There is no point in looking back now. All that can be said now is best of luck to the lads on Sunday.

As long of they give it all they can and play the way they played against Tyrone, Kerry league game in Castlebar and 2nd half of Armagh league match we fans cant ask for anything more.

The 3 connaught county players and management face a daunting weekend. All 3 are in a precarious situation. All 3 have management s that are in place for 3 years or more. Back to the Tyrone game. 1. Was the absence of Kennedy and Hampsey and factor. 2 Did we get lucky with the goal just on half time. 3 . Was the timing of the penalty crucial as they were clawing back. . It doesn't matter now. We can analyse until the cows come home. 6 o clock on Sunday evening we will have the answer s. The scoring power of jimmys men compared to mayo worries me but if we dominated possession like we did against Tyrone it's anybody s game. Intensity is crucial

The Carrott really is massive here, if we win not only do we qualify but very likely as group winners, that is massive.
Those 4 teams are all strong favourites to then progress to a semi based on everything we've seen this year and the last 2 in terms of teams being unable to perform 3 weeks in a row.

Thinking matchups, donegal generally only assign 2 markers and the rest will be zonal. I suspect stephen mcmenamin will be drafted in to tag AOS as he is the only real physical type matchup they have for him. McCole guaranteed to be on ROD.

On the other side of things Paddy Durcan is tailor made to sicken Ryan mchugh and pin him back as we seen in 2022, mcbrien on murphy a no brainer as he can go FB or follow murphy out the field. I actually don't think McBrearty starts if donegal have everyone so wouldn't plan too much for him

The guy I really rate for them is langan, I would designate donncha mchugh to do his outfield man marker role to follow and sicken Langan everywhere

Donegal are a bigger, heavier team than us. So I really think we need to set a very high tempo, quick restarts, get both pace legs and go all day diesel legs onto the field early.
We need to go after them with pure running intensity like the Cork Hurlers.
Kickouts? Just get that ball down, gone and long.
Donegal will keep us at arms length in a cautious slower tempo of a game.

Need the tactics right. Donegal are good at mixing it up from slow tempo to hayabusa speed in an instant. O'Donnell, Conor, is the speediest half forward out there and, Gallen, when in the mood, is deadly accurate. Jimmy knows Murphy will be receiving plenty of attention so expect the unexpected.
I'm still not sure Donegal are the real deal but they've serious firepower. I'm not as optimistic as others, even if the Hyde is terra familiaris. It's going to be nerve-wracking.

Mayo Team for Sunday
Reape
Coyne, McBrien, Morahan
Durcan, Coen, Hession
Ruane, Flynn
Tuohy, McHale, Neary
AOS, Carney, ROD

1. Assuming McHugh injured
2. McBrien to pick up Murphy either inside or out the pitch. We need a second McBrien!
3. Dawson impressive v Tyrone in 1st half but I’ve hopes Tuohy is further on in physical development
4. Neary for his explosiveness. In absence of TConroy, need a wild card
5. Let’s put Carney into 14 and throw a few grenades into OShea and Carney
6. In terms of matchups for Donegals key men, Murphy, Langan for starters are 2 I’d be targeting

I just worry we can't expect same level from Paddy on consistent basis after such an injury but to give him a freer role at 10 to play where he wants would be ideal.
If we have Eoghan and Diarmuid to come on in halfforward line also be great impact players.

So ya think this be best lineup.
....................Reape
Coyne.........McHugh...Morahan
Durcan..........Coen.......Hession
............McBrien...Carney
Flynn.......Ruane......Tuohy
AOS.........Neary.......ROD

I would be of the opinion to fight fire with fire and put McBrien on Langan, he will match him power and pace wise and do man mark job on him whilst Mchugh picks up Murphy .
It would be a gift to be able to give Paddy a free role at 10 but just don't have the Defensive subs to do so. Neary at 14 is not traditional but pull them all over place and make space for ROD and taking balls on the run off AOS .

Mcbrien very lucky to be still holding his place I find. Offers not a lot if im being honest, its not critical its just as a 6 now you have to be contributing more than just passing it off side to side. He'd want to kick a score or two aswell as most half backs get plenty time and space nowadays.

Dont think he'll start Neary, maybe use him like the Tyrone game and inject pace at the right time, my fear is Donegal getting a run on us and pulling away, must not let that happen.

@Magpie: It's hard to take that comment too seriously given in the last game David was outstanding in a performance where he was a big part in helping provide the platform for the win & that he didn't play at 6.

David McBrien he put in a huge performance v Tyrone .

You can say Tyrone may have been flat but I don't think so .

Though we will know come Sunday if they really were .

Still think it's a mayo win . Donegal very confident but you can't blame them . Murphy is some man .

Though we have momentum after that performance v Tyrone and Durcan back . Neary is a star in the making .

It will be close and we will all be watching the score in the Cavan v Tyrone game if its still close in our game .

I wouldn't write off Cavan v Tyrone at all.

Tsu, he played well enough last game and made few tackles..but I mean overall and last year was poor too. Alot comes down his channel and he doesn't do enough going forward is my point. Does the fact he played ok last day out make up for 2 years pretty much of bang averagness? Just my opinion. Id be interested to hear does anyone share same one?

@Magpie: Over the last two years we've leaned on him for some of our toughest man to man marking roles. He can't protect any channel when he's not there due to following his man.

He's been in poor form for a few games alright. We've not seen the physicality, aerial ability or dynamic bursting runs we know he's capable of... But that's something we could say about 90% of the panel so wouldn't agree with aiming it specifically at David.

He wasn't anywhere close to "ok" in the last game though. We were utterly dominant on restarts (probably the most dominant display on contested ball seen this year in the Championship, by eye or by numbers), theirs and ours, with David's job on their huge tower Kilpatrick the key to that. He did amazingly well. Suggesting he's lucky to hold his spot following that performance without a caveat for how well he played, especially coming into a game with Murphy, Gallen, Thompson, Langan, McFadden & Moore who are all huge aerial threats where we could use 5 or 6 more of him, just doesn't seem realistic.

Pull him aside and tell him to impose himself more on a game physically & in (measured) aggression? Sure (with Bob getting a similar chat reminding them both how talented they are in the process).

Lucky to hold his spot? When we're actively shipping him between full-back, half-back & midfield to put out various different fires for us? No. Not at all.

@Magpie

In fairness the whole team has been off the last while before the Tyrone game not just McBrien .

Good Luck to mayo on Sunday McBrien like mayo mayo will have to back up The Tyrone performance they have not done that of long time to have all changed of beat Donegal but we seem to play better when our back to wall

If DMcB is quiet in a game you can be sure his man will be quieter. I think we are a better team when he's playing so well worth his place imo. Even if he's not first to the ball he always reminds his man that he's right there, you won't get around him without a dig or two at least. Something that's slightly lacking in a few others

Ah sure its just my opinion, we'll see how he goes Sunday. He got an awful roasting in a few league games this year too and was it last year v comer aswell in salthill..most mayo players played well v Tyrone but we will see.

Mcbrien is crucial for mayo on Sunday. He has been posted all over the place. Not his fault

What's not his fault Craggy? Sure im not blaming him for anything, I just said he hasn't contributed enough for me for 2 yrs. That's all. If he's assigned Murphy or Langan, both will test him

@Magpie
I think from a defensive "Mind the House" point of view then McBrien has been OK as have the rest of the full back and half back lines. Touch wood we haven't been coughing up multiple goal chances per game although perhaps the trade off to that is that we're conceding a few too many 2 pointers.
We've been spoilt over the years with the likes of Keegan, Boyle,Higgins,Vaughan and co who could defend but were all good for a score themselves. You'd like to see a few more scores from the back lines and Paddy returning will help with that.

As a defensive unit I think we've been ok in general.

it hard not to be excited and full of hope. But over the years, of previous experience. "It the hope that kill you"

@magpie I see your point, when you look at McBrien you see a physical specimen who has all the cocktail ingredients to be a top player. After an excellent breakthrough year including doing a great job on Con O'Callaghan, hasn't delivered on that promise... yet.

Better than average would be a fair assumption over the last two seasons, maybe does some unseen work that we don't fully appreciate.

I disagree with the comment about being roasted in Salthill. That was complete and utter tactical ineptness from our management: against the wind, leaving anyone one-on-one with Comer, and diagonal ball being pumped in. Beyond belief how poor the MGMT were that day, and we still should have won it.