Agreed Michael Forde...

It's the overall context of the performance/result I'll be looking for, losing to a very good Tyrone side in isolation isn't a disaster in itself but I too want to see some semblance of work being done on the training ground, availing of the new rules, at least trying to establish new specialist man-markers (if Callinan is left marking Darragh Canavan again I despair!!!), I want to see opposition players under pressure when shooting from the 2 point zone (not players blindly running back to protect the penalty area).

Whatever the result is if I'm not seeing the above elements improved upon then I will be joining everyone in panic mode

Let's hope we continue to give fringe players game Time. Maybe McHugh could be our man marker. Callinan is an outstanding prospect, who would thrive in half balk line. I get the feeling McBrein prefers the 6 Jersey to 3, just needs to give us a bit more leadership from the position.
Agree also with Michael above, we need to come to grips with new rules, it means varying our play, not getting caught in the lateral movement trap and setting up and taking on two pointer opportunities.
When we zoom forward to summer championship conditions, two pointers will be all the rage...
Goal equals 4 points is something that should be reconsidered imo, I think counties will throw in the towel re creating goal chances in favour of two pointers, and the game will be at a loss for it.

[Deleted].

That's a cheap, tasteless jibe, ex-Pat. There's no place for that type of "humour" here.

As James Horan observes here in Mayo and certainly evident on this blog over the last week or so is we go from one extreme to the other.....lets try and keep some balance on it... We are 2 games into a league giving new players their opportunities to shine and yet happy to annihilate them and the management (and even walk out before the end of the Galway game) in disgust. Can we keep some perspective on it? These are amateur players devoting a larger portion of their lives to play for their county....yes its a great honor and privilege....but at the min they deserve our respect and gratitude and support, irrespective of results this season in my view. Fine with going to Old Trafford or elsewhere and showing ones disgust afterwards to highly paid players....but lets support our own lads, especially now when they really need us. Unfortunately i know that many of the lads do read these blogs which must at best amuse them and at worst dishearten and discourage them if the tone of conversation around the current Mayo squad and management is anything to go by. They will improve Sunday, that I'm sure of and we will see a better performance.

@Mayo Man for life well said.

Not sure what to expect on Sunday even if we loose to a very good Tyrone team if we see improvement in play and more fight in us it will be something.

I don't think there's been any OTT criticism, WJ wouldn't allow it to remain on this site anyway.
The initial reaction immediately after the Galway game was probably too doomsday, but it was a 10 point loss to our biggest rivals, so that reaction is hardly a surprise.
I don't think many (maybe any?) posters are criticising individual players, and certainly not the new players.
The criticism is falling on mgmt for their tactics and preparedness for the new rules, and every bit of it is justified if you ask me.

I'd imagine callinan won't be in the starting line-up on Sunday considering he's in the sigerson final this evening. Agree a good performance maybe another new face mixed with a couple of regulars will do me. A win will be a bonus but performance the big one

@Tubberman agree it's justified towards management!

No Doubt he shouldn't be. But we don't seem to use logic in these circumstances & he'll probably be given a tough assignment on Canavan. Personally think McHugh should be our key man marker.

Been many moons since the mood was this low. Lots of die hard supporters I know are fed up of what's being served up.

The Sigerson final should be a good game tonight under the old rules. Good luck to the Mayo lads involved.
I don't think people are being unnecessarily critical of management. It's not about a bad decision or two coming from the line that infuriates fans but the seeming acceptance of the same mistakes being made over and over again. Players being picked in positions that don't suit them, two years and counting of no recognisable defensive system and ditto an attacking strategy. Nobody should be calling out players, especially ones being asked to do jobs that are alien to them.
Much as I agree we want to see signs of progression on Sunday I really think a win by any means possible is absolutely vital to at least arrest the decline in confidence.

On a lighter note just reading Edwin Mc Greal's " Our Finest Hour". It is excellent and highlights the successes for every club in Mayo down the years.
Crossmolina's 2001 All Ireland win and Stephenite's 2005 one are enough to put the hair on the back of the neck up.
Agree with all above the negativity needs to be tempered, but a marker needs to be layed at the same time.
Need a bit of Dog in the team at the very least v Tyrone.

It's an interesting one on management. If you looked at last year you could point to very fine margins (potentially in the hands of the players on the pitch?) that meant there was no Connaught Title and going straight into the QFs. Harder to run that argument against Derry, but didn't lose in the actual playing time. The performance in that first half was very frustrating.

But...if there's no sensible adaptation to the new rules and we take a hammering you'd think it would be curtains. Even if we have a similar season back to back based on close defeats it will have felt like we've fallen back in a big way.

I think giving player exposure in League, only a good thing. However what happen against galway, was not easy on eye. But regarding management, MAYBE, they are a little hamstrung with injuries and absentee's but I don't see much improvement coming if we keep playing same system, no matter who on the pitch for us.
If strength and conditioning of team not at level required, this is not a quick fix, and not something that fixed for a year or two.
Rob Mulcahy is doing great work overseeing the athletic development of Clare hurling academy teams and it’s surely no coincidence that this 2023 minor hurling team won the all-ireland, is the first to benefit from a full four-year programme of that work.
Need to bringing our u14 player in this county into these kind of programmes, with right people at helm. It possible, but are we willing to do it, are we leaving it to individual underage managers to construct a S&C programme.
Sick at looking at our underage team, getting beaten up in the province, by nearly everyone now. County Board need to take ownership now of these underage team. Centre of Excellence, brilliant, but how long are we going to wait for this, and need to start these young lads on a solid foundation

Big evening of action from Bekan later.

Trench Cup throws in at 16:30 (very shortly at the time of posting) with TCD vs DkIT. Sadly not aware of any Mayo representation on either side, or at least neither side had any in recent games.

https://www.youtube.com/live/McCcs-sCRGg

The Sigerson Cup gets into swing at 19:30 on TG4. UCD (Sam Callinan, Darragh Reilly & Diarmuid Duffy) seeking to make up for last years final heartbreak going up against DCU (Darragh Joyce & Finbar McLaughlin) for this years honours.

My friends grandson is in one of those young development squads in Meath.
He reckons they are coaching the natural football skills out of the young lads.

None of the five Mayo lads make the starting lineups.

Another injury for Sam Callinan? He would be a certain starter tonight.

What's the thinking behind playing it in Bekan, would a Dublin venue not suit better? ( Sigerson)

Venues are preordained.

Sound thanks JoeG

Sam Callinan on for the 2nd half so must be a knock than a injury.

Mayo magic he didn't get a start in the semifinal either.

DCU running riot.

@Gizmobobs: If you'd told me before the game they'd keep Cregg, O'Carroll, Egan & Callinan as quiet as they have I'd not have believed it for a second.

A combination of poor performances by the lads & DCU not letting them play at all. Deserving winners tonight. Fair play to them.

Sam could do with next weekend off too, rest and recharge needed there imo.

DCU defensively and up front much more cohesive, was Callinan playing 5 for UCD?
Caught the second half, decent enough match.

Nothing wrong with the old rules watching that. Management teams were the problem.

I don’t think it was an injury that prevented Callinan from starting. I know he had a very bad injury (a dirty challenge in my book) against the Sligo club but my understanding is he recovered from that.

I think it was form that caused him to miss out on the starting 15. He hadn’t been going great. To be perfectly honest I was surprised he got the player of the club championship. Don’t get me wrong, he was solid but the top standout player? Not for me.

He’s being played out of position for Mayo. He’s definitely not a full back line player. Needs to find his mojo

Did Finbar McL or Diarmuid Duffy play?? Disappointing if not. Two lads in the Mayo senior set up.

@Mayonaze: A huge number of the county players are restricted to 30 minute cameos in games. Fairly standard fair with the load balancing for county training & games. Wouldn't overly question starting or coming in/out at half time.

The chat around injury is/was most likely driven by him looking so gassed after his cameo in the semi. He came on around the 26th minute when Gilmore picked up an injury, played pretty well for ~25 minutes and then looked as gassed as the lads who'd played from the start (in a game where all the county lads looked noticeably gassed - not sure double jobbing Sigerson + county will work so well with the demands of the new rules) and was very subdued and quiet in the extra time.

Sam is normally a +70 still at 90% energy kind of player. You'd have to imagine something not quite 100% there, be it injury, burnout or something else entirely (and unlikely morale playing a role given he was challenging for UCDs MOTM in that semi despite coming in late - though that was a relatively low bar given it was a shocker of a game).

Finbar and Diarmuid left on the bench as we're Reilly and Joyce.
Nephin I agree but management's wouldn't have changed unless they were forced.

@Mayonaze: No, Finbar, Diarmuid, Darragh J or Darragh R didn't see minutes tonight.

Finbar took a nasty hit in the QF (came on in the 2nd half, showed well before a big hit took him out). Was very surprised to see him named for the Galway match... and far less so when he was switched out for Eoghan. Not sure he'd have been able to make a showing today (despite being named). He'd been heavily used as their x-factor all year with his pace, was nearly always 1st or 2nd sub in the days he didn't start.

Sure I know JoeG. TG4 only reinforced my view by showing highlights of the 13 final afterwards. Lamenting the old days. End to end stuff.

@Tsu has the typical age profile of a starting university colleges player changed? I know when I was in college in 2006-2009, starting players on colleges teams were often u20-u21. For example I think back to GMIT in 2008 had Aiden Campbell, Donal Vaughan both 20-21 at the time. NUIG 2009 had Ger Cafferkey starting

Now it seems like if a lad is u20, he’s too young to be in the mix. Diarmuid Duffy for example it doesn’t seem like he was ready to make an impact this year. In terms of UCD, the likes of Ben OCarroll, Cregg must be 23-24 now given they were on Roscommon u20 in 2021

Congratulations Dcu,well done to all mayo lads involved, especially Dcu lads,Sam looks tired,Diarmuid Duffy, injured,Finbarr got injured playing for Dcu in quarter final,,Darragh joyce played or involved in all games for dcu except tonight, carrying an injury for the last 2 weeks, well done to all, High standard of gaa football,

Last year we played Callinan & Brickendon the Sunday after the Sigerson final in Tralee, madness.
If any player is loosing form leave him on the bench, no body nows better then the player that his form is off.
A long club season, celebrations and college football takes its toll.

@Roco88: Great question.... though sadly I've zero info around it (and little idea where I might be able to quickly pull data from to efficiently build some).

From a position of ignorance... I would have assumed so. The age limit on Hogan Cup (& the various Provincial lead ins) shifted around 2019 to be a true u19 competition (it had been u18.5 or so for years before that), so that'd likely increase the numbers holding off to u19 in Leaving Cert. I'm well out of touch with the education system these days, but I've a feeling way more students are doing TY now than might have back in my day (4 or 5 years before your own) too, so that'd nudge the avg up a lot. Haven't paid much attention to it, but anecdotally it feels like it could be as high as 20/80 split these days between u19 and u20 in Freshers among footballers, where I'd have spent way more time at 18th parties in 1st year than 20th parties so it felt a lot younger. Then throw in the increased numbers of mature students or lads going back for masters/PhDs/pick up a scholarship for playing ball while having a bit of craic and it could nudge the ages up further.

There's still the odd u20 making an impact, but they do feel rarer than they felt in the past (though that could just be selection bias as we remember the really outstanding ones). Paul Honeyman for UCD tonight is still u19, I'd expect will be a big player for them next year (outrageous talent). John MacMonagle for UoG still u20 for us this year and was a nailed on starter for them all year. Senan Guilfoyle (shone for the Freshers this year) & Eoin McGreal with the potential to be involved next year for Sigerson in UL in 2nd year while still u20s.

JR add ROD to that this year as well playing 2 games in 6 days and training. No need for it.

Sigerson lads don't need to be starting national league games, enough other lads around. The Sigerson is as high a standard to it so they won't be missing out on much.

TSU, correct. TY is almost forced on students now, or should I say "heavily encouraged", if not mandatory in a school. So that alone adds a year.
More scholarships as well also a factor, and the mature student take up for over 23s would also lend to a few lads going back to benefit from that.

I remember in the Seventies Benny Gaughran from Louth played for years with UCD.
I am getting old

Thanks @Tsu. You might need to broaden the database!! I wouldn’t be familiar with a lot of the colleges players today but bar D Duffy and JMcMonagle, I don’t think any other Sigerson squad had an u20 Mayo player. Im also curious if there is a ban on freshers players playing for the senior team?

I don’t know how much correlation one could draw from Sigerson form bringing it back to inter county but if there is a senior county player fit and available to the college team, and isn’t making their college team, it would be a concern as to their level . For me a player on a Mayo senior squad should always be making their college senior team

DCUs performance tonight was hungry, committed and looked like a team that were invested in winning sigerson,Huge competition within the squad ,Huge desire,no stars,Well done Darragh joyce claremorris ,tremendous footballer with a huge future with claremorris and Finbar mcloughlin with westport ,and currently with Mayo senior football team,Anyone that knows football should know that it takes a huge squad to win sigerson and your up against the best, The same applies to UCD trio that lost out tonight ,and all the other brilliant committed footballers from all our clubs in mayo that represented their clubs in sigerson cup 2025,Look it quit obvious we are struggling at senior inter county level ,simple solution, why aren't we playing a 2nd team every Friday night like leinister against a other counties in their area,,I will tell you why because it's all about development squads ,egos lack of understanding of underage, knowledge,I could go on,,podcasts talking up junior footballers intermediate footballers senior footballersetc, alot of these guys never played or never trained or gave a continental when they should have,

Just caught a clip of the swanny interview on OTB, looks like the reason he pulled out is he found a bigger mountain than Sam to climb

He's fond of the media that lad, it must be said

Face facts the current Mayo panel is just not good enough, if panel members for a few years can't make a college team then we know where we are going. For Tyrone game will the players just put up a fight and Management let them play and express themselves.

Delighted to finally see confirmation of a stream for the Freshers Final this evening at 7pm on the HE GAA YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/live/kNsGrwZyH5g?si=vxKYsZbfVeYjwqpp

Repeat of the Sigerson pairings again. UCD won the R1 fixture between the two earlier in the year, but it was nip & tuck & only 2 points between them (was tight between them even at B grade). UCD going for the double after winning the league earlier in the year.

Niall Hurley (Claremorris) & Raef Donnelly (Swinford) involved with UCD. You'd expect Niall to start & has been the focal point of their attack all year.

Darragh Hoban, Lorcan Silke (both Westport) & Gavin Murphy (Ballintubber) all involved with DCU. You'd expect Darragh to start, a key player for them all year, with Lorcan sadly due to miss out with injury.

Both sides with dangerous inside forwards (Hurley & Carr especially) so they could do damage given a platform. The battle around the middle should be key, but both sides with potential game winners there too. McLaughlin from UCD hailed as the next Fenton after his display in the league final (size, power & pace make him real dangerous) while DCU have Matthew Carolan (PTSD trigger warning for anyone that watched his display against us for Monaghan minors a couple of years ago) that can do similar in the other direction.

Nip & tuck between the two, could go either way. Lorcan's absence (he was great for them all year) might be enough to tip the balance in UCDs favour.

@Rocco88: Yeah. Freshers restricted to Freshers alright. They got worried back in '09 or so when Joe Canning as a Fresher destroyed teams in the Fitz so wanted to ensure there was less risk, more restrictions and it'd take a bigger investment of time to bring a player in purely for sporting reasons.

@culmore i get it’s been an awful league so far but this idea that they aren’t good enough is ridiculous. Last year we were knocked out by penalties and didn’t lose a match in extra time. We might not have that extra edge to bring us over the line but we’re certainly still in contention for an all ireland

I agree Plunkett, Gough made a bad call to cost us the Connaught Final. Very fine margins.
The Sliding doors moment is us bringing Sam across the Shannon instead of Armagh.
Watched the TG4 highlights of 2013 AAF, wished Cillian had just went for goal at the death, who knows where the ball would have gone. Was in Westport that day, still haven't the heart to watch that one back.

@bonni can’t watch any of the finals back it’s too much

What time is freshers final ? I can’t see a time on the link provided by TSU

I see it now , 7 pm . Apologies

@Sean Burke: 7p.m. so about 2 hours from now.

@Culmore: Which panel member(s) are you referring to there?

I'm struggling to think of who that refers to beyond Frank Irwin, who I'd go out on a limb to say wasn't at all talent/selection related. He was a star for them last year, including MOTM in their tight semi-final defeat to UCD. I'd assume his absence had more to do with his Mayo focus and actively starting for Mayo (be that loading related, concentration on new rules or simply avoiding injury risk given a rough time with those last year) than it had to do with him struggling for a start*.

University of Limerick:
Conal Dawson - Westport - 2nd Year - New to county panel. Started a majority of games
Frank Irwin - Ballina Stephenites - 2nd Year - Didn't see any minutes*
Fenton Kelly - Davitts - 4th Year - Started a majority of games
Cian McHale - Moy Davitts - 3rd Year - New to county panel. Featured in a majority of games, possibly started a majority too.
Jack Melvin - Davitts - 2nd Year - New to county panel. Didn't see any minutes
Sean Morohan - Castlebar Mitchels - 2nd Year - New to county panel. (I'd half doubt he opted out given he was named to start for them before ending up in the Mayo starting 15, but...) Didn't see any minutes

(Outside the county panel:
Jack Fallon - Mayo Gaels - 4th Year - Started a majority of games (not on Mayo panel, but you'd imagine he'd be close and in a bunch just short of it. Talented forward with size that could feature from 8 to 15. Hopefully a big year ahead for him)
Cathal Joyce - Claremorris - 4th Year - Saw minutes
Joseph Grady - Westport - 4th Year - Saw minutes
Luke Jennings - Ballinrobe - 2nd Year - Didn't see any minutes)

University of Galway:
Tom O Flaherty - Aghamore - 2nd Year - New to county panel. Saw minutes
Ciaran Boland - Ballina - 3rd Year - Didn't see any minutes.
Ryan O Donoghue - Belmullet - 2nd Year - Started a majority of games (didn't get near his own incredibly high ceiling, so possibly disappointed with his year, but objectively played well by normal standards).

(John McMonagle - Castlebar - 2nd Year - County 20s, started a majority of games.)

DCU DE:
Darragh Joyce - Claremorris - 3rd Year - New to county panel. Featured in a majority of games, started a lot.
Finbar McLaughlin - Westport - 1st Year - New to county panel. Featured in a majority of games, started a mix.

ATU Galway:
Conor Reid - MoyDavitts - 3rd Year - Started a majority of games.

(Jason Crean - Ardnaree Sarsfields - 1st Year - Didn't see any minutes.
Ethan Owens - Eastern Gaels - 4th Year - Saw minutes.
Sean Keane - Mayo Gaels - 4th Year - Saw minutes.
Dylan Toner - Swinford - 3rd Year - Didn't see any minutes.)

ATU Sligo:
Dylan Thornton - Ballina Stephenites - 4th Year - Opted out.
Evan Ivers - Belmullet - - Opted out.
(Sligo coaches very disappointed, publically, for obvious reasons. Though you can sadly understand why, I'd probably make the exact same call myself in their shoes as much as it's a shame)

(Jim Kelly - Knockmore - 2nd Year - Didn't see any minutes.
Fionnan Ryan - Bellmullet - 3rd Year - Started a majority of games.
Daragh Syron - Crossmolina Deel Rovers - 2nd Year - Injured [sadly missed the AIF for Cross too].)

University College Dublin:
Sam Callinan - Ballina Stephenites - 3rd Year - Started a majority of games. Vice-captain.
Diarmuid Duffy - Ballinrobe - 2nd Year - Injured.

(Darragh Reilly - Parke/Keelogues/Crimlin - 3rd Year - Didn't see any minutes.)

ATU Donegal:
(Owen Doherty - Kiltane - 3rd Year - Didn't see any minutes)

TUS Midlands:
(Mark Gibbons - Garrymore GAA Club - 4th Year - Started a majority of games. Captain. Finished 6th top scorer in the competition despite going out at the QF stage with his sharp shooting frees.)

DCU winning well , half time 1-2 plays 0-10 . A very fortunate goal by ucd and two kicked frees by our man Hurley .

Wind is a factor so hopefully the claremorris man gets some decent supply in second half . Lovely kicking style on him . Right footed though , is there any citog left in mayo at all these days .

Extra time . Hurley quiet enough in extra time so far and the second half normal , goal attempt though with his left just off the post in extra time .

@Sean Burke: Yeah. Unlucky with the left footed goal effort off the post & kicked 1 nice long distance effort, but very quiet besides the last ~40 minutes. UCD just getting blown away around the middle, a combination of good play from DCU and shocking build up play from UCD (their entire middle 8 are struggling besides O'Rourke - they're really missing James McCormack).

Hard to see beyond DCU at this point.

Whatever way it ends up a shockingly poor spectacle. Another big thumbs up for the rule changes. So much 13 or 14 behind the ball stuff.

Cian McHale and Darragh Bierne both lefties.....

Niall Hurley outstanding for UCD when he got the ball.
Motm in my opinion. Kicked score of the day from range going into added time while a point down.
Rock solid free taking.
Between Darragh Beirnes heroics and Hurley, claremorris might have the two best forwards in the county on form atm....
Although they didn't progress this year the two lads inside were convincing with 1-25 combined in 3 group games, with Beirne at 17 and Hurley at 18 years old.

Wind defo a factor in the lack of flow , UCD were very lucky to win that @TSU but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Can see the potential in Hurley , he was well marshalled too , obviously had done damage in other games . Look forward to seeing more of him .

Apologies to Darragh, Lorcan and Gavin. I should have known it'd be the commentator's curse once I said I thought they were safe to win from there.

Congrats to UCD, Niall & Raef.

Over the year they looked the best Fresher side... though they'd a bit of a shocker today where everyone but Niall & the captain played pretty below par. The two lucky goals carried them (though they deserved better from the one Niall struck off the post and the one when he sent a teammate through early on, so swings and roundabouts I guess). We can just sit back for now and just imagine what he might do when he's got a Lydon/Cronin/Beirne/brother (or RO'D/Conroy in time) up there to bounce off.

Hurley didn’t get the ball quick enough imo. Some of the UCD lads loved carrying the ball too much. what I liked with Hurley tonight was the two points from play he kicked were important points. 1 of the with time up and the team behind, the other with team 2 behind and going to face into serious wind in second half of ET. He also won 2-3 frees in the first half when nothing was happening

UCD very lucky, 3 very soft goals

I’m hoping for a major Reaction after the Galway Debacle. Players and Management have now got to stand up and put in a big performance v Tyrone at home in front of a Home Crowd. Surely we can’t be as bad as we were v Galway?
This game is pivotal for our 25 Season not just for League but for where we are heading come Championship. If the League is for blooding younger players then I’m All for it but at least show some fight on the pitch. It’s time Mc Stay and Co finally address the problems on the pitch and come up with solutions. Can they not see them?
Loosing Cillian is a blow as we don’t have Forwards in his class. Management failed to give Cillian enough game time last season so now we are feeling his absence. It’s absolutely ridiculous that Mayos Record All time Scoring Forward is not on that Mayo Team. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot.
I want to see a Mayo Team stand up to Tyrone on Sunday and beat them out the gate in Castlebar.
It’s Now or Never.

@The Heather is Rising good post fully agree.

Loosing Cillian was such a massive blow. The fact he's not retiring but opting out at his age says it all. Saw it with Donegal they were in trouble but then McGuinness came back and they are flying for the moment anyway & Michael Murphy back from 'retirement'.

It's only league but as others have said I just feel Sunday is a huge test for this mangement team..loosing 3 in a row in league even as much as league does not matter is not good.

Reaction sunday even if we loose just show some kind of fight like others said not the way we were v Galway.

I'm expecting a big reaction and win for Mayo. Getting Tyrone at good time, Errigal Ciarán fellas might be back but you probably won't see the best of them until towards the end of the league after their break and long club season they had.

I'd be very interested to see Niall Hurley under the new rules. He's a classic pure 13.
Kick it in, he's out in front, he gathers and tries to open up space for his shot and he's quick over 5 yards.
A player like that should in these new rules never ever be trained with slow diesel go all day stamina. They need less workload but explosive and fast twitch. Eking out every bit of explosiveness over the first 10 yards.
With the new rules the SnC for inside line players should change to a higher proportion of speed and agility. The sports science is well known that stamina work with slower runs can strip away short burst fast twitch power.

I hope I'm wrong but I just can't see Tyrone not going for this full throttle. Gone are the days when Mayo gave off an aura. Tyrone were sublime against Derry and awful against Armagh. Let's hope we see more of the awful. Something tells me it'll be needed... February football or not.

Bottom line Cillian and others didn't want to play for Mayo this year.
Did something like this not happen before?
It is their right not to play but the question remains of would they have played if the review changed the Manager?
The review was a botched job and it looks as if the County Board blinked first.
Forget about the players that opted out and get on with it.

The plarers give up a lot. They were involved in the review. You'd imagine some were not happy with marginal gains talk with several key much bigger issues obvious.
Clearly the review at best made passing reference if at all that new rules were on the horizon. I mean only the core rules impacting how the game is played.
We've lost time now with a naive wide eyed happy Mayo lads up for the weekend sleeping on a couch in Rathmines preparation for the new rules. Messaging is important and ours has been, Sure let's see how the new rules go and we're not seeing any major change.
A review focusing on marginal gains is not what was needed. This year with the new rules the only preparation main thing is adaption to the new rules. Not weighing food or better sleep or half time cleaning under your boots fully or your solo technique or whatever was marginal gains listed.

Total speculation but you’d think that one of the first people a new manager would have sat down with would have been Cillian. So my feel is that he would have stayed. We might never know. Maybe Cillian felt his body needed a break. Everyone is kinda assuming he’ll come back at some point. But he might not. I hope he does. I think he should. The new rules would suit him and while he’s been around a long time, he still had/has a couple of seasons in him. IMO a fit Cillian or even an 80% Cillian is a nailed on starter for Mayo and I think it’s fairly clear that’s how he felt too. There’s no way he was happy with how 2024 went for him from a team selection/substitution perspective. I couldn’t understand management’s decisions on him.it frustrated him no end I’d imagine, particularly the Derry game. Cillian’s a clever guy. He’d know full well that toward the end of his Mayo days he’d be used as an impact sub etc and a very important one but when on the evidence I’ve seen he hadn’t reached that point yet in his mind but management apparently had or certainly their actions suggested they had. Cillian was underused in the league last year when Boyler and lots of fans were crying out to see more of him, but he sat on the bench. He was underused in 2024.

Watched the freshers final , DCU played most of the football and will feel very unlucky, however goals win games ….at least that was the case under the old rules in this game ! Excellent from Niall Hurely on limited supply of ball, 6 points ….4 frees , none of them easy in windy conditions and kept UCD in game with a worldy to level the game in the final minute of normal time. Good luck to Mayo on Sunday let’s give them all our support.

We talk a lot about missing CoC, but genuine question, how has he performed in club games for the last couple of years, I can't get to games but I'm struggling to recall reading/hearing about him shooting the lights out. Could just be a case that the body has no more to give.

Maybe Cillian should read conor mortimers piece doing the rounds at the moment and see he was too late when he realised his mistake in leaving the mayo panel. Another man who had a couple of years left but threw it away.

Re Hurley and JP s should never be trained with slow diesel . That’s the exact thoughts I had , keep him the fook away from that lateral ponderous shite that is driven into mayo’s natural forwards for years now . Give him freedom and allow him to follow his natural style . There seems to be 4/5 of these lads coming through soon , Christ I really hope we don’t kick the football out of them . For 2026 perhaps we need Andy involved in forward coaching , I believe he’s football savvy for such a job .

Tyrone will definitely be targeting this game as a win. Which should make it a good competitive test for Mayo. What we need.
Let's hope we see a major shift in our style of play. We are very exposed under the new rules to date. Easy to defend against, not a threat at scoring from distance, and no outstanding man on man marker.
All of those things we need to put behind us and show some improvement from previous games.
I think we might see some light at the weekend, something that represents progress...

Heard on the smaller fish the Canavan's won't be back this weekend

Yes, Cillian had dipped a lot at club, but Mayo club football was very defensive and the old rules.
Cillian is physically strong, 6'1" and can win his own ball. Cillian's form you'd be confident would be a lot better under the new rules.
Cillian never had pace, but he had even less pace having to track back all the time under the old rules.
Cillian O'Connor Aidan OShea Paul Towey
Cillian is still the best freetaker in the county.
Cillian playing off of Aidan O'Shea under the new rules.
Frustrating.
Oh it's all a team one for all and everyone treated the same. There's numerous Sam winning teams that made exceptions for players. We need to bloody well get Cillian back if we can convince him.

Is Cillian playing with Ballintubber this year or is he taking a full year out of football?
What a servant he has been, agree with @ No Doubt Mortimer went too early.
Praying Cillian does not repeat this for the County's sake.

Cillian has been a great forward for Mayo, maybe could be best forward ever, but he was on decline for last few years, injuries (bad injuries) caught up with him, for last 2 years between league and championship he wouldn't have started many games and popped up with a point on some of the sub appearances, even in 2022 he started games but his scoring from play was poor. For people to suggest him stepping away is a sign of players not happy with management is very far fetched, he may want a year to sort himself for one last go and I'm not sure but he could still be based in Dublin, but either way Mayo need new players to be stepping up now. O Hora has interests other than football and he has said that before, he was a decent corner back very strong but again was getting exposed in games and similar to Cillian, i think injuries were becoming to common for him.

The current Mayo team lack strength/power, there is lads to come back that will improve this but also with trying new players this will always happen, but the main one I could see is pace, lack pace all over the field, even to just close down opposition shooting, a lot of the Mayo players are trying to get there but not quick enough. this is a worry as I cant see many players to come back or in that have great pace.
Mayo will always get abuse for no shooters, but there is players there that can score, Boland was off form the last day but if he was his usual self shooting wise than it would have helped alot, players aren't being told not to shoot, its there own mentality of decision making and they just need to go for it. Jordan Flynn isn't afraid to shoot, he will miss as well but doesn't stop him and that's what they need to keep doing.

One thing that has amused me is the way before the league began everyone was gung-ho saying "the league doesn't matter", "we need to experiment," "blood new players" etc. Suddenly everyone looses their nerve and now the weekend game is a "must win". Nobody is setting out to loose but I say stay the course; experiment, blood new players, forget the league! Over the years Mayo has been obsessed with Division 1 status and, in recent years, it has had little benefit to us in terms of the Championship.

Cillian was in decline, but, we shouldn't throw the towel on on him being very effective off the bench. His now 2pter frees on occasion. I think he'd go way up in form under these rules.
I don't think we lack pace, physically what we lack is power. We've loads of legs and pace.
We're asleep on the fact Cillian would be getting a few 2pters from frees. Ryan does not have a reliable boot outside the arc.

Agree Tommy132 I’m also a big Cillian fan in so far as I think he’s the greatest forward I’ve seen play for Mayo in terms of skill level, clever play, leadership, tackling, finishing ability etc. However, he’s been nowhere near the player he was pre 2021 unfortunately. I thought the start of the league in 2023, particular in that league game -v- Armagh but injuries affected him again. His club form hasn’t really pointed to anything different either.

It must be incredibly difficult to go from one of the best footballers in the country to being a bit part player on a struggling team

In terms of the new rules, for u20s anyhow, I’m hoping it’s as simple as pumping ball into space in front of Beirne and Hurley and see what happens then

Good point In Exile, "league doesn't matter" 2 games in(out of 7) sack the management

I would not agree that the league does not matter. Even if you are blooding new players, you have to put them out against top opposition, so that hey are aware of the standard they have to reach. I hope it's not management's attitude that the league doesn't matter. It's the competition where you do your homework, work out a plan, and give the championship a rattle.
After 2 games it's wake up call for management, adopt to new rules, introduce quick breaks into our plays, and line up scorers from outside arc.
I hope the Canavans are back and fighting fit. Have we a man for man marker? there is only one way to find out, pit them against the best marquee forwards and for the most part there in division.

@Ontehditch I agree with you that the games and experience gained by the plays in the league is important, lets call it "the performance". I don't agree that the result is important.

Donagha McHugh our best man marker last year.

@In Exile: "Suddenly everyone..."

Nope. At least 1 happily still here thinking the exact same things.

Results in the league aren't the priority, new players still are. Upcoming result at the weekend won't bother me in the slightest & the prospect of (not resigned to it by any means - even with a defeat at the weekend, we've been here before) relegation isn't one I'd fear... while obviously screaming and shouting for a win. Plenty of silver lining that can be pulled from even that 'worst case' scenario.

Performance at the weekend will though. That's where it starts to matter.

Losing by a margin? Meh. It's whatever.
Losing in a manner where folks will (correctly) say we looked passive, timid and weak? Yeah. There's a problem there.

Personnel can help with that one, but we wouldn't be happy with a minor or 20s side looking content with being bullied by a Galway team. It shouldn't take Aido, Jordan or Paddy barking at them for lads to bite in and be determined (especially when not even referring to the less experienced lads on the field the last day). Not even a case of matching them on physicality or size, we were obviously the smaller & less experienced side, but purely on work rate, attitude and intensity we were well beaten (lots of times it was by 2% or 5%, particularly early on we had about ~6 close turnovers just not quite land with Galway out working, out pacing or out muscling us to the breaking ball after a solid attempt at a tackle - but those marginal gains add up fast). A big shift needed there in attitude at the weekend, independent of the score.

(Hopefully some dramatic tweaks to our defensive setup too. Way too deep, too passive and too much fear to live with the new rules. Stopping goals is great, but when you're giving up multiple soft 1s & 2s it's not a great path to win a game)

Agree @ In Exile, we can't have it both ways. I'm happy to use the league as a testing ground and if were relegated due to that so be it. Up to the GAA to seed the League winners / Runners up for an appropriate advantage in the Championship to incentivise it. The reward currently is you end up in a League Final right before championship, which as we found out it is a poison chalice despite gaining some well needed silverware. Reminds me of the FA cup in that regard. Hoping for a bounce on Sunday but more importantly some evidence we are building towards Championship.

@Tsu
It was noticeable last year that we were happy to "drop off" defensively and primarily defend the goal first. That was in some way a reaction to the year before where teams ran through the middle of us every week. The tactic worked to a point and we didn't concede as many goals. You could almost imagine the conversations that went on.
"Mind the House" at all costs and if they boom them over from way out then good luck to them"

That tactic wont work this year as we have already found out.
Its a bit of a cliche but we'll see on Sunday if there is a plan "B"

I've always thought with the league if we can find 2 or 3 players for the Championship then that represents progress.
Towey,Neary and Reid have come up with 1-14 between them from all from play in the fist 2 games. A decent enough return and lets hope it continues.

@Mind the House: Totally agree (and takes a brave person to take personal [username] responsibility for a problem too. Fair play).

You'd still have hope for a couple from Irwin (playing out of position so far to help the team), C McHale (either C or D I guess), Ivers, Thornton, McLaughlin (pace like his always a threat, even if the physicals need another year or two to be properly breaking lines) or Prendergast to put their hand up as live options. That bit of extra pressure for a 15 no harm at all and impact off the bench always a valuable asset. So fingers crossed.

Personally, I'd take an Ivers or Thornton outstanding POTM performance ahead of a 1 point win if offered either of the two. Though possibly in a minority of 1 there.

Finding a few players is all well and good. And there are quality players in the county. But equally important, imo, we find a style of play or we get into a rhythm that wins matches. And in the two games we've played to date, we haven't seen anything remotely like the standard required to be competitive. We haven't come to grips with the new rules and the old failing of letting tight games slip in the last quarter remains our achilles heel.
Blooding new players is a plus, but we are setting the bar very low if that's all we want from the league.
Losing matches and losing to inferior opposition should always hurt.
Compare to Donegal. Is Jim McGuinness happy to find a few new players and say its only the league?
He has already persuaded five players back to toughen up the squad and get their heads right.
Unfortunately, supporters in mayo are always looking to soften the blow. I hope every player on that Mayo panel is hurting when the face up to Tyrone. We need steel.

@Tsu
If i had my way our defenders would be tethered to our own goalposts. There would be no wandering off of any kind. I may have to re-think that though with these new rules.
Might have to change the user name to 'Mind the 2 point Arc' instead!
Defend for your lives lads, take it personally,an over my dead body mentality to giving up scores.

@Ontheditch: "He has already persuaded five players back to toughen up the squad and get their heads right."

I'd fancy my own chances of convincing two lads to come back after injuries kept them out the previous year and a 3rd was only 'away' from the panel as he never should have been on it to begin with, earning the county a fine and an 8-week ban for McGuinness for playing him (Roarty) while underage.

Some really odd PR operation (not you, plenty in the media driving that narrative) about those lads coming back somehow framing it as a stroke of Jimmy genius.

"... but we are setting the bar very low if that’s all we want from the league."

Thankfully, I don't believe anyone is.

Having finding new players as a top priority, an even higher priority than eeking out a 1 point win while flogging the usual 15, is very different from not wanting to see tactical improvements, attitude or intensity (heavily psychological factor along with the athletic demands) improvements, or managing to grab wins while doing the higher priority tasks.

We'll need to get minutes into all the usual faces. They'll need to build up their match sharpness and robustness to avoid injury later in the year, so great to see minutes spread around now while it suits and even better if a few of the lads are showing well (e.g. Davitt has had a couple of times he switched off defensively or made a wrong choice to 2v1 when he should have stayed tagging, but overall has been outstanding especially in offence).

Plenty of chat in the recent few posts actively saying results aren't the priority discussing the fact that tactical issues (I almost said tweaks, but they're more fundamental and need more than a tweak at the minute) and other performance factors (not simply the final score) are very important.

@TsuDhoNim Well said!

“League results don’t matter” , yeah I hear ya and don’t totally disagree but there’s the other side of the coin too , getting battered by Galway , physically and tactically , losing by a deserved 10 points at mchale park and like a fox caught in headlights , all that equates to a disaster performance and add in to the mix that we are looking like we have been sleep walking into the new rules from management to players . Nah , that’s not good .

Performance is valuable only when it helps you achieve the end result. Sadly for Mayo, we have had countless great performances.
Will be be happy in 2025, with a great performance, albeit failing to land Sam? I agree there are many aspects to 'performance' but icing on the cake is achieving the elusive, in Mayo's case, result.
There's a lot at stake this weekend and everything matters

I dont think the players buy in to this management team they have heard it all before from Buckley and Rochford and do they trust Kevin enough with the new rules? I dont think so I think we will be playing division 2 football next year with new management hopefully someone that can comes up with a game plan and teach our lads how to defend and score 2 pointers

@Ontheditch: "Will be be happy in 2025, with a great performance, albeit failing to land Sam?"

Even without a great performance, yes. Absolutely. I'm already happy in '25 with Crossmolina & Claremorris having put in some massive performances (Cross under the most difficult of circumstances) and brought deserved success to their sides that not many had tipped at the start of the year. Anything else (like Claremorris pushing through to an AIF or a Hogan Cup win) is a bonus from here, but I'll be enjoying my football (be it minor, 20s, senior or the coming club season) either way.

Never understood the whole "all or nothing" when it comes to Sam for happiness in football (which seems more prevalent here than anywhere). We've had some of the most amazing gaels in the country flying the flag in Monaghan, Leitrim or Louth at times they were never in with a realistic chance of winning Sam, and they never once lost happiness in the game they loved. Similarly with tens of thousands of volunteers outside of the 8 or 9 sides with a realistic chance of pushing in recent years.

At times, you'd start to wonder if there's a reason two of our most prominent players in modern finals (Cillian & Ken the only others I'd have near their level in terms of consistency, and each of those a little behind Lee and Keith) were a lad that had his early years well away in Cavan or another that spent a chunk of his with a hurley in his lámh.

"Performance is valuable only when it helps you achieve the end result."

Nail on the head. Exactly this.

The 'end result' isn't winning a league match or, for me at least, even surviving in D1. It's preparing the team for the Championship as best we can. Wins and points on a table isn't the real preparation we need for that.

Getting the tactics right, getting some new faces performing well (even with the risk of some not) and getting minutes into our key players over the course of the league to build for Champ is the end result I'd like. When we successfully tick those boxes, wins will likely happen (depends on opponents too, so not a straight line).

It's possible to scrape a win without ticking those boxes, UCD managed it last night in the Freshers with a few goals on the fortunate side and only 2 lads really turning up (Hurley & O'Rourke), but for our league (to me) those boxes are more important than scraping the wins. Plenty of psychological positives you can pull from getting the win, building morale, building an aura of confidence or experience of winning tight games, but all of those are ideas. You can just as easily build each of those pillars to lean on coming with ideas from the opposite direction. "We'll use that hurt and pain...", "Those lads don't rate ye at all, they're in there asking how many they'll beat ye by...". We've had years we've won the league & looked short on confidence when a crunch came, there's no silver bullet to those things.

Scraping a win in a messy or poor game is vital come Champ. Then, it's all that matters. For now? A win at the weekend or not moves us no closer to any end result I really care about. As mentioned, I'd take a storming performance from one of our new faces (or a much improved defensive setup) ahead of a 1 point win without a second thought.

This isn't an I'm right and you're wrong thing, though. Simply how I feel about it. And happy to have a chat with anyone who feels differently. The world (& more importantly, football) would be fierce boring if we all thought the same on these things.

Do these posts really need to be this long and drawn out .maybe I am getting cranky as I get older but I a find them very monotonous

Mayo team upon Facebook. Eoghan McLaughlin at 7. Otherwise the same.

I agree 1985. Some of these posts are far to long.

Monaghan in at corner back

Be surprised if we don’t see o shea and Flynn especially come into the team

Correct Rover, Aidan unlikely to be togging either.

Like many above, wouldn't worry about being relegated, if we do, but 3 years in we really should be seeing some sort of plans and strategies forming as to what it is we are trying to do in defence and attack.
Homework on the rules be no harm either.

Vote of confidence in team hammered by Galway.

You’d have to wonder really, even though I wasn’t as negative as most after the Galway game I was still expecting 3-4 changes. Now I know dummy teams and all that nonsense but even at that I would have assumed a message would be sent that the Galway performance needed to improve and that players wouldn’t be allowed to be passengers.

On the length of posts comments my two own two cents is that I’d disagree. It’s a blog with a comment facility and gives us insight into what fans across the board are thinking and with some great outside contributors, a few Kerry and Galway handles spring to mind. If we try and curb posts and what people think then may as well give up.

Maybe someone told them we won.
Seriously though, they could hardly drop 12 of them and probably could.

Won't name names or positions to save identifying but there are two lads on that Mayo team who I can't comprehend are on there. I'm not the manager (nor should I be or we'd be in division 4) but I just can't fathom how some lads get picked regardless of performance. Maybe it's just me but I honestly don't regard them as county standard.
Don't expect us to wait up but would love to see management giving fringe players game time to see are they fit to cut it. If not so be it but at least trial a few!

I am a bit surprised to see nearly the sane team v Galway but they do need more game time. ( but sure we will probably have 2 to 3 changes on the day knowing us! )

Be interesting to see the subs.
Good to see Eoghan Mc back starting.

I still worry over Tyrones physicallity verses ours at the monent to be honest...!

Regarding the long posts keep them coming. One in particular can educate us all on the ins and outs of mayo football

I see the comments about the announced team. I hope the same team starts. You need to have a baseline performance and by keeping things much the same the Galway game is now that baseline. How else are you going to measure improvement across the board (management and players). I'd say start the same team and then we can see how we adapted and improved. We can change things up half time if needed.