Fully deserved Aiden

Could be a wrecking ball at ff but we won't kick any ball in to him at all.Crazy stuff

Hopefully on Sunday we decide to try and kick the odd ball into him because he should be able to cause real chaos physically against a team like sligo.

Kerry's forward coach or one of them is the great Maurice Fitzgerald we have a gentleman from Corofin. Aidan is a legend unfortunaetly he's wasted in Mayo we dont know how to use him

Fully deserved and always shows for Mayo, a true leader, by example and inspiration. He is a big lad and because of that he doesn't always get the credit for being a really skillful footballer, watching him yesterday: his movement on and off the ball, his ability to sell a dummy, his ability to kick with both feet, his ability to field a ball, deliver a pitch perfect pass and on and on. Without him we'd be a tough spot.

Yes well done to Aiden.
He always seems to be able to find that pass to bring others into the game,as the lads said it's a shame we can't build a plan around him. Ryan,and the likes of Tommy and Davitt would really benefit from his range of passes,if we used him correctly of course.

Before he become manager, on TV, KMS used to said he would leave AOS at full forward and bomb him with balls at full forward. Hasn't always worked out that way. The problem with Aidan is he is such as good player his adaptability means he can be used in many roles hence the problem 'where to play in AOS?'. His ability to control the forward half of the field however is evolving into a powerful force to be let loose in the championship.

Well done Aidan. He has to be regarded as one of Mayos all time greats.
In Exile yes that's what McStay said but they never put any ball in all year. When a great Dub like Paul Flynn and what a player he was says " they never put one ball in on top of him" one must ask the question who is running the show for Mayo. It looks to me it's Rochford and his mates. Contrast Donegal under his coaching and now. Need I say anymore.

[Deleted].

Well deserved for Aiden. @On the road your comment gave me a flashback of a time when we need feed the ball into AOS when he played upfront against Sligo a good few years ago. He scored about 3-5 can't remember the year.

Sligo were poor on the day but he showed what he can do up top with the right service and hes still at it today

It was 2015 and he also scored a brilliant goal against Donegal that year from a long ball in

Are people here getting slightly carried away with these comments..has had a long career and rarely injured but, and I use the term with all due respect because I'm not one to judge personally on players..I only judge what I see and unfortunately 7 finals, no scores and very little influence overall in the way Murphy had in 12', brogan in 13' con kilkenny Fenton etc. Hard to fathom really. Anyway just to be judged on the big day, the main players tend to stand out..Clifford, Murphy. Gooch the dublin players mentioned..even Shane Walsh had a fabulous final in 22. So for that reason..I'm out.

You don’t just magically appear in finals .without Aidan o Shea we wouldn’t have been in as many finals and what are you out of Larry

Larry
They are all big days though Connacht finals quarter finals semi finals. Without AOS how many actual finals would we have been in??. Also bear in mind that he was double-marked and fouled constantly in all those big games. Why does he always get so much attention because opposition know he is a threat. Never in any kind of trouble he has been a gentleman all his life. Always available always looking to win.
One other point I want to make as well is that his family who are 100% Kerry have 100% embraced Mayo football.....I feel its worth saying that.
I dont know the family or Aidan other than to see him on the pitch. For me he is in the top 5 players ever for Mayo for sure

Just a rule question.

Is it within the rules for a GAA player in possession of the ball, hand off with outstretched arm an opponent

Glorydays. We have a gentleman from Corofin.
Exactly and meanwhile we have an all star and player of the year forward coaching the Monaghan team.
Well done Aidan. We’re so lucky to have him.

That's an idiotic comment, Robe Green & Red. This isn't Premiership soccer. Wait until the season over before casting judgment.

Larry David - as others have said, we'd have been in far fewer finals if we hadn't Aidan in the team and he was far from anonymous in all the finals he played in. By the way, Shane Walsh had far from a fabulous final last year: if Aidan stank the place out like Walsh did then we'd never have heard the end of it.

Agree. Our forwards movement and our overall scoring threat has not improved one shred in the past two seasons.

Our refusal to kick the bloody ball into the forwards yesterday was criminal. How on earth was it allowed to persist. McStay/Management must be questioned on this. I’d love to hear their answer.

Mayo reverted to our pre-HT in Armagh form for yesterday and it was horrible to watch. I don’t care about the league but I was angry with how we went about things yesterday. A dismal showing.

Well deserved Aidan. I felt sorry for Aidan yesterday. The 3 mayo inside forwards had the beating of their men if only someone would send quick direct ball into them. The highly underrated Barry Dan O'Sullivan and Joe O'Connor loarded it at midfield. Although Mayo looked tired yesterday and the performance was flat one would worry for the year ahead. David McBrine should be at FULL BACK not Center Back. Paudie Clifford was the star for Kerry yesterday but Clever Managers like Jim McGuinness, Dessie Farrell, & Malachy O'Rourke, will man mark him in the Championship. Kevin McStay should have changed his Backroom Team last Winter. It now looks like the only hope for his survival is to win the All Ireland. Playing This posession game back and over across the pitch will never win a big game in Croke Park against the likes of Donegal, Dublin, Tyrone, Armagh, & Kerry. Look at the Job Andy Moran is doing in Monaghan.

Mayonaze Agree 100% and our backs were open and what management would leave Clifford one on one when he should have been double marked.

mayo had a good ff line but for some unknown reason there was no ball sent in to them after the first 20 minutes. it looks like back to S.R way again , well done aiden well deserved.

We are all singing of the one hymn sheet in that we want to see variation in our play. There is a stubbornness about the management.
Naming dummy teams is backfiring on us too. The media are sick of us, how can they preview a match, not knowing team and bench, or maybe it's only supporters that are left in the dark. We are out of step with every other county in this regard. Darren McHale is our no 11 on Friday. On Sunday, he's not starting, how does he feel about this. Not injured, just a daft tactic, most unfair on the player, his family and friends. Who makes these calls.
Then we have Hession waving to his granny in the stand. Can anyone tell me what's that all about.
It wasn't a failure of players to perform, it was a failure of tactics.
Next Sunday is a last opportunity to play the game by new rules, but they are a stubborn lot....

I think mayo should get rid of the ball sooner too much passing the ball bck and forth.and caught a few times giving it to the wrong opponent. As they were so near at times after Owen scored the goal.but the mayo goalie made a mistake. I thought kerry got more frees than mayo..where is Tommy Conroy he was a good fward we need him..Donnach mchugh played ok at least he tries.i hope it will be a better game against sligo.

Walsh had a grade 3 hamstring tear WJ. Shouldn’t have even been togged for last years final.

Enda Hession waving to his granny in the crowd.I suppose it’s as good an explanation as any .The curious thing is nothing actually seems to happen after this arm waving

If we don't care about the league, we shouldn't be taking yesterday this bad (although there have been plenty worse reactions to losses in the past).

We won't know how we're really doing until we get to the connacht final (unless we don't make it, then we know we have a crisis).

The kickouts and the middle third (especially given the players used) wasn't great.

The rest of it (errors, being off the pace) there's obviously loads of room for improvement.

@Big Mike well that's still no exsuce . PJ rather risk an injured player so much for player welfare there.

As others said if that had been Aido who had such a bad final the abuse he would have gotten and if we said he had an injury as to why he had such a bad final we would have been laughed at .

Fair play to Aido puts his best forward always despite all the stick he gets .

Its important to look at yesterday in context. It seems its generally agreed that we would be better of not getting to a league final and its not worth winning if we do .
Therefore its no surprise that the players play......... like we would be better of not getting to a league final and its not worth winning if we do.
No one cares if we win then why would they risk injury when they are out again next week. Kerry are in a different place and everyone seems to accept that up front but get pissed when we play like that on the day.
You could see in the 2 league finals I seen us win in the last few years that we were well up for it.....yesterday was'nt like that. Lets see how they do against Sligo next week and beyond before we judge 2025. We played good football during the league and found new players to develop further. Like Reid, Irwin, Neary......lets wait and see what happens over the Spring.

Ah no 1985 I meant it in jest..out of the debate on Aido, he does divide opinion and I'm sure we all have our own thoughts. It's just your main man has to take finals by the scruff a la Murphy who I eluded to earlier..not just Aido mind, don't get me wrong. Ah now WJ, there's some difference in Walsh and Aido..did he score 9 points in that final, 4 or 5 beauty's from play too..he was bad last year against a poor armagh in an awful game it must be said. No excuses there. There is no comparing the 2 on their day however, I think most football purists would agree..has Walsh scored the most 2 pointers in the league aswell? He's a wonderfully balanced baller ..left and right, speed etc..no judgement, just a personal opinion really.

Well done Aido. An absolute warrior and brilliant servant to the county. Pretty much an ever present since 2009 so Johnno, JH x2 Holmes and Connelly, Rochford and McStay all thought he was good enough.Lots of posters saying he should be located on edge of square and ball kicked in to him ( part of me agrees) but based on what I saw yesterday maybe we need him at midfield for chunks of the game. Jack Carney and Mattie are talented footballers but the new rules reward high fielding midfielders and Aido is able to do that

Feels like no matter where we play Aido or Ryan we're robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Would love to see ryan at centre forward but then who takes over the scoring burden?
After yesterday's no show at midfield would like to see a rested Flynn and Aido in there.
It couldn't be any worse than yesterday.
But then who goes to ff?
Have always felt Flynn is our best midfielder but been played wing forward.
Mc Brien best full back been played at 6.
Aido could be another Donaghy/Murphy at ff but no long ball ever put into him.
Management pick the team and decide the tactics so that's on them.
We done well to retain Division 1 status but the next few weeks will tell the tale

I don't believe Mayo didn't try their best to win yesterday.
One example caught my eye, after the goal and a 2 pointer to bring it to 3 or 4 points, Ruane won a ball in midfield, was fouled amd celebrated with a fist pump, he wanted to win.
I believe Mayo just did no turn up or was it that they didn't want to go really hard to win.
Surely different options should have been tested in the game for the championship, long ball into full forward line, move O Shea out for kickouts, switch D Clifford marker after he received a soft yellow card.
As others stated, man mark Paudie.

Mayo get caught put badly on the quick Kerry counter attack, ie too many Mayo bodies too far up the pitch, quick ball into forwards may be better utilised at times.

“Hession waving to his granny in the stand“, I can’t recall laughing so much at a comment here on the blog, absolutely superb.

Hession a forward in his younger days looked like he had zero confidence when attempting his point yesterday, a wonderful footballer who seemed to be playing with fear when taking that chance on.

Kick the ball inside and take on your scoring chances with conviction.

I have yet to see a Mayo team clear space around AOS and drop a diagonal ball in from the midfield/half forward line.
We now have less defenders, an advanced mark, solo and go and advantage rule. We haven't even tried one ball all year.
On Sunday we selected two big ball winners in the ff line and kicked nothing in to them.
It's a pretty basic tactic but this year in particular, a lot of goals have been scored by counties when an attempted point dropped short. Why won't Mayo try one?

Aidan, the Man, the Myth the Legend. Had a very decent league and good day out yesterday. Was really gutted he missed the free in the second half as it had shades of AAF against the Dubs. If he scores that and Ryan's 2 pointer at half time we could have been within three (granted Kerry opted to pop over the bar a couple of times when goal was on).
Was listening to the Ah Ref pod last night when I was walking the dog, they mentioned that the team ran out of the purple shorts and had to rob a few from the U17's. Think Aido definitely got a pair of them yesterday!
With a bit of luck the Breaffy Bomber will be unleashed, Michael Murphy style at some point.

My Apologies Willie Joe. Frustration of Sunday got the better of me. Make sure it won’t happen again ok

Aidan O'Shea played well for first 15 minutes , after that it was just in and out on a few occasions .No consistency, he is too slow and cumbersome in around the square . To be fair, he hadn't much help, only Carney around the middle was effective . They were turned over time and again in the forward line, as well, Kerry were a lot faster on the breaking ball and that was a serious difference .

As a Clare man with a close eye on Mayo for the last 20 years, I have total admiration for Aidan O’Shea. His service to his county has been extraordinary. He has so many brilliant qualities - endurance, strength, high fielding, vision, soft hands. The one caveat is deep down he doesn’t seem to have conviction when it comes to shooting. He is hesitant too often when the chance prefers itself instead of putting the head down and going for it. When he scored that great goal against Donegal in 2015 he looked like a one man wrecking ball and with the potential to be one of the really great players. That didn’t materialise. However, that is not to detract what the many quality displays he has given for so long. Hopefully the points he scored on Sunday will be the boost he needs to develop that aspect of his game - he would be a nightmare for defenders then. As many posters have pointed out, he needs to be serviced properly also.

Just looking at comments here, and in the past, I always feel sorry for O'Shea. He over the years has taken some abuse from outside your county, but more importantly inside it. From my point of view as a Dub, what a player he has been and is. One of the great servants of Gaelic games. He seems to be getting better with age and not slowing down. Enjoy him while you's have him, I guarantee the day he steps down, you will be lamenting he's not there anymore.

Well deserved Aido. Once again, put in a big shift, one of only a few who can be satisfied with their performance. He almost single handedly carried us and never gave up.