ll all bring different plans to the table, which all might sound good in theory but only one of which will get to be implemented in practice.
Once the sub-committee has decided which candidate should be recommended to Mayo GAA for ratification, that recommendation is then brought to the Executive and the full County Board for formal approval. That’s the point we’re expected to get to by the end of this month.
For those of us looking on, it’s easy to judge – or even pre-judge – everyone involved in this process, from the candidates themselves, to the appointment sub-committee, the Executive and the County Board. Yes, it’s always easy being the hurler – or, indeed, the tweeter – on the ditch.
This is a big decision, one that will set the direction for the county’s Senior team over the coming three or four years. It’s a period in which we all want to see the team back competing at the highest level, once more shooting for the stars, this time hopefully going all the way.
The new manager will need to share this ambition and will know it’s his job to do all in his power to make this dream a reality. Those whose job it is to select that person will know this too.
The best of luck to those entrusted with the role of evaluating the candidates and recommending which of them should be appointed and the best of luck too to all four brave individuals who have allowed their names to go forward for this hugely important role.
Amen, Willie Joe….best of luck to each of them and may the best candidate be chosen to lead our team into the next few years.
Maigheo abú
Thank you Willie Joe for all your updates and your work on keeping this blog respectable and keeping us Mayo supporters sane.
And breathe….
Best of luck to CB and each candidate.
Thanks WJ – that’s informative.
Just been pedantic/curious so apologies. In Mayo News Dermot Butler is quoted as “a number of names have been submitted”. He doesnt confirm names (rightly so) but also I dont think he says number Do we actually know the final number is four?
Fairly sure this is / will be the final number of candidates but above all counties we would be the one county for a candidate to appear from nowhere!
Thanks Willy Joe for that concise piece.
MacStey and Demsey seem to be the two favourite for the position – macstey with a decent backrom team.
I sippose the real deal breaker will be who can set up the best plan to win sam.
Hopefuly the manger will bring in a gorilla selector who has climbed the mountan and grabbed sam. The gorilla could be the manger himself – like gavin or coadie – and create an uncomfortable envirenment for the players where they are pushed to play there best every game!! May the best manger be apointed!!
The fundamental issue with the appointment is the lack of information regarding what is the criteria for the job.
Everyone has their opinion on who should get the job but the CB must be using set criteria to decide who’s the best candidate…what is that criteria?
The ‘process’ from the Operations Manual’ sounds grandiose but it’s standard fare really i.e.complete an application form if interested and do an interview- nothing new there!
The burning question is what criteria do they use to distinguish between candidates?
For example, all the candidates will set out their ‘vision’ but how does the CB decide who has the ‘best vision’?
I dis-like the lack of transparency regarding how they will actually make their decision.
Dare I say, how do we know that they haven’t made the decision already? Just a thought!
I do feel the road ahead is wide open. It is yet to be seen who best comes through the process. It may not necessarily be those we consider most experienced.
Firstly, providing a convincing outline of plans and the roles of the backroom team in a presentation will test candidates. Strong preparation is needed here.
Secondly, responding to the skills asked by the interviewing panel is another stern test. The answers will need to have been thought about ahead of time and be convincing. It won’t be a matter of just “yes, I have this skill” or “no, I don’t”, but I imagine each candidate will get a mark out of ten/one hundred as to how well their example displays the skill(s) in question. This will allow candidates to be ranked in different categories. (It gives me a sweat thinking about this – LOL).
Thirdly, with regard to Kevin McStay’s proposed team, the issue for me is – how well will all these experienced, mature personalities work together? Can they work together as part of a team? Has that been thought about? I feel that is an issue that Kevin needs to spend time and care hammering out before the interviews and before any advance into managing this team. There are a lot of different minds here. Discipline will be needed to work together.
Budget might have a big say in it.. unfortunately.. McStay looks the best bet on paper.. Plenty experience on his ticket., But expect the process to get messy as it tends to in these situations
Good God……I take my hat off to every candidate and everyone on the subcommittee as well. A pretty thankless task and could be a “damned if they do and damned if they don’t” situation. I think we all need to take a breath and put ourselves in the subcommittee’s shoes. No matter how much you want to be totally neutral to all candidates it’s pretty hard not to have a plus or negative feeling towards one or more. Just human nature as is blatantly obvious from other blogs on here. Of all our posters I believe you’d be hard pressed to form an interviewing committee of totally unbiased individuals. Being all from the same county and most likely some from the same regions as the candidates means we are expecting the interviewers to be able to do something that we or at least myself could not do…..be totally open minded. Best of luck to them all and whatever the outcome, cut them some slack. It’s the ultimate thankless job.
You’re right there Joe G! I’m glad we have some more transparency on the process involved, something I was querying without success last week.
Time to leave them it at this point.
Thanks for updating the process WJ.
But my God, Would a Jim Gavin or Jimmy McGuiness or any other “top” manager from outside the county submit themselves to this process? I fear not.
You think Pep G had to go through interviews like this when he went to Man City?
Personally, I think it’s an insult to most of these guys.
Maybe I am being too negative. Happy to be corrected.
May9mick2 I think the process should be commended.
4 good candidates. We have our preferences. This is an emotionless process that allows them put their case forwarded, be challenged and assessed, with the CB picking the person who best provides what THEY want. And that is the big question – we don’t know what is important to them.
Anybody criticisng the process right now is really nitpicking. We may not like the outcome but that will not make it a shambles
Interesting to read that naming of backroom teams was not necessary. I’m sure each candidate would have been told that before submission. Further begs the question as to why it was done. Regardless, it seems to be a detailed process.
MayoMick2 I would think if a high quality outsider like a Gavin or McGuinness were approached, they would respect the process but I would also think their CV would guarantee them the job.
Jr very unfair for all involved to make a statement like that.
The more I research McStay and McHale’s stay in Roscommon, the more doubts I have. The 2 good points of their stint was a promotion to Division 1 and a Connacht title after beating the might that was Leitrim and Galway at the time. The bad points were demotion from Division 1 and Roscommon going out of the All-Ireland championship’s by conceding 4-19, 4-24 and 4-24 in 3 matches. Those are gaelic football, not cricket scores by the way. They had the players too, until those same player started to leave the panel for various reasons, but they just didn’t have a clue what to do with them in my opinion. At that time, Roscommon had contested 7 Connacht under 21 finals in a row, winning 4 of them. Maybe they should have patched up their differences with Fergal O’Donnell instead of letting him go his seperate way. What Mayo would have done to have had that under 21 record back then. I want to hear concrete facts about McStay and McHales time in Roscommon that would show why they should get the Mayo gig. I haven’t seen a shred of evidence yet though to this effect. Some posters seem to think McStay and McHale should get it out of sympathy just because he didn’t get it the last time. I just cannot get my head around it. Mayo would have won plenty of All-Ireland titles if they could be won with sympathy. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. I don’t know why are people choosing to ignore the facts. I sincerely hope the Mayo county board aren’t as blind.
Doesn’t help when lads like JR come on and post stuff like that.
It’s time to leave them at it now.I had a preference for who I wanted but at this stage they’re all very competent tickets,there’s no right or wrong answer and there’s a huge amount of luck involved.
If we have our full panel name fit next year we can go all the way.
Jesus you’d have to feel for members of the CB , shur no matter what they do , there will be a section of the support base annoyed and angry .
I think its a solid process and meets best practice, comments about others not having to go through something like this and mentions of premiership soccer managers are just ramaish in my opinion.
The only critique I would have is that a 20 minute pitch in terms of the presentation isnt really enough, I have been on both ends of that and while being succinct and to the point is a talent, 20 minutes doesn’t allow enough time for the panel to ask questions or challenge the presentation for something as wide ranging as this.
The logistics may not make it possible but reducing 4 to 2 and coming back to take a more detailed look at the remining 2 might have been a good idea also. Its often only after an interview do certain points raise themselves in the minds of the interviewers and a second go round can tell alot. I’ve seen people after first round looking like “the one” and a line of questioning in the second round expose some of their ideas and plans to either not being well thought through or not making sense.
Anyway best of luck to all involved and hoping we can all just focus on club football or something for the next few weeks. There is no point speculating or listening to rumours at this stage as I would say 90% of them are “up in the air and as wide as a f*cking gate” as the great Jimmy would say
@ the west is best
How did the research go on the others teams (other than mcstays) intercounty management experience
None of the others have managed a game in croke park
Brigid’s under Mcstay won a club all Ireland. 8pts down at HT against ballymun. And they beat crossmaglen in the semi.
Who on the other tickets can compare to Mcstay or rochford for their experience.
Best of luck to the candidates,my personal preference is the McStay ticket because of Stephen Rochford,and I feel that Kerry had a very successful underage manager which did not work out,we have proven senior inter county managers on the McStay ticket,not on the other candidates tickets,however we must hope that we get the best management team which I believe Liam Moffat deserves credit for the process
@Mark Ray Dempsey managed the minors in 2008, 2009 in Croke Park. Not that it’s going to have any bearing on who gets it. I understand you probably mean senior team.
Agreed Sean Burke – but I would safely say that when the manager / “management team” is eventually in place and the dust settles and player trials and the like start the vast majority of supporters will row in behind whoever gets the gig. One thing that was unanimous after this year is that we needed a change, hopefully the change will add the few percent we need on the field.
The West is Best and others, from memory, I seem to think McStay got Roscommon further in the Championship than they had been doing previous to that.
I think that is why those big scores conceded THEN came into the picture.
They were playing at a level and time of year – against Mayo in an All-Ireland quarter final and following year in the Super 8s (effectively another quarter final stage) – that they weren’t yet suited to. Were not seasoned. We know how important it is to be seasoned operators to compete.
I was of the opinion that this STEP UP exposed some lack of readiness, naivety and perhaps thin depth in the Roscommon team at that level. Hence the big scores conceded.
That’s no-one’s fault. That showed work to do (like once Mayo had work to do to compete). Ros have still been trying to bridge that gap under AC. But it’s a tough thing to do, esp given resources. Maybe they are like a Monaghan. They have been playing at a high level.
It doesn’t *seem* right to lay it as McStay’s door as bad development or results. On the contrary, I’d say it shows success to get to those stages.
Am I reading it wrong?
Research is one part. But context seems important too.
The only thing I’m sure of is that the County Board will get it wrong. In 2010 there were 7 applicants and 3 were short listed. Mick O Dwyer did not make the last 3. I rest my case and wonder what might have been.
Sticks for the reeks proves my point . Don’t mean to be offensive but to come out with that is just ridiculous
Yeah it’s clear some people will give out no matter who gets appointed.
If McStay is picked, the conspiracy theories will be that his media connections got him the gig.
If one of the others are picked, people will say the county board have shafted McStay again.
They can’t win.
West is Best you should do some research into other managers attempts to ‘manage Roscommon footballers ‘ They have a litany of failures and as one prominent player mentioned to me all the managers can’t have been wrong. To add to McStays woes was his county of origin, that caused huge resentment from day one. So no matter what he did he was doomed. I’m not saying he’s my favourite for the Mayo position but he must have learned something from his Roscommon experience.
I think there’ll be far more regrets if any of the other 3 get it and fail, than if McStay gets it and fails. I think he’s worthy of at least two years. Otherwise we’ll always be left wondering. Still no guarantees of success of course. The Rochford factor for me seals the deal.
Same as that Liberal
Give him a chance to truly see if he can put his stamp on Mayo football.
New pod online now for club members (and for everyone else tomorrow). Rob and I chat about the appointment process, I’ve some doubts about how good a fit the competency-based interview approach will be for a post like this, Ger Flanagan talks club action and Mike chats with Shane McGrath of the Irish Daily Mail about Mayo’s year and the management vacancy.
Give him a chance…….why? Sympathy? They had a great bunch of players to work with in Roscommon and the highlight was beating Leitrim and a shambles of a Galway team. It went downhill fast after that. In games that they drew, they got absolutely hammered in the replays. The truth hurts it seems. What facts have I used that are wrong? The year after they left, Roscommon won Connacht again. I honestly believe that the McStay/McHale + Rochford/Mulligan is a bit of a marriage of convenience. The former like to play attacking football but concede a pile. The latter have coached a very boring, negative style of football which untimately doesn’t work. Maybe they can merge the 2 styles, but I for one wouldn’t be holding my breath. The last time that McStay tried a partnership, Fergal O’Donnell hit the road.
The West is best,have you never heard the saying last performance is no guarantee of future success,I believe that the Mc Stay team show the best chance of success,I may well be wrong but they certainly have the strength to get it right
I do agree that the main weakness I see here is the 20 min pitch and also the competency based questioning.
20 mins really isn’t enough and being realistic surely they have flexibility to extend that to as long as it takes. I agree that that portion should have extensive questioning.
That would be the only interview type I’d have. The manager walking through their plan under questioning.
But Corkick Bridge surely there’s no harm in looking back and discussing past performances I think the last time Kevin Mcstay was involved with the Mayo Seniors we were relegated to division 3
Sure ‘the west is best’, it’s because of sympathy.
What’s the obsession with comparing our team with Roscommon? How many Ros team, at any time, would make it onto the Mayo team? It’s like comparing apples with passion fruit…. I’m a passion fruit man meself!!
There’s a lot of experts on this blog. I’ll tell you the truth, I don’t have a clue who’ll be best. But whoever gets the gig will have my complete trust. All I ever wanted is to see Mayo getting over the Sam line, for once and for all. Just do it….
Bring on the passion!
Lucero,I never realised that he managed Mayo in the past
Like with most jobs the employer already knows who they want based on who has applied and …the ‘process’ is a protection shield which can be used to keep at bay any complaints from the candidates who have failed to attain the position. I am happy with this and will be happy whoever is chosen…they are all competent…in the end it will be an opinion based decision….our role is to support the final decision.
I feel the KMcStay ticket is our best hope. We definitely needed a change and really this should have happened after last years final fiasco and its been a downward spiral since (the County Board review didnt improve things much). Worrrying from last weeks meeting the delegates still werent told how much is actually left to be repaid on the debt. Some transparency there! Have to wait until 2023 for it to be reviewed. One delegate got an answer to year it will finally be repaid by – 2056. This has to be the biggest concern for all Mayo supporters.
I find it unusual that Dempsey has not revealed his main backroom team at this point, why are some here Hammering on about McStay or Solan or Shaw, very little said about the unknown ticket, ie, Dempsey.
No point in pointing out problems or issues about say McStay and very little about the others particularly the Dempsey bid.
As others have alluded to this past few days, the Coaches are a big part of the management team.
I would like to see all 4 Candidates teams in full before any manager is appointed.
Is there a provisional date for the interviews to be held and a manager appointed ?
Can the CB afford a “big management team” ?
The worst part of this process is the time it takes to complete, that coupled with little or no football until club championship means people have way too much time for speculation and picking apart past mistakes each candidate may have made. Every manager in every sport has made mistakes, even Jim Gavin and the GAA “Messiah” McGuinness have made major mistakes in big games.
Each candidate has their positives and negatives, hopefully the CB can make an informed decision on each proposal and pick the one that’s best for Mayo football long term. My biggest fear is they go with one who is conservative and doesnt want to make changes, who says the team is nearly there, only a couple of tweeks and some luck with injuries and we can put it up to anyone, sure we are the second best team on our day etc etc. The person who gets the job needs to be someone who is looking to make big changes, necessary changes to the way we play. Staying the same is going backwards.
@west is best …. Hope you do ad much analysis on the other 3 candidates!!!!
Tough decision to be made by the sub committee…
Won’t keep all happy but I’m sure they will pick which ticket will be the best option for Mayo Gaa over the next few years … Best of luck to them
Mayo 88 – maybe the Dempsey ticket isn’t revealed because he’s actually sticking to the guidelines of the process??? If you see what was written at the top of this thread you would notice that the management teams were not looking to be published. Had everyone not published their tickets we wouldn’t be looked upon as a circus. Stuck in media headlines all day everyday now. This carry on doesn’t go on in Kerry Dublin or Tyrone. But in Mayo when people seem to be trying to do the right thing by what the CB would like, we seem to do the opposite. They tried it in Kerry last year with the ‘All Star’ management team that was put out into the public domain. Didn’t work out to well for them. Ya it would be great to see his ticket but he certainly has no obligation to put it out in the media.
Lot of talk about our finances so I thought I’d post this video about Barcelona and their current approach to having a mountain of debt
https://youtu.be/j0mPELisN-U
You might think that this approach might not work for Mayo or for GAA in general but the county team are responsible for a big portion of the county boards income. Cut back on the county team and that revenue will start to dry up. If revenue dries up, then it takes longer to get out of your financial hole.
I’m not saying that this is right or wrong approach but the theory behind these kinds of things is fascinating
There is no circus @Green&Red.
If I were really interested in say the Mayo management position I would have my main guys lined up in advance of the closing date and would reveal to the media and set out my agenda.
The circus has been the lack of knowledge this past few months, when the last management team were in place, things were way too quite altogether, not a word re players injured, availability of players etc.
There could be a few other surprises in the management race not seen already.
I’m just saying that we cannot speculate on the 3 known management teams, look at their faults etc without looking at any other management team in the race
I’m sure their will be a large list of items drawn up by the CB that will result in a type of marking system.
Mayo88 Anthony Hennighan in the Western People described it as a circus only a day or two ago. Wolly Parkinson said the same (not that I listen to him much). Look at all the comments on social media and even on this blog that have been generated. The fact that you said people were critical of the other 3 management teams is proof of the circus. I think if Dempsey was serious about the job then yes he would get his backroom team together but the only reason he would send it to the media is to score media points. And I personally don’t think there is any benefit to that. The lack of info provided by the last management team can’t be a stick to judge someone else who is only applying for the role just because they didn’t run to the media to let them know who’s on their team.
Great informative piece WJ. Thanks as always. Should put the conspiracy theorists on the back foot .Well at least until their preferred candidate doesn’t get the job. Just as well The West is best is not on the interview board. Otherwise there would be only 3 candidates interviewed. How you can tear holes in one candidate based on their supposed lack of success ( sure a Connacht title with Ross and an All Ireland with St Brigids is no big deal) and not critically analyse the other candidates is beyond me. Best of luck to the Co Board also. For all the criticism hurled at them many of them have been there for the most successful period in 70 years and they certainly did not get everything wrong. Interview is a very different kettle of fish to the practical job of management of a county team but I suppose there is no alternative to the interview as part of the process. Spoofers can do well in interviews but get caught out in the practical aspect of doing the job. In fairness I don’t think any of those guys are spoofers and I wish whoever is successful the very best of luck. Maigh Eo abu.
Latest pod now available on SoundCloud and will be available on other platforms tomorrow.
To win just once, you don’t seem to be giving Solan the time of day going by your numerous comments. If I have pointed out anything that is incorrect then I’ll gladly take those comments back. 4-19, 4-24 and 4-24 is what frightens me, and for that reason I would look more closely at the other 3 candidates.
Kilkenny with a quick turnaround at appointing a new manager (12 days). Probably the biggest job in hurling.
Interesting to see the different approaches taken in each county, offaly are similar to us and not rushing into a selection.
My word, some counties do not hang around and get it sorted pronto!!
Derek Lyng is the new Kilkenny hurling manager only 12 days after Cody rode off into the sunset.
Well done to kilkenny on appointing Derek Lyng as senior hurling manager in such a dhort space of time and good luck to them. however it has no relevance to the type of process adopted here in Mayo to select a management team.wishing all candidates the best of luck and may the best team get the mod
If you think about it.
You have the unqualified interviewing the qualified to determine if they are qualified enough to take on the job.
Good luck to all.
If Mike Solan was selected then fair play to him, but Eamon Ohara as a selector would be galling, the Rossies wouldn’t take Aidan ORourke.
@FrostTHammer look at Roscommon. They have been ok in Connacht but that’s it. Last number of years and have posted a profit of 900k in 2020 and 1.2m last year. When have Mayo GAA ever done that? That loan was supposed to be paid of next year. It will never be paid off at this rate. Just pay off the interest.
Interesting how Kilkenny do their business. Open and shut in 12 days. Does anyone else find it amazing that Derek Lyng didn’t release his selectors and backroom team to the media to get a job. Shows the competence of the man and the process. Only 25% of our candidates followed the same process. All the best to Derek. Always admired Kilkenny under Cody. Hopefully he can keep that fighting spirit alive in the cats.
And if the rumours are to be be believed from our twitter friend then all the best to Mike. But my god it would cause some serious theories to develop considering the other options and proposed options.
The selection process is OTT big time. I have interviewed for very senior positions in the public service and the selection process is similar. I don’t believe it is suitable for a manager of a football team. As for competency based interviews, candidates can prepare text book answers in advance and deliver them very eloquently in an interview situation. I wonder what selection process Meath, Kilkenny, Cork and Tipperary used !
Green & Red. Just thinking the same myself. No running to the friends in the media with backroom team. Just got on with it and down to business.
They seem to have a different mentality down there and maybe that’s why they have won so much.
If Solan gets the job, the county board is gonna have a lot of explaining to do.
People making comparisons to Kilkenny aren’t really comparing like for like. I imagine the end of Cody’s tenure had already been ear-marked and they had the replacement lined up and ready to go some time ago, hence the lack of waiting around. I’d say it’s unlikely anyone else was even entertained for the job.
@Alan Kenny
I’m not really sure what point you are trying to make. I certainly don’t see what the Rossies have to do with anything.
2020 and 2021 are in both a sporting and financial sense massive outliers. Roscommon played two championship games over those two years and there was a massive bail out from the government to the entire GAA.
This is same Roscommon where Kevin McStay had to pay for the teams accomodation from his own pocket while waiting for their county board to free up cash to pay him back at a later date.
Has there been any word on who Dempsey is bringing with him from Knockmore? Mention of such in the Western albeit not confirmed. If it’s Terry Kennedy I’d be very excited. The work the two men have done to transform Knockmore from nearly rans to standard bearers these last few years is eerily similar to what this Mayo team needs.
I said it before but I hope McStay/Rochford/McHale ticket gets the job. Im not sure about buckley as he’d cost alot in mileage. Hard 2 see how’d it would be worth it.
Huge respect for Rochford going in as part of backroom team, that to me speaks of his passion for Mayo. No ego there.
McHale is a legend. Turned down basketball in america to play on with Mayo. How any mayo fan couldnt but respect him is beyond me.
Even McStay I love the fact he’s willing 2 apply again even after the way he was shafted before, again it speaks volumes of passion for Mayo.
You’d have to think all other candidates could apply in future. McStay you’d think last chance for him.
Rochford was part of backroom in Donegal for the past 4 years, I don’t think that was due to any love of Donegal.
I’d imagine after his stint as Mayo manager, he decided he prefers the coaching role, rather than all the logistics, people management, media etc that comes with the managers role.
Only guessing, but I don’t know why else he’d go from managing a top 2 team to coaching a top 8 team.
Reekclimber96 It’s that idea that McStay should get he role because A – he was shafted before and B – you’think it was his last chance that I find so frustrating. While on the topic of passion and finance. Does anyone know if either McStay, McHale, Rochford or Mulligan ever managed their own home clubs? Dempsey, Shaw and Solan all have I believe.
Interesting to note that Brian Dooher and Fergal Logan came in without much management experience at all except U21’s in 2015 (as selectors i think) and won the All Ireland 10 months later……just shows this massive resume might be overrated /over thought……
The West is Best, if Solan gets the job, fair play to him. If you read some of my previous comments you would see I criticised those who had a go at Solan and blamed him for having no plan to stop Jimmy Hyland in the U20 final v Kildare. Giving stats about the concession rate by Ross in the Super 8s is fair enough. I also seem to remember Galway under one P Joyce ship some heavy scores to Mayo and Kerry a number of years ago in the league. Bringing in C O Neill helped sort that. Not so sure theres much point comparing our process to KK. Lyng won the U20 AI this year so it was fairly inevitable hed get the chance and there was the slight concern of a media circus about Shefflin.. As for Tipp, their Co Board is getting some abuse for its treatment of Colm Bonner. It depends on whether you value ruthlessness or not. By all accounts Bonner was a decent individual but Tipp had a terrible year and players were unhappy. He was unfortunate that lots of experienced players were missing through injury or retirement. Cahill had committed to another year with Waterford, but the Co Board may have sounded him out. Then Bonner was sacked, Cahill resigned from Waterford and got the Tipp job in the space of a few days. Overall it was not a dignified process and had something similar been done by Mayo Co Board there would be uproar.
@The West is Best.
You should look up the individuals whose experience you seem to be so unsure about and read about all they have achieved in football. It’s all documented on the net.
Especially the people you have name checked above. Very impressive CV’s.
Achievements too long to list here, but you should go read it yourself for your own little bit of enlightening.
I think Reekclimber96 is implying that Mcstay as well as been well qualified to take the job, but he might not try for it again if he is not successful on this occasion.
Thanks, but not the answer to the question that I asked Revellino. I simply wanted to know if McStay, McHale, Rochford or Mulligan have ever managed their home club. To my knowledge they haven’t, but I could well be wrong. I’d have great time for anyone that’s involved in coaching or managing their own clubs as they do it purely for the love of the game and their areas.
The answer is yes @ The West is Best.
Again I would advise to go and research on the Net.
I only looked up Stephen Rochford and he coached at his home club of Crossmolina.
Indeed @ Revellio the net is a mighty job, it does indeed look like he trained junior players at some stage in Crossmolina when he was starting off. Some of the natives might be able to shine a better light on it.
@the west is best
McHale was over the stephenites for a few years
I think that we are over thinking this selection and in some ways contributing to to whatever circus surrounds this process. In some ways there is too much transparency and the process is quite long. I will not take part in a poll as I think that a poll will just add to the hype.
I will leave it the sub committee (I do not envy them their task) and will support whoever is selected. I will log back in when the new management team is in place when no doubt there will be a significant number giving out about who was / was not selected.
@Mark thanks for that.
It look’s like from reading the blog over the last few day’s that no matter who gets the job it will split opinion. Not exactly ideal after all the negativity around the senior team in the past 12 months. Why would anyone external want to come in and take us over when we cant even treat our own candidates with the respect they deserve.
I just hope whoever get’s the job is given a fair crack at it and people are not trying to knock them and the team from Day 1.
The same circus in Kerry last year and Dublin now
The twitter source is never too far wrong with his info and that is worrying for those of us who were not blown away by Solan’s under 21 reign.
A Leitrim backroom member with a management team rejected by Sligo. we can aspire to better, and better have shown interest.
And McStay’s extended interview 2 years ago on otb sheds light on him.
This management application process seems to be a very detailed system, presentation interview, Competency interview, a Sub-Committee drawn up by members of the Executive, with all Committee members having to agree on the one manager for the job. All looks very transparent, many Competency based interviews / application forms with the required answers can be sought from Google. Back in 2010 there was an interview panel of maybe 4 or 5 members but, I think we had their names prior to the interviews being held ( I could be wrong about this ).
Kilkenny with their huge haul of Hurling All Ireland’s have their new manager already in position.
There is one major flaw from a supporters point of view, we haven’t seen the full management team by one of the applicants. This could cause a bit of a stir after the new management team is appointed ( this is what it is now, a management team ).
Good luck to all four.
One question I have is will all named backroom members, ie, Coaches / Selectors be part of the set-up if any of those 3 managers get the job ?
If you regard Mc Stay winning with his home club! He he won with it with Roscommon Gaels in 2004
Anyone who thinks Ray Dempsey hasn’t been talking to the media only needs to read this week’s Western People to see otherwise.
Agree there Paddy Ban. I am underwhelmed by Solan, as a manager and his backroom team.
Perhaps for the reasons you said, he doesn’t want to be the manager, but there’s a difference between being a backstage coach in another county and returning as an assistant to your former team where you were the boss.
Alot of people with his experience might think joining a backroom team would effect his chances as manager in the future..
Rochford only any good when he s handed a ready made team. His tenure in donegal is very forgettable albeit he wasn’t the manager but in saying that we need intercounty experience so mcstays ticket probably the best but I doubt he will get it. Slolan inexperienced at senor level. Dempsey also.
Are we serious about football anymore or just want to be at the party??
We’re judging managers with little information based on the back room teams and big names.
We’re wanting independent people on panel’s
Blog is promoting interviews and articles on the race.
Mayonews similar.
Im waiting for someone to suggest that supporters, mayonews / Mayoblog are included on selection panel.
Maybe there should be a live debate for back room teams first and then one for the mangers at the TF and sell tickets to attend, could go long way to pay for the stadium.
The county board like Or lump it pick the manager and it should be done in confidence,
We don’t need to know or have influence,
Should be about the best person, done in private and not published to the world.
Skylineirl, I say “Amen” to that.
Well said Skyline!!
Well said Skylinerl. Amen to that. Let’s discuss 2023/24 and who should or shouldn’t be on the panel..what type of tactic we should adopt to get over the line. Who’s the biggest contenders for Sam next year .Will our neighbours in Galway be contenders again fo Sam ..all that and leave the management process to CB..
Anyone deriding Rochford – only good when handed a good team – or McStay – sure an All-Ireland with Brigids is nothing – needs their heads checked.
I can only assume the parish pump is in full flow with their thinking.
Well that’s what he got the last time. Who did he add to it. ?. Did we not stumble through the backdoor only just. It could have been si different. Did he not hand back a spent team after Newbridge. Full of retirees. No head checking needed here. Plain facts
Well said Dathi. Jealously and resentment among some for sure.
Daithi. I think you need to read to read my text again. I said that despite reservations that I would still back mcstay and Rochford over dempsey and slolan . Because they have more experience at senior intercounty level. . Just before anyone else starts jumping on the band wagon.
I can only assume that Stephen Rochford played a couple of posters off the field judging by some of the comments ,he got us very close ,won with Corofin,left a team that won several all Irelands after he left Corofin,he enhanced the development of the development squad so how can anyone say that he didn’t put in place a successful way forward for young players
Very true Corick Bridge. I suppose on he other side of the argument, people will look at his more recent record during his 4 years stint as head coach with Donegal. That doesn’t read as well unfortunately and one might argue that Donegal have gone progressively backwards under his coaching. That wouldn’t be all his fault either of course. All 4 candidates will obviously try their level best to win an All-Ireland for Mayo and indeed all 4 managment candidates have positive and negative attributes, as do we all. I personally believe it will come down to a choice between the McStay and Dempsey ticket, but until we see the Dempsey ticket in it’s entirety it’s impossible to call. The very best of luck to who ever gets the gig in the end, they’ll all do their very best of that I have no doubt.
Just a thought, how or who will select the Interview Committee members ?, it could be or could have been difficult, if they reside in Mayo, how could they be “independent” or have no connection somewhere along the line to the proposed management teams or Mayo Board members ?
I can see now why McStay lead the charge by naming his backroom team.
Carrick. Where Rochford left corofin is totally irrelevant to mayo football. Where did he leave mayo after Newbridge. That’s what relevant. I neither played against or know or have any personal gripe with Stephen for the record. Just posted facts. And if he comes in on mcstays ticket I wish an all Ireland. As previously said its the most intercounty experienced ticket
Craggy ,you have been saying that Stephen Rochford did not develop young players,I have just giving you some facts on his record,also if you care to check it out you will see that he brought a lot of young players onto the development squad,your argument is without merit
Corick bridge – what young players did Rochford bring through on a development panel? Most of them only came into the panel under Horan. Mattie Ruane may have been floating around the panel for a few years under SR but it was Horan that put faith in him and turned him into a senior footballer.
There’s an argument we didn’t need new players coming through during Rochford’s first 2 years but after a couple of injuries in 18 our squad was threadbare. I remember we only made a couple of subs before injury time in Newbridge that day despite the roasting hot weather.
Carrick. Your grasping at straws talking about development panels. Wide ball your very right… Rochford would not play ruane. So Carrick to conclude.. can you name me those phantom players that Rochford blooded in intercounty senior championship football. Then we will talk about merit in posts.
Wide, a d Craggy,Mattie Ruane,before S O S, or Tom Parsons,please
That question about the number of players Stephen Rochford gave Championship debuts to has piqued my interest. The results archive here on the blog has all this kind of information at your fingertips so there shouldn’t really be any arguments about something of this kind.
So, here’s what my small bit of research uncovered. In his three years in charge, Stephen Rochford gave Championship debuts to eight different players, who were as follows (debut year in brackets, substitute appearances only denoted as such):
Conor Loftus (2016)
Shane Nally (2016)
Fergal Boland (2017)
Danny Kirby (2017, sub)
Caolan Crowe (2017, sub)
Eoin O’Donoghue (2018)
James Durcan (2018)
Cian Hanley (2018)
In addition, two others players – Brendan Harrison and Stephen Coen – had made one substitute appearance each in the Championship in 2015 but they both made their full Championship debuts under Stephen Rochford in 2016.
Corick Seamus or Tom Parsons didn’t play most of the league so yes maybe Mattie could be one that got some game time in 2018 league. I can’t remember any team ever doing what Rochford did that year and give no significant minutes to any new player under 24 in the league
Thank you Willie Joe
So 6 in 3 years with only boland of any significance. The other 2 were there in 15. Like to compare that with horan Carrick. Thanks willie joe for helping corrick out on the names. None of them really made it. 2 subs hardly even count. In fact Rochford himself lamented about his failure in not blooding more. Let’s not even talk about the biggest calamity ever in mayo football bar none. How that crazy decision completely blew up in his face. Or the donegal tenure
It’s eight, Craggy, not six. The two from 2015 are in addition to that. Significance is an arguable point – Eoin O’Donoghue, for example, was a bolted on first fifteen player by 2018 but didn’t feature much once Rochford left.
I suppose the pertinent question is how many players from that age cohort (outside of those listed) have been brought into the fold subsequently by James Horan. How many players missed out under Rochford?
A genuine question… not a challenge.
Urmanthere. Valid question. The difference between those brought in by horan is thar they now make up the mayo present team. Rod. Conroy. Flynn. Hessian. Mcgloughlin. Mullin. Ruane. Carr.walsh.. That’s the merit in this discussion corrick and bridge.
I’m not adding brickenden. Towy moran .mcbrien mcdonagh mchugh mchale orme. Because they are not nailed on starters. I’ll give you eoin o Donohoe willie joe. But honestly it’s a non contest compared to what horan has brought in and yes I know we didn’t need players in certain positions at those times. Jim gavin always pulled 3 or 4 new players even with a successful winning team. We stood still under Rochford and then after Newbridge the big scramble for new talent came on the shoulders of horan. It was in my humble opinion Rochford s biggest weak link
When your talking about Rochford developing young talent the list of 10 players named is not good. Hanley was in Australia till the spring of 2018. Don’t think Nally ever started a championship game. Harrison and Coen played lots league in 14 and 15. Kirby lots in 15. Only 3 of the 10 named players made there senior debut under Rochford as young players in the league
Good work there Willie Joe, using your own excellent archival resources.
Eight players are listed which is about right. Rochy didn’t have to develop talent, because it was already there, although the mileage was increasing. Mention of Hanley though reminds us of the ‘Great White Hope’ aspect of that return from Oz. This was the missing ingredient, the one who got away and was now coming back to give us that extra dimension of strength and athleticism that we were supposedly lacking, and that would enable. us to kick on – kick on meaning, deliver Sam.
It didn’t work out like that, and Cian Hanley seems to have slipped off the radar. Perhaps the forthcoming county championship might enable him to break through in the post-Horan era? Would be nice to see all of the emerging Ballagh talent flourish in the coming weeks: Callaghan, McBrien, Hanley. There may be others I don’t know about.
Rochford is not going for manager so all above is irrelevant.
I posted this after the first Quarter Final game vs Roscommon in 2017
https://www.mayogaablog.com/readying-for-the-replay/#comment-142981
Basically at that point, Rochford had tried out a number of the 2016 under 21 players in League and FBD League games as well as including a number in the development panel. A number were still playing for the under 20’s that year. Bear in mind also the squad we had available in 16 and 17 was a pretty damn good squad so in order to dislodge an established player at that point (and indeed in 2018) you’d want to be some operator.
QUOTE:
Only a handful of the under 21’s from last year have not had a chance with the senior team this year or last, and quite a few have been on the panel or on the extended panel.
From last years U21’s:
3 played against Roscommon last week (Coen, DO’C, Loftus)
A 4th was on the bench (Boland)
A 5th is on the panel (O’Donoghue)
A 6th was on the panel last year (Hall)
A 7th was dropped from the panel in March (Irwin)
8 through to 11 are on the development panel (Ruane, Cunniffe, Carr, Reape)
Others that I know played in the FBD league are Fionan Duffy and David Kenny
Of the ones i have named above, only Reape did not start in the under 21 Final.
Of the ones that took part in the under 21 final that I’ve not mentioned above:
Mattie Flanagan (Keeper), Sharoize Akram, James Kelly, James Carr, Barry Duffy all played under 21 this year, Only Morgan Lyons has not featured in either Squad at some point.
UNQUOTE
Can anyone on here given me a break down of Michael Solan’s career before and since his role with Mayo u21/u20?
Not asking out of badness, I’m genuinely curious about the teams he’s worked with/achievements. There is not as much information about him on the internet.
I read in the Western People (I think) that the interviews will take place the week after next.
I don’t want to be moaning for the sake of it, but why would there have to be a gap of that length between application deadline and the interviews!?
It’s very drawn out for sure. Time to be getting on with it. One would have to ask the question. Is it the manager we are choosing or what’s on his ticket because there is no prolific all Ireland winning manager to choose from ie a jack o Connor. Jim gavin. Jimmy mcguinness. Big decision.
Kevin Mc Stay has managed an all Ireland winning team,Stephen Rochford has played on and managed an all Ireland winning team
Club and intercounty are miles apart. The club championship is played in the muck and rain. When the daises come up it’s a completely different ball game
What all Ireland’s had Jim Guinness ,Jim Gavin, before they managed their county teams?
Craggy Boglands, O’Connor and Gavin are prolific All Ireland Managers, McGuinness is not. For the reputation he has it is surprising sometimes that he only won it once. Mcguinness was a good manager but I can’t see where this myth around him comes from. OMahony and Harte have won more and are not as revered.
That’s true mayomad. I wouldn’t be a fan of his style of play either. Just that he had been touted for the mayo job but I’m quite happy he s not. You make a very valid point. Maybe its because he managed a.county that hasn’t won much. It’s hard to know
None corrick. They had the ability to create a team and be successful with it. Horan also had the ability to create a team but not get it over the line. We are looking for a man that can get us over the line.. The team is there despite what a lot of pundits think. Injuries killed us this year. Dublin also without con o callaghan and that’s just one man.
Kerry without D. Clifford don’t beat Galway either.
Absolutely Liberal. They got a soft all Ireland and stumpled over the line only just in the last two matches. In fact had we not been so wasteful we could have taken them. One cannot replace good players like conroy and Rod . Not to mention plunkett. Harrison. Cillian trying to come back. Flynn the same. Reality is that no team can progress when losing their top men. We knew that early doors. Credit to horan. He has left a serious team behind him.. injury free of course. Mcbrien another that injury prohibited horan from giving him a championship debut possibility. The future of mayo football is bright. We just need some luck and a manager that can take us to the holy grail
Whilst I have the highest respect for James Horan he had by far the best team in my lifetime from Mayo he failed to get them over the line,when Stephen Rochford took over I would argue that they had gone slightly stale,he got closer than any Mayo manger since fifty one to get them over the line,he needs to be involved with the new set up,he certainly has the medals to prove it
Did John Maughan not get as close as anyone in 96. Anyhow it’s irrelevant how much we lost by. We lost.had Rochford left the goalkeeper alone he may have got us there but we will never know. . Like I said horan is a serious man at creating the team but not getting over the line. It must also be said that Dublin were the greatest team ever in those times
Stephen Rochford followed the science,the drawn match there was at least four points scored from kickouts,I don’t want to criticise David Clarke who was an excellent goalkeeper,but both the Dublin and Kerry teams said that they had cracked the kickout code, seeing as I was at the matches you mention anyone who compares the Meath or Dublin teams only needs to watch the matches to see there is no comparison with the standard of football
I was there too. You say Clarke coughed up 4 points. What did henelly cough up in the replay. The pressure Rochford s decision put on poor Robbie was the telling point. He couldn’t kick a ball straight right from the get go . And we all know what happened next. I never ever seen a decision to blow up in a manager s face like that one. I’d have taken the four points Clarke might have coughed up any day. I actually think that Rochford got caught up in the post match praise and lost the run if himself. Nobody would ever dream of what he did. There was a sense of shock around croker that morning. Disbelief. Great managers are known for there switches like jack o Connor taking off a misfiring geany at half time. I’m afraid Rochford s switch was our downfall
@Craggy Boglands.. Stephen Rochford made a change and took a risk with the goalkeeper change that backfired.. But he done what he done to try and gain Mayo the vital inches to get over the line..While I rate David Clarke overall as the better keeper..I rate Robbie Hennelly as an excellent Goalkeeper, certainly in the top 3 or 4 Gaelic Keeper’s in Ireland…I don’t really believe that Rochford put Hennelly under tremendous pressure before the All Ireland final replay, every All Ireland final has a great deal of pressure on everyone involved regardless.. I fully realize the error Robbie Hennelly made in that All Ireland final, but we have to also appreciate just how much work and effort Robbie has put in to be as good as he is, one of the best Keeper’s in Ireland currently. And we also have to appreciate just how much Stephen Rochford got tactically right in the biggest game’s against the best team’s especially v Dublin in All Ireland finals, by quite a margin the very best games Mayo ever played.
Leantimes. With the greatest respect Robbie is now a fine goalkeeper but back then he was only learning his trade. For me to put him in on the biggest day was a grave mistake. Nobody in croke Park that morning had the faith in Robbie and they were proven right unfortunately. Clarke was far more commanding in front of goal and thar has always been Robbie s achilles heel even to this day when a high ball goes in I’m not filled with confidence. Yes he has improved and developed in to a fine keeper. But as I said back then the only man that could takes Clarke s place would have been a clone of Stephen cluxtin. That’s how good the all star Clarke was. Dublin stood off the mayo men at kick outs leading them into a false security and then converged when the ball was in flight. Surely a great manager would have sussed that out. There’s nobody in donegal chasing down the road after him
Craggy – you’ve been aiming darts at Stephen Rochford for months, long before this current appointment process began. You’re making the same point, over and over and over again. I doubt there’s a single person reading this blog who has any doubts about your opinion of him at this stage. Maybe give it a rest now and try another topic or two?
I always thought there was logic to the change SR made for that replayed final.
If you watch the drawn final back, Dublin had really started to zero in on Clarkes kick outs and came within millimeters of picking off a few of the kick outs that day.
I still think SR made the right call in changing the goalkeeper for the replay, it just didn’t work out.
We had 10 or 11 players who did not perform against Tyrone last year.
Why aren’t we talking about that, and why the hell weren’t those 10 or 11 underperforming individuals fully in tune for that AI final ?
One of the other reasons the goalie was changed for that replay- Cillian was not 100% fit for the replay and was not going to be taken long range frees or 45s. Robbie was to take them. As it happened we got no 45s that day.
I’m uneasy about this management selection already. Am I wrong or are we the only county that makes such drama about our management selection?
Do other counties publicise the candidates for their managers?
Do candidates in other counties name their back room team on application?
I’ve just looked up the GAA 9 point guide to selecting a manager and confidentiality is listed as point 9. Why does the media have full access to what’s going on here. Can we leave it to the county board to do the job in a discreet manner?
Why is Mayo Gaa making headlines about matters that other counties do away from the scrutiny of the press? We bring a lot of drama on ourselves!
I will leave it at that,it is pure silliness what you are claiming
“Back then he was only learning his trade”
Craggy, what are you on about? Hennelly was 26 in 2016, he had been on the intercounty scene for 5/6 years at this stage.
I suppose this makes James Horan equally cruel for throwing Robbie into the 2013 final?
Decisions like that are made in replays and its amazing how the winners always have theirs glossed over. It might have escaped your memory that Bernard Brogan was dropped for the replay. In his place Paddy Andrews did nothing and was replaced by Bernard after 45 minutes. An obvious mistake by Gavin, but you can go on and keep sticking it to Rochford for some reason.
Unstoppable – I’m reluctant to get dragged into this debate but you can’t compare changing goalkeeper for an All Ireland final replay to changing your corner forward. If a corner forward is playing poorly, you can whip him off. You can’t do that with a goalkeeper. Also, the consequences of a goalkeeper playing badly are far bigger than a corner forward doing similar.
The goalkeeper change in 2016 was a massive, massive gamble and clearly a huge mistake in hindsight.
I don’t blame Robbie at all by the way. He’s a quality goalkeeper but was put in a terrible situation.
Have another look at the replay Unstoppable and if u don’t think Robbie is a far better keeper today than then we’ll forget about it. Remember who he was replacing. An all star. This conversation is now closed.
I think we’ll never hear the end of the Goalkeeper debate.
However there was an issue with Clarke’s kickouts at the end of the drawn game and we were leaking scores from them at that point.
It might have been worse if Rochford had let Clarke start the replay and then us get destroyed from our own kickouts, something Dublin ably demonstrated themselves to be able to do in the 2017 league game.
You’d wonder what people would have said about Rochford then, knowing that Clarke’s kickouts were a problem in the drawn game and then doing nothing about it.
Any player involved in an intercounty squad should be prepared to play regardless of the circumstances. Robbie could have ended up playing had Clarke suffered an injury for example, so I don’t buy into this “Robbie shouldn’t have been put in that position”. Can’t believe this debate is happening again, but anyone who still believes that the goalkeeper change was plucked out of thin air rather than something that happened due to analysis and Clarke’s kickouts being destroyed in the drawn game is simply refusing to listen at this point.
Craggy – Clarke had not won an All Star by the time he was replaced for the 2016 replay. Also the fact that Hennelly is a better keeper now isn’t relevant. In 2016, he was a still a great keeper and with lots of big match experience. Throwing him in really wasn’t that big a deal.
Wide Ball – while I agree to an extent, I don’t think Brogan was just any corner forward. He was Dublin’s top scorer in their previous three finals (2011, 2013 and 2015) and motm in 2013. Inside our Mayo bubble it may not have been as big, but dropping Brogan for that match was massive news.
Rochford took a gamble in replacing his keepers, it didnt payoff on the day, if it did he would be called genius. Something had to be done about the kickouts after the drawn game,he acted but it didnt work out. I dont blame him for trying. New Manager looks like a two horse race, McStay or Solan, I would give it to McStay for three years. He was badly treated by the County Board last time out, this is also his last chance of getting it, Solans day will come in a few years.
@FDBinashui. Im delighted you mentioned the 2017 league game. I was behind the goal in the premium level for clarkes kickouts and on one occasion i think it was Paul Flynn who fetched a high hanging ball from one of clarkes kickouts and ran through to score a goal and was thinking Rochford probably felt like turning to the crowd and saying that’s why i started hennelly last year. Btw i agree Clarke was an outstanding keeper but the dubs had his kickouts sussed and nobody could have legislated for hennelly dropping a bread and butter ball that day. Fair enough if he conceded a couple of soft goals then the change could be described as bad management but this was bad luck again following the 2 own goals from 2016
Just because Clarke lost a few kickouts in the drawn game doesn’t mean you change keeper! When does that ever happen? There were 2 weeks until the replay, plenty of time to work on some new tactics to retain our kickouts – bunch in midfield and break to wing, overload one side with 2 O’Sheas & Parsons, break every kickout and win the loose ball on the ground etc. All fairly simple stuff that club teams up and down the country practice.
Clarke had a fine game in the 2017 final. If Dublin had his kickouts cracked, why didn’t Robbie start that final too?
Anyway, that’s all I’ve to say on the matter.
Wide Ball – Clarke started against Donegal in 2015 quarter final (and both games in Connacht) but was dropped for the two Dublin games that year. That seems to escape a lot of peoples memories. Rochford wasn’t the only one who saw the issues.
In fact, that Donegal game was Clarkes only appearance outside of Connacht between 2012 and 2016.
I’m sick and tired of this one being thrown at Rochford. At the end of the day, he probably replaced the second best keeper in the country with the third or fourth best. It wasn’t a big deal.
Unstoppable – wasn’t that injury related? Clarke had to be subbed off in that 2015 Donegal game.
Also, that 2012 to 2016 stat is very misleading. Clarke was number 1 in 2013 but picked up a serious hamstring injury during the connacht championship then missed the remainder of the year and all of 2014.
It was a massive deal replacing your goalkeeper for an All Ireland final, but clearly you don’t agree.
Unstoppable that was injury related in 2015. He had to go off at half time.
2012 Clarke made that big save when Bernard Brogan was one on one in all Ireland semi.
2013 he was injured & 2014.
2015 we have already covered.
And 2016. Robbie started vs Galway, but then Clarke started every other game after that (bar replay)
Thank you wide ball and mayo focus. We had better close this subject and agree to disagree with other posters . My opinion won’t change anyway. It an all Ireland morning I will never forget. On the manager s choice. I would have to go with mcstay because Buckley is with him too. And also to thank James for the wonderful job he has done in completely rebuilding the team after Newbridge.
@Craggy.. and others..One of the things pertaining to the Goalkeeper change in the All Ireland final replay, and I heard Paddy Andrews on a podcast mention it himself was that in his own word’s that “Dublin got wind of the Goalkeeper change” before the replay.. Now genuinely as it happens several times, I have gotten wind of team selection’s under the last few Manager’s Mayo have had ..It’s been a problem, I certainly would never share any information I ever heard on this blog or any other public forum.. But there you go, whatever inches Dublin gained by having advanced knowledge of the change before hand they certainly used to full advantage!
You’re not wrong there Leantimes – what shocked me more was the mouthpiece who was announcing it all around Ballina and further the person who he alleged to have told him. It would have been fair to have expected more from both, to be honest, but the mouthpiece was one fella you’ve have thought he’d have known to have kept it to himself.
Leantimes. Whether they got wind of it or not… its what happens between the white lines that matter. I felt sorry for Robbie. The decision was so big that it obviously played on the lads mind.. let’s move on.
Ye are not still on about the finals of 2016, all in the past, time to look to the present and future.
Of course Craggy Boglands, we would would have to thank Robbie for tending goals (magnificently I might add), in the only National title we have managed to win in the last 21 years. The 2019 National league.
It wasn’t a mistake to play him that day. He was fantastic.
Rev. While your at it.. thank David Clarke for the wonderful saves he made including that triple save also. The best keeper I ever seen playing for mayo. That’s from the 70 s on.
@Culmore not sure what you mean about Kevin McStay being badly treated by the County board, think Anthony Hennigan’s article in the Western People this weeks puts that to bed.
That’s one way of looking at it, Peter, but as others have pointed out, it’s equally valid to have a very different take on that particular article and the motivation behind it.
Away from the keeper manager debate. Mayo would want to take a look at the men out the field that’s supposed to be fetching the kick outs and that’s not old fashioned football like the Anthony tohills and Jack o shea s .The modern game seems to put a lot of pressure on the keeper s. For instance the Tyrone game. They completely dominated us at midfield. It’s always stats on the keeper s kick out. What about the midfield ers. Ruane is not a high fielder. Great man to carry a ball surely. Fenton and moran give there team s great options to just drive it out the middle. There’s too much emphasis on the keeper. His job is still the same despite beggan trying to play out the field and getting caught. A good shot stopper and safe under the high ball are still the main aspects. The men out the field have a lot to answer for in some of mayo s failures. It’s still about getting possession and putting it over the bar. Old fashioned or not that’s the b and end of it all. Maybe Ruane would be a better half forward.
New pod up for club members on Patreon – Mike chatting with Billy Joe (who has a column in the Mayo News this week on what it takes to be a good manager) and Colm Keys (who had an in-depth piece in the Indo earlier this week on the appointment process). This pod will be available on other platforms tomorrow.