Well said... a good, positive. inspiring piece.to get us going.. Now let us go and play our part.. Up Mayo.

Hard to believe its 10yrs since we beat them in McHale park. Hope today is the day. A win here and McStay has a pass for the rest of the league for me. As I said on the other thread I hope the named team starts to see have they learned from last week and gotten rid of some dirty diesel to boot. Looks like its going to be a nice day so conditions should be good. Mayo by 4-5 (hopefully)

The league, particularly for us this year, is all about blooding players and trying things out, strategies, systems etc. Is relegation the end of the world? No. But should losing be easily acceptable? Absolutely not. That kind of approach is a loser’s mentality. It’s dangerous territory. You always strive to win, regardless of who is wearing the Mayo jersey.

There have been other teams in recent years who managed to retain Div 1 status while also successfully blooding new players and giving much more game time and greater responsibility to players who up until that point were peripheral squad members.

That being said, there are some benefits for teams, especially those with significant numbers of relatively new players, of getting a season in Div 2…it’s competing but for a newish up and coming squad, a succession of wins against decent opposition can gel a team and boost morale. It’s also a very good testing ground to see how good a team are because most Div 2 teams are really keen on promotion and therefore put greater emphasis on winning games than compared to Div 1 teams, several of whom pull up the handbrake once 6 points are attained.

Any word of the Mayo bench for today...

“Play to Win” is a lot lot better than “play not to lose”. If we take the risk and be bold, we’ll be Connacht champions this year.

We're playing the 3rd best team in the land behind Donegal and Armagh so I'm not expecting any miracles.
A good performance is the best we can hope for!

Best of luck guys & safe travels to all.

It's mad we have not beaten them in McHale park in so long..

https://x.com/MayoGAA/status/1886025261709226318?t=jpPCA4ZnxwysF2p-tSZMew&s=19

Go neiri le foireann Mhuigeo inniu.
Full panel see above link

Mhuigeo Abù

Thanks Oilean Acla - just to confirm that subs list: Adrian Phillips (gk), Bob Tuohy, Cian McHale, Darren McHale, Diarmuid O’Connor, Eoin O’Donoghue, Evan Ivers, Finbar McLaughlin, Kevin Quinn, Seán Morahan, Shairoze Akram.

All we need now are the 2/3 changes to the starting fifteen and then we’re good to go!

Just the one change to the starting fifteen: Seán Morahan replaces Fenton Kelly. Eoghan McLaughlin is added to the bench, wearing 23 and replacing kid brother Finbar.

Morahan in for Kelly in the starting Line up Eoghan Mc replaces Finbar on the bench

Snap!

Sean Morahan replaces Fintan Kelly

Eoghean Mc replaces his brother in the subs!

Well if ever a game that demonstrates the benefits of the new rules then the Derry Kerry game was up there, Derry attacked well but defensively were poor, gave away soft goals to allow Kerry sneak a win.
Fear for us today, we know that Galway are good going forward, can we open them up, time will tell.

Three changes for Galway - Liam Silke (for Daly), Johnny Maher (for Sweeney) and Shane Walsh (for Tierney).

The pitch looks in unreal shape to be fair.

We are very loose at the back, Galway working scoring opportunities very easy.

Love how Enda McGeraty put out the Mayo changes couple hours ago.
No one say the change coming..

Defence a huge worry again today, Galway walking through and defenders being shrugged off to easy, early days though.

Galway ghosting far too easily through our defence at the moment, against the wind too.

Clear Galway tactic, isolate Walsh one vs one with Sam. Working a treat so far for them. Have mgmt not learned from last year that Sam is not a great man marker.

Didn't leave 3 men in Galway half Peter

Not seeing much different from Mayo, our Midfield is getting cleaned out, backs getting roasted and Forwards can’t kick a score.

I'd like to see a Referee make that decision in croke park against the The Dubs..
No chance of that.

Correct decision

I spoke too soon, fair play Towey for taking the game to them.

Towey with 3 from play, it's great seeing one of our few scoring forwards finally getting gametime.

Didn't do very much with the wind we had. Galway will be happy enough given they'll have the breeze in the second half. The miss right in front of goal was criminal.

Paul Towey really putting his hand up for a starting berth here. Good fight back in the second quarter, would worry about Galway having the wind advantage in the second half though.

Is it just me, or do Galway look a good bit bulkier than our young side?

We are not doung badly at all in fairness I was not expecting us to be in the lead at half time..

Fair play to Towey, Calinan doing well to..

Toweys shooting has been fantastic .

Is this a challenge game! Nobody going for it....

It's pretty much our first choice back 6 playing. The ease Galway and Dublin have gotten through us really needs to change drastically in coming weeks.

We had a strong wind so the 1 point advantage doesn't look great, galway do look such a bigger side too, we needed that goal that donnacha mchugh pulled wide.

Towey bringing his shooting boot, Irwin and Reid getting into it as well. Would like to see more of ODonoghue and Boland. Ryan sees to be off form. Morahan also doing well.

This game suits players who are willing to take on their marker. We have players who can do that, they just need to believe and trust themselves.
Galway have the breeze in the second half but maybe our running game is more suited to playing against the wind. Worried after 15 minutes but have steadied the ship, let's go for it in the second half.

Galway have the wind in the second half and it's brisk enough so we can expect a fair few two-point attempts from them. Big worry for us so far is how anonymous ROD has been, McGrath has him firmly under wraps so far.

That's a 5point breeze in old money.... could be a 10 point breeze in new.

I hope they leave Paul Towey on. Something like management would don’t take off the player that are playing well.

So poor that.

Maher offload to Walsh for a two pointer. Not a Mayo shirt in sight.

Poor decision making costing us at times, an easy fist over the bar turned over and a one-pointer for Galway at the other end. All to do now.

ROD playing Sigerson as well, do we really need to be flogging him this early.

The lack of pressure from kickers is serious worry now.

Oh Lord, 2 points up at half time, now 5 down.

Men against boys our tackling is way off and our strength and conditioning is way off time for Evan to start feeding them steak and spuds

Our kicking is absolutely awful. The worst I've seen all weekend.

We don’t look comfortable at all going for those two pointers, maybe better to look to work the ball earlier.

Disgraceful hit there on Diarmuid O Connor..

Our lack of physical power is very worrying. Thank god David Neary is on the field. At least he will use his strength. Is it just me or do we look to have a serious lack of desire to win 50/50 ball? It’s like we are afraid out there.

Yeah, judging by this we’re in fairly bad shape , difficult to see where the three wins are going to come from .

Agree Green&Red. Very small team. No imposing physical presences out there, no strength in the tackle.

Looks like we don't even know the rules at this point.

I’m sorry, but to be caught twice in one game for overloading the opposition half is fucking criminal. It’s literally giving the opposition several points, as well as wiping off one of our own.

Worrying for sure but we have to remember we are missing quite a few starters to be fair. This is pretty much Galways nearly strongest team.

But it's depressing watching this.

Best preparation Mayo could get for a Connaught campaign.
Feet stuck to the ground by Galway.

Management is clueless.

Hate to say it but i’ve lost all faith in this managment ticket. Embarrassing stuff, it’s like we don’t even know the new rules.

Peter - does it all lie with management? In my view, the players aren't there. What's management supposed to do with players who can't kick a point from 20 yards?

Just cleaned around the middle third
Matthew Ruane ball handling not the best today.
Irwin trying hard but does not seem to have the pace to take on him man

Jesus, working off of last year's rule book, shocking to give up scores from not having 3 back and we don't seem to know that the solo and go allows the player to run forward 4 meters before soloing

It means nothing to me,

I was just about to say what you said. I’ve watched 3 other games this weekend and once I saw the 3vs3 broken. And fuck me we do it twice in one game. What on earth are we at in training? I’d say Kevin and Co will be getting O’Shea on the plane home asap. And begging Cillian to come back. Very few two point kickers.

Awful stuff, as bad I've seen from Mayo in donkeys years. No defensive system at all, standing back and admiring Galway's shooters. To be brutally honest, the players aren't there, that said, the management have an awful lot to answer for. We may stay up in Division One, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Players in acres of space and still choosing to carry the ball into crowds of defenders. I don't know what you do about that at this point. These are lads in their 20s. They're not going to suddenly learn flair and shooting instinct.

Ten mins to go and this is a tanking really. Galway should have been 5 or 6 up at HT. we’ve been dreadful 2nd

Why do you keep saying it's nearly Galway's strongest team Clare when it's been repeatedly pointed out that it's nowhere close to it

The Gulf is depressing

Hopefully the talk of All Ireland's and us being at Galway's level on here will stop now. We are nowhere near and are only getting worse. They could have beaten us by whatever they wanted today and unfortunately, relegation is certain for us.

We have a management ticket with no ideas or innovation. I have no faith in them. The game has changed completely since last year and here we are playing the exact same way. All this talk of reviews and fresh ideas is just that, talk.

A lot of this lies with the players too, they continue to make the same mistakes and don't seem to be capable of learning. Its incredibly frustrating as a supporter.

I'd be happy to see the management team go now before 2025 is a total waste of a year.

@Clare - Galway have better players to bring back into their team than we do. Time to face facts, we are an average team now.

It's been a while since Mayo fans have left in such numbers well before full-time.

Big difference in class. Galway players more talented all over the field. They have those tight marking defenders, way bigger players in the middle 8 and way better forward unit. We got by for years with our hard running game from deep but that's not the game anymore. Big concerns over McStay also. He made some comments a few weeks ago about 2 pointers not being that important whereas other teams have really embrased them. Caught out a few times with the 3 up today and other small rule breaks like the solo and go where we go and hop it! Seems like our homework hasn't been done which is unforgivable.

And ending the game with a red card, of course. Absolute shambles on every level.

Kevin mcstay standing on sideline like a lad that dropped in casually to watch a random game

Hard to blame them WJ. Don’t know what’s worse, the performance or the traffic outside McHalePark

Only the league but a fairly sobering defeat. Galway only in 3rd gear really but pulling away at their leisure. Death by 2 pointer.

I’m afraid we are slowly but surely slipping back to the dark ages

Terrible stuff, division 2 next year. What are management doing.

Realistically this game tells us that players and management are way off the pace. We are as far away from an All Ireland as we have been for 25 years. McStay and Rochford need to be honest with themselves and go now for everyone’s sake.

Just a pity the management were not leaving in the same numbers as the fans

The best that can be said at this point is at least there is no injury time to endure.

Bit a of a theme now. Decent first half and lead at halftime. Go in for team talk, fall asleep and stop playing.

This is not as bad as people say. We are trying a lot of new players. Galway have the strongest team possible and all fit too.
There are plenty of examples of teams who do well in the championship getting hammered in early league games.
Relax.

@CPAMG - Unforgivable is exactly the word for it. Our team isn't as good as the other top teams, the players aren't there. So the only way we could have possibly had a good year is by being the best at adapting to the new rules and coming up with ideas that give us a head start. We appear to have done the complete opposite and haven't embraced these rules at all. Its shameful.

Towey has carried the fight to Galway today, but there aren’t many other positives to be taken, quite honestly. Galway look miles ahead of us in terms of football and physicality, and even in terms of basic stuff like being familiar with the new rules.

And I don’t care how good Galway are, there’s no excuse for a Mayo side to be hammered by them, especially playing at home. A lot of soul searching to be done.

The worrying thing is our defence and attack both look so poor and absolutely no impact from our bench.

I am glad that I was unable to attend today, to be fair Galway look good but we have helped in that regard. Could be a short year. Think Towey and Hession have done OK.

@Stephenite I do not keep saying its Galways strongest team.

The fact is they are not missing many of their starters where we are missing :

Aido
Tommy C
Paddy Durcan
Conor Loftus
Jordan Flynn
Jack Coyne

@unstopable yes Galway do have more dept of a panel then us.

Had a feeling before the game we would get a bit of a hammering..

Galway got a hammering off us the start of the league this time last year when they had players missing.

Awful to watch & the red card was even crappier but I will wait to judge when we have our full deck back.

Galway got 7 2 points
We got 1

O’Donoghue had a poor game and it shows how reliant we are on him. But it’s only the league

7 two pointers to 1....

[Deleted].

We lost numerous all-irelands because we could not kick points from distance and didn't have tacticians on the line. We have played the same running football for 20 years with small ladeens upfront and it's only getting worse now.
The natural kicking was taken out of footballers like Diarmuid and they were all turned in to running work horses. We are always slow to adapt and as usual are left miles behind while our lads smile at eachother on the line..

Take a player like Evan Ivers, why not give him 20 minutes there. Let him go around and smash and belt a few lads. Fuck me Galway have no problem giving us a few belts.

It’s been said before, our mgmt are just to “nice”. No cut in them and it’s a reflection in our style of play. No aggression with or without the ball. We can all guess why Cillian walked away. “Professional reasons” might be the sound bite but anyone watching that shite today can put two and two together. The rumbles of player discontent at CB meetings look to be carrying more weight then ever before.

I watched a team there today who didn’t really care what happened. And usually that’s a result of a lack of belief in mgmt.

Player of the Match poll is up. I know, I know ...

The rule changes like them or not are here to stay and if the players cant get the three players in each half rule by now they need replacing by someone who not only understands the rules but plays to them.

Disheartening to see the fans departing early but very understandable. Must be hard for the players to witness the exodus on a personal level. There's an air of despondency about for sure and the boys on the sideline need to own it and act accordingly.

@PJ thats a bit harsh.

I agree it was a terrie day for us never said it wasn't did I?

Positives-Towey, occasionally Reid and Neary, and our attempts to press the Galway kick out at a push in the first half.

Negatives-Physically way off the pace. Bullied in the way we used to bully other Connacht teams a decade ago.
Not switched on defensively. Walsh’s preplanned 2 pointer at the start of the second half an excellent example.
Back to lateral movement in attack when the pressure was on in the second half.
Potentially another injury for Diarmuid.
The hope for Boland as a two point shooter is already waning.
It’s not going for Ryan at the moment.

Still five league games to go and a few to come back. But we look well behind the main contenders just now.

@PJ

I said it was depressing to watch. No need for that.

Yes was horrible to watch not saying otherwise.

Basic skills like kick passing, timing the hand pass, decision making, physical attributes and knowing the bloody rules….we had nothing. As bad a Mayo team I’ve seen. Mayo supporters had every right to leave early after watching that crap. Worst of all we had no fight or pride. Pathetic

@Clare - Galway have all stars to come back into their team. From the lads you listed, the jury is out on Loftus, Coyne and Conroy at inter county level - none of those three are certain starters at all. Aidan is 35...

The blind optimism is a bit grating if I'm honest.

I like the two pointer from play as that is a serious score at any level but I think two pointers from frees is far too harsh a penalty to pay.

Worst Mayo performance I've seen since the 2nd half vs Dubs in 2023. 2 major concerns, forwards ability(hate to say it but our lads are just not as good or cute as the best), new rules looked new to us. I took Kevin's comments after the Monaghan game with a pinch of salt but today looked like they've not trained on the new rules. Having said all that, next time out in Connacht will be different fare

If McStay really did say two pointers arent important then he and his management team should politely but firmly be shown the door this evening.

The truth is there are a few players that will be picked game after game regardless of form and others that should be given a run that never get it. I wanted McStay as manager but him and Rochford either don't gel or are deliberately fecking stubborn. I don't give a hoot about missing players because anyone picked should at least give their all. We had zero intensity compared to Galway and and physical challenge on a Mayo player resulted in a turnover. Pretty depressing all round and still stuck in traffic ffs.

CB should never have left McStay and Rochy in charge after the review rumours.

Real lack of bite and physicality is the most alarming part. That was always what we based ourselves on. Lads don’t look strong at all and weren’t going in 100 percent. Looking forward to have Flynn and Aidan back, but it’s certainly very worrying times.

@clare have you heard of Damien Comer? Basically beat us on his own in the Connacht final last year

They've 6 other first teamers out as was mentioned to you on the other thread yesterday. If you haven't picked up the names from that there's no point in keeping repeating it

Paddy and Tommy are coming off long term injuries. There's no guarantee they'll get back to starter level quality this year. Jordan Flynn is coming off a down year.

We missed Aidos leadership alright but I'm not seeing some magic bullet of players who are all going to come back and hey presto. The talent simply isnt there end of

@Peter Regan have a feelinvmg your right there. Sad to see the mayo crowd leaving in droves.

[Deleted].

We are so weak in areas . Don’t think I’ve seen a Mayo team ran through by Galway like that in a long time . Management are really terrible , mcstay has given this blasé attitude towards the new rules in two separate interviews pre season and it’s very evident this has filtered into the squad . It’s shambolic .

The one positive was towey and I’ve often been a critic but he was excellent today and really showed he can take a score .

The hit on diarmuid is very typical of the behaviour by Galway players on the o Connor’s down the years . Won’t go on about it as I’m sure diarmuid will just get on with it .

Galway are impressive now and I really hate to admit it cause personally I’d rather Glasgow rangers win Sam but they are not mentally damaged one bit from losing last years final and will go close you’d imagine .

Unfortunately there is no solution under mcstay , hopefully he learns by it and maybe we can improve but at this juncture you’d have to think we are so far behind we will lose every single game in the league .

@Stephenite get your pissed off with the game as we all are but lay off it a bit.

Obviously I know who Comer is.

We really go from insane highs to lows of reactions after a game.

Yes was shocking worst I have seen but in all honesty did anyone expect nothing but a heavy defeat today?

McStay looks such a sad figure on the sideline and his body language is dreadful. Listening to his interview after the game makes him look even worse.
Don't know what they've been doing in training but they were no match for Galway and it's hard to see us surviving in division 1 now.
Anyone who gave us a chance today are not living in the real world...as the saying goes - we are where we are - and that's not a good place right now!

@PJ how the hell would you know how many games I attend or not?!

Depressing coming out of that. That was a shambles. No fight, no leadership, no aggression, seems not up to date on rules, the worst of division one teams I.have seen this weekend. Rochford/McStay have serious questions tonight. No wonder the Mayo supporters were streaming out early. I don't want to hear the excuses tonight here on thr blog that ""we have players to come back".

Great flowing football and the outside 2 pointers are key. Quality shooters will now decide games.Tbh, I never envisaged a 10 point win in Castlebar. I feel Mayo's running ???? game is now redundant and KMcS will need to unearth scorers.

That person who approached the ref after the game should be dealt with severely. A player had to intervene and he came back again to the ref.
Positive (singular) Davitt Neary.
Now, season 3.
We're totally at sea.
I'm glad we have the marginal gains sorted, sleeping on a better pillow etc.
But we're not ready for the bigger gain which was the rules which were always going to pass Congress given they were backed by the GAA President.

Clare I think your comments are always relevant and informed. @ pj and Stephenite you need to be more respectful. WJ that really needs to be stamped out on the blog...

The gulf between the sides was noticeable, but Mayo were missing key players. Similar to last years league although I’m not convinced it’d change the result.

Why?

Galway have a much better structured defence. We’ve been on here saying this for 3 to 4 years now. Why oh why can Mayo not feckin put a proper defensive plan in place. It’s negligent!! Galway opened us, found the scores much easier to get and had lads in acres of space to kick easy scores. So frustrating to watch. Meanwhile our boys were buzzing around the D furiously trying in vain, most of the time, to create gaps. Same oul…. Our attacking shape and strategy looks identical to last year.

Midfield. Just second best.

The only slight positive today was Towey kicked a few scores. That was it.

@PJ in all honesty thats a ridiculous statement to make.

I go to a good few games. Bit out of order for you to be going on like that no matter how annoyed you are over a game. I go as many games as I can just like everyone else.

It was a depressong enough day as it is no need to go on like that.

@Lahamanman really appreciate that thanks! : )

Men v Laddeens, in every aspect of the game. As bad a performance as I can remember in over 40 years of going to Mayo games. On so many levels we were inferior to Galway and, even if quality is heavily swayed in their favour, the softness and timidness in our play was embarrassing. O'Connor was sent spinning with a heavy, late hit and NOT ONE Mayo player threw a belt at a single Galway player! Our backs were bullied off the ball, shoved and thrown around the place like U16's, and NOT ONE Mayo player stood up and dished it back. A truly shocking performance and one where major major questions need to be asked just what the fuck are they doing on the sideline. I'm a supporter of McStay but the worries I had coming out of Pearse Stadium last Summer were confirmed this afternoon.
We're too soft, too small, too nice, too light, too timid and too stupid - football wise. We're miles and miles away from being a competitive streetwise outfit. At this point, the season threatens to be a long, humbling experience. Today was the day where the book was well amd truly closed on the decade of brilliance we were treated to.
We've a barren number of years ahead of us.

Jesus Peter i think you made your point....

Tough second half for Mayo , but as I said last year Towey was very good..
Apart from that very little positives..
On the Diarmuid injury, it was shoulder to shoulder but he landed awkwardly.

That result today was very predictable. We have to accept we are not at the top level anymore and Galway are. We will be relegated this year and probably won't make the AL QF's . There was a lack of leadership and vision at CB level to build on the success of 2011- 2021..We are now paying the price for that.
The current management team are out-of of touch with the evolution of the game even without the rule changes. A change in management is needed but while it would improve things it won't solve the problem.

McStay left us 2 years behind everyone in the S & C dept. He’s doing the exact same thing to ye. Ye looked like little boys today. I was astonished when he got the Mayo job, he left us in a mess and I was sure ye would do your homework on him, but obviously didn’t.

Clare I don’t know why you feel the need to respond to every comment.you have posted umpteen times over the last few days about Galway having most of their players available and we are weakened but we will come good in championship.what happened today is a gradual and now rapidly accelerating decline.we have been a shambles in the last two championships .our attack today was completely clueless with players going on solo runs into the d turning back and another player having a go .Shane Walsh left totally unmarked on occasions to kick two pointers the same as bugler last week.Sam callinan is not a man marker and what in gods name was Matt ruane doing taking a sideline ball in the left corner which resulted in a 45 for Galway

Don’t want to be arguing mayonaze but doesn’t really matter what defensive plan you put in place especially under the new rules , if you aren’t strong enough to combat a forward running at you you’re going to get turned inside out . Galway have a lot of edge on us going by todays game but I think it’s going to get a lot more evident that we are severely lacking in teak toughness . Paddy durcan will add if he gets back to full throttle but it won’t make up for the sum total . My only hope is some of these lads will be stronger in the years ahead and improve in the tackle .

What is Donnie Buckley actually bringing to the table at this point .

The two pointer from Walsh from the second half restart was criminal.
Maher won the ball from the throw in. Fair enough. Ran a few yards with the ball and offloaded to Walsh. Fair enough.
There was no one anywhere near Walsh which was madness. Walsh also landed a second two pointer later in the half where he picked the ball up and ran 10 yards unchallenged before shooting.

Just as annoying was the fact we were pulled twice for not leaving 3 back. The one in the first half resulted in a 2 point swing. Makes you wonder what the management team are looking at if the rest of the crowd and the linesman can see it.

McStay will take the heat tonight but it should be pointed out that our last few seasons are a mirror image of Rochford with Donegal. A gradual decline and death by a thousand lateral passes.

@1985. Right whatever. It is an opionion thats all.

I think it's best to forget about this one and move on to the next game.

No problem with Diarmuid s injury.Not foul play.
Exactly what does Callinan bring to the table in the back line?
New lads all made an impact.

Please STOP these personal insults against Clare - this is a sporting football blog !

[Deleted].

@PJ thats a horrible thing to say. I don't fall out with many and try and be as respectful as I can.

I dont know Clare from Adam but I dont like the comments against her I think we all need to relax and take our beating. I personslly dont think it will improve until McStay Rochford Buckley etc are gone. They are out of ideas we need a fresh voice. My pick would be Tony McEntee

Stephen Rochford has got his hands on two solid teams JH built and he is doing his level best to smash them up. Seriously overrated. Destroyed Donegal too. Our S&C is a million miles off where it needs to be.

As for Donie Buckley, the only thing he is bringing to the table is a very large and healthy expense/milage form every week. Where is the “great tackling” he was famous for? Didn’t see Jack O’Connor looking for him as a head coach this year.

@pj why are you getting triggered by other people’s comments. Stop being a snowflake. Mayo played terrible. The way people respond on here isn’t going to make us any better or worse.

Apologies to Clare if I said anything out of line but reading the same thing over and over does get monotonous but no offence meant

Why do some people have such an issue with Clare's comments? They might not be from the top drawer of football analysis but neither are most others on this blog. As for repetition, we'll there's plenty of that in others posters comments too!

@1985 no worries apolagies for repeating comments don't mean to.

To be honest myself and Clare have disagreed on football matters at times ( As a Dub I am the enemy ) but I've never found her to be rude or insulting. They are what they are, a difference of opinions. We all have them. I think debate ( once it's done with respect ) is good for our sport. We want the best for our club teams and county teams. As far as your game today, do I think you'll win Sam??, honestly no is my answer ( same opinion about ourselves ) but you guys will be a lot better in championship. Like ourselves trying out players and adjusting to the new hybrid game. On supporting your team, it's when the chips are down is when the real supporter comes out. Very easy for us all ( I've seen it with us ) to support when winning. Whatever about the management, no benefit getting in the players backs. Remember where you guys were just before you produced your greatest team ever, that team that pushed us all the way. Just a few of my OPINIONS, I know everyone won't agree. But isn't that the beauty of it

McStay and Rochford will surely take heat (and definitely what's unfolding is eerily similar to Donegal under Rochford), but players have to take responsibility too. You can put a new management team in there if you want, but I genuinely don't think much would improve. There are certain players in there making the same mistakes over and over and over. Common sense seems to be lacking at times.

The forwards issue is also not going to be solved this year or next year and probably not even the year after that. Skillful, creative, instinctive forwards are produced by footballing cultures that truly value such players from underage up, and Mayo doesn't. If we'd had David Clifford, we'd have found some way to beat the creativity out of him and turn him into a half back before he even started playing senior.

Just to point out one thing.
Supporters with both colour hats were leaving early,most likely to beat the traffic,as I know this will be thrown at Mayo supporters in the future,along with not marking enough noise.
One of the few positives to come out of today is that this was pretty close to rock bottom.
No fancy bullshit post match interview will cover the cracks here for Mayo supporters.
It's obviously not the biggest, strongest,or most talented bunch we have ever had but he's getting nothing like full potential out of the squad he has. Only the league, and not that worried about where we finish but if this rolls into championship, well that's a different story.

All - emotions are running a bit high, I can see. Stephen Coen won't be the only red card today if this keeps up.

Playing the person not the ball is a basic rule so lay off the personal comments at contributors.

There's old tactics that need to be got rid of.
The defender finishing his run. It's no bloody good if that defender is not a scoring threat.

This league is a tough one to call. I was convinced both Dublin and Galway would struggle to survive, albeit for different reasons. If anything, Galway look to be unaffected by the nature of their defeat to Armagh. I'm switching horses midstream but it's Mayo and Dublin to exit division 1 from what I've seen so far. I can't see either side picking up a win against an Ulster team.

Heard one of the Armagh players interviewed after their game last night. Mentioned that they learnt a lot in their game with Galway especially that with these new rules you've got to shoot a lot more. He referenced Meath having 40 shots in their game. Hopefully we learn something similar from today's game. It was driving me cracked how many shooting opportunities we were passing up. Again are they following coaching orders or do we not have the ability to convert

@Lahanman I've read over my comments and don't think my tone was out of order or personal but il take it on board and try remember in future

@seanburke DOC does seem to have eventful games against Galway doesn't he. Maybe there's bad blood there from the time he broke conroys jaw in 2018, I don't know. The hit today didn't look too bad but it obviously forced him to go off. He's an absolute must start next game if good to go

[Deleted].

So many alarm bells ringing - all over the pitch.
We have gone from best physically conditioned team in the country, to one of the worst - certainly in Division 1.
We defend the arc, and let the likes of Walsh wander into space completely unmarked and knock over 2 pointers.
We have no muscle in midfield, but Reid has promise if we had a decent S&C programme.
Rod was soundly beaten by McGrath, Towey did well, but overall forward intent was depressing, running into wall of defenders and bullied into turn overs. Very reluctant to even attempt 2-pointers.
I presumed McStay was trying to be cute with his comments about the new rules, but it seems he really is that naive.
Hopefully he had his eyes opened for him today - and he should tell Rochford how it needs to be from now on - otherwise he'll be ran all the way back to Roscommon.

Surely its up to WJ to say If someone on here makes too many comments. I don't know Clare either but it looks like bullying by some brave ladeens who don't seem to have any issues with other posters on here.

Calm down, calm down, calm down, we beat Galway at home in the league last year by 8 points, that’s only 12 months ago, this is a 5 point defeat in old money considering they got 6(?) 2 pointers and we got 1

@Green&Red,
RE Buckley, you're 100% correct sir, 100%.

This all boils down to incompetence and amateurish buffoons at the head of the county board. Their cack handed handling of their "review" seriously weakened McStay and, in the end, strengthened Rochfords position. After today's game the entire sideline should be removed. There are better club management teams out there who wouldn't have embarrassed us like we got embarrassed today. Likewise Gardnier with the U20s, he should have ran out the gate after losing to Sligo last year, a monumental pathetic performance and a rudderless leadership on the sideline. Horan too should have been sacked after the Tyrone loss. But no. Clueless, cowardly and incompetent. Baulking at those decisions means new, lower standards of acceptance are set. We're reaping those decisions now.
I like McStay but there has been too many rumblings around his management team and sometimes a manager is just not going to work. The comments above RE the S&C with the Rossies is concerning as it shone like a light today that we're miles behind Galway on that front.

That hit on Diarmuid looked late to me in real time,I must watch again.
Meanwhile I thought Coen went shoulder to shoulder but free given against.
And anyone know what all these 'helicopter' swinging actions were meant to signify?

We have often been in this position after 2 games in the league and pulled it out of the fire. The bat signal needs to go up over breaffy tonight to call in the big lump for Tyrone

[Deleted].

The destruction of the standards set by Mayo teams since 2011 is being quickly torn asunder by Kevin McStay and Stephen Rochford. For me the end of their tenure can not quickly enough and the slow death by a thousand cuts started with the shocking sideline performance in Salthill kast Summer.

Physically we are nowhere near Div 1 level and will be bullied now and in Summee.

Tactically we are boring and behind the times. Kevin said the new rules won't change anything. Guess what, they have. Stephen should stay up in the stand rather than ranting at players. Telling Boland not to shoot for 2 pointers with the wind says it all.

Player wise we have seen some walk away.

Roll on 2026.

Diarmuid looked to be holding his thigh as he went off. Hopefully nothing serious there.

A chastening afternoon no doubt about that. Towey aside not many positives other than maybe we have a good few to come back in yet. Half a team missing today in all fairness. Let's hope we can get a few back.

Flynn and Carney were badly missed in the air around that midfield area today but we were well beaten all over the pitch.

@Sean….the point I’m making is our defence is at sea. We leave acres of space. We have a shit, porous structure. I must have said the exact same thing after most games the past 18 months. It’s incredibly frustrating when nothing is being done about it. These games are forensically assessed after matches. Wtf are they doing about the defence??

Our attacking strategy is way too slow. And we just aren’t good enough and shooting. I’m not gonna name lads now, but some of our forwards aren’t as good as they think they are or as good as people tell them they are.

Physically, someone above mentioned it. Touhy hasn’t bulked. Mchugh, who I really like and have hopes for, looks far too light.

We are ‘off it’ in a lot of areas. Let’s see how the rest of the league goes. Again, the focus and priority is on blooding new players. Can’t say we saw anything today. Neary maybe. Towey too.

One can look at the Mayo panel eye test and see that we're not as physically strong. We look suited to running reps of 200m.
I've been saying this ad nauseum. There's no way we can be on the correct strength and power program U17 to u20 to senior.
Maybe the new SnC coach has put us on it, but, we look slim and slow go all day diesel.
Where's the sharp pace, sinewy arms and thick legs?

Put O'Shea, Flynn and Loftus back into our team and our physicality profile raises hugely.
Would like to have seen Ivers used for his toughness, I presume not ready yet.
Hard to expect too much of Paddy Duncan on his return.
So what if McGrath got the better of Ryan, won't count in May if we meet.

Bad a day as we have seen from a Mayo team. To make matters worse I saw our team Doctor bring in one of our players to the A&E dept. Also Aido doesnt need a plane back - he was at the match. We looked totally out-classed unfortunately and I hope it’s not the slippery slope to Div 2 and below. It will be interesting to see how we go but for an army leader to lead his men into battle without proper preparation for the rules of war is unfirgiveable.

That was absolute cack today.

The two huge issues.
No modern defending structure.
No basic attacking structure or plays.
The reason we get slowed up in attack is we have no team plays in our locker bar :
- pass around the arc
- defender give and finish run hard inside
- ball into corner isolated, worked back out to pass around the arc

Thanks all for the nice comments.. and I do apolagise if I have ever offended on here.
I will also try not to repeat or over comment.

It was a bad day for us for sure. Who is it we have next kerry? : /

Bad a day as we have seen from a Mayo team. To make matters worse I saw our team Doctor bring in one of our players to the A&E dept. Also Aido doesnt need a plane back - he was at the match. We looked totally out-classed unfortunately and I hope it’s not the slippery slope to Div 2 and below. It will be interesting to see how we go but for an army leader to lead his men into battle without proper preparation for the rules of war is unfirgiveable.

OK we might be missing a few starters but could we not try something revolutionary like playing the best corner backs in the county at corner back.
Best fb at fullback.
Best half backs in hb line.
Best midfielders at mf and so on.
We are forever trying square pegs in round holes, it doesn't work and it really shows.

Room and time to improve yet but if no reaction is got in round 3 it's time to worry.

Today Mayo looked like a div 3 team and allowed Galway to win at their ease.

Christ, but that was depressing.

The thing I cannot fathom is, if the average supporter in the stand could have seen that second half coming since last weekend, why can't our coaching team? You didn't have to be Mystic Meg to know that they would clean us with two-pointers the second they got the wind.

Honestly, any coach who discourages a player from taking on a shot in this day and age should be put out to pasture. It has absolutely destroyed us as a team.

Relegation is hardly an unlikely prospect even after week 2, but we'd get over that. I'd just be worried these failings will just follow us into summer and I think that's a reasonable concern given any evidence to the contrary.

@JoeG our lack of understanding around the full backline and man markers has cost us at least two Sams.

Also, if I hear the word "learnings" in any post-match interview tonight I will actually go postal.

@Anne Marie, We're not through with the marginal gains. Weighing our pasta, cleaning our boots at half time.

7 two pointers to 1. A two point swing on one 3 up and a score from the other. A 1 point defeat in the old money.

Boland's shooting was woeful and Ryan was no where near his best. Shot shy in the second half. Morahan looked sound for his debut. Neary, Towey, Irwin (who I have for two scores first half), and Reid continue to progress.

Kick outs were fine first half but Reape had a nightmare second half with the sun. We were getting guys free but Colm couldn't see them and he went long. And that is a big difference between us and Galway. When Gleeson goes long he kicks to a specific area that Galway have prepared. They aren't worried about getting away from their man. It's all about winning the break.

Good to get Eoghan McLaughlin back. Lacking attacking threat from our halfback line atm. It's hard to argue with the fullback line given we are so dependent on getting short kickouts away.

Is the solo and go rule really that you get four steps before you solo and four steps after the solo without being touched?

6. 2. Down @ 16 mins
Went in a point up at half time.
What happened after that is the question.

@Pod Fan I've said this before too & agree 100%. The dropping of standards is alarming.

I am seriously worried we could have a Donegal 2023 situation on our hands.

Thad player got plenty of free run and that was not a free for stopping the solo and go. Otherwise is a player to just let someone forward from the 14 yard line to shoot point blank at goal?

We could have done with Cillian O'Connor and Aidan Orme today but when they were available Kevin didnt use them.

14allnall41 how on earth am I a Galway man? Ive been on here posting since 2015 which is a lot longer than I remember seeing you. I'm simply posting out some realistic views after a bad loss. I don't remember you posting during the club championship

Id also suggest taking your time typing and thinking a tad before you post. It's difficult to decipher your grammar

WJ maybe you can explain what rules my comment broke.

The one related to trolling, Mike H. A bit of magnanimity in victory wouldn't go amiss.

Not trolling from me been on here for years.
The disgusting language used by some on here re team is ok
Saying We are a division 2 team is not....?

I'm not getting into a debate with you at this time of the night, Mike.