Well mcstay said he needed to know where we are at. Well I will just enlighten him. We have hired a forward s coach. Rochford s mate. Can anyone tell me what difference he's making. We have 2 big men inside. Aos and irwin. Not once today did we let in a high ball. In fact we didn't kick at all. Everything through the hands and overcooked and losing possession with ball in hand or brutal passing. Midfield destroyed for most of the game. Ryan the only threat up top. Aos did help today. But as for Reid. Mchale towy irwin I'm afraid it's back to the drawing board. Flynn s shooting off again but at least he has a go. Coen not great today either. This team needs Tommy conroy and Durcan desperately. At the moment if you mark Ryan out of it we'll basically you have your job done the way we are playing. It s like a hot potato. Nobody willing to go for it. Hope reape is ok. But the willingness not to change the system is a big management let down. Like bombing in a few 50 50 balls into the square. Alot to ponder. Lucky it's not roscommon or galway next

Agree Craggy, McStay must have said 100 times this week that we were going up there to win, going all out etc etc etc. the soft shite talk and media soundbites. O’Connor just complained about fixture congestion, cute enough not to build it up to much. And only one team played football today.

As for Rochford and his Corofin friend, you can add Donie Buckley to that list. Is he still coaching the team and collecting handy expenses each week? I thought he was meant to be the “expert” tackle coach? Again more soft shite talk. The proof is what’s on the field on match day.

We are very lucky it’s Sligo next week because if it was Roscommon or Galway it would be Year 9 of IC mgmt for Rochford with a provisional title.

This game should never have been played in Croke Park. It should have gone to Ennis or Limerick..
Do the GAA know their is still a cost of living crisis and people just cannot afford to go to all these matches. We have just had seven games in nine weeks and now today this match and yet we are of again next week for the Championship. I'm amazed they still have sponsers for the league.
Can you imagine the excitement we would have had last week if the title was at stake and not a final no one seemingly wanted to be in.
As for the match it went pretty much as I expected so am not to bothered about the result. All that matters is next week.

We looked flat to out be honest. Wecked

Only the league but we need to pick ourselves up again now.

Why do kerry get a 3 week break and we have to go again ?!!

There was some amount of cursing going on in hogan stand from mayo supporters and I don't blame them...

Why oh why are we so against kicking the feckin ball.Aido and Irwin are two big units in at ff and not one long direct ball kicked in.No wonder Irwin looked pissed off when subbed off.
Give them a chance ffs

- No issue with Kerry winning and they were worth their 6 point win.
- I have an issue though with our lads slow responses to breaking ball and play in general, in some cases they were stuck to the ground.
- Presumably all kickouts by both Mayo and Kerry were to the Cusack Stand side as it was shaded from the Sun so that players were not blinded.
- What's the story with Enda getting so many votes in our MOM, Paudie Clifford simply ran riot, the first job of a defender is to nullify their opposite number
- Joe O Connor ruled midfield and he was given so much space at times. Eoghan was marking Gavin White some of the time, the rest of the time White was on his own and could do what he liked.
- Overall we were very timid and very slow to react just not sharp enough nor tuned in.
- Spare me the plamas about Kerry and them always the masters of the kick pass...watch some of their games from 1970's and early 80,'s.
- Pressure on now for the Sligo match...we should have more than enough to win.

It was only the league,as all those experts keep saying not worth winning,we will be different in the championship,we done our part,by saving ourselves until next week,we could have.won but thankfully did not

That’s a genuinely outstanding view Corick. We could have won, but fuck it we are better off losing. We should have done a Leitrim on it. I’ll have what you’re having.

Yes it's only the league and I couldn't care less about it and kerry are no world beaters either albeit without diarmuid o Connor and Sean o shea but our forward s or lack of or lack from management to change it up worries me. Why have 2 big men inside if you don't kick it in. ?

Thank god it's sligo next weekend??? I hope our arrogance doesn't catch us out....again cockiness is still in abundance...respect every team we play against,,no Matter what....if a running system has been in existence for over 30 years at the expense of natural skills,,,,then overnight changing won't happen....can't blame the present managers for cultural ideologies fostered from years ago.....maybe the lucky it's not roscommon or galway statements might be the start....get in people who understand football and it's history......1951,,last one,,,3 in over 140 years.....God be kind to the ignorant.....

Good to see ya back with your fishing rod Corick :)

It's the league lads, it doesn't matter. No point beating Kerry in March, only to lose to them in July.

The main reason I didn't want us to get to the final was no more injuries - unfortunately for Reape, we lost one of our best. Hopefully whoever replaces him does a good job

What's the point in having O Shea in the full forward line and NEVER kicking a ball into him. It wouldn't happen at under 12s.

So we didn’t win today to save ourselves for next week against a county that most people on here didn’t give a chance of beating us before today’s game and there was a load of Mayo supporters cursing in the hogan stand and mayo lads don’t have the same foot structure as Kerry players.

Mayo just didn't look all that bothered today. I would say we played at 50% with a definite eye on next Sunday. Kerry were probably at about 80% and definitely deserved the win.

Om Clifford, McStay was dead right about the protection he got. It bordered on farcical and he ended up whinging and moaning like a toddler towards the end when a Mayo man dare touch him or beat him to the ball. It was David Clifford who took out Reape and there was no intention whatsoever to try and win the ball. He did his best to injure Reape and he succeeded. He was his petulant worst today

Not sure we learnt anything new today, we knew middle third an issue, we knew we don't really kick the ball to much. I thought we would have beat the handicap, with their missing men, but not to be, lucky not to be more than 6 in truth.

The usual pregame changes as others highlighted seemed very defensively minded, 2 forwards out and midfielder and defender in.
But back to the ranch next week and we get show back on the road.

Very disappointing performance. So many errors and poor shooting killed our momentum time after time. Midfield shockingly poor and the usual kamikaze goal gifted to the opposition. When are we going to kick a ball? It was obvious today we did not want to be in the final as only a half hearted effort to compete in the middle third. Kerry now have 3 weeks to rest and enjoy the sun in Portugal which is very unfair to those teams facing into championship next week with no break. Something has to change.

@1985 I'm just saying it as I saw it there was loads cursing in hogan stand don't blame them so don't get your point ....

Kerry gave a 3 week break we have to go again that's tough going

I loved that tongue in cheek foot structure comment, gave me good chuckle.

Was it 5 weeks in 6 Kerry had and they seemed alright for it :(

Hamstrung. If 4 men on the side line don't understand how to feed 2 big men inside with the right ball... they shouldn't be doing the job. Why can't we vary our game. Carry and kick. Pretty simple stuff. Sligo i do respect. Remember they have beaten us before. 2001 I think

Reality check for us today. Eye opener for the young guys in that hey saw the toughness but physically and mentally to be winners. I thought reserve keeper did well, one great save and narrowed the angle a few times forcing kerry to take their points.
We don't seem to have a great plan re kickouts, .mayo player isolated several times with no chance of picking up breaking ball.
We are still playing by old rules, slow build up, no fast ball into ff line, all three are good ball winners.
Good experience for the young lads, they know what it takes physically and mentally to be winners.
Sligo strong at midfield, could make it interesting.

No particular point clare just reflecting on some of the comments of the day

After the u20s finish up think we'll need to bring in Seamus Howard. He's 6'3" and is a good fielder. Having a good leap he's naturally also mobile across the ground.
I still see a route back for Cian McHale after his injury as we have no left foot free taker and only got minutes when we were playing negative football.
Think Niall Hurley will suit fast Croke Park post u20s. He's one of few forwards available that can gather the ball and go with a bit of burst.
All the Connaught stadiums McHale,Tuam are like trying to run on sponge.
John McGonagle I think wlll be another necessary post u20 bolter to give us depth.
Good to see Diarmuid back.

@ craggy bollards....the four men on the sidelines don't feed the ball in,,,,,the players on the field do...that's there job to look up and kick it in when it's on.... since 1990 every manager has been blamed for the teams performances...35 years of deflection....it's the players and clubs who change the culture....u16 club games are putrid to watch now....all hand passes and running down cul de sacs.....young lads are turning to soccer and rugby on a massive scale.....and then we let rugby be played in mc hale park......why????.....cause the white elephant has cost an arm and a leg,,,if there playing there next week they can make sandcastles for the kick outs......

@1985 fair enough !

Disappointing performance, especially on kickouts and shooting. They all worked very hard. Some thoughts.

We're in bigger trouble than we thought if Reape is out injured. Think Vahey is a better keeper than Phillips too.

McBrien is not a good 6. But he is a better no 3 than McHugh. We're robbing Peter to pay Paul. Put back to full back. Then fix the 6 position, ideally with a good kick passer.

Midfield is a weakness the past two weekends despite having about 6 midfielders in the pitch. Disappointing that Touhy never made it. Joe O'Connor is limited enough but he dominated today. We need more balance in the team, what we'd give for a Paidi Clifford at 11. They should start Boland there v Sligo.

Eoghan Mc gets way too much abuse. It's frustrating when he turns over ball but he's one of our best players. I counted 4 positive turnovers plus a goal from play. He gave away some frees, one very harsh, and 3 turnovers but we've so many other passengers who get a fraction of the abuse he does. He's scored more goals against Kerry than most of his teammates have in their career to date.

Hamstrung, check out scores from Mayo U16 games the past weekend alone. The rules have changed, the club managers are adapting and styles have changed accordingly with teams scoring:
4-15, 4-18, 7-13, 5-14, 5-17,6-6, 2-14, 3-14, 4-10, 3-9, etc.

The team that adapts best will likely win Sam this year.

@Olive ,a great analysis.
To beat Kerry you first neutralize Paudie, we did it in Castlebar
We were flat.
We had no option but beat Donegal.
David Clifford got away with a lot from the Ref.
I thought only the caption could speak to the ref.
Reape lucky not to be sent off.
People complaining about the demeanour of Management, never saw Gavin excited

Not that it’s an excuse but my god the mayo lads weren’t allowed lay a hand on the Kerry ones especially Donnacha.I really thought Donnacha did an excellent job on Clifford it’s a shame he was getting frees left right and centre.

I'd have to agree that David McB needs a move out of chb,not sure he goes back to 3 but at the moment for whatever reason he's hardly on the ball at all, not just today,in the last few games his influence has been less and less.
We need his power , aggression and football ability on the pitch but we need to figure a way to get him more involved. There will be times when he's tasked with keeping a danger man quiet and that's a different role, but I feel we are not getting the best out of David,he has much more to offer now that he seems to be getting an injury free run.
Anyway hoping today was a blip and the serious business starts next weekend.
Some lads need a rest. I'd be making 3/4 changes to starting 15, more game time for fringe players.

Another big game defeat in Croker which we've become ok with. Shouldn't be the case. Losing breeds losers. Attacking play is just not good enough, side to side and slow and predictable. Remember how Keith Higgins would break the defensive line and create an overload. It's all shovel it off to the next man as shooting appears to be a criminal offence. Take a chance and break the line, you might even get fouled. Lob some decent high ball in or land it in front of the ff with runners coming off. Clifford is overly protected and well able for the poor me craic. Hammered at midfield and second to most breaking ball. You can say it's only the league but it's another black mark against Mayo in Croker

Exactly Faith51 - take on and run direct at your marker or try and get a shot away more frequently. At least you're more likely to draw a foul with the former than the lateral hand passing where the chances of a stray pass increase the longer you're dithering backwards and sideways.

Think a few lads need a rest after today.
Flynn looks burned out and it's understandable with his long run with Crossmolina.
Also time to put Mc Brien back to number 3.
He's lost at 6.
I'd start eoin o donoghue Neary Boland and Diarmuid against Sligo if there fit.
We need to freshen it up a bit.

There will be packaging by some of todays game by some as Mayo were disinterested, they were focusing on Sligo, they are much better than todays showing etc. I don’t buy that at all. I think we were just shown up to the level we are at today

GBXI is right tho on Eoghan McLaughlin. Getting a lot of flack today. He is what he is at this stage. At 26, his skill set and decision making are not going to improve. He did nothing different today than we’ve seen from him from before. One thing tho I never feel he gets physically bullied and tries his heart out

Unlike our midfield today who got completely overrun and bullied. Made OConnor in the Kerry engine room look amazing. So many problems start when you just can’t get the ball. This is my biggest concern after today. I thought Carney would compete in the air. I expected Ruane to contribute on the ground. Neither did and I don’t see a solution. There’s reference to the U20 midfield as a solution. I think you don’t see most inter county midfielders mature until 24/25. This is a big big problem for me. It will only reappear again when the serious stuff happens

Next week makes three weekends in a row including a League Final that we’ve been out.

Galway had a very close game with Sligo last year and we need to prepare well.

Sligo is no bad team at all, they will be more than ready for Mayo next Sunday. It will be a tight/tough game for sure.

It’s gas in some ways that as soon as we lose a match the knives are sharpened and Mc Stay and of course Rochford get the criticism. First of all I do wish we would kick the ball a bit more. But all this criticism,,,, How many people here genuinely believe we are a better team than Kerry. How many genuinely believe that if we met them again in championship we would beat them, Kerry have been beating us on a regular basis since I can remember with a small few exceptions 1996 and 2017 spring to mind and a league semi in 2012 and final in 2019. We have had better teams than we have now and we couldn’t beat them. While the present team without the Cliffords would be no great shakes they still have a better team than us. We have a very honest bunch of players but with the exception of O Donaghue are relatively
limited. To have any chance against them our top players need to be firing on all cylinders. With the exception of AOS in the first half that did not happen. We big players up on the basis of one or two games, we criticise players on the basis of one bad game. Easy to blame Reape today for the kick outs. We were cleaned at midfield and when he tried a short one we conceded a bad goal. I keep saying how many of this team would make our 2012 - 2017 team. Very few. That is not a criticism as I have nothing but admiration for these guys. They did extremely well to stay in Div 1 and even today stuck to their task to the end. While we are capable of beating anyone on a good day we are also capable of losing to anyone of 12 counties on a day when things go badly. Next Sunday is a challenge but if we win we have a bit of a break as will surely beat Leitrim before a Connacht final. While we could take a big scalp we are not good enough or consistent enough to win 3 big games on the spin. Today was simply a game we could have done without but at least we were not beaten out the gate. I do believe we need to be more adventurous but there seems a huge fear of taking the risk and turning over the ball. Kerry could easily have scored 4 goals today, while we had one goal chance. Some people are of the opinion that we should win every game and don’t seem to countenance the possibility that other teams might be better than us but I am afraid that is the case at the moment. How confident would you be of beating any of the Div 1 teams come championship or Monaghan, Roscommon, Cork etc. Yes we could beat any of them on a given day but lose to any of them as well. In the mean time we need to focus on Sligo, who have targeted this match since the draw was made, who have finished the league strongly and who must have been licking their lips as they watched us struggle in a game we simply did not want to in today.

Listening on TG4 today there was mention on three occassions of Bhearnai down the middle of the Mayo defence.
Jesus we're bad in the middle. I saw a photo in the paper of a man that started in the half back line today going up for a ball single armed with his eyes shut. I've just heard Michael Commins giving out about our jersy's or the colour of same. We gave at least five direct passes today to Kerry.......S H one Tantgo!!

The Sligo s of the GAA chances of causing an upset are greatly reduced with the 3 up.
You cannot put all behind the ball anymore.
Win and beat Leitrim!!!!!!

Jesus wept, I just remembered the chance Burns ended up having for a goal he should have buried, 20 yards of space every side of him. Wtf happened there? Wudnt see the like at junior b

No problem with Management’s demeanour (they don’t need to appear hyper or anything) but for once I have to complain about some of their structures. The biggest one is the lack of kickout options compounded by Reape’s decision to kick to outnumbered players. Fine when they win it clean but if opponent only has to get enough on it to spoil the catch it becomes a low % despite the optics of a free player. Secondly why didn’t Mayo players recognise this and flood areas more. Kerry gave the kickouts 20% more intensity and desire to win to boot. There were also few options for us for a short kickout. I know there was a mistake for the goal but why were there no good options afterwards. Reape was varying it and it backfired, move on. I’d be on the blower to Robbie Hennelly now to see if he’d be willing to dig us out, otherwise we’ve 2 lads with 0 experience at this level. Reape either has broken or dislocated finger by the look of it. If broken, get Robbie in assuming training for the club (i.e fit) and assuming he’s willing to take on that commitment. That’s what Dublin would do witnessing Cluxton’s continued returns.
We can talk about Hession and Paudie but the amount of ball Kerry had meant Paudie would get plenty and McBrien had 6 on his back and marking was somewhat zonal. I agree Eoghan Mac gave loads of intensity and won some good turnovers as well as the goal but his mistakes on the ball can cost us too and his shooting % over seasons is poor albeit he did very well to skin White for the goal today and got a similar goal a year or 2 back.
Second is that we all know the game has opened under the new rules to make the kick pass a much higher % success rate than last year and Kerry has been the team to best understand this and we’re one of the least adapted to this new reality.
Third is the lack of width in the FF line. Andy used to be back and over like a yo-yo in his day until the kick came in, we don’t see that, all 3 are quite narrow a lot of the time. Kerry used the corners although their shooting was often wayward. With better corner forwards they’ll make more hay.

I actually think only about 7 or 8 players did well today from either team. Looking at Kerry, the 2 Clifford’s and Joe O Connor (Barry Dan was half decent too) and White was somewhat prominent but their wing forwards and the 2 geaneys subbed (Paul looked tricky early on but not later). They had a quite mediocre day shorn of a few and we’d a very flat one altogether also shorn of a few. Only Hession, Aido and Ryan in the 2nd half were prominent. The debate around P Clifford has merit but it wasn’t all 1 v 1 marking and Hession was driving us forward evading tackles and expect he had by far the most possessions of our players. If man to man needed then McHugh is a menace for most playmakers and McBrien has the physicality for full back. He hasn’t shown enough at 6 to nail a half back slot.
Priority now is scrape past Sligo by any means and then get working on tactics in A vs B games. No time for reflection on this poor performance, Kerry would have easily disposed of Sligo too.

Agree Rocco. We all know Eoghan’s weaknesses, as we know others on panel but we have to acknowledge his strengths too. At least he has the balls to go straight at teams and put them on the back foot. He did it today with the goal.
On Kevin’s interview, he was right to call out the ref on looking after Clifford like a baby. But why not leave it there instead of plamasing him with, David is a top, top referee. I know he is thinking we might get him again but either put up or shut up.

@ to win just once that's a very good post and I would agree with most of it.
My issue is we don't set ourselves up to give our team the best chance of winning.
I got to know an ex inter county player through work.
He played for a middle of the road county but was one of there best forwards for years.
When discussing Mayo football one time he told me as an outsider looking at us there was an arrogance about us and the way we set up especially in the bigger games.We never contemplate playing a sweeper and keeping things tight.We go out to play the Mayo way and that's it.
Our forwards have never been our strong point.
Even now outside O Donoghue were fairly limited for scorers.
There's no attempt to play a kick pass into the ff line.
There's no attempt to perfect a sweeper system.
There's plan A and that's it.
We don't have a team that can win the all ireland but we are not making the most of what we have either.

I also agree. Mcbrien at 6 is just not working. Management are responsible for a game plan. Remember how much abuse James horan got on here. He actually got us to finals. These fellow s seem clueless at times

Kerry were certainly no great shakes today which is worrying from our perspective.
We lack pace, purpose, shape and urgency in our forward play.
Delighted to see Hession attack more... looks like he has got orders from the boss to do this. Hope he builds on this in the coming weeks. But he needs to be tighter in his defensive duties.
Up Mayo

@1985 …I too was quite surprised when I saw that comment earlier on about the Kerry Foot Structure!!

However upon investigation it turns out the Kerry foot structure is actually a fascinating one. Deep medical studies conducted, showed a structural abnormality unique to the Kerry foot, displaying a thicker bone coverage point between the big toe and 2nd toe, creating a significantly stronger, dense area of bone mass on a critical point of impact zone when kicking a football; in turn creating greater strength and accuracy in kick passing and shooting.

Not only this, but more recent studies have found that the Kerry foot has a rare hybrid type ligament alignment enabling greater rotational ability, which correlates directly with increased speed, agility and ‘jinkiness’ which is why they’re so good at the dancin’ below in the Kingdom too!!

Furthermore, the Kerry foot has a rare additional layer of muscle fibre around the heel which has proven to aid ‘spring’ and enhanced natural leaping ability.

Yerra sure tis no wonder now why they’ve won so much over the years! And wonder why the poor divils from Mayo bothered their time to even show up today

;)

Mayonaze. Does that study say anything about why we were so flat footed today.

Poor day at headquarters for the team playing Kerry, It might have been Mayo, I couldnt really tell who they were with them jerseys. But at least those jerseys werent quite as bad as the Star Treck jerseys Kerry played in the 2019 league final. . Our restarts left allot to be desired. We didnt really match the hard running of the Kerry lads gave for Kerry to go short on occasions and I think its has been a feature for a few years our inability to win primary possession in midfield. A week is a long time in politics (and last week certainly was) About 5 minutes from the end today when we were beginning to accept that the new Micheal O Muircheataigh Cup would be going in its inaugural year to the resting place of the legend that bears its name. Well about 5 minutes from the end of the game v Donegal in Connachts new home of Rugby in Castlebar, we were coming second last in Division One and facing relegation. I suppose coming second overall in Div One is a big improvement on that particular predicament. What will we be thinking 5 minutes from the end v Sligo next week. We have no cups won yet in 2025 neither half full nor half empty .

WE did just fine, A good run out- This game will be forgotten by Tuesday. Next week matters- We will be ready

Swallow Swoops says:
March 30, 2025 at 11:40 pm
Next week makes three weekends in a row including a League Final that we’ve been out.

Galway had a very close game with Sligo last year and we need to prepare well.

-------------------
Four consecutive weekends in a row for Mayo

Derry (A) March 16th
Donegal (H) March 23rd
Kerry in Croke Park March 30th
Sligo (H) April 6th

Sligo meanwhile will have two weeks to prepare for this game. Last year they did give Galway a close game but were at home and had the old rules where they could keep 15 men behind the ball. They are no Sean Carrabine this year either who has gone travelling.

How about putting your best full back in at fullback.
Pick your best corner backs and half backs in their correct positions.
Pick the two best midfielders on form and a third if necessary but not six.
Put in more than one forward and let forwards do forwards jobs.
Finally stop with this thinking outside the box selection nonsense every game!

The turnout was poor, for sure, but I think last yrs was also. Lots of Irish seem to travel away foreign at Easter nowadays which might have something to do with it, as there's nothing cheap about holidaying abroad when kids are off.
It wasn't a great game for Mayo but I'm not too fussed about it really. I'm optimistic this team can push on this summer and am reasonably confident we can make it to a semi final.
I still think we're in the category of also rans with Dublin and Monaghan when it comes to the big one. How I'd love to be wrong though.

We didn't kick, one ball in. But would say this same for years. Not saying kick everything, but a few keep them honest. We started both half's well, torn into them. But someone like kerry have to do it for longer. ROD well marked, but could see that happening before match. Kerry been doing same to our best forward for as long as I've been watching mayo. Problem is only really have one forward. There full forward scores what. And our score what. Great to see AOS score in a final. Midfield was a problem, like both lad, but this our biggest problem. And don't think you can blame management on not been a alternative there

I think Mayo will come on from this. I don't see the scoring ratios ever matching Kerry's or Donegal's. It's best to know your own limitations in this life, and until a dynamic forward is unearthed, tempering expectations is vital to improving confidence.
Why big Aidan wasn't fed more ball early on is a mystery to most. One thing I took from it was it didn't seem to bother too many on the sidelines which leads me to thinking it was just another game along the road. Nobody expected these lads to be in a final four weeks ago.
We'll soon see if we're as bad as so many are making out. I'm not buying it, anyway.

Disappointing match. Kick outs were poor, but not goalies fault . Players simply not showing, if that is the word. .No long balls kicked into Aidan who waited on edge of the square . . Good impact subs which led to a fine goal. , Much to work on but we badly need Durcan and Conroy back , Our crowd were quieter than usual yesterday but then , to be honest. it wasn't the most exciting of games. .

Onto the Sligo game. The "alternative" jersey was not a success I thought -
https://www.oneills.com/uk_en/mayo-gaa-alternative-jersey-2025-navy-light-pink-mint-22.html

What is the story with our restarts? Reape is a fine keeper and kicker of the ball so why did we loose so many battles in the middle yesterday? Kerry for sure went after that side of our game and rehearsed it because it's no coincidence that they won most of the breaking ball and ledt us on the back foot time and time again. It's soul destroying to watch and I hope it's the case that Mayo just didn't want to be there yesterday because the optics were not great.

Overall our backs did a good job. We were very poor at mid field (and they were missing DOC), lost the kick outs and dirty ball. Our forwards were under pressure from relentless tackling but we missed a good few sitters which you cannot do against a team like Kerry. Not too many positives from yesterday including a few injury worries picked up. Has to be a learning experience particularly what it's like to play in Croker on a fine day against likely all Ireland finalist (is my prediction at this point!). Was there in person yesterday, lovely day but hard to get an atmosphere.

@sticks I'm not one for naming players names as this is a public site. I get your concerns but I think Coyne did well yesterday. Kerry hit more goals than anyone in the league. Scored 3 last week against Galway. They got a goal handed to them yesterday. Both corner forwards and wing forwards were taken off. Jack coyne was 1 v 1 with David Clifford a couple of times and did very well. He didn't probe forward as much he concentrated on defence. Unfortunately the flow was not being stemmed further out the field but as a unit I thought the FB like were okay.
The thing that is disappointing me is we are playing the same football we have played for 20 years. We never adapt. We have no cuteness. No plan b. Very easy to plan how to beat us.
Remember the football mayo played in the league in year one of mcstays tenure. Kick passing.... space and time for the forwards to attack. Where's that? Now is the time for that...
I did say yesterday will be forgotten by Wednesday and it will.. but mayo need to hit the ground running next Sunday. No 'scary last 10 mins' stuff. Win that and they can take a breath. But it really is time for management to step up and show something new. I'm not putting it all on management. Some woeful kicking at goal again yesterday at important times.

Was lucky enough to bring the family to Croker for the day out yesterday. Absolutely cracking day, but the wife insisted on bringing the coats anyway! Very, very strange atmosphere for a game, was like watching the half-time entertainment when the young lads come on for a ten minute mini-match. No bite to it at all, despite some cracking games there over the weekend. Wexford V Limerick was enthralling.
Hard to know did Mayo take this one seriously at all, completely off it. Lots of loose ball or passing directly to Kerry at times. Gavin White looked to be unmarked a lot of the time, was wondering if i had missed a sending off for Mayo.
Crowd was flat, not one "Mayo Mayo" for the whole game.
As many have mentioned the kickout strategy was kick it under the Hogan stand and see what happens. Despite loosing so many kickouts to Kerry, we continued to do so. Kerry mostly went short and worked it out.
No long ball into FF line and the same laboured build up which gave Kerry the chance to reset.
Was shocked at how easily Kerry got behind us and took scores with time and space to do so.
Have to watch the match back properly but my overall take is Mayo went through the motions here.
Special mention to Ticketmaster for almost costing me my sanity!!

Agree Bonni about whether or not they were taking it seriously, and, yes, it was a strange atmosphere on a beautiful day.
Thankfully, I do believe the gaa are going to review these scheduling nightmares but, I'm mindful, because Donegal couldn't travel to Kerry in January, that Kerry's schedule was even more compacted. Sorry for hogging this topic wj, but for the first time in yrs I've a head on me like I don't know what. I'm taking the day to recuperate from what is a young man's game... consuming pints like there's no tomorrow, which I did yesterday. No fool like an old fool.

Would it not be worse if we woke up next Monday morning having god forbid lost to Sligo...I'm sure management and players have fully switched focus to the bigger game we have coming up this week...against Sligo...let's as supporters move on from yesterday's game and fully support our team for next Sunday.... we call air our thoughts/feelings at the end of the season...mayo for connought!!

@ Ever the optimist, was a fine day for supping pints. Had one in the Hideout before the match. Good spot for a sneaky one as rarely any queues unless the Dubs are involved. Where were ye at it?

Initially in drumcondra (several establishments) and then up to terenure after the game, and finally out to bray seafront. I know, total madness and a fortune in taxis. Had two strapping young lads with me to soften the financial blow along with their girlfriends. I was out until all hours but there's an eerie silence in the kitchen. My body clock had me up first thing despite the day that was in it. I've a face like a baboon's arse after shaving.

how are we lads, Kerryman here
I was in croker yesterday, we were outnumbered to be fair it is a long day for kerry fans i was up at 6 basically 5 with the hour ahead and didnt get home until 11 so its a long day with school and work the next day.
onto the game ,Kerry since the game against Armagh in Tralee the performences and style of play is dramtically different, we have gone back to what we are known for fast kickpassing,
We were for sure not at our best yesterday, we have kicked 3-63 in the last 3 games WITHOUT a two pointer i dont if that a good or bad thing.
Mayo started strong as Galway did against us aswell, once Reape gifted us the goal that set the tone and we kept mayo at a arms reach for the rest without being brillaint.
Joe O Connor for a fella who was nowhere near standered last year has been brilliant against Galway a good galway midfield, and today he was the second best player on the pitch in my opinion , becuase Paudie was by far the best player on the pitch
Some of you were saying Reape was lucky to not get a red, ref got it right was no more than a yellow,Clifford made the most of it.
Dylan Geaney was the quietest hed been all year, Micheal Burns did decent on the breaks but end product was poor enough, as was Graham Sullivan.
The Mayo fan that were there ftom my spot in the Cuzach were all gracious in defeat and had a good chat during the game.
Kerry were all over the breaks so had constant pressure, probably should of had 2 more goals, dont know where the Mayo defenders were for Micheal Burns goal chance, his ginger clubmate from a few year from Dr Crokes , would of dumied reape and tapped into a open net.

Wonder how bad Reapes injury is, I would be on the phone to Hennelly straight away if its bad.!!

It seems like this management is untouchable and not up for any scrutinisation on here by some posters. By god ye didn't hold back when horan was at the helm. I would agree with mcstay that the frees were soft. One can't even tackle properly anymore. But after yesterday more question s than answers I think. As I posted before the game. I don't see what Kevin is saying as regards a good league and developing the panel. Nobody new stood up once again in fact most were hauled ashore. Irwin no ball kicked in?.

Craggy 100% on the money. It was this management that claimed to be the most experienced in the country when they got the job. James Horan built 2 very good teams (albeit no AI) and a mixture of Rochford and McStay have failed to build on them, introduce new players and keep things fresh. The result is a team in decline. The only positives have been the the performance of Neary and Irwin to a less extent.

Personally I thought it was a poor deflection tactic to talk about soft frees for Clifford. Clifford is cute enough to manufacture them. Maybe our elite coach’s could encourage forwards to play for a foul the odd time. Eamon Sweeney in the independent today was 100% correct to call McStay out. More concerned about David Clifford playing our defence and the ref instead of wondering why our attack is so blunt. All it will do is piss off the Kerry lads and give them more motivation if we bump into them later in the year.

I think Kevin knows he's in line for criticism to be fair to him. Highly likely he'll be fending off plenty of it later in the summer, so maybe, it's better to wait until then. That team was in no way going for it yesterday. To reach a final that few seemed to want and to not really engage is strange, but not unprecedented.
Take it your stride and move on lads. I'm certain mcstay is preparing for bigger uproar later on, as there's an unwarranted level of expectation there IMHO. It'll be an achievement to make a semi.
I don't think a change of manager is going to make a difference tbh.
Get behind them and vent all ye like later on.

@Mayonaze!
Maybe that lad danced with more than the one girl in Tooreen dance hall way back in Fr.Horan's time.

We're still in division one after a decent league campaign and that's really all that matters. The minute I saw that there was a new cup and that it was named after a kerry man I knew that the GAA would want it to go to Kerry. Coldrick got his orders and he duly obliged helped of course by some very sloppy play at times from Mayo. Mayo couldn't look sideways at a Kerry player (especially the Holy One) but Coldrick had the hand in the air to give them the advantage. Meanwhile Aidan and Ryan (and Donnacha) are getting battered and it's play on.
I don't expect any player (especially high profile ones) to behave like choirboys but I really have no time for the two Cliffords since that junior final they played in with Fossa. The two of them were sent off (not before time in both cases) and Paudi has the cheek in his speech to say he didn't understand why he was sent off. He eyegouged someone. They get away with absolute murder. Anyway, no harm for their adoring fans in the media to blow a bit more smoke up their holes and hopefully we'll get a crack at them at the business end of the championship.
On management, I'll be judging them when the season is over. They've had two poor years now so anything less than a semi final and it really has to be goodnight Jack for them this time. I've never been a fan of McStay particularly after all the nonsense he came out with on the Sunday game (although we should all know at this stage that the main requirement for keeping your job on that programme is to always follow the party lines - dublin are 'the best team of all time' and the Cliffords are angelic little cherubs who play the best football. And, of course, Mayo are shite.) The man shouldn't have been let cross the border back into the county after the John Small/Eoghan Mc incident let alone made county manager. However, I am glad that he called out the special treatment that buck gets, even if he did do so in annoyingly nice manner. For too long, we've been called whingers (among other things...) but neither our managers nor players have ever been anything but gracious and dignified after they've been completely shafted. Meanwhile the likes of Padraig Joyce whinges after every game and not a word is said about him. I say we lean in to the whinging, if we're going to have a reputation for something we may as well do it.
On attendances, I think Mayo people in particular are sick of being seen as a cash cow and the condensed season means a lot of people just can't go to every game. Added to that is the complete devaluation of the league. How many more years will this ludicrous situation be allowed to keep happening that sees some teams out in championship a week after the final and Kerry and Dublin get to put the feet up for a few weeks before starting their extremely soft provincial championships that they are pretty much guaranteed to win? As long as it only affects teams like Mayo, Donegal and Galway it can go on indefinitely I suppose.
I see some of you only discovered the new alternate kit yesterday. There was a big launch for it a few weeks ago and the hurlers have worn it a few times, including on Saturday when they won their league final (well done to them).
Really impressed with Adrian Phillips. After being left sitting on the bench for the entire league, it was far from an ideal start to his intercounty football career to be parachuted in in a final but he did as well as could be expected. It would have served management right if he had had a howler but he did well. Hopefully he'll get the start next Sunday.
Up Mayo.

@ Ever the optimist, sounds like a good day out, at least ye had the young lads for backup. Gaffney's in Fairview is normally just far enough off the beaten track for a big match day to avoid the crowds. Still laughing here at your post, good thing Mayo didn't win or you might still be out :-)

Sick and tired of these whacky away jerseys - our away jersey should be white, end of story. White for Connacht and white to commemorate the jersey we wore when we last won Sam.

On the performance, just really frustrating. I don't mind not winning because its all about next weekend but some of the stuff was just awful to see. McHale and Carney missed some awful shots.

Finally, I went along yesterday and there wasn't a big Mayo crowd but I have to say some of the behaviour of our folk left a lot to be desired. Roaring after every decision, using appalling language in front of kids etc. We are starting to get a reputation for this and I wasn't happy to see it myself yesterday.

I was glad to see mc Stay call something out for once, there has been too much soft rhetoric in his interviews since he has taken the reins. As much as we can give out about P Joyce he has a passion for wearing his heart on his sleeve and I respect that
I will back the current management team until the end of the season as I have been pleasantly surprised by the league form. The only thing of importance was staying up and finding a few new players. Championship is the only game in town the rest is already forgotten.

More broadly speaking why aren't Mayo able to produce Paudie Clifford type players, he is precisely the type of player that's been missing in Mayo football for about 20 years now. A proper creative dervish of a number 11, who plays with his head up constantly and is a machine for assists and contributing scores.

We simply don't produce or trust that type of a footballer in Mayo, invariably over the years our number 11 is an athlete more than a footballer..A converted midfielder or half back who has great GPS stats but none of the skills

On a day when we should have been trying put scoring and creative fowards to see how croke park played under the new rules we opted for starting 6 athletic midfielders in the front 8. And still lost the midfield. That's the Mayo default

Mad alright that we played about 8 midfielders and still got cleaned out around the middle.
You'd wonder what kinda coaching McStay and Co. are giving the lads.

...further to my point above on Mayos insistence on picking Athletes over footballers, a penny for the thoughts of guys like Towey/Boland etc. I know those types of players probably get overhyped in here in absentia (The Richie feeney paradox) but it must gall them to know, that deep down, when it comes to the crunch there is absolutely no chance they will be starting in an all ireland quarter final onwards. We will always revert to type and opt for a 6'2 athletic bodybuilder instead

Supermac- Kevin McLoughlin

@ Bonni, not a chance I'd still be out but I get the sentiment. No, two lads home from London and hopefully they're heading back tomorrow. I'm not sure I'd be able for another day of it. Back to the grindstone tomorrow for another while. Thank God for Alka Seltzer and dia-calm is all I can say.

[Deleted].

Right, Craggy, that's enough. Calling for heads is just pure daft and you making the same point over and over again about Stephen Rochford is tiresome in the extreme at this stage.

Just pointing out facts. Willie joe. The championship hasn't started and your assistant manager is down playing us already. That's hardly helpful

Craggy - all you’re doing is providing the same one opinion, over and over again. That’s hardly helpful either. Strange how the cat got your tongue on that opinion when the team were winning.

Firstly let us realise that David Coldrick is probably the best referee in Ireland over the last few years,and whilst he didn't get every decision right yesterday he did not cost us the match,we done OK,not good, not bad,next week is another game we certainly need to win it,but I must say that after every win the posts are a lot less than when we lose,I can't imagine why

Some good, some bad and some concerning.
Our kick out has been disastrous all season and has shown no signs of improving. In every other facet of the game I believe we have been steadily improving but our kick out has not developed or improved a single jot. That's on both Reape and the players out the field. No committed runs or movement from our players out the field leads to hesitancy from Reape, which leads to nerves and lack of confidence. Then when the players are open Reape doesn't always see them or hit them accurately. It's a two pronged fork but it's a fork that we keep sticking in our eye. We're going nowhere fast unless we fix this.
We had the chances to make it a much closer game. However, two very bad wides by Carney and Flynn in the 1st half, allied to handing Kerry a goal was a 5 point swing that we never really got over. To be fair we battled back to get to within 3 points and had we got that crucial next score then who knows what would have happened. On the positive side of the coin, for me, it was a really good run out and bar Reapes reportedly broken finger there are no more injuries. McStay was never going to drop Reape so now that his hand is forced we might see a positive change in the GK position. Phillips did just fine and if he is half as good a keeper as his father was then he well do just fine. DOC got on the pitch so that's a plus also.
On the other side of that coin however I believe we saw, and should accept, that there are 4 or 5 players in that panel that are just not good enough to progress Mayo to where we want to be. Some of that group have been there for 3 or 4 seasons at this stage, some have come and gone and come back again. We must accept that McStay is working with a far, far less talented squad than any of the managers before him. That's not a slight on the players or McStay but yesterday highlighted that for me.
It cannot go without being said just how biased Coldrick was yesterday towards Kerry. It was actually so blatant that many around me in the Lower Cusack were laughing at his decisions. One worse than the next. His incompetence alone didn't beat us, but it certainly made our hill a lot steeper to climb. Gavin Whites rugby tackle midway through the 2nd half was a textbook black card offence only for Coldrick to give a free, and nothing else. Not even a tick. Reapes hit on Clifford = yellow. Cliffords hit on Reape = ZERO. O'Shea had his shirt ripped off him by 2 Kerry defenders, 3 yards from the umpires, and not a word. O'Connors off-the-ball late hit on Carney = ZERO. Clifford got any sort of contact and it was a free yet O'Shea could have 2 lads hanging out of him and ZERO. I'm delighted McStay came out and called it as everyone else saw it. I hope McStay sticks by his guns and doesn't revoke anything. Coldrick was atrocious yesterday and he was a 3 or 4 point difference in the game.
Now, onto the more serious stuff.

David Clifford obviously a great player but he is quickly becoming a whining pain in the hole. I’m well sick of him. Delighted to see McStay calling out the preferential treatment he gets from refs

Pebblesmeller, we were lucky not to have Ryan Sent off for the clothesline to back of the head and McHugh not to get a yellow earlier, so it's swings and rounds abouts.
The sarcastic foot structure comment seems to have gone over some people's heads, I loved it.
The comments my own included are repetitive, as failings same as last year. No kickout plans obvious and our attack plan also seems nonexistent. We were at out best when Eoghan went balls out for few minutes, but then the space left for Burns etc. at back was unreal.

9 of that team yesterday were involved in an all Ireland final 2020/2021. Two more on the way back hopefully. And management come s out to say that we are not really there. ??. We will hardly fill the seats in mchale park with that attitude and how does the players feel.

Rochford piece is disappointing to read tbh I tend to agree with craggy on that .

I hope Reape is fit for Sunday. I think Phillips made one good save yesterday, but his kickouts were worse than Reapes . He is kicking out balls that are hanging in the air to long. Giving our opposition the time to run on the dropping ball or just break it. We need to improve this kick out situation. We don’t have any one looking for the quick kick out. To be fair to the keeper there are no one showing for the ball. We seem to give Kerry easy kick outs yesterday at their end.

@Chick - bang on - hanging kickouts are a liability