Photo: Sportsfile/Piaras O Midheach
We’re back in the final, people – that was the first thought that hit my cranium when I came to this morning and it’s one that’s still there now. Four weeks of build-up, then the biggest hurdle of all for the lads to clear in the decider, with immortality the prize on offer.
And Sam, of course. As most of you know, I’ve no time for all this #MayoForSam claptrap that seems to get going every year in January when it’s the bloody FBD League trophy that we’re playing for, not the League one, not the Nestor and certainly not Sam. But the next time the lads take the field, Sam will be glittering away up on its plinth and possession of it for the next twelve months will be the prize on offer. In light of this, I’m now more than happy to row in behind the #MayoForSam campaign as it ramps up over the coming weeks.
Usually on days after games, I do a round-up of the match reports but, still ensconced over here on my hols this is a job I’m not up to doing today. Not with the sun shining the way it is. (And it is). I’ll still have to hunt down all those match reports for the results archive but that’s a job that can wait ’till I get home.
Another item on the to-do list then will be to sit down and watch the match properly. The Sky feed froze a good few times on the iPad over here yesterday – where, oddly, the @MayoGAA Twitter updates came in a minute or two ahead of the video – so all in all it was a very different viewing experience.
I really do need to see it all properly before coming to any conclusions about our performance but, ahead of doing so, I’m strongly of the opinion that on this occasion the quality of our play mattered far, far less than the result. Sure, I’d have liked us to win more convincingly yesterday but the bottom line was that we had to win yesterday and win we did. We’ll undoubtedly need to open the taps to the full in the final but, sure, we still have to wait and see who earns the right to meet us in the decider.
So, it’s just under four weeks to the final and, as others have said already, the hunt for tickets starts now. In this respect, I’d like to draw your attention to the Players Welfare Lotto, the draw for which is on tonight. As well as a jackpot prize of €10,000 there are two All-Ireland final tickets to be won and the funds raised go towards the training of the team for the final. You can play the Lotto here.
Our team. In the final. Aiming for Sam. #MayoForSam!
If ever we hope to win this trophy we need to keep the hype down to a minimum.
Let`s this time give the lads a chance to focus on the job at hand and not the peripheral
stuff that distracts them. Pleeese.
I think people should enjoy being in the final and if that means they want to write a song, paint a sheep or whatever let them do it.
Hype has never ever cost Mayo an All Ireland we just haven’t performed.
All this talk of hype and Mayo fans losing the run of themselves leading up to the final is really annoying and insulting. Flying flags high and proudly will not cause this team to suddenly collapse in the AI. Enjoy the excitement of the buildup, the players won’t be affected, do whatever u can to get a ticket and on the day stick the chest out, fill the lungs and roar your support for this great team!
+1 agree Behindenemylines
You know I don’t care what other people think; I’m going to loose the run of myself and enjoy ever sec of it.
One man who has more, oh waaaaay more than earned:
– His holiday
– Generous allocation of match tickets
Willie Joe, fine proprietor of this site.
I like the boxer analogy. We turn it on in spurts, we drift for a few rounds. But we deserved all our wins. I don’t believe we tog out for the final and play the final anything like what we have seen so far.
– some suprise selections
– Massive lift in foot to the floor intensity
When the boys in Green and Red will win the Sam Maguire I’ll be there . In honor of all the teams that have come and gone without Sam.
There’s Mammy’s making sandwiches and filling flasks of tea they’ll be emptyed out and filled with stout on All Ireland Final Day.
I wouldn’t try and prevent anybody from losing the run of themselves for the next 4 weeks. If ya cant do that now, when can ya?
After all, there will only be 1 topic of conversation between now and 18th September anywhere that there are Mayo people. It will be spoken about in clubs, hospitals, hotels, theatres, government buildings, public buildings, railway stations, tube stations, bus stops, police stations, diplomatic buildings, churches, synagogues, mosques, cemeteries, crematoria, sports and leisure centres, libraries, schools, restaurants, fire stations, museums, pubs, institutions, banks, post offices, shopping centres, cinemas, halls, squares and airports all over the planet.
How will Mayo get on in the final? Are ya going home for the final?
Mayo people all over the world should definitely enjoy the next 4 weeks.
Whether some of us lose the run of ourselves will not matter a shite once 3.30 comes on 18th September. How our support behaves inside the stadium on the day is a different matter.
Getting excited and hyped didnt effect Donegal in 2012, that’s for sure. Enjoy the build up, be confident but realistic too in that we all know we need the performance of the year to win.
Jim Flag – you said it in your last sentence. This is a serious issue – while we turn up in numbers to games – our lack of vocal support is sad. Most people on this site and who bother to go online to read, discuss and think about Mayo football (while we should be working!!) are loud on match days but its the thousands of others who sit there…quietly…useless to the team.
Vocal support can drive on a team…and can also effect the opposition and the ref.
Mayonaze, you are right. It is a serious issue. The support on the 18th has got to get its act together.
Also i wonder will anybody go to the bother of making a huge flag and somehow get it on to the Hill. The Dubs had two in 2013. One with a “Heffo’s army” reference. Fucking huge thing it was and it looked impressive from the opposite end of the ground. Can we not make one maybe with an imprinted picture of Rochford or Cillian or Andy or whatever. Like the big Shankly ones you used to see on the cop at Liverpool. We need a massive one. Half the size of the Hill. Imagine the boost that would give the players if they saw that during the parade. Dont matter if its Kerry or Dublin we play. We should take a large swathe of the Hill.
I agree that we should without question take our full allocation of hill16 tickets and get onto anyone in Galway too – as they are in the minors they will receive a decent amount of terrace tickets.
Tipp had a big flag ‘Slievenamon Hill’ at the Canal End yesterday…it looked good.
I think the days of getting a big one on the Hill, unless youre a Dub are gone.. simple because the hill is now mixed and opposing fans will just try to take it down. It’s not like days of old, ie: 1996/7 when we had the full terrace to ourselves. I much preferred it that way. Croke Park could still split the Hill in two….if they section it off between supporters…then you could use a big flag.
I certainly dont feel hyped for this final if anything I feel a little deflated. I know it is fantastic to be in another final but I just dont know really where we are.We have showed glimmers of our high intensity game in last few games usually in a ten minute space where to be fair we did blow the oppisition out of the water.Were we lucky to get to an ALF or did we do the bare minimal to get over line and to save the big performance for the final? These are the questions going around in my head and what worries me most as the boys on sky sports said can we bring that intensity to 60 or 70 mins of football as a 10 min spell wont do for Kerry or Dublin.McGuinness feels it cannot be turned on and off like a tap and id go along with that. However in saying all that coming into a final as underdogs will be good for us with plenty to work on in mean time.
I suppose it has been said many times on this site since yesterday than a win is a win. We have won All Ireland semi-finals in all sorts of ways, maybe this is the way to go now but all will be revealed.
Just on another point I see the county championship games are going ahead this weekend in Mayo. I really do not think this is a good idea and not many other counties in
our position would do it. I understand fixtures are the great nightmares for all county boards and it is certainly not an easy job for the Mayo county board.
I think right now from people I have been talking to, they are all of the opinion that other counties at this point would not go ahead with these fixtures. I have been talking to a friend of mine who works in the sports science area with a leading county team and
he says Mayo have a great advantage now with the 4 weeks leading into the game whereas Kerry and Dublin have one less.
While that might not look significant, his point to me was that players take a week to come down after a match and they do very little in the week leading into the match so Mayo only have two big weeks to get things right and God knows they have a lot to get right.
But if they play the club championship next weekend, we will lose one of those weeks as the players will be coming down from the club championship games. So I propose in the interest of Mayo football that everybody involved understands and accepts that we really need to give this team every possible chance to get things right.
Those two middle weeks are absolutely crucial so the players can focus totally on the team that we are playing rather than having a club championship match in the middle of it.
These Mayo players by their nature are competitive animals as we all we know and they will desperately want to win those club matches too. I was surprised from talking to people from home today that there seems to be a fair bit of momentum from clubs already understanding the need to postpone next weekend’s club matches which would be great.
I know from being involved in Dublin GAA scene that there is absolutely no way club championship matches would go ahead in Dublin this weekend if they were in the same situation. In fact club championship matches have not been played in Dublin at all over the summer and will only get going again after Dublin’s inter-county season is over.
We all know how important the clubs are to the GAA in general but this is a huge chance for the Mayo senior team and the county board should do their utmost to see this
team over the line.
I am strongly of the opinion that the club matches next weekend should be deferred until after the All Ireland. Hopefully it is not too late for the county board to change their mind. What are other posters views on this?
Theres a number of ways that one can view yesterdays performance. The optimists will point to the fact that getting the result was all that mattered, and of course they would be correct. Andy Moran was superb, it was Keith Higgins best game of the season, and David Clarke also had a super game I thought, solidifying his hold on the number one jersey.
But….. theres a few facts that need to be faced also.
1. We will have to play infinetely better than at any point to date under Stephen Rochford to even have a chance in the final.
2. Cillian had probably his worst game in a big championship match in croker. Couple of missed frees from around the 45 m line that simply must go over the next day. Barely touched the ball in open play until the last 15 mins when he started coming deep. However he was outstanding against Tyrone. We need the Tyrone match Cillian, not the tipperary match Cillian the next day otherwise our goose is cooked.
3. I worry about the centre of our defence still. Always preferred Boyler at wing back and Donie Vaughan at centre back, but Rochford thinks otherwise. If Dublin win vs kerry (I expect them to) and Eoghan O Gara is on the field we need Kevin Keane to mark him, as hes just too physical for Harrison/Higgins/Chris Barrett.
4. Our midfielders will have to turn in the performance of a lifetime the next day. McCauley came off the bench and won it for Dublin last year when our midfielders had all gone off. Cant let that happen this year.
5. Aido played 140 minutes last year at full forward v Dublin and made very little impact. Please dont let people start looking for him to go in full forward again – Andy is our target man in there and hes much more mobile and just a better full forward than Aido. Remember all the good work Aido done in 2012 v Dublin around the middle of the field? That will do nicely again the next day.
6. Finals are different, nerves and atmosphere are all different. We hit 8 or 9 wides in 2013 in the first half and paid dearly. Have to take the early chances the next day and allow players settle into the occasion.
7. Diarmuid has to lift it. Hes been quiet 2 games in a row now – we need him at 100% the next day or it will be curtains.
Finally, to borrow a famous phrase from american football – “Big time players make big time plays in big time games”. Never was a truer word spoken. What an opportunity for some of our boys to put their hands up and say ‘Im a big time player, I belong here, this is my stage”
The time is now.
I was in section 305 yesterday and was extremely disappointed in some (a fair few) Mayo supporters sitting silent the whole way through. Unreal. Not like how WJ described before about not being able to breathe never mind shout. Just sitting silent! Drives me nuts so I asked aloud “am I in the Tipp section or what” Anyway I continued to bellow Mayo Mayo all game & got the funny looks! No matter! The supporters better bring the colour & the noise on 18th cos i’m a donkey on the edge on this matter!!!
Facetheball, I agree that the timing of the club games is far from ideal. I suspect that this round of games would have been played out earlier had Mayo won Connacht. I would be of the opinion that the club games go ahead as scheduled for the simple reason the club players deserve to play their games and not be messed about, im sure they have plans made around up coming games, wheather the county players should take part is another question, one which im sure Rochford has asked the county board.
You referenced the Dubs wont play club games and that is correct but the Dub club championship is a complete joke, a straight knockout competition with one round played last April. The rest will be run off over a couple of weekends in the mud of October, certainly not fair on the ordinary club player. I find it really annoying when the GAA and county boards say its all about the clubs and that is all starts there with tv adds etc near Paddys day. The simple fact is club football is totally ignored for 364 days of the year and squeezed into the winter months where playing good football is based on the weather. Sorry for the rant but the total disregard shown to club football over the years is appalling in alot of counties, a total overhaul of football steuctures is desperately required offering dedicated weekends throughout the year where only club football is played.
Regarding the flags at Croke Park, the more the better. If Dublin comes wins it would be hard to fly them on the hill. With their Hill season ticket sold out, ticketz for other counties will be in short supply. I would predict a far smaller crowd on the hill than in 2013. It suprises me sometimes the no County really put an effort to grab tickets for the canal end and take that over, hang flags off the upper level, take over the area behind that goal. The Kop at Anfield is fully seated but no one sits down, its still treated as a terrace, Just a thought.
I genuinely think the hype will be a bit less this year by default – because we have been here so many times before, and because we still just don’t know where we are at.
That’s no bad thing – it will probably bring it back to the level it is in other counties who don’t have the level of obsession that we do. But there is no reason we can’t enjoy the build-up either – it’s a special time and if we can’t enjoy these days, there’s not much point in the whole thing.
Jim Flag, I don’t want to say too much just yet, but there are plans afoot for *quite* the flag for the 18th. Watch this space …
@mayomad. We were not in the AI Final in 2014 or 2015 so the club scene was not overly disrupted for the past two years. That should be taken into accont as well. This might be the last shot a lot of these great footballers will ever get to win Sam. The county board should give the management every chance to get this team over the line. From what I am hearing a lot of the clubs would be very open to the idea of the club games being deferred next weekend. If that is the case then surely it would be the correct thing to do in the interest of Mayo GAA.
there was zero hype in the build up to the semi and it was of no benefit to the players ……..it was the most low key semi I can ever remember
I have to say WJ, I do love the #Mayo4Sam paddy whackery. But only when we get to this stage.
Regarding the supporters and noise…I dunno..it strikes me as odd that one would make the effort and expense to go to a match and just sit there quietly. I get it that some ppl are quieter and contemplative, but IMO its hard not to be excited when at the real live event!
WE are all in agreement that the team must up their performance for the final, but the supporters must up our performance too….especially when the going gets tough and it looks like its slipping from our grasp.
km79, I do believe we won the game …
Well,first and foremost,congratulations to management,and team on magnificent performance,another final,I cannot believe it,I don’t know what they have to do to convince supporters they are the real deal . After Galway most posts were give respect to other teams ,even last week respect Tipp,and their fowards,afterwards we have beaten no one,we are in the final which I am convinced we will win,because we at least seven or eight players who believe they should be starting,and when they come on they make a massive difference,also our management react quickly to what happens on the field,other poster’s say we are lucky,yes we are very lucky to have such a determined and talented team,and management,who will have sam in September.also to people who call tom carr,neither he nor I will have any impact on winning in croke park,it will be Stephen and his management team,and this outstanding team who will be responsible,up Mayo
I love your positivity Corick bridge you are very confident and we all hope your right. But as someone else said we have to put in a performance one that we havent put in to date under Rochford. Can it be done? We will find out on third Sunday in September. Personally id love to have the Dubs in final think the lads will be out for blood.
Yeah its a very hard one to call alright, it would be a right sickener if any player got injured in a club game. On the other hand would it suit Mayo players to be spending 4 weeks thinking about an All-Ireland final. Things have worked out well for us this year, having plenty of games to focus on. This week we still don’t know who we are playing in the final so you wouldn’t really be able to do much preparation for the final anyway. The management have taken a number of risks this year which have worked out for them and maybe they are willing to take another risk on the club games. Rochford might want to give his fringe and squad players a chance to get some game time as well.
Absolutely nobody on the county team should be playing a club championship game this weekend…it’s a no-brainer. The next 4 weeks are entirely focused on Mayo and the final. Andy Moran said it is ‘the biggest four weeks of our lives’.
If the county board insist on games going ahead then clubs will have to do it minus county players unless Rochford gives the green light.
It should be as straightforward as that.
Players that did not get game time in the last few weeks will benifit from games eg Keane, Barrett, Freeman etc
We have a load of players in the 26 who need game time.
Conor Loftus, Conor OShea, Tom Parsons, Chris Barrett, Alan Freeman, Alan Dillon, Kevin Keane. Of those seven at least five will feature in the final. With really barely a season of games between them.
There may be merit in playing club football over the next week or so. You can never play enough football. You can do excessive training which can damage muscle. But practice makes perfect. You are more liable to injury in training than you are in a match. Maybe I’m wrong but the forwards can do with all the shooting practice they can get in match circumstances. I would hate to be the player in a club match to injure one of the county players.
Don’t be too hard on the supporters of yesterday. I usually come away from a Mayo match with no voice. But yesterday there was an air of apprehension. The last two years of semis may be responsible for this.
However I do agree that the fans need to release the pent up passion on the 18th and let the team know how we hold them in such high esteem.They will leave everything on the pitch. We have to leave everything on the sideline. We need to come away needing buckets of strepsils or the like. There will be no white feathers on display All Ireland day.
The great positive from yesterday is the ability of this team to adapt to changing circumstances. If things are going badly they seem to be able to identify the problem and solve it on the field. They do not lose their shape and keep cool heads.That is a rare thing. The team is more tactically aware and are getting better at it. They have the will, belief and ability to beat any team. I dont care who wins next Sunday but I hope they knock lumps out of one another
Just watched it again
Have to give Tipp credit .. they played very well in the 2nd half
Blocked up the scoring zone around the 45 really well
Sweeney and Quinlaven are class players and lee did struggle on Quinlaven.
Tactically i think Rochford got it wrong.
I think putting moran in around fullback robbed mayo of
pace coming out of defense. Surely donie would be a much better
big man sweeper.
Couldnt understand why cillian wasnt left inside beside andy.
Tom needs to start ..
I agree with brolly the team is playing with fear. Safety first. Take no risks.
Mcentees influence maybe .. its very difficult to win without taking risks.
Mayo are at their best going for it. Thats their strength over the last 6 years.
There is so much more in this team if they cut loose and go for it.
Ok play a sweeper mcloughlin/boyle/vaughan but play with more
belief. Take it to the opposition more.
Huge four weeks. Next sunday obviously will tell a lot.
There is an all ireland in this team but tactically they need a cohesive
70 minute tactical plan. Play without fear.
Mayo fans very quiet yesterday when the team needed them ..
GAA isn’t soccer, we don’t do 70 minutes of chanting and singing. I had 3 of my sons with me yesterday and as usual they looked scared for most of the game because they didn’t recognise the lunatic beside them. I clearly remember 2013 standing up in section 306 and screaming at the mayo supporters to stand up.
I’m a banana though….
Plenty in the papers today that if I was the manager would be pinning up on the wall in the dressing room.
Did we ever get to the bottom of the White Feather debate?
I agree 100% with David Brady… ‘ it’s kamikaze to play club championship this weekend’.
I’m a senior club player …I know what it’s like to have nothing going on for months. Mayo ALWAYS comes first.
Hi folks, I’m a regular reader but first time poster on this blog. Regarding the talk of a big flag for the final, I have a 54 ft X 20 ft Ireland flag with a mayo crest in the center. I would be more than happy to bring it along for the final, however I would need a few foot soldiers to help me out. It would look class before the game being passed along over people’s heads. I had a smaller tri colour on the hill yesterday with the 1951 mayo crest on it. Most of the mayo fans up there were delighted to help me out in unfurling it, however some looked at me as if I had ten heads. It would be great if we could return to the days of the mass banks of colour like the canal end was in 96 or the like the hill was in 97.
Its also kamikaze to go into an All Ireland final with at least three of the seven players I named barely any match minutes at any level since the league finished. They can easily get injured in the training games.
Anne-Marie re 5.48pm post.
That is excellent news. You dont have to say another word on the matter. I hope it works out well and i have faith in you that it will be done properly and will look classy.
Believe me it will give our fellas a great lift. Thank you if you manage to pull it off and God bless you.
Mayonaze re 7.18pm post.
Agree 100% with that. Absolutely spot on.
Come on those of you who sit in silent, and complain about some fella roaring his head off or a few young ones trying to get a Mayo chant going…some of you must read this blog? What the story…why are ye so boring? Seriously stay at home or and a cardboard cut out of yourself instead to the final. We need a wall of noise!!!!
*send a cardboard cut out of yourself instead
Clarke is having a great year
Higgins was my man of the match yday
Looking forward to the flag Ann-Marie! Kudos on your interview yesterday, by the way!
I look forward to the bit of fun before All Irelands. The songs etc. That one by the Ginger Melodeon Experience got an airing yesterday!!
Hell the last few years, that’s been the only good thing about the All Irelands!
We are in the final and while not always pretty the team go the job done.
As supporters I dont think it was a great performance either. The only thing we can influence on the day is the support for the team in the form of noise and flags. Thought the Tipp fans made a lot more noise considering they were out numbered 2 to 1.
Its a lot easier to play well when things are going your way but the players need to hear the fans when the tide is against them ever more than when they are on top.
Lets make sure for the 18th that every green and red flag in the country is in Croke Park turning into a sea of red and green and that we lift the roof of the stadium with the amount of noise and chants of Mayo.
First time poster but long time reader. Like many of you I shout until I have no voice at games. I too was in 305 and when I started the mayo chant numerous times I got little support. When I asked those around me what the hell were they there for, come on shout, I got blank faces. The next day they better roar or I will not be a happy camper.
your not to show it Liam.
Interesting point made on off the ball last night, one contributor suggested that Mayo have been set up all Championship to play Dublin, that sitting back, playing defensively, hitting on the counter while doesnt work very well v poorer opposition it is the only way to play Dublin. Very much like Donegal in 2014, jim set his team up early on with the intention of ultimately playing the Dubs. Having thought about it for a while I can see merit in the suggestion.
Way out West : Reference to Flag on the Hill on Sunday. I was right behind where your flag was on Sunday. I think the problem with it is that its a Tricolour with a relatively small symbol in the middle, its was hard to work out who the flag was for! A lad behind me thought it was Palestinian Solidarity. Credit for getting it onto the hill and I can’t knock your enthusiasm, but change the colours to just red and green.
Way out West. A 54 foot by 20 foot Ireland flag or tricolour is not whats needed on the 18th. Not having a go at ya but if you bring something big it must be green and red. i’ve seen Offaly fellas with tricolours over the years and even Kerry too. Cork with stars and stripes flags! Fair play to ya for doing your bit but from a distance nobody will know who the Ireland flag is there for (as six points up said above). Must be green and red.
We need more men like you in the trenches on the hill on the 18th. Have to admire your enthusiasm and effort and well done sir.