There so much wrong with Mayo football at the minute both on and off the field. That said results often skew reality. It’s often not as bad and not as good. We appear to have talented footballers coming through but will we make the most of it? Will we get a centre of excellence? What’s going on with the loan on MacHale Park (a lot of chatter on his recently), are the board being up front?

I hope for the players and managements sake that they pull something out of the fire for the next 2 games as it will be an awful long summer, autumn, winter and spring ahead...they know I am sure they can do better but will it materialize is the burning question...

@TheDarkyFinn

Me to I hope for the players they can just go for it . On the pod they said we played like we did v Galway in Connacht final down to pride . I hope to god they show some kind of a reaction & pride next week . That's such a sad pic of Ryan O D going off .

I agree with yew -tree may I add to that I would blame the county board there decision making over the past few years has been shocking and should be make accountable for their decision making.
First of all Kevin Mcstay was made manager which I was in favour of but when it was made clear that Steven Rochford was going to be his right hand man that when it fell apart. He method are old-fashioned and out of date. He had his time as manager with mayo with no all lreland success then he was number two up in Donegal which they couldn't wait to get rid of him because of the way he had very talented players playing negative- football.he put football in Donegal back years. It took Jimmy McGuinness to bring back excitement to the county with his exciting brand the football.
Then at under age level a pointing Gardener as under 20s manager with no experience whatsoever at club level he hasn't even managed at club under age level when they already had a outstanding manager in Sean Deane and his management team they were overlooked after all lreland final appearance and back to back connacht titles.He had worked with them group of players since they were 14 years old and won a Ted Webb
at under 16 and back to back minor connacht titles and got them to a All-Ireland final in 2022.all in the five years (2018 to 2023)
Which no other mayo under age team manager have done since 2013 .
His reward for that success was to be overlooked him for the under 20s job in 2024
No wonder mayo football is where it is today because of the Decisions of the county board members that have been involved with Mayo football over the past 25 years
We need a big change at county board level before we start recruiting mayo managers at all levels of intercounty football.
Enough is enough.

Management will always get blame and I don't think McStay has helped himself with somebody his post game comments.

I thought his comments post league final were the same, poorly chosen.

But at the end of the day the players need to take the bulk of the responsibility.

1 point from play on Sunday i believe.

That's just a remarkable stat for any player at intercounty level.

The management are to blame I never saw a Mayo team so disinterested and they look depressed.Something wrong

Management don't take to the field James.

If your telling me that out of the 6 forwards that started on Sunday that only 1 point would come from play.

That's on individual responsibility.

When Loftus spent a season at 6, management weren't slow to tell us, it didn't work out for him, and McStays spin on the performance v Cavan was very definitely leaning towards the fault lying with the players.
It's a lot closer to the truth, imo, that the players are locked into a game of possession. They have not been prepared for new rules. No one will convince me we were clueless in the Cavan match, old faults not addressed, players in an almost robotised state seeking refuge around the arc but not real clue how to penetrate or create an opening.
Return of Durcan(and possibly Conroy and McLaughlin) may give us some hope, but they will be a long way from the match sharpness that we need.
Will the management use O Shea as out and out target man lurking around the box?
Very difficult to see us taking 3 points in 2 games

@James Fleming

Your 100% right .

Why on earth was Frank Irwin left on the bench and only brought on in the dieing minutes and other mad calls to crazy stuff .

If players are not confident in the management team they are hardly going to be confident in themselves .
They are not going to perform their best . We all know what's the issue here and players are not to blame.

Yes Ryan O D we have been to reliant on . But for this loss its managenents fault . The crap style of play gets you no where .

You saw it in Donegal when Rochford was there . Same kind of shite style of play , players opting and out and rumours if trouble in the camp sounds a bit familiar doesn't it . Look at Donegal now flying with a manager who installs confidence , belief and praise into his players . He also never would blame the players either which ours tend to do .

So yes @James Fleming your so right .

This season is over but I hope our guys show some pride for mayo and the green & red next week if we go out hope we go out fighting . Been a horrible week after that I am sure the guys are hurting the most .

Thanks Clare for agreeing with me

You can blame management but I've yet to see a manager score a point.

It's a complete cop out by anyone to put the sole responsibility on a manager.

As I said, 1 point from play is down to the 15 on the field.

No manager ever kicked a point for me.

The management hasn't changed to the new way of playing

It's hardly a cop out come off it .

Everyone knows there's been trouble brewing in mayo for a while now .

Doesn't help when mcstay comes out after and says it's not his fault he can't tell the guys when to kick . Yes you can Kevin that's your bloody job to do so . Again he's blaming the players there wen there when they were clearly told to do the boring lateral back fourth shit.

Also didn't kevin say at start of year he wasn't aware of one of the new rules I mean jesus .

I agree Claire

@WestKerry: A relative shocker from a lot of players individually, but there's usually a root cause when so many players (especially experience & quality players that have done it on bigger stages in more ferocious battles) misfire so badly.

I'd suggest it's very understandable (to the point it would be negligent not to) that the main focus would turn to management in the aftermath of:

- Losing 2 players as opt-outs at the end of '23
- Losing a member of the backroom similarly
- Losing 8(+) more players to opt-outs for this year
- Having an incredibly messy review, with delegates at board meetings outing issues raised privately in the review by players and demanding changes to coaching staff on the backroom team
- Interviews & appearances by some of those recently opted out players mentioning disbelief & confusion by tactical choices of the team

The year has been spent with people (here and elsewhere) questioning our restarts, questioning our transitions, questioning our attacking movement/gameplan, questioning the confidence/morale around the team & questioning our choices on substitutions. The way the game played out at the weekend brought an awful lot of those questions back into the limelight.

I'd agree responsibility lies in one singular area, but I'm not sure I'd be able to look at any of the lads from 1 to 26 when looking at a root cause for many of these fairly significant factors. And once they go sideways it's a fairly straight line between those problems and the type of (non) display we endured.

Clare,

15 intercounty players and 1 point from play is a complete and utter cop out to blame the manager.

Yes McStay will take the brunt of the blsme that goes with the territory.

However if your picked to play for your county you have personal responsibility to do your best.

Are you suggesting the players done their best on Sunday ?

@TsuDhoNim

Well said your spot on as usual !

@west kerry

Did I ever once say the players played their best?

I said it on other threads our worst performance .
I was there I couldn't believe it .

But as others said there's usually a main route cause when we know they can play much better then that .

So if you accept the players didn't play well then you accept they have to take their share of responsibility.

Thanks for agreeing with what I said.

@west kerry

You know full well I'm not agreeing with you .

It's been a crap enough week so I'm not going to debate this with you anymore.

No offence Clare but you are forever contradicting yourself.

If you accept the players played poorly then you equally accept they have to take responsibility for their own performances.

That's the point I made and you agree with.

@west kerry

It's seriously not the week to be going on at me to be honest .

West Kerry while I find your opinions interesting if a manager says after a game “I can’t kick the ball in for them” then that is a cop out .if players are not playing to instruction then they should be taken off as the manager has at that point lost the dressing room.we don’t really have the quality of players at this time and that is exaggerating the issue.Everything is very lethargic at the moment and we are playing with no energy and zero creativity.Nobody ever asked or expected any manager to kick the ball over the bar but it’s the managers job to create the environment for players to perform and that is clearly lacking at the minute but we have 2 games left so let’s see if there is any change in attitude on and off the field

Management are responsible for

* Selecting team and bench

*Style of play, based on strengths of players

*Making substitutions to keep game at high tempo.

*Developing players individually to get max performance

*Addressing shortcomings from game to game

@ WestKerry, how do the management score on those points.

West Kerry.
You said above, 15 intercounty players and 1 point from play. It was 1 point from a starting forward. The 15 scored 1-09 from play. Minor detail I know but accuracy is important.

Apologies Nephin that's what i meant.

A great pity that we are in such a bad place with a wide open championship.
Galway are not as effective with less players behind the ball.
Saturday nights games will reveal a lot.
Just how good are Donegal?
I think there will be a kick back in Derry and Tyrone.
Looking forward to the weekend but as usual some big games not on TV

Management have a lot to answer for and they pay the ultimate price.

But, Players have to take responsibility when they cross the white lines.

They have a county jersey on their back and shouldn't be looking at the line for excuses.

West Kerry and if the players have lost all faith in the direction the management are taking them ??.Of course no one knows this for a fact but the trip to Omagh might answer a few questions

1985,

I played for plenty of managers i didn't like.

I wouldn't let that lack of faith in him impact on how I applied myself.

Well said Claire

Fair enough west Kerry but everyone is different.Anyway I don’t suppose anyone knows exactly what’s going on .personally I think it’s a combination of a lack of quality on the pitch and a management set up that is welded to a system of play that doesn’t suit the players available to them

I think you’re missing the point West Kerry. Most Mayo supporters believe that the players have been put in a straight jacket by the current management and the way they are being asked to play. Not just this year also the last two. Old rules or new, this slow lateral play is alien to the Mayo style of play we’ve seen for years. If it’s on instruction from management, players have to go with it or risk being dropped. McStay even went as far during the league as to say, the new rules wouldn’t make much difference and that was after conceding 7 two pointers to Galway. After losing the CF he said we’ll just have to see who we play next. Every 8 yr old in Mayo knew the Wednesday before who we were playing, win or lose. How could anyone have faith in him.

It must about time for Martin Walsh to tell us about mayo playing London in 2026

@ West Kerry, Mayo supporters are not in a particularly good place at moment. We have witnessed a good panel of players playing the most boring football for the past couple of years.
Any 'wind up' time is not appreciated.
We have a management team that can't even name accurate starting team and bench on Thur/ Fri before game. How does a player feel when he's named on team on Friday and by Sunday, he's a sub. No way to treat player, his family and friends, and supporters generally.

Nephin,

That's a fair point,

However regardless of the rules or the style of play the failing on Sunday is the same failing Mayo have had unfortunately for a long time.

A failure to score.

Regardless of who was in charge that's been a consistent issue.

The game may have changed but is unfathomable for me that 6 forwards could account for 1 point from play.

On the ditch,

I'm not winding anyone up.

Simply stating that while the management have lost the supporters and the players it's not solely down to them.

Players have to take responsibility for their own performance no different to any walk of life.

You can control how you play or how you work.

Where do we go from here??
Unless kevin performs a miracle he is getting the bullet.
For Tyrone maybe we could play players in there proper positions for a start.
Abandon the negative crab football muck and go full chaos.
For what it's worth my team for Tyrone would be
Philips
O donoghue Mc Brien Hession
Durcan Coen Mc loughlin
Carney Mc Hugh
Ruane Rod Boland
Towey
Aido Irwin
Reape needs to be taken out of the firing line.
Flynn is burned out after 18 months on the go between club and county.
Plan A here is to kick the bloody ball in on top of the two big lads at ff.
Towey no more than 10 yards from them for the lay off.
Half back line that can attack with pace and break a few lines.
Mc stay and the team have nothing to lose.
Grow a pair and go for it

I would not start Carney he has done nothing so far

We can't play Mcloughlin in the half back line if our priority is to kick quick ball into the forwards.
His forte is speed not defending and accurate kicking.

There is a lot of talk about the players attitude. Attitude is important because your attitude will determine your altitude. Mayo supporters also need to change their attitude to supporting the team and become lot more vocal.

County board, & management don't stop Mayo players from getting stuck in & tackle hard, no surrender mode, but they were completely off the pace & no fast attacking football, it looked like they didn't care or something. Sad day for Mayo football.

West Kerry.
I am well aware of our problems with scoring but I’ll go full Kerry on you by not answering any questions but by asking another.
If Kerry were carrying the ball out of defence and soloing up to the 45 and then pass it over and back outside the Arc and sometimes back into your own half to repeat the process and not attempt to break the line. Would you be as tolerant of Jack O Connor. I doubt it.

Nephin,

100% any Kerry manager that played like that would be run out of the county.

I'm not defending McStay as I've said before I've found some of his post match commentary to be poor and deflecting from issues on the pitch.

My point stands though,

Players control their attitude and application.

They should always give 100% for the privilege of playing for Mayo.

I have read all 44 comments so far and not one of you have any blame on the county board
Isn't it them that appoint the managers so why has nobody held him accountable for the failures. After all it's been reporters that the senior management team are on near 100k which is a lot of money with not even a connacht title to our name.
If the county board don't step aside and a point right-minded forward thinking members to the bored to run our game we will never ever win an All-Ireland senior title.
It's all about getting the right management team whether that's in the county itself or outside the County it doesn't matter what matters is winning an All-Ireland senior title in the next three years.

Lee keegan in his article today referenced the lack of intensity from the players and the slow lateral build and lads putting their hands up to slow down play when basically it couldn’t get any slower.

I totally agree with you The West Awake we need new people on the County Board

I agree of course West Kerry, but it’s looking to me like the team are just sick of the management and want them out and are prepared to sacrifice the year to see them go. As a Cavan friend said to me, “Mayo couldn’t be that bad. No team could be that bad.”

You may not have seen any such comments under this post, The West Awake, but there have been plenty in that vein since Sunday.

Personally, I think arguing for different people on the County Board misses the point. It's long gone past that - instead this way of doing things has patently had its day. Other counties have appointed full-time CEOs, leaving the board largely for ceremonial duties. Connacht GAA have also gone the same way. We need to as well and until we do the same slobbering will inevitably continue.

@Nephin

Well said . Actually on the the football pod with Tommey Roomey they couldn't believe the lack of energy from our guys and they said it looks like they are actually just sick of playing football at the minute for whatever reason . They were shocked we lost .

Mayo Fans have are right to have their opinions shared after the Cavan loss. It’s a tough place now to be a Mayo supporter. I love this County and its Football Tradition unfortunately We are now at our lowest point.
This Mayo Team is not playing Mayo Football.
However it’s the Players only who can turn this 2 game survival into a reality. Only our players.
Do they have Belief in themselves?
Do they have belief in the Shirt on their backs?
Do they have the belief they can beat Tyrone and Donegal?
Now is the time to support these lads and turn up in Numbers in Omagh and wherever we play Donegal. It’s no t the time to abandon these Mayo Lads.
I’m hoping the likes of Aidan, Stephen, Matthew and Ryan can stand up to Management and change our way of playing.
West Kerry is correct the Players need to play for pride, for themselves and for our great County.
Go out against Tyrone, throw off the shackles, kick pass the ball direct and quickly into our Forwards, run off the shoulder and don’t be afraid of playing the high ball into Aidan O Shea. He can make the difference.
Irwin should start gallant Tyrone along with Boland.
If our Managers can’t and won’t see that by now then it’s time they Resigned. Beat Tyrone and we have given ourselves a second chance of winning Sam this year. I only hope our Players play for themselves and play for the pride of wearing that Mayo Jersey.

Well said Willie Joe I agree with everything you'll said. we do need to go full time with CEOs and have a more professional approach with appointing the right management team that can work with the under age management from under 16s up to under 20s and have as many players coming through to go on to play senior football for mayo. Even in the last two years there has been a lot of players that were involved with the minor squad not involved at all with the under 20s under the management of Peader gardener which was hard to understand because a lot of them players were good enough two years earlier for Sean's Deane
minor squad who he brought all the way to an All-Ireland final in 2022. Not involved in 2024 and finished bottom of there group in the Connaught championship.

Agree with west kerry, too easy blame management when players are kicking 25 yrd kicks wide..it's a common theme since 1996 starting with Maughan..remember Tom Reilly tried some sort of bicycle kick near the end of that one..haha, awful stuff. I really urge people on here to watch the first 20 mins of the 2017 final and look at misses by Keegan, moran mcloughlin etc..really poor misses from easy positions an inter county player should be nailing..then look at 2 passes played by tom parsons and a fist pass by moran, hospital passes are not the word...then come back and tell me it's the managers fault. Not buying that. And there's so many examples of this. So let's not all blame management

Wasn't it supposed to be a story that at half time against the dubs in 2021, the players just decided amongst themselves to just have a go at the dubs, to run hard & straight at them, or am I imagining that...Point im making, is the players can be trained all u want, be as fit as u want, but to a large part, once they cross the line its down to them...yes, it's up to management to create the environment, a high performance environment for the players to improve. The current environment is obviously not right, but bottom line, the players are representing themselves, their families and their club, they must take some ownership of the current situation also, as so should management. Change is quite likely coming, but right now all of them need to wake up and remember who they are, who they represent and go out the next 2 games and play front foot football. Whatever they do and whatever happens, don't limp out of the championship.

Reading with envy here the armagh squad named for Sunday, it really is an incredible job mcgeeney has done in managing the depth in that squad, there's fierce competition in it and the in form player is rewarded, guys like turbitt,stefan Campbell and Grimley left on the bench chomping at the bit with the in form squad players keeping their spots.

We are absolutely miles off that level of depth and quality

Moyside. I often wonder was there a bit of that v Armagh in the League this year in the second half.

Well said @ Moyside and @ West Kerry. Its my only point I’m trying to make Willie Joe. It’s time these Players start playing for themselves. Forget Management Negatively and just Go for it against Tyrone. We owe them one. A good Performance and a Win hopefully would get the fire and belief back in us. This would then install a belief to best Donegal.
If I was Mc Stay I would ask Cillian if he would come back to the Panel.
We have nothing to loose at this stage.
Management please swallow your Pride and get back into our Team the Best Ever Scoring Mayo Forwards. It’s staring you in the face.

I'm not sure Nephin, if there was then surely the players would do it more often or in every game.

Maybe it’s only when it’s shit or bust Moyside.

There is no way Cillisn would cone back to the panel if asked as I said we all know why at this stage .

I feel the same about Armagb but fair play to them they have great fans who bring colour & noise .

They are also so sound their fans is well .

We are at a really low point . I actually didn't feel as bad as I did after the game walking out of McHale park on Sunday since 21 that's a low point for sure.

Has management lost the dressing room. I am not aware they have. They hadn’t lost the dressing room for the Galway game unless something drastic happened in the 2 weeks afterwards. I think a lot of you are ignoring psychological issues. When you build yourself up so much for a game as Mayo did v Galway and then fail to win; it really has a massive impact. Last Sunday was a perfect day for an ambush. A decent Cavan team coming to our ground where we have a woeful record. They were well up for it. We were down. It’s like the reverse of winning the league two years ago. We got up for the final against Galway and then a week later were expected to get up for a well rested Roscommon in championship and we failed. In 2010 we lost the league final fairly heavily, were very low on confidence, lost to Sligo in championship. Confidence by this stage was on the floor to such an extent that even Longford beat us. Yet 3 years later with a very similar team we had competed in 2 AI finals. Even in 2016 when we had a much better team than we have now we lost to Galway in Connacht and were very lucky to beat Fermanagh in the knockout out stages. The following year after another reverse in Connacht we were within minutes of a poor Derry team knocking us out. But once we got our confidence back, we got on a roll and got to the finals of 2016 and 2017. Players are human beings. They thrive on confidence. The fall out from losing to Galway this year was way over the top bearing in mind they put in a decent performance. It must be soul destroying to have your own people criticising and ridiculing your efforts when you have burst your arse for 6 months and you’re already so deflated after the defeat. Then after 2 weeks you’re back in your home venue again. I’d say they will be relieved to be heading to Omagh next . While I agree that it is managements job to get them up for matches I am also inclined to agree with West Kerry when he says it is desperate that the starting forwards scored one point from play. But I think much of this is back to the confidence issue. Towey was pilloried for his wides in the Connacht final, Reape got a load of flak for taking a risk with a kick out. So what’s the alternative. Play low risk football, keep possession by lateral passing, don’t take responsibility because if you miss you’re the villain. That appears to be how we are playing now. Mayo are far from a great team, but they are not as bad as they looked Sunday. It will take strong characters with a bit of leadership to stand up and take the risks as Coen (often demonised by some here) did last Sunday. Of course management have not done well but criticising a manager for what he says in the immediate aftermath of a game is very harsh. McStay so often upbeat after games (about which some are critical) was visibly devastated after the Galway game and even worse after the Cavan match. He too is a human being who has invested far more time and emotion into the team than anyone of us here have done. It hasn’t worked out unfortunately and unless there is an amazing turn around in our fortunes he will in all probability be gone by the seasons end A new voice will come in and just as Horan did after Johnno in 2011 we must hope that the same pattern of results will also follow

Any particular reason we have not have a Man of the Match award yet?

They have lost the dressing room . It's clear as day they have lost the dressing room . The guys went out and performed the way did v Galway for pride. I hope they do same v Tyrone is well hard to see it happening but we can only hope .

For me, it goes without saying that any player, privileged enough to pull on the Green and Red jersey, to represent Mayo, should burst a gut every time he takes the field. This sadly was not the case for quite a few last Sunday. The management decides the style of play, team structure, players and positions and implements and perfects this during training. Maybe I'm completely wrong, but I get the impression that the players are not fully buying in to the game plan and maybe feel that the style of play does'nt suit them and that they are not completely comfortable with it. Any lack of underlying lack of enthusiasm would be further exasperated by our recent run of poor results. I'm not saying that the players are not giving their all, but subconsciously, may be failing a bit short. It's difficult to give 100%, if you do not fully believe in what you are being asked to do. Mind you, none of this excuses, sloppy misplaced passes, and other errors, which we saw far too many off last Sunday.

@Willie Joe. I completely agree that we need a CEO, Guru, Tzar to totally oversee the long term improvement and development of Mayo football, facilities, structure, organization, revenue, underage development, coaching etc. This position to have total responsibility, significant power and report to the County Board. I have been banging this drum for quite some time.

Fair play to him supermac (re mcgeanney) but I’ll tell you one thing there is no way in hell he’d get that amount of time anywhere else . Maybe that’s the way forward, stick with management for years and years till they get it right , I think this is Kieran mcgeaneys eleventh year with Armagh . It’s only the last 3/4 years they’ve been dining at the top table . Did they even make a semi final in the first few years ? Going to have a look now as a matter of interest .

2015 not even a quarter final and pumped by Donegal in Ulster .

2016 same again no qf , beaten by Cavan in Ulster and lost to Laois in series . (If that was mayo he’d be ran by now for sure ) Galway knocked out by tipp , mad times lol .

2017 annihilation in qf v Tyrone .

2018 beaten by Fermanagh in Ulster and Roscommon handed them a bit of a skelping to knock them out in the qualifiers.

Goodness me how did he not get the road ?

@Sean Burke were Armagh division 3 when he took over?
To go from there to the top of the table even in 10 years isn’t a mean feat.

Agree on the director/CEO position, worth offering a high paying role on a 3 year contract with view to extending and see where it takes us. When they went advertising for position before the pay was low and job spec was huge. Was never going to fly.

McGeeney was kept on because he was more than just a manager in Armagh. His playing record and personal commitment allowed him leeway for many years, but there were plenty in Armagh who wanted him out.

If we had a former captain who had lead his team to Sam with a level of commitment and sacrifice not seen in the county before, or since, he would get a fair but of leeway too.
Alas, we have no such man knocking around the county.

Mayo players do have a history of rebellion and losing heart with management. We don't have a history of overcoming adversity by a bloody minded refusal to be beaten.

Jim McGuiness as a player was known for his off field antics as much as infield exploits. However, his 15 or so years playing Sigerson (and studies) resulted in a driven character who had elevated himself out of his previous half hearted efforts to a leader of men.

In fairness to James Horan, he is probably the closet Mayo has had to genuine leader who can demand respect and lead men to new heights. Some say he failed on the line by not changing things when it was needed. But he was up against the acknowledged best team if all time. How do you win that one.

I don't think anyone thought McStay was bringing those kind of attributes to the job and it has resulted in a team who are flaky and inconsistent.

I don't think you can absolve the players of their own failings. The team doesn't play with heart any more. The players can't even break ball and win it (a sign of desire).

Others on here call for chaos in matches. I'm not sure what that means. Attacking from the half back line at speed, leaving your full backline exposed 1v1 and conceding goals regularly, particularly in the first 5 minutes?

Most professional sports teams, regardless of the sport operate in one of three ways:
1.High pressing (full court press, gagen pressing, etc)
2. Low block with counter attack (Catenaccio, half court defence)
3. Combined (man to man, total football)

What is Mayos current philosophy,
slow build up possession game like half court basketball
but without the pick and roll offensive with a big man inside or a switching attack with outside shooters.

No distinct style of play will.mean no results, but no heart will result the second half against Cavan.

The sooner we get a clear out and change of direction the better for all our mental health

Thats a good post tirawleybaron..100% on Mcgeeney..his reputation and winning sam in 02 kept him in the gig a long time..ultimately players have great time for him. Other counties would have given him bothar agus bata as jack o Connor would say. If a guy did that in Mayo, not only would he be in charge there'd be a statue of him outside mchale park, and since 1951 who'd blame them..long time to be waiting for Sammy.

That's a fair assessment, tirawley, basically it's a mixum-gatherum approach. No trusted game strategy, absolutely no composure when an attack flows etc ad infinitum.

What result suits us best this weekend - a draw ?

tirawleybaron..100% correct. But you have to look at a collective failing. Do we win enough Connaught club title, No. Do we win enough Underage titles, definitely not. Is our underage nurtured in right environment, with good S&C, and training facilities, big fat no. Are we in financial position to push on, No riddled with debt. Have we a collective style of play, that a template for underage feed into senior team, No.

I could go on, senior team the most important part of engine, but no good if rest of machine not fit for use. It can be fixed, but will take leaders, in both County board and management to achieve it. And maybe they are in place already, but time now to show it. If you cant do job, then let someone who can.

Very good post with much needed perspective, To Win Just Once.
No one has mentioned here with consistent examples going back to 2010, as far as I can see since Sunday, the effects of losing big games we get psyched up for - that we’re vulnerable in the following game.
You’ve done this royally showing how this played out over the years we were going well in 2016 and 2017 as well as others.

P.S. I don’t accept they are our players are not good enough.

@Thedarkyfinn: Depends on your confidence levels.

A draw is very helpful if you're expecting to win our last two games & hoping to top the group. Can also be helpful with other draws, though that scenario is fairly unlikely.

Otherwise it's pretty much the worst result as it makes Cavan's H2H advantage against us all the stronger in a majority of the most likely ways for games to play out.

The most likely positive final table for us is us beating whichever of the sides lose at the weekend. In that scenario we're looking at us being on at least 2pts along with the loser at the weekend being on a max of 2pts. From there it's a worst case of coming down to Score Difference to decide 2nd/3rd/4th place with 3 teams tied on 2pts or any other (us winning or tying our other game or Cavan upsetting either team) scenario puts us through directly.

Thanks TsuD - I'll try and stay optimistic and hope we beat both and top the group to get the best route through. We'll need 15 John Mullane types on the pitch though for each of these games 'I luv's me county'...

Fingers crossed (I think), TsuDhoNim.

We do deserve another go to see what we can do with playing conditions evening out for everyone over the span of the three group games.

So, yes, I hope results go well for us plus I want to see us playing with spark and precision from here on, however we and management bring that about.

We seem to playing a similar type of football as Galway last year which was not good enough to get them over the line.
Lateral passing is fine to get a rest but must be mixed with quick attacking football.
Reape should be instructed to kick the ball out as quick as possible and as far as possible.
Let our 11 outfield players scramble for possession.
Simplistic to blame Reape.

Swallow Swoops - no one knows if the players are good enough playing crap football. Players in Donegal weren't good enough under Rochford. Now they have a system which we don't seem to have and they look much better.

Sticks for the Reek, I’m thinking along those lines too. The Mayo players who lost to Longford in 2010 were the same players competing for the All-Ireland in 2012 and 2013.
Things changed around them to get the best out of them. It’s like that for many of us - if we are feeling inspired, motivated and supported, we can give closer to our best, and importantly, keep on growing and developing.
A half decent player can actually be a great player waiting to come out of his or her shell. (Not that I want to put pressure on players but for those who want to, it’s nice to have the opportunity to shine.)

Kerry didn't panic when we beat them in Killarney, they topped the group. Galway didn't panic when the Dubs pipped them last weekend. Lets not panic at this stage. 2 games with all to play for. Who know what the results this weekend will bring. We are down not out. No pressure as everyone has written us off. County Board, Mayo Tzar and Management discussion after the Donegal game. Keep the Faith.

Any word on Tommy Conroy and owean McLaughlin coming back into the team

@Jr: Not sure I can see the comparison there.

Galway had the best defensive structure nationally last year (possible Armagh's was as good & Galway just outperformed them with the individual performances of McGrath & McHugh) & did the vast majority of their damage hitting fast on the break (be it direct runners or direct kicked ball, predominantly the former). They only went into the slow lateral play when facing a set-defence of 13 behind the ball and wanted to either probe for an opening or control the ball to give their own players a rest.

- We haven't got a rock solid defensive structure, even when set. The intensity just isn't there too often.
- We aren't transitioning quickly, be it through the hands or kicked, to hurt teams on the break (our scores from defensive turnovers this year is alarmingly low as a result) or putting together a successful running game with pods, support off the shoulder or lads having the confidence (or tactical freedom) to even try taking on their man in a majority of cases (and the odd time someone does & it goes even slightly wrong they quickly get a curly finger)
- Slowing down attacks & controlling possession is our go-to strategy (except for the odd occasions we're chasing a game and let loose - when we're actively playing all our best football this year. By a margin) rather than our last resort when no other option is available

Can't say I see too many comparisons to a Galway side that played really well to the then confines of the rules. The comparison to Donegal under Bonner is often thrown around in a slightly insulting tone, but when it comes to the style football being played & the play style being aimed for it is the most accurate comparison. Though under the context of the new rules that style & type of football is all the less efficient (which is saying something given how it performed back then too).

@Bonni Boyler

Well said your so right. Been an awful week.
I hope to god our guys can pick themselves up .

We have nothing to loose as you said

Just throw everything at it . Do it for the pride of mayo .

Paddy Durcan has to start . And Frank Irwin .

For what looks like second last game for current Management, please pick the best team with all players in their best positions and tell them to out and play football and enjoy the game, No Restrictions of any kind on any player, and when they get tired or an injury replace them, and maybe we might win it. Worth a chance after three years of puke football.

I must say I did allow myself a dark chuckle at Lee keegans absolute rage at the slow playing style in his rte article, he said if he sees the hand signal going up again to slow down the play he will go cracked!

When our best ever player is as exasperated as the rest of us

Me too Supermac. I couldn't ever imagine himself or Boyler at that craic!

https://www.westernpeople.ie/sport/gaa/croke-parks-top-brass-to-attend-mayo-gaa-meeting_arid-58833.html

Finances look like going to be explained one way or another by looks of it.

Mayo John , TC has being 'close' for about 6 months now

On our style - we can change: think Kerry at McHale Park where we were brilliant; the second half of the Armagh, even if we were lucky with Grimley's black card; the first half of the Donegal game; the Derry match when we got a goal from a turnover after the hooter went. We're just awful against 'lesser' teams, but wasn't that always the case: think of those close shaves against Derry (Div 4 then was it?), Westmeath, Tipp, Cork. And, in our glory days we were hanging on by a thread to Div 1 status.

I agree with Clare on to Omagh and start Paddy and Frank Irwin. And give Bob Tuohy a run. Oh, and no planned substitutions with a minute to go please.

Shite, doesn't sound like we'll be getting any good news outa Monday night meeting either. Think we'll have to set up a go-fund me collection for them or something....

Anyone remember back in the day when 'an cigire' was due at the primary school for a snap inspection ?....and teachers would have us all running around like blue arse flies gathering sweet wrappers and lollipop sticks for fear there would be repercussions....well that will be the co.board office in the run up to this inspection I'll bet.

[Deleted].

@ Gizmo that would be an interesting meeting to be a fly on the wall.
There's enough Mayo diaspora about to raise 5 million if it was marketed right. I'd throw a hundred euro at it if I thought it was going to shift things.

The more I look at it in all walks of life management is crucial,look at McGuiness in Donegal, they looked awful 2 years ago.
James Horan is still are most successful manager, and before everyone starts going on about his faults which we I expect he has under him we looked like a professional outfit, most team were afraid of us now letrim fancy there chances, before the game in Limerick that we should have one Spillane said my heart say Kerry but my head says Mayo and he meant it as we were a power House, we are some way off that now.
I think his second term was badly timmed, Covied and maybe didn't have same crop of players.
I'm not saying he's the answer but I would be taken heed of what he has to say,
If I won euro millions in morning and I was investing in Mayo he would be the first person I'd talk to.

You’re not wrong but not as a manager , as a county CEO .

We desperately need a focal point through a centre of excellence , it just has to be achieved asap . In my armchair opinion we are missing out on 10 percent of maxing out on development through lack of a centre . We need a Monsignor Horan knock airport type drive to get this done .

@Giz

As a prominent mayo podcast would say “where is the extra monies”. At last we will get answers. And I get the feeling these answers won’t be to well received. Either the CB or Croke Park has screwed over every club in mayo. Really disgusting state of affairs.

I agree ,hate to hear complaints about our managers especially James Horan.

Long ball - that's a story that can't be either verified or disproved. Posting such a comment here serves no useful purpose so I've deleted both it and other comments in reaction to it.

Agree Sean, has to be right from top down,

I agree with TsuDhoNim re our style of play. I never thought I'd see Mayo supporters desert in such high numbers.
The problem for Mayo now is that it's difficult to abandon that style and adopt something more adventurous.
Durcan (and Conroy, McLaughlin) on from the start would give us some slight chance about going at things differently.
Others, like Carney, Flynn and even Neary, did show iniative but sadly coached out of them.
The off field distractions should be cast aside until we're goosed, that won't be long now, Cavan plucked our feathers, we'll be in the pot in Clones, and prime for roasting when the donegals get their hands on us. When will we have a venue for that one, I'm still hoping for a showdown in Roscommon, we've played our best football there in recent years

Okay I agree with all the above comments

Just a thought, I've watched the CF now 3 times, I'm certain Reape miss kicked, wasn't aimed at Brick, check the replays, can't identify who but there's a Mayo jersey in space. So if that kick lands, we win the CF. Next game is the Dubs in McHale Park, don't think we'd be talking about county boards, bringing back old managers, semi-retired players or Longford this week

@ You Three its been sliding doors moments for the past 3 years but your not wrong. No team can live with Mayo if we unleash the chaos, sadly its been locked away now since Kerry in Killarney and maybe Armagh in the second half. Still think about that Reape effort at the end.

Say if we were to beat Tyrone & lose to Donegal, and Cavan lost their next two games, do we go out to Cavan on head to head or is it scoring difference ? Does anyone know
Thanks

In that scenario, James, we'd lose out to Cavan on the head-to-head. Scoring difference would only come into it if there were more than two teams or if we'd drawn with Cavan and ended up on the same points as them.

Respect the man, but in my opinion Reape's return on 45's/long range frees are poor, but don't have the stats at hand, but have seen enough to believe we're living off of the second kick vs the Dubs. @Bonni, I'm going against the grain but my thinking is we are in a competition that hasn't completed its first round. It's not been won, the trophy is stuck in the where it landed last year. If we're ever going to win it we've got to beat the best, let's flip the tables and beat them early, sort the admin when we're done

That is fair enough Wj..just found it interesting. understand but my point was just around the system and lack of shooting etc.

It'd be all the more interesting, Long Ball, if it could be proved that it happened at all!

Question for everyone....not meant in anyway to bail out incompetence or mismanagement of finances by the county board...but to raise capital to pay for large scale developments such as centre of excellence, etc, how would supporters feel about 50 to 100 euro a year pledge into a supporters fund to pay towards projects such as the COE....say if for a 3 year period, 50000 mayo people at home and abroad pledge the money, it would raise between 2.5m to 5m per annum....or 7.5m to 15m over the 3 year period....think of it as a cairde mayo for capital projects...just a thought...

If management is not encouraging shooting when you have the option..what chance have ya?

James Burke: Missing a game there in that scenario, so not enough information to answer the question.

"Say if we were to beat Tyrone" - Cavan 2pts, Mayo 2pts, Tyrone 0pts
"& lose to Donegal" - Donegal 2pts, Cavan 2pts, Mayo 2pts, Tyrone 0pts
"and Cavan lost their next two games" - Donegal 4pts, Cavan 2pts, Tyrone 2pts, Mayo 2pts

That'd be the standings there with 5 (1 already played & 4 mentioned) of the 6 games included, with no result included for the Tyrone Donegal game.

At that point it means if Donegal had beaten Tyrone (this coming weekend) all 3 of Cavan/Mayo/Tyrone would be on 2pts and it would go to score difference.
While if Tyrone had won or drawn it would leave just Cavan and ourselves on 2pts where their head to head would put them above us regardless of Score Difference.

Moyside I would have no problem pledging and I'm guessing loads more would do the same but there is no way 50000 people would. How many tickets are sold in the annual cairde maigh eo draw. I have 3500 in my head but could be way of the mark. Say there were 5000 donations that might be more realistic.

If we do go down the centre of excellence route then lots of avenues need to be explored and what you suggested could be one of many.

The only problem (and it's a fairly large problem) is that we have no real history of fundraising. The annual draw and the annual golf classic. Apart from that there was the tiles in McHale park and nothing more I can think of in recent years.

The centre of excellence or some facility is required. But we need a proper costed plan. Not turning up and saying we are building 5G pitch but don't know how much it will cost. Then we figure out how much we need to raise and fundraising starts. It's not easy gather that amount of money but look at what Tyrone have raised last few years or Roscommon with their win a house draws or Galway making hay in new York.

It's a tough job but it can be done. It needs to be done

Talk that Donegal have requested the game with Mayo to be played in Cavan.

With an Ulster ref too, MO2023! (Though that’s already more or less guaranteed, I guess, in light of who’s been getting the whistle for our games this year).

I assume our counter-proposal is Dr Hyde Park. It certainly should be.

Bruiser, why not be ambitious and have that as a goal? I'm not just talking a local fundraiser...there are people with a strong mayo heritage all over the world and the whole world sure knows of our effort to land sam. Why not be ambitious have a very strong, professional social media campaign, playing in London next year I believe. Yes of course efforts to date by mayo have been pathetic when fundraising, and amateur to go with it. Go big or go home.

Westkerry. Ye warnt long kicking out management in kerry when results didn't happen. Everyone knows the problem with mayo. The philosophy. The confusion. Nothing wrong with our players. Every county has weaknesses. One man should never been appointed.

@Craggy Boglands

Your spot on well said .

Did kevin Mcstay not pick his own management team? I know his bro in law walked but did he pick the others, or was one in particular picked for him? Anyone able to shed any light on that?

The Tyrone game may be our liberation. Before you all go wild, wait and let me explain ....

Mayo have nothing to loose now but pride. They can throw off the shackles from whatever system they have been following to date. They can go for broke now.

So I would say to to the players enjoy the game, express yourselves and see where it goes. It can't be any worse an outcome than we have seen so far.

Everyone is always spot on when they counter my argument Clare.

You'd be great if you could counter it with a rational point of your own rather jumping on others points.

Glad your mood has improved enough to have a debate.

@Craggy Bogland - No Kerry manager has been removed.
Peter Keane had a 3 year term and didn't get over the line and was not reappointed.

It's absolutely remarkable that some here are willing to blame everyone without looking at the team that played on Sunday.

Yes there appears to be huge issues in Mayo unfortunately with financial troubles and trouble re structures and facilities such as training centres etc.

McStay has not brought the team on since his win in Killarney in 23.

His blaming Clifford for his own performance in the league final was laughable as it was pure deflection which subsequently was correct as that performance was mirrored against Leitrim/Sligo/Cavan.

However players should not be getting off lightly either.

In every walk of life you control how you perform not a manager and if players have downed tools because they don't like their manager that reflects very poorly on them.

If they dont fancy the next guy will they down tools again ?

As Roy Keane would say.. Do your job.

@weat kerry

What are you talking about I agree with craggy boglands post amd so do most people on here so stop going on not the week for it .

@west kerry

Loads of others on here just agree with people's posts to without saying much . I've already stated my points on management , players and Sunday already so I won't repeat myself.

And no my mood has not gotten that much better over the match worse feeling since 21 so not in the mood for your snarky remarks .

Clare,

Not the week for it,

Will ye go away out of that.

You lost a game of football your not starving out in Gaza.

It's sport get over it.

If you can't handle a debate then a public forum might not be the place for you.

West kerry, was micko more or less pushed out in 87/88..and paidi the same in 03 after Tyrone? I remember both having a gripe with the co board over their departures

@west kerry

In fairness here us not the place to be talking about Gaza .

Context Clare.

It's sport not life or death.

Did I not read it somewhere, maybe here or in a newspaper, but after all of the horanball, players bombing forward and leaving the back door unattended, etc etc, that when mcstay and Co came on board that the players wanted to play a more contained game, a more possession based game? I've usually a good enough recollection of info and I'm sure I read it somewhere. Anyhow, they certainly got what they wished for from current mgmt. Considering how close rochy got us to crossing the line in 16 and 17, isn't it amazing that he was alleged to have set donegal back so much during his 4 years and in his second spell with mayo?? Don't take me up wrong, our current stye of play is terrible. Buts it's just flabbergasting how he had mayo playing some of the best football we have ever seen our county play to the type we are playing now....only thing that I can think of was he was manager, not coach in them years and coach and not manager now...question, who was his coach in 16 and 17?? Current sligo manager, Tony Mcentee....who on the whole has done a decent job with sligo...Maybe one for the future should a vacancy ever arise...

Long Ball,

Are your going well back there lad.

Mickos time had come to an end.

Paidi made his comments re Kerry supporters and after 2 poor defeats to Tyrone and Armagh then that was it.

Paidi deserved better though.

Sure same as mcstays time is coming to an end as contract up anyways.

I know west kerry, long time ago surely..I used to love and still do i suppose the mystique around kerry football..I don't know how many times I've watched kerrys golden years on tape when it was around..my favourite player was prob Maurice Fitzgerald however..had lean years with kerry eventually picking up 2 medals ...how can we forget his performance in 97 against us..an artist of a baller..style grace and not a dirty stroke ever pulled...a proper footballer.

Tend to agree West Kerry. We lost a football match something we in Mayo should be well used to happening. It’s a first world problem. Trouble with Mayo is we can take the defeat v Kerry or Dublin or even God forbid Galway. But if some upstart of a county that we think we are superior to such as Cavan or Louth (or for some unknown reason Tyrone in 2021 )etc beat us then management must go ,the players are useless and the lads who haven’t played become fantastic overnight. It’s been happening for years

Clare.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but McStay has another year to go. Not that I think it’s going to happen.

@Neohin

My bad there maybe I just have it in my head this is the last .

I think he will go to .

Anyway onto Mayo & Tyrone . It's a hard ask for us to go up there after this week.

I think our guys will come out fighting and throw the kitchen sink at Tyrone . Sure we have nothing to loose .

You're right Clare, may aswell go out swinging but even a super positive supporter like you must be thinking we are at an all time low at the moment unfortunately ..maybe it's a cycle thing but successful teams are driven by serious guys/girls at the top..no different in any sport or walk of life..maybe it'll be done with a review of everything to make us a better successful team.

Think Donegal will get their way with Cavan venue and Armagh v galway will go to the Hyde. The GAA know Mayo support is nominal now and will favour the numbers.

Interesting to see Jarlath Burns and Tom Ryan coming to a County Board meeting in Westport next week. This is surely unprecedented. I think the questions raised are more the chat in the bar and club this week than football. Would be good if the pod spoke to those involved for insight.

West Kerry as a matter of interest do you think Peter Keane’s contract would have been extended if jack o Connor hadn’t openly touted for the job .i am blue in the face saying the biggest issue we have had over the last 3 years is the lack of ball winning midfielders .playing musical chairs with Flynn ruane and carney doesn’t work and won’t work against Tyrone either.The current management appear to be totally oblivious to this and no matter what change of attitude or system isn’t going to help that.whatever about that game though the renewal of rivalries between Clare and west Kerry has been fascinating

As for nxt week...firstly I think Tyrone will pull off an ambush in ballybofey sat eve..I just think losing that USF to Armagh from a winning position will have hurt and they'd love nothing more than to sicken mcguinness and Co...we'll see.

nephin why did you have to spoil my day

@ West Kerry, the point your making on the points return for the 6 forwards is valid. It has been an issue for us for a long time. The management also share the responsibility of being primed for every match and not leg heavy from training. God be with the days of a lad cycling to the match from the bog to tog out, mentioned in Edwin's book " Our Finest Hour" . The supporters must also take some responsibility, myself included. We should be there for the good times and the bad, its not Gaza as you say. For years attending Mayo matches especially croker, I have been disappointed at the crowds waiting for the team to lift them, instead of the other way around. 2021 SF Vs Dubs was half empty and we probably broke decibel records. Can someone right a Mayo version of Dubs " Boys in Blue" or Irelands ( Mayo's) Call. That is a serious chant and while "Mayo Mayo" is grand its not enough.
Hup Maigheo

I think I recall McStay saying that Rochford approached him & basically put it all together. Rochy was in for the Meath job with Bernard Flynn & within a couple of weeks of not getting that job, was in for the Mayo.

You either want a job or ya don't. It didn't feel right at the time

I wanted Dempsey at the time because he had a proven winner in McConville on the ticket, someone who wouldn't take any shite off anyone

Re Peter Keane,
No i don't think he'd have got a renewal.
He left 1 if not 2 All Irelands behind him.
They had to go to Jack to try and get us over the line and toughen us up a bit.

@West kerry

Hilarious you are .

@Long Ball

Oh no I totally agree this is definetly am all time low for us . I'm just hoping to god more then anything that the guys can go out swinging . As I said if we are to go out I just hope we go out playing the way we know we can.

I would think jack o Connor left an all Ireland behind him in 2023 .is his term up this year

He did 1985. Until the bad pass from white for paddy smalls goal kerry were going ok but Clifford had an off day with the boot too which didn't help

The 4 times Jack has won the AI he's won the league so it'll be interesting to see when they hit croker v one the northern teams

1985,

He did but he had credit in the bank and Peter didn't.

Tyrone especially, who are my pick to win the lot have a particular knack of softening kerrys cough..I do enjoy those battles.

Clare I am not sure when you started going to Mayo games but if last Sunday was an all time low for you it must have been lately. Without giving it too much thought I can remember losing to Leitrim in 1976 being annihilated by Roscommon in Connacht final in 1980 , failing to score in second half v Kerry in 1981, getting walloped by Galway in Connacht final 1982 , losing 5 15 to 0 10 in AISF in 1993, losing to Leitrim in Connacht final in 1994 where our only score in first half was a goal in the first minute. Of a more recent vintage was 2010 defeats to Sligo and Longford. Then James Horan came along and promised to make us consistently competitive which in fairness he did. But those upsttarts from Tyrone had the cheek to burst all our bubbles in 2021, Dublin whacked us in 2023. And in fairness Kevin McStay and Rochford were not involved in all or many of those humiliations. I attended every one of those games . I was hugely disappointed with each result but I kept going back to support my county . So yes while I was disappointed with Sunday it wasn’t the horror show some would have us believe. We were very poor. Cavan a Division 2 team beat us. We have been here before.The world was still spinning on its axis Monday morning and I intend to continue to support my county in the future

@To win just once

I wasn't even born in 1976 or 1980 , 1981, 1982 sure!

Of course we have had bad days in the past no doubt about it . Including Longford 2010. And every final we lost .

I've always gone to mayo games.

I don't know it just felt like a real low point for me . I don't begrudge Cavan one bit they fully deserved it .

It was their day in the sun .

I will always support Mayo . I just think something is not right but sure we go again next week .

But I think its a really hard ask to be honest with very little support there I would say due to timing. But do it for pride now that's all that matters at this stage cause it looks like our season is finished .

Agreed Clare, losses to Sligo and Roscommon are where we just had to say on the day you were better than us, losses to Longford, Leitrim and Cork in the Jack O Shea days were the stamp of lowest but loosing to Cavan with no game plan, a blind man would tell you double mark ROD and take your chance v us and even New York would beat us .
We had no heart or desire and they are grand bunch of lads who's won us all ireland underages and been so close etc at senior level but no, there was no connection management and players, no game plan , no cohesion, no Jose mourinho us v them , no anything .
Hope they put in a performance v Tyrone and Doengal and with right changes and mentality we could beat each of them but in current circumstances, we are bored to death of same message and players can't relate to Rochford and to lesser extent Mcstay and Mulligans message .

Start afresh next year look forward to u20s last year's u17s, Kobe mcdonald etc and then the player whom choose not to be here this year , you could pick a totally different team

@Outside the boot

Well said! Your so right .

I think Oisin Mullin be back is well next year ..

Next year beginning not to work for me born the year after they won the last final.
Born in Mayo but lived in Tipperary when they were winning all Ireland's for fun.
Saw my first football final in 63 when Galway were robbed by Dublin.
We all watched it through the window on the TV shop.
Brian McDonald played that day and was later famous fo getting players to push cars around the Sportlann car park of now is sexy and called S&C.

The endless mansplaining to Clare on this blog really annoys me. Leave her alone. If she thought last Sunday was an all time low, then she’s entitled to that opinion, that’s her experience. We don’t need a catalogue of ‘all time lows’ in the past. We don’t need to know how your vast knowlege of Mayo football, GAA, etc down through the annals of history, delegitimises her opinion. Give it up, all of ye, West Kerry, to win just once etc etc.

Moving on to today's game. Yes Tyrone could ambush donegal but there's the Jimmy mcguinness factor. Is there a better man to focus a team after winning the ulster title. I think Jimmy has the edge on that score. This is a table topper. Neither donegal or Tyrone will do a mayo on it against cavan. We rolled out the red carpet for them.

Hopefully Monday's meeting will bring everything out in the open, all cards on the table and let us know where we stand, no matter how bad it is-we can't make proper plans to address the problem, unless we know thw full extent of it. Then we start from there. Hopefully GAA HQ will adopt an understanding approach and give us whatever assistance they can. @Moyside. I would certainly we willing to commit €100 a year to the cause. With the overhanging debt, which is killing us and the need for a Centre of Excellence, we need to go on a serious revenue raising mission. We really do need a CEO, Commercial Manager or, at least, someone of vision and ideas in the County Board. A Mayo Gaa Monsignor Horan, as someone has said. Why don't we have a raffle for a house? - seems to be a very successful method for many counties and clubs. We could have something like the tiles repeated for the Centre of Excellence. Draws for the Diaspora for All-Ireland tickets, plus accommodation. And, why, oh why, don't we promote concerts in McHale Park, like Semple Stadium, Pair Ui Chaoimh and Nowlan Park. One or two a year for 3 or 4 years. Start with The Sawdoctors-bet they would sell out McHale. Maybe even a weekend music festival-the Electric Picnic of the West. Why are we always lagging behind? Surely there must be someone with vision and ideas in the County Board or that could be used. We need to get up of our own passes-nobody else is going to do it for us.

I'm following the Mayo senior football team since 1964!
Jazzus that's scary, but anyway there was always a buzz when Mayo & Galway played in the championship, mostly there was never much between the teams, some great tough games & very good skills, fantastic fielding of the ball, great scores. Now it seems like some teams have better shooters than others & therefore have huge advantage over opponents, while they can score those 2 pointers & win out the game. Mayo needs to rethink there tactics & get the big kickers/sharpshooters to have a go every time, they're bound to get some of them valuable scores, who knows what's going to happen with the Mayo team but they'll never give up trying. Hope they start to play with courage & confidence. Up Mayo.

@Eighty Five

Thanks for that really appreciate that! : )

Obviously we have had worse days then Sunday I know .

Even if we had played well and lost still I'd feel better then . It was just because we were so so flat and played so badly which is what was so dissapointing .

Mansplaining ? Delegitimising..?? Eighty Five Nothing of the sort. Just pointing that as Mayo follower we are well used to bad days of which Sunday was just one more .
And if was never designed to cause offence to Clare or anyone else

Eighty five.in fairness clare comments on almost every post on here and is well able to look after herself.Those of us old enough do remember far worse days than this .a lot of the younger generation only remember the last 15 odd years when we were contesting all Ireland finals

@Eighty five

I just reply back to who comments to me and yesterday i apologise if I over commented but west kerry was mentioning me in posts so I replied she as everyone else does on this blog.

@1985
I meant.

Clare doesn’t matter to me how often you post but I don’t think you need any white knights coming to the rescue

@1985

Fair enough!

Onto the game next week . What are the chances of Eoghan Mc togging? We have missed him .

What's the best result for us tonight in the Donegal v Tyrone game?

Just catching up on comments from last night and earlier this morning.

I think you've resolved everything among yourselves, which is good to see. The one observation I'd make is that when any debate concentrates more on who is commenting rather than on the topic at hand, it's never a good sign. However, as I've already said, the issue appears to have been sorted at this stage.

Probably a draw Clare, be the best result rather than one of them winning..and you couldn't rule out a draw either

To Win Just Once, fair enough, but I think Clare gets more than her fair share of cheap shots directed at her, and often with a tone of condescension.
I know full well she’s able to stand up for herself, she’s a great supporter, more dedicated than many, including myself.
There is a feeling of all time low at the moment, that’s undeniable. We spent the majority of the league thinking that Mayo weren’t showing their full hand, they couldn’t be that poor. They couldn’t honestly think that style of play would win games. It appears they do. And if they appear to have a victory (15 minutes to go in CF) within their grasp, they ease off and slow down, revert to type.
It will remain a complete mystery to me how Mayo started under Kevin McStay, (lovely open direct football at the start of the league 2023), versus how they will likely conclude.

@Long ball: No, that's pretty much the worst result for us unless you're confident of winning the last two games.

@Clare: A heavy win for Donegal (lower Tyrone's Score Difference), with Tyrone picking up a number of red cards along the way in a really grueling match to increase fatigue for our game against them next week.

With that result we'd be hoping to beat Tyrone in an upset and every other game going to form/expectation would see a 3 way tie for 2nd to 4th, giving us the opportunity for 2nd place on just the 2pts.

Eighty Five,

With all due respect,

I respond to the comment not the individual.

Whether you are male / Female or from Roscommon its irrelevant.

It's a public forum expect your opinion to be debated and challenged.

I'm an outsider here but think Willie Joe does a fantastic job and hugely enjoyable contributions for knowledgeable Mayo supporters.

@TsuDhoNim

Yeah your right and if Donegal beat Cavan is well they might rest players when it comes to us and play their B team .

@Clare: Possibly, but less likely. The only scenario where Donegal are safe in 1st & we still have something to play for in that final game is where we draw with Tyrone next weekend.

Assuming Donegal win their first two:
If we win next weekend - Donegal would have to go in all guns blazing or risk missing out on 1st to us on H2H.
If we lose next weekend - Donegal would be confirmed in 1st place so able to play the B team, but we'd already be confirmed in 4th too only able to tie with 1 single side on 2pts who'd have a H2H advantage on us anyway.

Tyrone v donegal. We do not want a draw.

Actually, in my mind's eye, it'd be curtains if Cavan happened to win again next week. I'd be reasonably sure Donegal would be rampant in the final round then.
Changing groups, I think Derry might give Armagh a right game too.

TsuDhoNim, thank you for that break down and explaining your reasoning for the way things would ideally need to work for us to have the best chance of progression. I appreciate having the reasons laid out.

Realistically, one would have to think things are against us progressing.

However, groups reliably throw up an upset. We had Cavan upending our apple cart already. I think we can see another upset.

I’m with Seán Burke on this - despite the odds, I’m going to believe we can win our final two games. Odds are against that happening. But it can happen. Not a reliable expectation but a wee possibility.

Clare if Donegals B team had converted a last minute penalty in castlebar they would have relegated us

@1985

Yeah that's true.

Eighty five Fair enough, Time to move on. Hoping for a hefty Donegal win. Only hope I feel at the moment is for Donegal to win their games ( obviously hope they don’t beat us) and leave a three way tie with ourselves Cavan and Tyrone where it will be decided on score difference. If that comes into play then Aidos last minute goal might yet be invaluable. Anyway I fear that I am grasping at straws as a more likely outcome is that Tyrone beat us and Cavan as do Donegal , Another though less likely possibility is that Tyrone and Donegal end up on 4 points each leaving us and Cavan on 2 each and out we go on head to head. All a bit on the negative side I fear and I hope I am completely wrong and our lads knock the stuffing out of Tyrone and Donegal

GlasAgusDearg I admire your optimism re Monday night but going on our history I can see us being left with more questions than answers as usual. I swore after the ticket debacle of 2021 that I was done with supporting Mayo GAA financially in any way apart from match tickets. Not that there has been anything inspiring to get behind anyway. I'd like to be part of something that would bring Sam Maguire back to the county but trust is fundamental to that process. I wouldn't trust any of the three parties involved in the current fracas, least of all the GAA, to whom players are products and supporters are a nuisance.

Well said Eighty Five. Keep her lit, Clare and don't be needing any nonsense. I'd say you put a fair bit more time and energy into supporting the lads than a lot of us here.

Will be watching Tyrone v Donegal later with a lot of interest (and no small amount of nervousness!). Really looking forward to Louth v Monaghan too.

@Ann - Marie

Thanks so much : )
Felt so deflated walking out of McHale park last Sun as we all did ! The dust has settled though now and we are where we are .

I am the same bit nervous about the Donegal v Tyrone game!

Honestly starting to think our guys will come out all guns blazing v Tyrone and even if we loose v Tyrone I just want a performance !

1985. That is a very valid point re. Donegal s b team and the penalty ?. A measure as to where we are with this so called management dream team

@Ann-Marie.I completely understand your pessimism about Monday night, but I am hoping that the attendance of the GAA big chiefs will encourage/insist on full disclosure and anawer all our questions.

We are not done yet. The darkest our is just before the dawn. Heads up...we could win the all Ireland.
OK, unlikely but possible.
Up Mayo.