Brilliant pod with Ger and especially Nigel Reape.he knows all 3 grades so well and talks a lot of sense

Nigel Reape should be on all pods from now on.

Nigel is excellent, his knowledge of all 3 grades is outstanding. He's been involved with Knockmore at Senior, Belmullet at intermediate and now Cill Chomain now at junior, not to many men have done that. He wears his heart on his sleeve and that was shown last Saturday evening when he got send off from the line against Swinford. Pure passion. And as Nigel said on the pod, if Cill Chomain play their football there is no one who will beat them at junior level.

Thought provoker. I often like to think on things typical Gaelic football mgmt are due to tradition not brave enough to do.
One thought comes to mind.
Most teams have a good full back and a good corner back, but they make do with essentially a best of the panel player in the other corner back spot. Really good specialist corner backs are hard to find. Now, we know defending is about reading opposition players movement, positioning and decision making under pressure. You get better at it season on season.
I think there's a gap where mgmt teans are not willing to look at older players in a sub role to the corner back position.
So we know for example we've a whole cohort of corner backs in Mayo over 26. Most obviously it didn't work out. But there's surely one we could put in place that their role is late in games or extra time?
It's like you'll never get criticized for only freshening your panel with young players.
In some ways a far braver move is to be seeking out lads in their full man strength much more experienced that are over 26 for impact roles.
I make specific mention of corner back because more experience and more size!/strength is something guaranteed with older players. So it's like you've two checkboxes that help performance already ticked.

Andy is joining the team. A positive addition. Let's wax lyrical... for a while anyway.

Wonder is Andy a addition or a replacement.
There is a groundswell in the support of management coming from within the county.
It really has got out of hand on both club and county fronts. I think I remember Jarlth Burns saying he planned on tackling this issue. Andy coaching up and coming players rather than lad's he played with would be more beneficial in my opinion but am glad to see his appointment if confirmed.

Andy is not joining.

He may be in charge in 12 months. Kevin is not willing to change his backroom. Same people will get the same results and I suspect players will find it as demotivating as supporters find it.

This decision may as well be Kevin's inevitable resignation later dated June 2025

Lads and ladies does anyone have any proof of Andy is in our out or are we just throwing sh*t at the wall to see what sticks? Have I missed an article or something? Genuinely just asking.

@Green & Red

There's been no official confirmation of Andy returning .
Therss been articles from the Sunday World (not really reliable) from connacht telegraph and one on hogan stand tipping Andy.
I for one wouldn't take any notice of any online talk/Articles or rumours until we know for sure.

Have we not more than enough cooks? They are tripping over each other already. I cannot see Andy going anywhere near the current management team. It's another year of overly conservative football to look forward to I fear. The past 2 years have been a really hard watch for fans and year 3 might finish off the rest of the dwindling crowds.

I can't see what Andy brings to the table.
Poor championship results with Leitrim.
Would like to see him do some club management before Mayo.
Great players not always great managers.

Thanks Clare.

Jp I agree 100%. It was a no lose job with Leitrim. Would like to see Andy get a club management job and prove himself in the county.

Andy had a club job before too with Ballagh and was far from impressive then.
Top 50 Gaelic football era named in the Indo this morning. 8 from Galway, 3 Rossies, and just Ryan and Aido from Mayo.
Now, if that isn’t motivation for Kevin Mc and management to get their act together and learn from the past mistakes, what is? I certainly don’t want to live long enough to see them all played out again and again.
The Leitrim Intermediate ladies team had more of a positive game plan in their AIF win than we displayed all this year.

Okay, mea culpa. I didn't verify my assertion before I foolishly posted, so my fault. However, time will tell.

A cut is needed in management, far too many chiefs and nobody making decisions. Great managers Dwyer and Heffernan made all their own decisions as the old saying goes too many cooks spoils the broth.

It’s win Sam or bust for McStay and co in 2025 if there arent going to be any changes to the backroom team.

As supporters it will be hard to get motivated for the season ahead and i’m sure the players would even like some sort of a shakeup and fresh voices.

It doesn’t need to be a complete overhaul just slight tweaking with something new brought to the table.

Why are we focusing on changing the management when there is a wealth of serious forward talent emerging? Minors of this year and '22 had some serious talent and it's manifesting in the club championship. Management have got to make a leap of faith in these lads IMO, but changes in the management team guarantee nothing on that front.

True Catcol, but the good lord could be togged at 13/14 and if good ball doesn't go in to him before 20 over and back passes around half way mark would we be any better?

Also talented 16 year old minors from this year won't be senior this year or next.

Looks like be no major changes in management set up as such, Andy won't be joining, sure we only brought in a forwards coach last year anyway.

Interesting to note Reape referring to Ivers as someone to potentially look at, has the strength, the pace and a decent natural skillset. Same as Ger, regarding Brian Reape. Also a guy in very good shape. I think lads in mid 20’s with aspirations to be involved on county team must have themselves in peak physical condition otherwise forget about it. Mike or Rob, not sure which one asked about a few if the Westport lads who were on the fringes if the panel a few years ago and Ger was diplomatic I think in his response, but I seemed to imply that neither were physically imposing enough to make an impact at intercounty level and that it was this element rather than any lack of natural skill that would negate their chances.

So I agree with @ JP in that we should be looking carefully at lads in the 24-28 age profile who may have been involved before or were involved at underage but for whatever reason, be it injury, application or form, were not involved in recent years, that guys like this if they have really strong club campaigns allied with clearly getting themselves in top physical shape, that these kind of lads can be brought in and have the potentially to hit the ground running. Why not!?

@Mayonaze.
Its a good point. There are plenty of late developers. Tom Parsons,Chris Barrett and Colm Boyle spring to mind.

All of them were in the set up early on, it didn't quite work for them and they went away and did what they needed to do to get back in to the set up and make sure they stayed there.

A lot of it comes down to the individual. They have to go out there and put in performances at club level that give management no option but to try them at county level. Do your level best to make yourself undroppable when you get the chance. Boyle had that mindset second time round.
It isn't easy though. You mentioned application. A lot of these lads have full time jobs and young families and it must be hard to motivate yourself to go and put in the hard yards on top of everything else to be told after months and months years and years of doing it that you wont be selected.
I remember Chris Barrett talking once about the sacrifices he had to make and it would make you sit up and take notice.
What we'd all give to see a few late developer bolters come in along the lines of Parsons,Barrett and Boyle.

Agreed. I think for this age group especially, seeing a lad getting himself into top, county level, physical condition is a statement of intent and on the flip side, any lad in that age category who might be talented etc but isn’t physically ready, that kind of guy if brought in, will just be found out. Might show glimpses of promise but ultimately won’t be able to sustain that against top level teams. It takes huge dedication and personal sacrifices to cut it at county level

Think it's a bit to soon for Andy to be joining anyways as others said be good if he got a club management position first maybe but hopefully he will be in the mix in management set up sometime in the future. Always thought colm Boyle would be good in the background to he's great with the younger guys anyways.

Would like to see Andy involved with an underage team/academy OR with a senior club side. Both are very good learning experiences and would stand to him were he to look to get involved with Mayo at some point down the track. I get lads cutting their teeth in other counties but ultimately prefer to see lads staying within the county. That being said, no harm in seeing how things are done elsewhere. It has some benefits.

I can’t understand this Evan Ivers talk. I’ve absolutely nothing against the lad but people basing a very small sample size of performances then suggesting they should be in Mayo setups. The lad got an excellent goal from centre back and full credit to him, but then the next debate is, does he need to be looked at? Can someone please tell me another stand out performance he had over the last 3 years where we go, yes he’s the man? Again I go back to the county final in 2021, he struggled big time around the middle of the field against lads his own age, Rutdledge, Dempsey, Naughton etc who amazing have won county titles and never get talked about. Kuba Callaghan scored 0-8 the last day and has been a mark key forward for Ballagh the last 3 years but no one mentions him. At this rate poor Evan Ivers will need to score at least 1-3 next weekend or he will be forgot about for someone else that put in a MOTM performance in another game that’s flavour of the week.

I listened to the Claremorris Bel mullet game and it was stated several times that the tackling by the Claremorris players was very poor.
We will hear of a lot of great white hopes before the club championship is over
What I would like to see is a tight corner back,if he was a bit of a "pup" it would be a huge advantage.

Hi WillieJoe, have we an exclusive in the pipeline ? Midwest have it on there website that Andy confirmed to the Mayo football Podcast that reports of him joining up with Mayo are 'completely unfounded '

I'm more about how does s player move in terms of speed, agility and are they usually one of their clubs stronger players. That might get you looked at. Size comes into it as well obviously.
You don't need the finished article. What non panellists would have contributed in the second half of injury time versus Derry? Extra time pretty much more seasons than not means you can look at players without huge stamina for example.

Paddyjoe, was never a runner from what told. Monaghan or a senior club a more likely destination.

@Green&Red, Ivers was namechecked by Nigel
Reape who by all accounts has a firm grasp on the club scene. I never saw him play before last weekend. All I can say is that if…IF…he continues in the same vein as he did last Sunday then he needs to be looked at because he was excellent and I had noted him, before he scored that goal. I asked a guy a know what he knew about him/who he was etc, then he nailed that goal in and I knew then it would get people talking. Sure, it’s only one game. And I take your point about the 21 final but that was 3 years ago and current form is far more relevant.

On Kuba. He’s been talked about for years. Featured on numerous underage teams and fringes of senior panel. He’s been looked at. If he continues to kick scores like he did last weekend then of course he needs further checking out.

@mayonaze agree. Agree with you on Ivers and on Kuba

Kuba was looked at this year as far as I know he played in the FBD I could be wrong I know it's only Fbd be he has been looked at I'm sure they will look again at him if he deserves that chance.

I feel that we need a skakeup in management, even if only to freshen things up. I don't know if Andy will join, but he is bound to be involved at some point in the future. There is one change that urgently needs to be made and that is we must bring in a dedicated specialist defence coach to reshape and restructure our defensive set-up. Unless we do that, we are going nowhere and we can forget Sam. We are way too loose in defence and too easy to score against. Buckley seems to be a tackling coach and is not the answer. The foundation for success is built on a solid defence.

Loved Andy as a player but not sure what he has done at management level to elevate him to such hyped status or am I missing something?

JoeG he's managed an intercounty team so that's the CB checklist complete, ya wouldn't have to have done well with them per say. But once ya that fine you're eligible :)

Why arent we bringing in someone like Nigel Reape who knows the club scene inside out and seems to be a solid guy. Andy is a Mayo legend but not the anwser if we have to bring in a recent ex player id bring in Lee Keegan he would add much needed steel and straight talk

The team needs tactical input not just straight talk. I don't see why Andy wouldn't benefit from more time elsewhere taking additional experience to see how things go, and haven't got the impression that Lee has an interest in coaching. I'm sure there's some coaching talent in that generation of players, but they'll need time to build up the proper experience.

Personally I think the likes of Chris Barrett could be a great defensive coach, but not sure he's in any inclined to go down that route, he's very busy in his professional career as far as I know.
I could be completely wrong on that, but the way he developed and improved his game was very impressive.

Agree about a defense coach,,but not sure we will be happy with the results.
The trick is to have a defensive system to close out games.
The pitfall is we could end up like Galway, afraid to shoot.

Jr - we are already like Galway - afraid to shoot. How many times in games did we see players in good shooting positions turn down the shot and recycle the ball - recycle merchants. We had no forward plan this year bar "mind the ball".

Fully agree. Sort the defence first. As things stand out defensive set up is no where near ready to win an All Ireland. Just not watertight. I’m short, it’s too easy to score against us, compared to several of the top level contenders. That doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed fairly quickly but it usually takes two seasons to really get it operating smoothly. I also have doubts about a few of our defenders, but that’s a different conversation.

I don't know if we need any major changes. You'd forget we lost to Galway by a point, thanks to questionable refereeing decision and a hail Mary kick from Gleeson. Dublin we drew because of a simply amazing score from the best team of all time. Derry we got a tough draw and lost on penalties.
This narrative that we are a disaster or need changes in my opinion is wrong.
We have a young team, with lads starting to come into their prime (Flynn, ROD, McHugh, Sam, Coyne, McBrien, Carney, Conroy).
We still have serviceable players in Ruane, AOS, Loftus, Diarmuid, and Paddy Durcan.
The club championship has been a very welcome return, and if we find even one or two players from it who can maybe play a part next year, I think that would be ideal.
We didn't create many goal chances this year yes, but our defence was rock solid all year long. McBrien at full back, and McHugh at CB, are two all star contenders as long as they stay fit for the next 6-7 years, at least.
I would be very careful in changing anything. McStay deserves his last year of his term, why bother changing anything again? With respect to the likes of AOS, if it will be his last year, why should he be walking into another fresh start, instead of building on 2 solid years of work?

What was amazing about the Dublin equalising score aside from the fact we didn’t lay a hand on any Dublin player as they ran straight through the middle of our defence.The general standard at the minute is fairly average and fine margins can make the difference but various opinions on here suggest we are not good enough defensively while others think we had no forward plan and it’s fairly obvious we had a major issue in midfield as it’s all very well Matt ruane kicking points his total inability to win possession is a major problem unless we have an out and out ball winner beside him .I cannot except that we have made progress this year as we didn’t even make the quarter finals and yes mcbrien is potentially a great full back for us over the next few years but the management spent their time trying to move him to other positions and after two years we still don’t really know what the central positions on our team is from game to game

@1985 exactly.

@Retrocut you’ve named two lads coming into their prime there who’ve not done a whole lot yet in a Mayo senior jersey. No standout performances. I think there are fellas on the 2024 Mayo team who are fortunate to be starting. Like I’ve said a few times, I think there are several positions up for grabs and that’s why this year’s club championship is more relevant than it’s been in several years.

Our defence needs tweaking. We allow opponents easier scoring chances than other teams. That’s just a fact. It’s not even up for debate.

Retrocut the Dublin team in it's current iteration is a far cry from the greatest team of all time that Dublin were when we were in our pomp as well.
As 1985 highlighted, you don't have to be a great team to win it out now as standard has fallen back. A team with good players like ourselves, Armagh, Dublin, Kerry, Derry, Galway could all win if structured and coached well to a set style with an ability ability to adapt to adversity.
Our tackling ability and defensive structures do not appear to be as good as some of the others despite the money we are spending. Forward wise I'm still not really sure what we are trying for yo be honest.

Why didn’t the Co Board arrange it that there’d be championship every weekend? As in alternate groups…

id say its so that the teams from groups 1&2 wouldn't have an extra weeks rest over teams from group 3&4 when it gets to knockout.

Obvious choice for alternative weekends is for junior/intermediate one weekend and the senior on the second weekend and so on. There must be some reason why this is not possible.

County board could have intermediate championship one weekend and senior championship following weekend. Crazy scheduling

This management is totally under achieving. Big year next year.

People say mayo panelists are underachieving yet Tommy Conroy kicks one from play Gaains ardnaree and nothing is said,yet Darragh Beirne kicks 5 spinners from play in second half against belmullet and everyone says not to overreact and stay calm......can we be consistent at least.....

I have already said many times that we need to fix our defence and I am in complete agreement with those who say we are too easy to score against. Admittedly we have reduced the number of goal scoring opportunities that we cough up, but I feel that our defending against point scoring has possibly suffered. For me, there is no argument and I firmly believe, that, of the so called top level teams we are by far the easiest to score against, which is killing us, as we are not setting the world on fire up front.

@Retro, Tommy was slow to get back to form, even taking his ACL injury into account. I don't think he was helped by being positioned in the full forward line. As soon as he was moved to the the half forwards he looked a different player altogether, so I'd be hoping he remains in that sector of the field, as a line breaker and finisher and has a strong 2025. I think it also needs to be noted that he is consistently double-marked at club level, so it's difficult for him to get space- if you're a manager of team about to play The Neale, youre putting your best defender on Tommy and probably your 2nd best too, in teh knowledge that if you keep him quiet you'll go a long way to winning. Lydon is a threat now too for them and he kicked 5 (i think the last day) so other teams will need to watch him also. That being said, Tommy should still be an absolute standout at intermediate level as should all intercounty players. If they aren't then there's a problem. You could play him in the middle of the field and just let him run all day. If I'm in charge of the neale you want tommy on the ball as much as possible.

Interesting to see the Tyrone and Meath management stepping down. Maybe some know when their time is up. Colm ORourke still had one year left in the contract. If Mayo fail to improve next year will out management know it’s time to move over. More importantly will our CB?

Green&Red think Dooher and Lohan had 2 left. Always brave putting name in for these gigs. And braver again to step away if think you e ran your course.
Some people are in it for more than the money in fairness.

Tbf I think Dooher and Logan were in it for the right reasons, the love of tyrone football. Those lads have 2 incredibly high powered jobs, Doherty the most senior vet in NI and Logan a very prominent barrister, they weren’t there for the gravy train

Meath made the right call in ousting o'rourke, he is a total dinosaur, his simplistic old school view if football simply won't cut it in the modern era

The selection of matches on Mayo GAA TV this weekend is disappointing. With respect to Charlestown and Ballyhaunis, but so decided to put that one on? As a neutral and not living in the county there are several other games on that I’d much prefer to see and I think most other subscribers would agree. Belmullet v Ballagh, Knockmore v Claremorris, Crossmolina v Moy Davitts are just a few that would appeal far more.

Mayonaze.Agree the selection isn’t brilliant this weekend but ballinrobe kilmaine is a local derby on a Friday evening.garrymore and castlebar is a great game.i would have Ballintubber breaffy/Moy davitts crossmolina ahead of Charlestown ballyhaunis.

At least they'll be 2 Mayo men leaving croke happy next Summer

They might be the only Mayo Men who get to Croke Park next summer Paddyjoejohntom :)

@Mayo focus let's hope they are not the only mayo men who get there!

O'Rourke was probably right to step down but meath really need a manager to come in and re build that team and that it'll take them about 4 or 5 years to get back up to the top if they ever do.. They also probably need to start from the bottom up with their underage clubs.

It will be interesting to see the outcome of our review.

Is there a bookies that does Mayo club championship? Thanks.

Ruane Bookmakers

@Mayonaze: Ruane's doing a fine job promoting it too, at least as a non gambler who just likes their nice summary images and giving the current spreads for interest rather than a punt.

https://x.com/RuaneBookmakers/status/1827841635088056395

Great! Thanks. Sorry for more questions, but where are they located. Any in South Mayo?

Clare review tick box completed last week. So on we plough.

Mayonaze they used to have a bookies in Balla. Not sure if they still have one there though

Neil Douglas red card overturned.no wonder we’re struggling for refereees when the ccc are overturning the best ref in the county

@mayonaze you can place bets with Ruane over the phone via revolut etc, the number would be on the twitter page
#gambleresponsibily

@ CP did you see the incident,was it a correct call, every player deserves an appeal.
I understand it was an off the ball incident.

Saw a few people asking about why certain games were chosen/not chosen for MayoGAATV. I cant comment on every venue but I do know that the first thing that comes into consideration is if the venue has suitable coverage to livestream a game. I remember a few years ago Ballintubber played Aghamore at home and the coverage dropped a few times. I can only assume that this is the reason why Ballintubber's home games are never streamed.

And this is probably also why we seem to get live games from the same venues every year - Garrymore, Charlestown, Claremorris, Aghamore, Ballina etc. Some other venues might not be able to facilitate it and that narrows down the possible venues to pick from.

@Gizmobobs thanks for the info good to know it's been completed!

The first week of club action was entertaining let's hope it continues we really need a better year of club action then last year here's hoping!

Review completed with what outcome.Carry on lads shur we will get there someday

Congrats to Mike Solan who is the new Longford manager

Someone should get the Gallaghers (Oasis) to play in McHale park to help pay off debts there.

Some coup for Longford, Mike Solan people forget had to be asked by the county board to not go for mayo manager after process was showing the was very much in the mix to be appointed in 2018, so they could bring James horan back as manager.
Two all Ireland finals with the mayo u21/U20s in 2016 and 2018, and if his forwards didn't miss umpteen clear cut goal chances in the final, combined with oisin Mullin dislocating his collarbone against Roscommon in the connacht final, i really think he would already have gotten the job by now.
Hugely respected, extremely highly regarded by every player who has been coached by him, hopefully this is the perfect audition for the big job whether it be next year or after.

True . Great appointment for Longford.
Good time to take them over too .
Longford at the worst they have been in many years this season so they really can only improve!!

Is Mike Solan not currently managing Tourlestranne? I can never understand someone who wants to do two jobs at once.

Regardless all the best to Mike in his newer role. As a few said it’s a perfect time to take them over. Longford can’t really get worse.

@Green&Red ya he is but their season will most likely be over when Longford go back.the talk is kilmacud manager Robbie Brennan will be getting the Meath job aswell

Wow, I’d have a very different view of that u20 final in 2018. My memory is of Solan having no plan for Jimmy Hyland. The dogs on the street knew that if you kept him quiet, you’d go a long way to beating Kildare. Instead, Hyland was given the freedom of Croke Park, especially in the first half and ended with 8 points from play. In my opinion, and I know many share the view, the 2018 final falls under the category of ‘lost it on the line’.

How are Tourlestrane doing

@Culmore..Croke Park should gift Mayo 50% of the revenue from the Oasis concerts, in view of the overwhelming financial benefit generated for Croke Park by Mayo supporters for so long, double or triple the next best supported County and the links with the Gallaghers with Mayo, minimum!..I would love to see concerts in McHale Park..The Saw Doctors are on the up again , love to see them headline a concert there ..Definitely not Maybe.

Mayonaze,that's my abiding memory of the 2018 final as well!

That's it Tubberman...I had my head in my hands in the first half at how poorly set up we were in defence that day. We left ourselves a mountain to climb and I thought the boys, led by Oisin Horan, who was outstanding that day for us and find it hard to figure how he never made any inroads on a senior team (not helped by being with a junior club and no divisional structures in Mayo which impedes the development and potential of talent in junior clubs in particular - an old story at this stage!!)

Solan of course deserves some credit for the 2016 win, but Mayo were warm favourites to win the u21 All Ireland that year with the 2013 all ireland winning minor crop backboning the team (together with our 2014 Connacht winning minors).

1985 I believe they got a bit of a clipping in their first championship game. Lost by 5/6 points I think

Whilst I don’t totally disagree with you Mayonaze , hyland at that grade in that year was impossible to nail down . It’s easy for us all to say we should of done this and that on the day but there is a bigger element of once players get out between the white lines especially at underage plans can get tossed aside in mins because of the freedom of play . Hyland was superb that year .

There is a cohort of lads from that era in ballagh , solans , Andy and a few more the likes of drake that does the pod and they all come from that Johnno school imo and I’d have great confidence in saying they really know their football .

Sean B - you have to have some plan for these top forwards. The space Hyland was given that they was crazy. If there was a plan to curb Hyland - either the plan wasn't effective or the plan wasn't explained or implemented even close to what was required.
An outsider would say it was typical Mayo in an all Ireland final - naive in the extreme.
Tyrone wouldn't have set up like that. They know how to win all Irelands. Sadly we don't.

Sean, it was very obvious from very early in the match that Hyland was causing havoc.
I couldn't see anything that was done to counteract his influence - drop back a sweeper in front of him, double mark him, something!

Good move for Solan and Longford. Surely Barry will lend his expertise/advice to their S + C set up. The age of County managers is starting to get lower and lower and rightly so. O’Rourke is a prime example of the out dated manager. Realistically the game Colm played is totally alien to todays game. Their are exceptions of course, but the tide has changed. I feel McStay is in the same boat, lots of talk here about changing the managment team, but what about the actual manager?. Moran would be a great appointment right now for Mayo, has great contacts and would bring unreal energy. Hard to judge anyone on Leitrim.

Ah Seán, there was nothing being done about Hyland. It was clear. Just drop someone back and double team him. It was glaringly obvious and naive by Mayo that day and management allowed it happen. Another final lost when a win was very attainable.

Western Gael,

I agree with your view that time was moving against both ORourke and Mcstay. But on the other hand you’re advocating for Andy who has very little management experience. You said yourself hard to judge Leitrim. I think we need to find a happy medium but most importantly someone who knows where potential pockets of talent are in the county. Does Andy know the club scene in mayo well enough considering he has never managed a club team? One thing is for sure that our current management have no offered near enough new faces to the team Horan had left and I agree with you that we need more energy.

Green&Red,

The reason I think Andy would be such a good fit for Mayo, is because he has played at the top level in the modern game and only 7 years ago was the best in Country. While great players don’t always make great managers, they do tend get more respect from the players (especially within their own County).

Andy is an extremely good man manager, and as I said is very understanding of the modern game. If I was an Inter County player feeling a few nerves before a big game, I’d rather be taking advice from someone who has played the modern game, than men who were playing an almost different sport in the 1980’s.

The point I am making is this. Alot of ye are saying changes need to be made to backroom team etc etc. No one really seems to be thinking the real issue might lie at the top of the chain of command? It hasn’t worked out for O’Rourke and with the quality of players at his disposal, is McStays under achievement with Mayo much different to Meaths? Can’t ignore that both are similar in age and punditry background.

As I say, im a Rossie and it doesn’t matter to me what Mayo do. But the All Ireland is up for grabs for the next 2-3 years. I beileve Mayo have enough good players to win it. A whole new management set up could roll in and land Sam out of no where. Worked for Dooher and Tyrone in 2021.

Points taken on board and look I did say at the start I don’t completely disagree but let’s look at it from another angle . Hyland was rippin up trees in the Leinster championship and then meet a Jack o Connor Kerry team in semi final , he kicks 1-8 in the semi and 1-6 of that was from play . It’s just another angle on how I don’t believe it’s as simple as we think especially at underage , players are not as drilled and back then definitely played with a lot more freedom .

Anyway look solan also led us to an all Ireland in a very important impressive campaign.

Best of luck to young Solan anyway .

You cannot compare O'Rourke and mcstay.
O'Rourke won 1 championship march with Meath in 5 years in charge from minor to u21 to senior.
That game was against Longford this year

I am leaving out the Tailteann cup which in Meath is regarded as a tournament for also rans.
As regards 2018 u 20 final,that was the game thst Jordan Flynn was rightly send off for an altercation with the ref
It followed him for a few years with refs.

In soccer, American football, basketball, baseball often those who are tasked with scouting were absolutely total non players. But they've done a lot of thinking about player scouting.
For example I personally find Andy a bit wide eyed and too positive about which players have top talent. I do think a GAA mgmt ticket thing that is missed is taking what pro sport does and entrusting your scouting to people who are good at scouting. Scouting is the last great underdeveloped resource in county football in my view.