Will be fast forwarding the interview I'm afraid.

Paudie Clifford after getting straight red card.

Kerry fans looking for their management ran after that?
I'm extra confident after today we'll win Connacht. We only ever match what we're facing. Castlebar and the Neale must be delighted with their lot. 2 players fully looked after by the county's medical team to be ready for club championship.

I think Cork missed their chance there to win it, Kerry can be beaten too as Dynamic as they are..I can't see them winning sam just yet..will need more evidence..less said about Mayo today the better...come on now Cork

In fairness Cork beat ourselves less than two years ago - not the same thing .

The football Cork and kerry supporters are treated to. Two teams not afraid to have a go.
The book stops with management. Leitrem had much more urgency in their play.
.

A pathetic showing and no dressing up or PR spin will change that. A truly shocking performance from front to back and only for ROD we'd have gone down.
A Div 4 team physically bullied us today, and more than once, when they hit us hard and late, not a single Mayo player could lay out a Leitrim man. A team that couldn't field a side a few weeks ago, kicked 2 pointers for fun against us while we failed to trouble their keeper once.
We're mild, we're meek, we've gone soft and we are playing boring, blunt, aimless football.
We've regressed over the last 3 years, undeniably, and I for one have seen enough this season to know that we're slipping further away from the top.

Joe G
Will take the learnings and play midfielders in the forwards again and not address the issues that are plain for all to see.

Couldn't agree more pebblesmeller..on the money

Mayo will win the championship

Another sorry day. The team has got worse year on year under this management. And we now have huge problems on every line bar maybe our full forward line which depends on everyone else to supply it.

Our joint managers have coached us into a sorry robotic state. 6 goes at Connacht for Stephen Rochford and it has been 6 failures. Will likely be 7.

It all hinges on the final and we could take a beating leaving the rest of the year a grim prospect.

I'm worried that we will regress even more during year 4 of this managment team in 2026. Players look afraid to take on 2 point attempts.

We have good footballers totally unprepared for championship. Wicklow have a better grasp of what the new rules involves....

They will at some stage corick Bridget.. won't be this year or next however.

Come on Cork, 5 mins left

@Richie duck fully agree on that we only ever match what we are facing it's so true .

@pebblesmeller agree also I couldn't believe that performance today. We may play to same level as opposition but that was actually depressing .

What would we do without Ryan o D &Aido.

Unreal stuff we do it the mayo way but that was shocking today from a team as you said that couldn't field a team this year we let them bully us we are to nice a team and boring laterall passing we need to practice kick passing the ball my god!! ..maybe cillian saw the writing on the walls.

Unlucky Cork...great effort. Great scores..great battle

Goals still win games
We didn’t even create a goal chance today

The west is best

There wont be a year 4!!

Referee too influential in the Cork/Kerry game. Seanie O'Shea clearly overcarried for his goal and a disgraceful decision to give the Cork player a red card. Will we ever get to an acceptable standard of refereeing?

After watching Cork vs Kerry, it’s clear that we’re one of the few teams still playing a puke football equivalent of the new rules. The sides that take risks and go for 2-pointers are the ones setting themselves up to win.

We have some wonderful talents coming through but hopefully they are not called up until this anti-football regime are gone because they'd try to extinguish all the fire and adventure in them. Just feel so sorry for the present squad playing this type of muck.

Hopefully we will see a player driven performance in final

Very fond of McStay and Rochford. They're proud Mayo men, who aren't deliberately trying to fail.
However, they cannot be around to deal with the talent coming through. For anyone thinking that there is some massive bounce in this team from connacht final onwards, don't be fooled. Galway are going to give us a hiding akin to what we were giving them in the early 2010s.

I wish everyone would stop presuming Galway will win tomorrow...

Make no mistake. We are in for a serious hiding in Castlebar. Mayo are light years away from even competing against the top teams let alone from winning silverware.

Tuamstar, you're miles ahead of ourselves and roscommon. Seven points favourites with the bookies for tomorrow. I'd have ye more than that. Best team in the country in my opinion. Incredible strength in depth. I have said all year that Galway will win Sam. Nobody as good.
Cold light of day - you'll win tomorrow. I know that's probably easier for an outside eye to see.
The connacht final will, sadly, be a cakewalk!

Watching back the 2017 SF replay against Kerry, we have seriously regressed. No idea what to expect now for Connacht Final.

Ah lads stop....
It was a very poor display today but all will be forgotten when the teams line up for the parade in the final...

Look at the pointers cork kicked against th league champions and all ireland favourites. Cork are a division 2 ream able to do it against kerry, we are a division 1 team not able to do it and got a lesson in it from a Division 3 team

The County Board are to blame over the years. They didn't want the late Micko even when it wasn't going to cost them anything. They didn't like losing control. The same with McGuinness when he was available. Of the 3 management teams I said it here at the time that my last pick would be McStay as I had seen the mess Rochford made in Donegal but of course the County Board went for a safe pair of hands. So there is no point getting excited about Mgt now.
Hopefully McStay will at this stage see the light and take control. Surely he has some friend that will advise him and even at this stage it's not to late to change. Playing pass the parcel with a bar of soap in those conditions today was suicidal football.

Soft and meek, just like the manager. Blue in the face telling ye he done the same with us. The first thing Cunningham did when he took over was raise the physicality and aggression levels. Teams are always a reflection of the manager.

Regards tommorow, I think it will be tighter than people think. We dont have the defence to win it, but will push them close. Glad its not in the Hyde at least.

Well if all of yere front 8 forget during the parade how to shoot 2 pointers then we might have a chance ……..

Well done Leitrim, ye didn't win but by God, ye showed some bal.. today. Good luck in next game. Cork gave Kerry a good game. We have a lot to do. Hopefully the Connaught Final will be a start for us. I live in hope.

Well that was pathetic. The lads on the podcast said a Mayo senior club team would beat Leitrim. Maybe we should have sent Crossmolina up instead and the Mayo lads could have practiced kicking the ball over and back on the 45 in Castlebar.

All ill say Nephin is if you gave me a choice of 6 forwards either of two county lads in or
..............Jordan........Conor
Josh Moyles....Kobe Mcdonald....Niall Coggins
.Oisin Deane........James Maheady....Finaun Duffy

...................or
D Neary......Mchale.......Eoghan Mac
AOS...........Thornton.....ROD

I would wager It wouldn't be the boys in red and green who'd win in a challenge match, totally irrelevant conversation but best try have a bit of craic in these times but future does look bright for Cross and Mayo with real forwards coming through

It's very evident from looking in during the warm ups, and especially when the team huddles up just after the warm up, that Rochford is calling the shots. It's always him driving the warm up, giving the final talk in the huddle and he seems the most active on the line. McStay is the figurehead and the one that does the pressers, but it certainly appears to be Rochford who is running things. This is not a good look. And defo not a good look for McStay.
Anyone hoping for a wise and ruthless decision from our county board will be disappointed. When they failed to remove Horan after that shambolic display in the 2021 AIF they showed just what they were prepared to except and just how placid and forgiving they are. They won't push McStay, but even if they did, I don't trust them to get the next management decision right anyway. I think we can all see where this current set up is going and where it peters out. I was happy for McStay to finally get his chance but bar the opening 6 or 7 months we have flatlined and are now regressing backwards.
He has been an unlucky manager and sometimes that's just the way it is. 3 lost games last season where we led in injury time, Gough fucking us over in Salthill, losing Keegan, Mullin and COC. Injuries to Durkan, DOC and Conroy - that's SIX starters from his team!
Maybe they'll surprise us and "turn it on" in the Connacht final. I'm hoping that's the case and up until the Sligo game I was very, very optimistic that we'd win Connacht, but now, I just can't see it.

Ah a bit tongue in cheek Outside of the boot .

I wish Kevin McStay would call it as it is instead of these constant efforts to frame a positive narrative. All will be revealed in 2 weeks but with average club players in the 1st 15, a struggling midfield yet again and only 2 players in ROD and Towey who know where the posts are, it’s a recipe for disaster

Also this talk of mayo training through today’s match and this is a consequence of that i think is BS. I remember hearing this back 2022 before the league final v Kerry. What happened next? A dismal championship which reflected the mood that year. This is quite similar. The mood/signs are not good. The team don’t look in any way progressing. Matthew Ruanes confidence is on the floor again after the horror league showing. Are our hopes pinned on Dylan Thornton now at midfield after backing Conor Reid or Bob Tuohy the past 2 leagues to be a live option at midfield at this point. I’ve never been so demoralised by a Mayo team

We hold onto hope that all will be all right on the night in 2 weeks but without Tommy Conroy, no Cillian OC the attack is dreadful and even our very best attackers are markable enough against good opponents, it’s a problem.

It might be tongue in cheek but I’d be more excited watching those Crossmolina youngsters than what’s on offer

As many wiser than me have said, lets see what the Connacht final will bring. Watched the 94 Final back Vs Leitrim and they were well worth the win. We have another shot and pray to god we take it this time.

Is the connacht final confirmed for Castlebar?

Missed this game, did not watch or listen, seems I was the lucky one based on the comments.

We are a top 8 team at best, however we could beat a top 8 team later on but equally we could get beaten by a division 2 team.

The year will be defined on what we do from now on, would not be confident versus Galway in 2 weeks but would expect to win if the Rossies pull off a surprise later. The frustration is that we could perform better than we are at the moment and showed flashes of this during the league. The rules favour a team with a good middle 8 and strong attacking instincts, neither of which we have consistently demonstrated this year.

I have accepted that we we will likely make the QF playoff and anything after that will be a bonus. But at least the U20's may give some optimism for future years!!

There's a wider cultural issue at this point on and off field in how a lot of Mayo people think about football. People still lamenting about a lack of attacking scoring wing backs.
It's kickpassing wing backs like Colm McHale of the u20s. I'm not saying he is a bolter for senior I'm saying a wing back who regularly looks to kick pass. But, we mamy of us will overlook a player like that once we see an alternative player with more pace that regularly runs the ball.

JP the problem we have is that we pick a wing back who lacks pace and won't kick pass but hand passes it backwards or sideways. Keep it safe and boring and don't have a go. That sums up our style of play at the moment. Maybe it's damage limitation at the moment as we don't have the players in the eyes of Mgt and they should know by now.

Very disappointing overall, but we have to hang onto the belief that this year's focus is from the final on. My biggest concern is the basic skills aren't there, hand passes going astray, decision making ect. It doesn't matter what system you deploy, if you can't nail the basics you're done before you start

Unfortunately like most posters I am totally disillusioned with the way this Mayo team and I blame management; I know they are proud Mayo men but Rochford style has like his stint in Donegal has destroyed the teams confidence.. he is a proud football man but not a good man manager (McStay is the front man) .. there is no shape to our team or play.. defenders playing in forwards and forwards in defense, the play before half time epitomizes where we are at, our attacking midfielder forced to stay back as part of our men back , Rochford and Damian Mulligan roaring at him to go back, since the Donegal game one of our prolific scorers defending and backs running into the offensive box.. everyone is crying how bad midfield is but why in Gods name can we not get a settled pairing ( should by MR and Jordan /Jack and stick with that to build a chemistry, like it was previously ) instead of that we have tinkered with this with no rhyme nor reason even Jack in the full forward, worked one day but not since!
Fintan Kelly and Frank Irwin were flying, dropped, Matthew Ruane was flying, spends more time as the defensive midfielder ( which he not ) , taken off when he goes forward. The body language of the lads is brutal.
We don’t kick the ball to Aidan or Jack when in the , we crowd the space created by the new rules with runs from Stephen C and his marker into the box . These lads are told to do this??
I sadly expect no matter who wins today will throttle us. My only hope is the sight of Galway ( which I expect to win) will ignite our lads and the management will settle on the core of the team. It’s ludicrous that we are tinkering so much with the team 2 weeks out from a Connacht final
Maybe our management are genius and holding back.. here’s hoping

Didn't get to see it but my nephew filled me in with the grizzly details. Let's hope Galway or Roscommon get a dose of the trots the previous day. Would have loved to have travelled to it, great gra for Carrick.

A positive was Paul Towey’s contribution, scoring, assists and tracking back, hopefully they persist with him and let his confidence build, outside Ryan (another great game) he is one of our few natural forwards

It's hard to understand—so much time and effort has gone into developing the likes of Frank Irwin, Fenton Kelly, and Davitt Neary. They’ve delivered when given opportunities, yet now it seems none of the three will feature in the Connacht Final. The same goes for Fergal Boland and Eoin O’Donoghue. I’m not claiming they’re the complete solution, but it’s baffling that management has opted not to use them at all against Leitrim.

Where is Bob Tuohy? Why were Conal Dawson and Sean Morahan brought on against Sligo only to be dropped from the matchday 26 this week? Why couldn’t someone like Niall Coggins get another chance to show what he can do?

The handling of younger players has been extremely poor. The squad looks low on confidence, and the football we're playing feels overly cautious and conservative. There’s no room left to hide—something has to change quickly, or we could be staring down the barrel of a few heavy defeats over the next 6 to 8 weeks

I have to agree with a lot of sentiment relating to management but as one other fan said, this mess lies at the feet of the CB. Unfortunately our chairman and the “expert” sub committee that was put forward to find a manager clearly hadn’t a clue what they were looking for. Maybe Seamus could do as detailed a review process as he did when trying to find a manager.

If you’re a mayo player today your heart must be sinking. You have a manager (McStay) that won’t open his month, unless it’s a media interview, and then his coach Rochford, who can’t keep his mouth closed on a sideline. His style of play has to be the worst I have ever seen. If he is there for a 4th year, I don’t think I’ll watch a single game. And then of course We get into the “best” coach in the country according to everyone outside Kerry. Mr Donie Buckley. I was once under the impression that Buckley was meant to be an expert tackle coach. Such propaganda. Jack O’Connor was on the look out for a new coach this year and didn’t even consider him, after he had already been rejected by the Kerry CB 3 years ago as a coach. Moving onto our S&C. To be honest ever since Barry Solan left for Arsenal it has been questionable but my god it’s in the pits now. The strength is of the Kerry and Cork players yesterday compared to our lads was night and day. But in fairness or management don’t even look for new players. In 3 years I’d say they have found, and developed 4 players maximum. Can someone justify how Akrim deserved to come on in that game yesterday? I reckon extended panel players are picked out of a hat to see who can play.

Things have got so bad, that I personally think a Connaught title isn’t even going to be good enough for the level of damage done to this squad.

Finally, on a positive note, mayo have some very talented forwards coming though at minor and U20 level. This management cannot be anywhere near them when they are eligible to play. So hopefully the next Mayo manager will have some good forward options coming though but my god the next man in the hot seat has a huge task on his hands. Far far bigger then the one 3 years ago.

Very, very conservative figures I'd imagine Green&Red, that only be about €13k a year.

Posters and pundits has Kerry as favourites for Sam after the league.
Truth is their winning goal should have been disallowed.
Galways now to lose

The next 4 games could be very harsh for Mayo football.

I cannot see us competing in Connacht Final unlesd we are being completely hoodwinked by management and have a grand plan waiting. Little chance the experience of last 3 years would say.

So we end up in Pot 2 and avoid the weakest teams in the draw.

Likely home 2 weeks after a hard beating to Cork, Down, Meath, Cavan or Louth. They will be wetting their lios.

Then away to Roscommon, Monaghan, Derry or Tyrone/Armagh. None of those are too pretty.

May need a result at a neutral venue against Kerry, Dublin or the Ulster champs to stay alive.

Time to hide behind the couch.

While it was an awful game yesterday I will reserve judgement till after the final.

We always play to level of opposition sure Louth nearly beat us in 23 and same thing yesterday .

Still think there will only be a kick of a ball v Galway if Rossies don't beat them.

We will be underdogs going into the final now but sure no harm in that let Galwegions think they have it in the bag before a ball is kicked that's usually when we come out and play our best .

We will do alright, we have good players, who when push comes to shove and pressure is on will put up a fight when play their natural game. So can't imagine us getting to badly done anywhere.
Our lack of gameplans and discernible strategy will bite us on the bum in the long run.
DOC back yesterday actually kicking the ball is a positive, as is Paddy playing Friday.

@Pebblesmeller your two posts are bang on the money. Every line of the field there is issues. Fenton Kelly has done well in every game and no sign of him yesterday. Sean Morahan has been a stand out for Mitchels and Mayo underage teams for years (two years captain of under 20s) and has undeniable “dog” in him and has got no game time at all.

We were bullied around and but for ROD it could have been the shock of the decade.

Very hard to see where we can lift it and pick up a win. Only real game we have played well in was Kerry at home. Patches against Armagh and Derry.

If teams actually go at our defence there is nothing too them. Mcbrien and Callinan have been major let downs and Coyne hasn’t hit the heights we thought he may have.

Positives: generally speaking there is never much in it between Mayo and Galway (sorry Rossies) regardless of form: we are due one like they were in 2016.

Dylan Thornton, thought he done okay. Breaking ball and caught two clean. The jury is out if he’s athletic enough for Croker but could be what we need against Maher etc in a dog fight.

Can the Mayo set up get things right or close to right for the Connaught final ?
How is morale within the squad?

I refuse to believe we will go in to a home Connaught final and not give a proper account of ourselves, especially if it's maroon opposition. I think we'll be up for it and have a real cut(maybe in spite of management) play the game we are capable of.
There'll be no bubble strong enough to drown out the criticism of Carrick for the next 2 weeks for players or management.These lads have some personal pride,and we'll see it in the final I'm sure.
Yesterday was poor to say the least, but semi finals are for winning and all that...The manner of it won't matter that much come final day.

Gizmo.
You mentioned a challenge game on Friday night a few times and that Paddy played. Podcast said we played Carlow. Surely none of the team in Carrick yesterday were involved, even though it looked like they were.

Travelling around the country to play Carlow says so much

There's more comments on Kerry than the Mayo game!.

Great win for Kerry last night away to a team and wrongly down to 14.

Delighted with that.

Big game in the West today..

This stuff that we play to the level of the opposition is now just a cliche.after we struggled against Louth in 2023 we lost to cork before getting getting mauled by Dublin in a the quarter final .you can only go on the evidence of what is in plain view .i can only assume there will be some major reaction by the players in the Connacht final but if there is some masterplan then it has been brilliantly kept under wraps

No Nephin, was other lads not in 26 and lads dragged in from the extended panel to make the numbers.
Think Mayo won by 2 or 3.

Thanks Gizmo.

Some supporters always find away of softening the blow after a poor performance, be it referee or missing players, or being dragged down to level of opposition, or whatever.
The truth is in our clueless style of play, failed to create goal chances, no two pointers, Leitrem won that one 3-0, so in fact they played at a level above us on that score.
Players should have sat down with management after Sligo match and demanded a style of play that embraces the new rules.
Instead we have Rochford barking out instructions from the sideline at a rate of knots, at least McStay said enough is enough at half time by making 3 changes.
No doubt the spin will be that the players weren't up to it at the end of all this, when unfortunately we have outstanding talent in McBrein, Callinan, Thornton Neary and others.

I don’t know how we’re supposed to take McStay seriously after his comments midway through the league about the new rules. We were caught several times in breach of them and he said we’re going to be ready for them when we have to. The idea of the 3 up four back was to create more space in front of goal and give forwards a better chance to score. Seems Kevin has decided, I’m having none of it and keeps sending backs and their marker up to the opposition square, blocking up the space that would be otherwise available. Stephen Coen is like a plane waiting for a slot to land by doing a go around of the pitch.

Yerra West Kerry.A dangerous high tackle from Clifford gave the ref a 50/50 call between black and red.Stupid from Clifford and he paid the price.No mention of the wrong decision for the Cork red card.Its a football site and we talk about football predominatley Mayo but outsiders views however tainted are welcome. Sure why else would you be here.

I really enjoyed the Kerry v Cork game, brought me back to that great rivalry of the old days.
As you know West Kerry I admire Paudie as a player but he is prone to the bit of mischief and was rightly sent off yesterday.
Joe O Connor is becoming the main midfielder and has really stepped up since Diarmuids injury.

Just looking back on GAA+ now and it looked as if both reds were much of a muchness. They could both have been yellows, especially given the difficult conditions, but both were reckless challenges (the Cork one more so to be honest) and it was no travesty that two reds were shown. Leitrim's Barry McNulty fouled Davitt Neary in much the same way as Paudie's foul in the first minute of our game but that was deemed only a yellow.

At the risk of increasing your blood pressure even further West Kerry, by my count Seán O'Shea took at least ten steps before shooting for goal!

@West Kerry: Whatever about the Paudie one (yellow for me, but the Cork red far more questionable), Dylan Geaney was very lucky to stay on the field.

Haven't had a chance to look at that one back yet on video so open to correction, though someone did share a still with me (https://x.com/Joe_Stalwart/status/1913711003977625981), but watching it last night looked like a textbook strike to the head (off the ball at midfield with 25 minutes left in the game).

New or old rules Galway games are a poor watch

Galway looking very shape. We don’t have anyone to get close to Mahar around the middle. An outstanding footballer.

Mayo don’t seem to be enjoying themselves playing football anymore, and it’s highly noticeable. No endeavor, no risk, no go for it attitude, completely unlike our teams from 2012 and 2021 who threw of the shackles off and came so close. It’s incredibly boring, highly labor intensive, and completely clueless, void of any substance whatsoever. It’s like ok crap I have the ball, what am I going to do now, wait don’t lose ball, hold on to possession, pass the buck, Rochford is watching. Recycle, rinse, repeat, puke. I don’t think these young lads are getting a fair shot, playing ultra conservative safe football in this new era. It doesn’t work, now you either attack or get killed. For Mayo, it’s a case of wrong managers for this new era, they look completely lost. These joint managers need to go, they are not at the caliber or standard required right now. Get a real manager or bring back Horan, at least he’ll sort out our attack play. Mayo need a young all Ireland winner, I.e a Ciaran Donaghy type figure. Someone who respected. Just look at Armagh last year.

Heard an interview from Poacher on Midwest today and his tactical genius move v Mayo was to block up the space in front of the goal as they knew Mayo pose little risk with outside of the arc shooters. If Poacher can spot this, I dread to think what the top level teams will have planned

Roscommon were pathetic today. I’m genuinely not trying to wind up any Rossies but I can’t figure out if it’s mismanagement of players by Davy Burke, which I think is likely, or are these highly regarded players just overrated. Surely for Roscommon players leaving the dressing room today somebody would say “eyes at all times on Conroy 50 yards out and do not let him have an easy shot”. I can live with boomers from Conroy from difficult angles or under pressure but not sauntering in at his leisure to stroke over a 2 pointer. Basic enough stuff. Mayo need to ensure someone is detailed on this in a fortnight

My team v Galway at the moment

Reape
Coyne, McBrien, McHugh
Callinan, Diarmuid, Hession
Coen, Ruane
Flynn, RoD, Neary
AOS, Carney, Towey

McBrien - Comer (no one else able)
McHugh - Finnerty (let’s hope no head rubbing)
Coen - Conroy (on his boot at all times)
Aido - Fitzgerald (Think he will be needed at midfield a lot)
RoD - McGrath (Yes may seem like madness but I think he would have greater influence at 11 than inside. McGrath will be glued to him in 2 weeks time)
Carney - (To full forward, Give Galway something to think about)
Towey - Glynn (Only other natural scorer we have. Yes he’s light, maybe struggles to win his own ball but he can kick them over the posts. Remember his 9 points v Galway u20s in 2020)

The Rossies are very vulnerable at midfield and the back which makes the forwards task almost impossible. Burke is doing what he can from what I've seen. Christ, they're back in the top division. They're another outlier when it comes to the big day. They'll take a scalp this summer, no doubt.

@roco88 I like your thinking and would agree with most of that. Would like to see Mcloughlin start myself for the simple reason he can break a line.

And more to the point, has the balls to try and break a line.

How the hell did Darcy lad get so many clean catches , it was surreal that he seemed to jump continuously uncontested as highlighted by Sunday game .

We can’t allow that to happen , whatever happens Sunday week , we just can’t let them away with a soft one , mahers ankle needs testing too

Bring back Mayo vs London in the 2026 Connacht football championship helping out needs to be done in the coming months although it will be confirmed in October or November perhaps, but the newspapers will advertise in about 2 months time. 2001 postponed a fortnight to the fixture during the Foot & Mouth disease, 2021 fixture wasn't expected to held due to Covid-19. In the Autumn of 2005 bring it back for 2006 was only confirmed when the draws were made. But in this Autumn Mayo vs London Connacht football championship Quarter-final in 2026 will be confirmed in all websites, radio & newspapers.

What in the name of sweet baby jesus are you on about Martin Walsh

Martin can you tell us if McStay will still be at the helm in 2026 for this London game?