Hard luck to the gallant footballers of Mayo.

What a brilliant game of football and nobody really deserved to lose it.

Both teams are a credit to their counties.

I was wondering how long it would take for someone to have a go at the manager. For what it’s worth I thought it was a cracking game between two evenly matched sides. We played very well against the win and the management substations were effective. It was a shame to lose it in the end especially bearing in mind that we tend to lose so many close games and of course when Mayo lose the management has to be blamed

Explain Tubberman are you upbeat too after losing a minor semi final? Id be upbeat if we won it I know they are only kids and they did their best and fair play to them but this thing about being gallant losers doesnt do much for the ol trophy cabinet. Time we started building a winning mentality and culture at all levels. Theres nothing wrong with winning.

Again lost a big game were the opponent out "2 point" us. Surly going forward all Mayo teams need to adopt the 2 point game. Kerry gained extra 4 points in a 3 point game. Same with our Seniors.

I wouldn't say I'm upbeat, and certainly not happy they lost. I don't believe David Heaney is either.
It's quite a different thing to be upbeat or optimistic about the future. u17s is a development grade, the main purpose of which is to develop players for the u19 and u20 panels.
The purpose of the u20s is to develop players for the senior panel.
The importance and revelance of winning matches increases with each grade as it is closer to senior.

Good honest interview by David Heaney , what harm if he smiles? . Fair play to all the young lads, 16 and 17 year olds, from Roscommon, Tyrone, Kerry and Mayo who all went out to play the game as well as they could. Have a look at the evening news and you will find plenty not to smile about. You only live once, and I hope all involved smile plenty.

Another gallant display by Mayo Minors, there are definitely some future prospects there if we can hold onto them into the future. Sadly it's another example of Mayo managing to lose a game we were leading heading nto injury time. All counties know now that the Mayo psyche is brittle as the game closes out and we are there to be beaten even if they are in a losing position. Sad

No Mike H losing does not matter if was a very entertaining game played by both sides in a sporting manner,try and enjoy the entertainment

There was nothing wrong with the psyche of those lads. Batttled back from about 5 down with a dominant spell and got 1 ahead. Kerry were excellent with the 2 pointers wind assisted, one of them being a monster free. Looked like no way back. During our spell we won a huge amount of breaking ball and stopped any attacks Kerry had. Unfortunately Kerry won their share of breaks near the end. No one shirked shooting on our side and the lads even tried for a few 2 pointers against the wind. They also pumped plenty of ball into the Ff line, most low and in front of the runner and a few high ones too. So things people complain about the seniors they weren’t doing. There were some back and over spells too but there was nothing on, Kerry had it covered so it was the right thing to do. I’d give credit to both players and management for that performance which was close to their max I believe. I’d also be upbeat about the future if I were the manager thinking about how far off we were at underage a few short years ago. There’s a player too young to tog this year ready to be sprung who’s generational and it will bring us up a level. When you go out the typical response is pride in your players if they performed. Being magnanimous in defeat nothing wrong with that. Kerry were just a fraction better on the scoreboard, fair play to them, some serious talent there too. No complaints.

It's the least upset I've been about a Mayo defeat this year.
It was a cracking game between two good teams. These lads didn't look like they would even put it up to Roscommon at one point but they've got better with every game.
Credit to management and players for giving it one hell of a rattle. It's a sickener to lose, of course, but no shame in losing a tight game like that.
Are there things we as a county need to look at? Of course there is. However, the 2-point scores have been coming in at minor and with our under 20s more regularly than at senior as it stands.
In reality, the kicker today was a failure to score more when we had the wind.
As for David Heaney's interview? Refreshing. I'm sure he's as gutted as anyone (and a lot more than most) but being positive sends a good message to very young lads who have died with their boots on.
Well done to Kerry and may the best team win the final.

Ye should be proud of the performance of those young lads today. I thought ye were in serious trouble early in the second half but the resolve was massive to get back into it. Some excellent displays, especially in defence and around the middle. The key now is to ensure a pathway to bring as many of them on to u20 and senior in the next 4/5 years.

Brave effort, the year bright spots have been Hession, Flanagan sure to make the team of the year when published at the end of the campaign. In the end when you lose 4 championship games in one campaign you can't have many complaints when you eventually make your exit.

It was a good game but again when we were a point up and it was there to be won we were afraid of it. Coughing up two long possession tilts without even going for a score. On the positive we kicked ball in at every chance and engaged the full forward line but unfortunately Carey and hessian were really poor today and I believe we lost it in there. But great football to watch. Front foot football. They would have no business in the senior panel under the current negative style management.

We have some very good raw talent in Mayo but the level of coaching for the elite players is very poor.
We don’t have a county centre of excellence and a proper academy to bring our best players through with qualified coaches.
How else do you improve potentially good players and bring them along year after year from 15 year-olds to 20-21.
We operate a Child of Prague approach to developing our best players. Time to go bigger or go home!

It's all about getting g a few players through that can maybe break I to Senior in 4 years or so.....I would think we have done that

On one interpretation of the game, Mayo lost another game they could have won.

On another, Kerry were the better team and Mayo did well to hang in.

In old money, it was 15 score to 13.
Mayo failed to score for the Frist 10min wit the wind at their backs - which means they weren't prepared to start the game with the intention of going after it and taking their place in the final

Not the first Mayo team to face Kerry half afraid of it. Indeed the manager lost 2 AI finals to Kerry in the first 10 mins.

In the current game, you have to be on it from the start, especially on a windy day - if you have a strong wind and aren't 6-8 points up at half time (at minor level), you are going to struggle.

The players were every it as good as Kerry but didn't take to the field physically and mentally prepared to go out, tear into the opposition and show they were the better team. Going out with a timid attitude against Kerry always ends in defeat.

I hope the bloggers who mockingly sneer with their grand day out and other derogatory comments about team and management went to Ennis today to support their county or that at the very least will be out coaching underage lads with their clubs this week. Or will they have a “grand day out” sitting on their couches criticizing all Mayo teams of all ages which seems to be a trend at the moment. All lads who represent their county whether as players or managers deserve respect. We got to last 4 at u17 and U 20 this year. Now I know that’s not good enough for the critical experts but it is better than 28 other counties in those grades.

When we won the 2013.minor final, reached the 2014 semi final I thought there was a good depth of senior players in that tranche. However I didn't think there were that many elite seniors and in truth we have not gotten much elite division 1 player consistency year on year.
This team and last years team, there's not the overall depth, but in my view there's potentially more elite seniors.
By elite senior I mean a stomgly contributing division 1 consistent player.
To have a strong senior team we're better off simply having the best 1-2 players from each team being at a top level.

It would have been nice to make it to the final i think Tyrone will have a bit to spare over Kerry and i think they would have beaten us so i would prefer to get to finals we can win. Weeks ago i was of the opinion Tyrone would Under 20 and Minor and i think they will. Mayo and Kerry both good teams today and overall but the Nordie teams have dominated at Minor the last few years so if we get some seniors out of this team in the future i will be happy enough.

Just to clarify , I haven’t sneered at any mayo team today or any other day . Bringing todays result into a collective as a reflection on mayo teams losing tight games is not mocking / sneering etc . Just a trend I’d rather wasn’t accepted as moral victory . Lack of composure in clutch moments can be improved , if our teams are matching top sides up till the last couple of plays in a game , there are positives and the negative can be turned into a positive .

@Mike H

Seriously?

These are 15/16 year olds . I know you said your comment wasn't meant to be taken seriously but these guys gave their best and fair play to them .

It's not been a great year for us in general so I get the negativity .

Just these are teenagers like . They will take this defeat to heart more then anyone and they probably do read the blog sure .

We've lots of young talents coming up from under 17/ under 20s .

It's been a rough old year to be honest on / off the pitch . These guys play exciting football and the future is bright for them.

Its just a crap place to be in when we have crashed out so early in senior team. I'm still annoyed over crashing out like many others are .

But I hope our young ones still hold their heads up high for coming back strongly in 2nd half in an all Ireland semi .

What a brilliant game that was two very good teams that give it their all unfortunately mayo just came up short in the last 5 minutes of injury time.
The losing of the game came in the first half we didn't use the wind to score a few two pointers. Where kerry did got three two pointers in the second half with the wind.
We shawed character to come back after been 5 points down to go one up going in to the last 8 mins. We just ran out of steam at the most important time.
I thought the manager David Heaney spoke very well after the game.
Even if we haven't gotten over the line in recent years we have been there or there about and it all about development of the players over the last 5 years to get as many of them players palying senior football for the county in the next two three years because there is a lot of good talented players that can go on to win Sam in the next three years as long as we have the right management team in place.
It's up now to the county board to take there time in getting in the right management team to finally win a senior all lreland in the next three years. I really believe that the future is bright and we have a lot of very good young footballers coming through to finally win our first all Ireland since 1951

Minor football doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things
Most of the minor team that won the all Ireland in 2013 suffered massive injury issues in their early 20's from over training and only one or two are playing senior for Mayo at the moment.

Id much rather see a minor team with two long range kickers, 1 top quality free taker, a big FF, 2 high fielding midfielders, a goalkeeper with a good kick out etc.

There is no merit in winning underage titles if you not producing the players that are needed in senior.
We produce a whole load of half backs and non scoring forwards, no goal scorers, no free takers and no big skilfull full forwards at minor - hence we have those problems at senior.

It doesn't matter if they win or lose, what matters is what kind of players we develop.
If we develop players with the right spread of skills, the senior team will look after itself

Mike H - I’ve deleted that comment and your subsequent one where you attempted to justify the swipe you made in your initial one. Were you even in Ennis yesterday? If you were, I fail to see how you could post a comment like that, even if, as you claim, it was in jest. Mayo were beaten (narrowly) by a better team, after what was a cracking game, and the lads (16 and 17 year-old kids) gave every ounce of effort they had in pursuit of victory. That’s what their “day out” was.

Sean Burke My comment was most certainly not directed at you , one of the most genuine Mayo supporters on this blog

There's a case to be made that the title winning teams play a bit rigidly to a system and possibly over train.
Kerry or Dublin never get fussed about winning underage titles. They care more about even just the quality of the best forward or best midfielder on the team.
Gaelic football is now 75% attack and midfield. So simply producing even every two years a quality forward is massive.

Armagh v Kerry
Dublin v Tyrone
Meath v Galway
Donegal v Monaghan

As someone who was at the match I thought this was a brilliant game of football. Unfortunately the high wind and 2 pointers were a decisive factor. Having that wind in the second half is a massive advantage as players have settled into the game and space does open up more for shooters. Criticising a young team for not settling down immediately at throw in is very unfair - how long did it take the Galway seniors to get going in the provincial final. Overall I feel we have the most promising batch of forwards coming through in underage that I have seen in my time.
You do though have to question how development squads have failed to deliver a single high fielding midfielder to senior football in a period of 15 years.

A really good game of football between two good teams. Kerry slightly better on the day. A lot of excellent play on both sides and plenty of mistakes on both sides. I thought it was interesting in the last 10/12 mins how we won 7 of their last 8 kick outs but then lost 3 of our last 4 kick outs. Could have been the wind not helping our kick out but we had dominated the midfield battle and breaking ball for most of the match. I think the lads were running on empty for the last few mins.

Hard luck to the minors yesterday, Kerry slightly the better team, though Maye in midfield and O'Donnell at wing back were v good. Kerry just looked a lot more physical all over the pitch so hopefully that's something that can be rectified with proper S&C next few years.

Few interesting results at club level at the weekend, Davitts beating Stephenites away from home probably the big one. Has Conroy been togged for the Neale at all during the league?

From wfat I understand our wider panel has lad very limited club football? Open to correction on that.

@wj. Very interesting speak by Jarlath Burns before the draw this morning.
Could you post a link please to where the online survey can be completed, maybe not available yet.
Great minor matches yesterday. Learning curves for all. I'm sure management will sit down with players and go through how the managed the last 5 mins in particular, but not a bounce of the ball between the teams.
Fielding has been revived as an important skill in new rules. It is exposing the standard of kickouts by goalkeepers in recent senior matches. The 2 skills go hand in hand, Reape was far from the worst in that respect, as well as been an excellent shot stopper. I keep wondering had he not got that 'out of goal ' scare v Donegal, would he have been up contesting that final play? All history now.

Firstly commiserations to a fine Mayo under 17 panel and their management on a gallant effort against the Kingdom on Sunday last. Supporters should not be too critical of young players at this level – that game was on a knife edge – it could have gone either way. The celebrations of the Kingdom Management at the end reflected how lucky and happy they were to escape with the win on the day.
My only gripe was and is – Why once again did Mayo desert their County colours “Green above the Red”? The Kerry team wore their traditional Green and Gold and the Mayo lads wore a sort of Navy patchwork quilt sort of jersey? Has the Mayo powers that be ever heard of “pride in the jersey”? Has Mayo GAA sold out on their proud history and heritage for crumbs from a corporate table? That great Mayo and Balla patriot Dick Walsh, R.I.P, would turn in his grave!

Galway vs Meath early Saturday game

Tyrone vs Dublin late Saturday game

Monaghan vs Donegal early Sunday game

Armagh vs Kerry late Sunday game

Would make more sense kerry armagh on the sat

Kerry, Dublin out on sat
Galway Donegal on Sun
Would make more sense to me. Given 7 day breaks to everyone
But we'll know in afternoon

Some odd takes here on the Minors. As said before it's a development grade and should be accepted as such. It's an age group in which performances can fluctuate dramatically.
In Connacht we lost to Galway but beat them comfortably in the semi final. We're well beaten by Roscommon in the group stage but in the final were by far the better team but caught out by losing both midfielders to injury either side of halftime. The lads were just caught in the home stretch today but were they to meet again it could be a totally different outcome.
As has been stated many times these lads are 16 and 17 year olds and even some of those with November or December births are nearly a year younger than lads born in January though counted as the same age.
I was in Ennis and was really proud of their performance and a great spectacle from both teams.

@ontheditch, the surveys were sent out in advance of and after each round of the national league. I think Burns is a grade A egomaniac but he is right about what Gavin did with the FRC. Excellent to see the use of data in the approach to improving the game. Now if Jim could chair a similar committee to successfully remove the the provincials, then they can start building his statue outside Croke Park!

@GBXI: Different survey.

This is the 'new' "Amateur Status Review Committee" work that was being discussed today.

https://www.gaa.ie/article/amateur-status-review-committee-survey-issued

Joe G, I was there too yesterday and of course, disappointed, I was also proud of the effort and fight.

Someone above made a good point on leaving progress of good underage players to the ‘child of Prague’ and it reminded me of comment that has stuck with me on a recent POD by Nigel Reape when he said that it’s so important today that we don’t leave progression of our talented/potentials at underage age in the ‘hands of God’ or words to that effect.I felt it was a great opportunity to dig deeper and I was hoping the lads on the Pod would say, what do you mean by that Nigel??

Nigel Reape has his fingers on the pulse in Mayo and him saying that suggests to me that the structures aren’t great or clear or coherent and that he has doubts or concerns etc. I’m guessing this now from what he said, but it was a very interesting comment that seems to have slipped gone unnoticed perhaps. I’d love to know what he meant exactly.

@GBXI and TSU, it's the new survey he mentioned this morning, takes about 15 mins to complete and I would urge anyone to complete.
As with the previous survey, it's good to see the organisation going back to grass roots in the consultation stage.
TsuDhoNim as outlined the new format for next year's championship and in fairness a provincial championship title for Louth was hugh.
I disagree with one week between PQFs and QFs.
We all want to see teams fielding full strength at this stage and it will be a shame if Galway and GAA supporters miss out on the skills of McDaid and Walsh at the weekend. It's not that there is hugh pressure to get games played.
Thanks again to both for answering my question

Only got a chance to listen to the eve of the podcast now.

Ciarán O’Hara….THANK YOU! Finally, someone brought up divisional football and how crucial it is in the development of players from junior clubs. I say it every year here that it’s something Mayo GAA have to do. Without it, we simply aren’t maximising our talent pool. Look at Kerry…look at the lads who’ve lifted Sam for them from small junior clubs… it’s a no brainer. Rob mentioned it as a good idea for a pod. Yes, absolutely.

Sean Hallinan I would presume but don’t know for certain that Mayo and Kerry tossed for “home” jersey. Kerry won hence we played in our “away” jersey. Not my favourite version of a Mayo jersey I have to say

Listened to the game on Midwest, heartbroken for the lads at the end. A bookend for the year.
Looks to be some great talent coming through. Will endeavour to get to a few more underage games next year.

I can feel another Jimmy v jarlath moment coming on. Donegal first up. Longest traveler's. Jesus u couldn't blame Donegal if they are not happy. It's disgraceful really. Who's calling the shots and why..

A cynical person might think Armagh's main rivals, Donegal, are being dealt a raw hand- strangely enough by an A....nah, I'm not cynical thankfully.

Shuffly Deck the following quote above from you: “There’s a player too young to tog this year ready to be sprung who’s generational and it will bring us up a level.”
Are you talking about an u16 player at present that will be on next years minor team? Interesting comment and it sounds exciting but if he’s that young it’s probably too early to declare anyone generational.

Ever the optimistic . Are u trying to call me cynical. I'm not cynical. Not an optimistic. But i am a realistic and you listen carefully to my posts for the last 3 years you will find that everything I've said unfortunately came through. That's realism.

@Two pointer: Irrelevant to the main point you're making, which stands regardless and potentially even more emphatically for you when I say we're going younger again, but just to tidy up some of the detail...

U16s are allowed to play minor. We'd have had lads like Diarmuid, Tom & Rio from this year's 20s that would have been double minors, with 4 on this year's panel that featured last year and a couple from this year's panel that'll hopefully be back competing at minor again next year.

Eligibility for minor is to have celebrated a 15th birthday prior to January 1st of the year in question, so a player just wouldn't be eligible to compete while still U15.

(Page 58 of the Official Guide Part 1 for the specifics)

Good performance by the Minors but we still lost and seem to except defeat as good enough for us in all codes and all age groups, untill someone installs a win at all costs and no excuses into Mayo men and wemon we will remain happy with second best .

Anyone recall burns comments last year. Trying to make fun of mayo. Quote. Mayo have found a new way to lose. After losing on penalties. Total arrogance.

could someone tell me what time the courtain raiser is on sunday

I'm sure the u17s are hurting. The manager will reflect with them how they may have let the game slip. They will be all the better for it. Big plus that they went toe to toe with kerry in second half against the wind

Craggy, how did you get that I was calling you cynical from what I posted? My post was sarcastic and it was myself who was being cynical.

Ever the optimistic. Ok no problem. I thought burns comments on mayo last year were sick. No time for him since.

U17 is a development grade.
We want the lads taking risks and kicking.
It's not about win at all costs.
Our 2013 title wasn't worth it, we'd have been better off trained less and having more of those footballers injury free. That panel were plagued with injuries.

“To win just Once” Yes I doubt if that “Away Jersey” worn on Sunday last would be any Mayo supporters 1st choice. If for some odd reason we have to abandon our traditional “Green above Red” colours then we should wear the traditional “All White” jersey of our province Connacht.
The concept of “an away Jersey” is copied from English Soccer Clubs and benefits nobody and is perhaps just a sop to sponsors. In my opinion it would be an unfair imposition on financially hard pressed parents if a particular “Away Jersey” not true to tradition ever happened to catch on among young people.
The GAA are great at binning tradition and plagiarising from another code - hence we have penalties on occasions deciding important championship matches.
We had years of tradition and history at Minor (U-18) and Under 21 level binned against the wishes of many GAA supporters. The tradition on Minors playing before Senior Championship games and having access to Croke Park for their semi and All Ireland Finals has also been supressed. I contend that our current young players deserve better.
I also contend that it uplifts the heart to see Mayo Flags (genuine Green above Red ones) fluttering in front gardens across the County and in stadiums across the Country on match days. “We are Mayo”.

@JP the amazing thing about that minor win in 2013 was that group of players backed it up with an all Ireland U21 in 2016.they had some amount of injuries after 2013.

Future is bright for Mayo football.4 very good minor teams now in a row.
Good minors don’t always make good seniors but a positive is most are still playing club football from the minor teams of 22.

I wonder would anyone know what’s the most senior players we ever got of one minor team I.e played senior championship football.
I think Tyrone back in early 00s got 8 or 9 off one all Ireland winning minor team that is played Senior .

That's a difficult one Aidan, but the 2005 minors probably had the most strong career seniors.
Might be more seniors on other teams, but a lot of players that played for Mayo but didn't really have a county career.

Anyone know what Mark Morans form has been like for Westport under the new rules, still think there is a place for him in Mayo, he offers us something we dont have , hes a playmaker
.I seen him play a number of times for Rice college and Westport at underage I think hes the best kickpasser I have seen in Mayo since Ciaran Mac.He would probably need to bulk up more since his last stint under Horan, but I just think he has too much football ability to be ignored.

Willie Joe. Is there anyway we could organise a rally this weekend ,in Market Square Castlebar perhaps, to show our solidarity for the Donegal team and management .

Its beyond horrific, what they have had to endure the last few weeks amd again this weekend.

And perhaps, a Go Fund me page as well, just to try and ease the burden for them at the moment

Willie Joe , I think Dr Richard Martins piece in today's Telegraph is an interesting perspective on where Mayo football stands now

Willie Joe, I hope it's okay to include the following post.

I need the following Connacht Final match programmes, to complete my collection. Eleven of these, feature Mayo.

1971 (draw and replay), 1973, 1974,1975 ( draw and replay), 1976 (draw), 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1991 (draw), 1995.

If anyone can help, we can settle on a price, and I will pay all postage costs.

Please contact johnc_65@hotmail.co.uk

Thanks

Aidan the 2005 as JP calls out stands out due to the quality of players (Cafferkey, Cunniffe, Barrett, SOS, Parsons, Hanley) not to mention ACampbell, DKilcullen, JBurke and MSweeney who had senior appearances too.

A team I idolised growing up was the 2000 minor team with ConMort. That team had DClarke, Dermot Geraghty (a player I really liked too), Dillon, Mortimer plus Andy Moran was in around that panel. I thought Mortimer had something special about him with the bleached hair and white boots but in my head a wand of a left boot. I remember that years minor all Ireland being so disappointed at another misfiring team. That was 25 years ago

Fairly sure I have a few of those.certainly the 87 one .i will have a look

Connacht telegraph reporting that John maughan could be in the mix if management position becomes available

John Maughan would be a great choice, has served his time in Mayo club football in recent years at all grades , would have a great knowledge of all players throughout the County. Hes based in Castlebar and talks a lot of common sense and likes an attacking brand of football. Tomas O'Se who was his number 2 in Offaly would be a huge addition if he was to join Johns backroom team.

There's a lot of talk about John doing the rounds. A time for cool heads.

I did see Maughans name mentioned...ah we can't keep.going back to same ones

John left Fallon off the match day 26 in the drawn AIF in 96 and started an injured Dermot Flanagan in 97.
Having said that his teams were well prepared and showed grit.

Even the best managers make mistakes, he has been in 5 All Ireland finals 3 Senior 96, 97 and 2004 and 1 Under 21 in 2004 and 1 Senior club All Ireland with Crossmolina im 2003.

The article that people are sourcing about John Maughan is from the same journalist who said O’Connor was fit for the all ireland final in ‘21. Let’s take it with a pinch of salt

That article is pure speculation. He could have said the same and made a story about any number of other potential future managers - as he probably will over the next few weeks.

Although J M is a good manager and certainly brought a bit of respectability back to Offaly, it's a backward step, my preference would be JH or some type of joint venture with him involved, as I said before he may not be the answer but he would build something we could all get behind for the future, if not him then totally new face and not Mickey Harte, I'm not sure if he fits in to Mayo football

Eamon fitzmaurice would be a good person to bring in. Has won all irelands as manager and player. Seems to be very knowledgable and seems to respect mayo. Not saying he should be manager (we still have one) but as a coach

The article just says that John Maughan’s name has emerged as a possible candidate.of course we don’t know if John maughan would be interested in returning.i got the impression that the Offaly job would be his last at county level.But of course there is going to speculation now as we are now in a strange situation .out of the championship before the quarter finals for the second year in a row and out of last 12 this year as well so any review can only show regression unfortunately.some on here think we have the players to challenge for an all Ireland.personally i think we are at least 4 players short of being contenders again .There may be conversations going on behind the scenes to see what the thoughts of the current management are but until some form of clarity is brought to the situation we are going to have every name under the rising sun suggested

Eamon Fitzmaurice has stated before he wouldnt manage outside of Kerry.Horan sure hes only after leaving 3 years ago.Think we have to go with a manager who has Mayo Senior Club championship experience, we need to get away from just picking a former Inter County footballer with no club experience we seen what happened with Sheridan and Gardiner at Under 20 level.We need to pick the best candidate available with Club experience.

I for one don't want to hear about joint ventures.
Need a manager that knows the club scene and can command the respect of the players.
He needs a coach and selectors that are all singing from the same hymn sheet.
Needs to be able to delegate and take advice.
Needs to appoint a liaison person for CB and get solely with team affairs.
Is such a man in Mayo.
A lot mentioned above have very big egos.

Donegal big losers in the Qf draw. Player welfare is meaningless with headquarters. Kerry Armagh could have been played Sat, Kerry fans don't travel

Honestly think when it settles down the lads will get another year or two .

I would have thought that the current management would have stepped down by now, if they were going to go.
A lot will hinge on Kevin's health situation. He has several months now to totally rest and recuperate, away from the pressure.
Kevin waited a lifetime for this opportunity with Mayo, and don't be surprised if he wants to see out the final year.
If he is unable to, on medical advice, what are the chances of him stepping aside and Rochford stepping up like he did since the Cavan game.

If the management were planning to step down, why haven't they done so over the past 10 days ?. Why would they delay it ?
Those people speculating about Maughan, Horan, McConville, Fitzmaurice, O'Malley, Andy Moran, Harte and God knows who else , may well be 12 months premature.

Apologies for Rockford above instead of Rochford. I hate when that happens.

Paddyjoejohntom,I will certainly contribute,having lost one hundred and ten euro on Mayo ,it won't be a lot,perhaps fifty cent of a euro,but every little helps

No worries, Observer2 - I changed it in your original comment. Now if we could only get people to realise that it’s ‘lose’ not ‘loose’ when we suffer a defeat, the pedant in me will be much happier!

Rochford & Co. have to write end of year review. Maybe if Donegal went on to win the All Ireland, they might be able to put a spin on our year, coming so close....
Right now, we are 'also rans' and deservedly so. Not for the lack of talented players, but for the failure of management to embrace new rules imo.
For the Donegal match alone
No tactics to go full throttle with the wind
No two pointer go to players
Morahan (unfair to him) ahead of DOC and Callinan in pecking order
Boland getting usual cameo performance with 4 mins to
Thornton disappearance from starting team (on official programme) to not even on the the match day panel.

Just a litany of poor decision making
Only one conclusion imo

Agree, the Donegal game is one we should have won, failed to play in first half and that for me stem from management been afraid to lose and played negative football with wind.
Id say the minute the AI final is over a decision will be made, a lot of these stories break after AIF, sad for McStay as I like him but if they stay on we will be in same boat next year I'm afraid, good manager progress,we are in decline.

No talk of reviews please until after the Final.
Need time to settle things down and give due respect to the championship.
Whatever we do do it openly and fast.
Unless we uncover a few scoring forwards we are goosed.
Perhaps they are there ,look at McHale and the young Westport lad this year, one third of our forward line.
Getting scoring inside forwards is key in the new game.

Talk of people stepping aside is premature, to say the least. There are structures and procedures in place which should be adhered to. The people involved will have already decided whether they're prepared to continue, or not. Can't see anyone wanting to cause more undue attention. I'd say both John and James are amused at the speculation, not so Rochford et al.

To say we should have beaten Donegal, a little disrespect to Donegal. I did think after half time, we were under the pump, Donegal had some bad wides, hit post crossbar etc. We could have won, but anytime we got close to Donegal, like after goal, and in final 40 seconds of match, they upped it and got scores when needed

Ahh not again - apt name considering your wanting Horan back in for the third time! We need a new fresh approach.

Talk of managers etc should be parked for now. I’m
Hoping we can stay out of the news cycle for the next few months and concentrate on club football.

Regarding the underage football, great to see an improvement in the u20 this year. For too many year, we have been poor at this level

Am I the only one who would back Kerry to win Sam at this point . Every single thing I read since last week has Armagh down to beat them this weekend . Crikey I’m not convinced at all , Kerry are still the ultimate cute hoors , this is where it starts for them . Would not surprise me one bit if they came alive the weekend and knocked Armagh out .

Possibly Sean, certainly the one county only a fool would dismiss. Midfield weaknesses is why I think Armagh will do the job. If Kerry can build a big lead then it's anyone's.

Sure enough sean it's always dangerous backing against kerry especially with cliffords in the side but I'd be leaning towards armagh. They seem to have it all. Good in all areas of the pitch and on the bench, experience and well rested compared to kerry. For me it's armagh to march on but no better team than kerry to tell a lad ya know notn. Armagh will never get as good a chance again to do 2 in a row considering there's no standout team this year.

Kerry appear to have injury problems.

For some reason, I have a feeling that Monaghan could beat Donegal next Saturday. Monaghan are fresh after a two week break, whereas Donegal will be playing for the third weekend in a row.
Monaghan impressed me in beating Down recently, and we all saw how close Down came to beating Galway last weekend.
There isn't a lot between the remaining eight counties, and there's always one surprise result at least on a quarter Final weekend.
I'm going for Monaghan, Armagh, Tyrone and Galway .

@ wj . I think it would be an interesting poll at this stage, predict AI winners or finalists or even semi finalists . Keep us involved now that we have made our early exit.
I don't think anyone is saying we should have beaten Donegal, the way they neutralised our goal was impressive, but we certainly didn't play our cards right imo
The boys, Rochford and co. have to write up their report anyway, so why not now, that were done on the playing field.
Armagh are crafty enough to know where the Kerry danger comes from, Donaghey is in their corner, and they have their own power up front

Yew tree. We got a fresh approach. This is what we ended up with. Couldn't even get to a preliminary after 3 years. Let's get on with the job immediately and offload.

Good idea, Ontheditch, I'll put that up shortly. I think it makes most sense at this stage to put up a poll to see who people think will make the final four (not least given that team form is fluctuating so wildly from week to week this year).

With the group winners advantage I expect at least 1 if not 2 upsets. I'll go with Tyrone, Monaghan, Armagh and Galway. I'd give Meath a squeak to but feel ultimately Galway will have the better fire power

Think Monaghan will beat Donegal . Still going with Armagh they are just operating at a different level then the rest at the minute . Tyrone v Dubs is hard to call can't make my mind up on that one. Can't see Meath getting near Galway sadly !

@onthe ditch

Agree that we didn't play our cards right .

Poll now up on who you think will win at the weekend. Thanks to Ontheditch for the suggestion!

@ Clare agree with you on Armagh and Monaghan. I'll give full credit to Galway when they get over the line v Meath and I think Tyrone will take care of the Dubs.