Well, there goes the only realistic chance of winning any silverware this year, can't see us winning Connacht or getting past All Ireland quarter final stage. Our lack of confidence displayed yesterday was in stark contrast to Kerry's attitude. Having beaten them only a few weeks ago the change yesterday couldn't have been greater. I believe that Mayo have some good footballers capable of beating Kerry but the mindset among management and lots of supporters is so poor when we hit Croke Park that this gets through to the players on the day. I know that we have a substantial backoom team available but do we have a psychologist? The body language from management on the sideline didn't look great. These continuous defeats at Croke Park definitely adversely affect the Mayo psyche.
I see supporters saying they are glad it's only Sligo next weekend, but I think it's good going to be a mighty scrap and will be close having watched that display yesterday.
I thought Colm Reape had a good game, not at fault for the goal,, ball placed accurately to him but defender caught on his heels unfortunately, hope the injury is not serious. Great save from Adrian when he came on, Kerry missed some opportunities themselves,should have scored at least four goals. .
Finally, the protection that David Clifford gets from referees is beyond a joke. Looks to the referees everytime for a free when he fails to knock the defender to the ground before he shoots. I'd give a free out everytime.

The Football pod with James O'D and Paddy Andrews is a tough listen.
O'Donoghue goes to town on Mayos forward play.but is it any wonder when McStay doesnt encourage the team to kickpass and has managed to lose Cillian and Aidan Orme 2 of our best forwards and doesnt play Fergal Boland or Paul Towey on a fine day in Croker.We are playing 5 midfielders in the starting 6 forward positions and we have not one playmaking kickpasser on the pitch and Stephen Coen is still managing to hold down a starting position with a crippling lack of pace along with Eoghan McLaughlin who has not addressed his skill errors.McStay still hasnt addressed the left footed free taker issue.
I dont think McStay can leave it any longer he needs to call up Darragh Beirne and Tom Lydon or the lads can start booking the flights to Chicago for July.

I have said it on here previously but one of David Clifford’s first moves upon receiving the ball is to put his hand in whoever is marking him chest/neck area and push them away. Should be a free out every single time, I can’t recall it ever being called by a ref. Maybe now that McStay came out and said it refs might may attention.

Or maybe we will be told he is a great footballer and we can’t be saying things like that.

Clifford gets protection ??

He is only short of having a saddle put on him everytime he plays.

Just because he's 6.2 doesn't mean you can continually foul him.

No disrespect here but the focus shouldn't be on Clifford.

Great blog this WJ, I commend you on the graft you put into it, research etc. Always interesting following mayo football, never a dull moment.

My last comment went into moderation but @ west Kerry your posts on here are generally very good but if you compare the dogs abuse Aidan o Shea has taken over the years then Clifford is getting off lightly.he is no shrinking violet and calling for players to be booked is not a good look.also as mentioned here is handing off of opponents is illegal which he also administers with quite a bit of force

@ WestKerry You are correct, but the contrast between the way Aiden O Shea is treated when he has three lads hanging off him and how Clifford is treated is the issue. "Ah shure he's a big lad he can handle himself" . Most cases its a free out against Aido for charging, most cases its a free in for Clifford for pushing his marker away as soon as he gets the ball. Either allow the physicality or don't.

Everhopeful. The defender had to wait until the ball passed the arc before he could play it, unlike the Kerry forward. In my mind it was a mistake by Colm to even try it.

1985 - that was because you used a slightly different handle which the moderation police took to be a new user. You've repeated the point in the other comment so I guess there's nothing to be gained now from putting up the original one.

Yea I see that now Willie joe .not sure how that happened

Agreed, Nephin - from a risk/reward perspective, it was complete madness to try such a kickout. This has been an accident waiting to happen and I guess it's better it did yesterday rather than in the coming weeks. Mind you, the lack of any discernible plan for restarts - nobody ever seems to show and Colm often has no option but to hoof it long - isn't helping matters either.

Just a point on forward play is general.

I was a corner forward in my past life.

All forwards push off their man to get a step on them and get that separation.

Clifford is no different.

I agree re Aidan he is the same as was Donaghy back in the day.

I felt McStays comments were more about deflection than anything else.

The good news: we are still in division one - they can't take that away from us now. Also, a new player got game time, at Croke Park no less, in a national final. Of course he only got it because the main man was injured, and our super planning system ensured that he was sidelined for the seven previous games. Is Adrian Philips even the second choice?

And the bad news: on the basis of yesterday's display, we are not a Croke Park team. The days are seemingly gone when we could pulverise most on our favourite turf. Yesterday we looked like the proverbial rabbits, reminding me at times of the Colleges final a couple of weeks ago. Kick outs are simply woeful and our approach to breaking ball is like someone with a bar of soap. And as for the throw in - have we actually won ball from this play throughout the league? And it's not just winning the throw in, it's defending against the winners: Kerry one point up, with ease after a few seconds play.

Sligo will be heartened.

In other news, Noel Mooney is the ref for the Sligo game. Yet another Ulster official!

Did I miss something?
I understood only the captain could speak to the Ref

Nephin, I'm not sure the ball has to pass the arc before a defender can play it, the rule is the ball must travel 20 metres from a kickout, no mention of the ball having to pass the arc.

The referee did not apply the rules to the letter of the Law yesterday, he let a few things go,
Kerry nr 8 fisted a point over the bar after taking 10 steps, no advantage was in place at the time.
Two handed hold, pull down on O Donoghue by a Kerry defender, this is a black card offence.
A Mayo player was tripped up and play went on.
Clifford giving out and complaining aimed at the Referee, no player can do this under the new Rules.
Clifford frontal charge into Reape, Reape hit on Clifford?

If we are honest I think yesterday's game has kinda shown up many Mayo failings.

Nephin is correct, BatetheBlanket - as this GAA explainer (see no.2) confirms:https://www.gaa.ie/article/football-review-committee-rule-enhancements-explainer. The ball has to travel beyond the arc and only the other team can intercept it inside the arc. That was what made it such a crazy option to try.

Trying to be more philosophical as a lifelong supporter of Mayo football. We still have young men and women prepared to sacrifice for the county and let's not forget the management team either. We live vicariously through their ups and downs but miracles are required for outright victory – so let’s try to enjoy the journey? btw the new jersey is dire!

I wanted to commend our team for their sterling effort yesterday against a clearly superior team (on paper)
Kerry were well worried past the 62’nd minute as evidenced by their management team’s discomfort. I’m not claiming any moral victory here but honestly I thought our defending was excellent -for the most part.I’d agree that Clifford’s “stiff arming”of defenders is legal-in American football- but certainly not in the GAA. I’m sure they’re well aware of this at HQ but it’s unlikely they will do anything about it. Unless ,of course,Aido starts doing it.
The GAA are responsible for the shambolic scheduling that was both foreseeable and foreseen that resulted in yesterday’s fixture. But,in the circumstances,it suited Kerry just fine. Mayo,not so much.
But the fact is we were beaten by a clearly superior team superior team yesterday who had great difficulty translating that superiority into an easy win. That’s down to our (imo)sterling defending.
The difference -in the end-was that our turnovers were in dangerous areas /situations.That was the difference.Not sure why Paudie Clifford got the better of us yesterday but it will be addressed.
Our biggest issue for the longest time -apart from composure-is our transition play is so poor.Yesterday it hurt us badly. We have the half forwards now to really improve on this aspect. I,like many others,believe Davitt Neary should’ve started.Can’t wait for Tommy Conroy’s return.
Then we should make the move that I believe this particular team needs.Play Ryan O Donoghue at 11. He is the visionary playmaker who can make the incisions and can quickly link our transitional play. He also is a tiger for loose ball and draws frees easily.
James Carr has to be missing the new rules which would’ve suited him.
At any rate,we have moved up from last year imo from about 8-10 last year to number 5/6.
We are unlikely ++ to win any All Ireland this year but 2026 could be a very different matter.
If we can accept that we aren’t going to win the All Ireland in 2025 this journey becomes a tad easier.
I was proud of our effort yesterday.

@ West Kerry, Mc Stay was deflecting from the performance, which was poor overall. Its just very unusual for him to do so as being a former pundit he normally says nothing controversial.
Overall Kerry were sharper and created acres of space behind our half back line, whilst giving very little space away at the back themselves. Paudie was everywhere yesterday and Joe O Connor negated the fact that Diarmuid O Connor was injured.
On a brighter note, it was nice to see the inaugural Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh Cup go to his birthplace. Its the small things sometimes.

Thanks Food4thought -yes look on the positives -
Mol an Óige agus tiocfaidh sí (praise the young and they will flourish).

I always admire a player that gets on with it, no complaining, no trying to get the Referees attention, no trying to get his direct marker noticed, booked or sent off. No don't see other great forwards at this.

D Clifford constant shaking of his head, his arrogance as if he cannot be tackled is what I don't like about him. It must be an ego thing or something.
I would love to see a repeat of the 2023 final where he was shackled and posed little threat.

I hope Referees implement the rules fairly in the coming championship.

Just thinking about the defender in that situation WJ. The only option open to him is (if he thinks the ball isn’t going to reach the arc) to try and get goal side of the receiver. A lot easier said than done.

Batethrblanket.

Petty comment.

He’d have had to foul the ball by touching it inside the arc. That would have meant a tap-over free but that would have been better than what happened.

West Kerry - I’d prefer if you dealt with the substance of the comment you called petty than merely say that. That doesn’t add anything to the debate.

Have to say I question rte's height of players on their team breakdowns. I've met Michael Murphy in the flesh and he's taller than me, yet his height is given as 6' 2". I'm exactly that in the raw.
Clifford looks at least 6' 3" to me, not that I've met him. I know it's not important so forgive me being silly here.

I know WJ , what I meant was he had no choice but to allow the attacker to receive the ball but try to get in position to tackle him once he gets it.

Willie Joe,

That's noted.

No problem.

Well yesterday was disappointing insofar as we didn’t show any of the spirit we had shown in our earlier league meeting with Kerry. I genuinely didn’t expect a result from the game but the performance left a lot to be desired. Roundly bested in midfield and beaten to every breaking ball. Kickouts were poor and the team just looked tired.
That aside, our teams flat performance was mirrored by that of our own support. Had it become something of an embarrassment to roar on the team and give them a bit of a lift?. Anyone who was in Castlebar for the Kerry game will have seen the difference it can make. It certainly seems to be frowned upon in certain circles to give the team any form of encouragement. You’d wonder if people are a little bit less likely to raise their voices for fear of the critique on social media.

I’m glad McStay called out what he saw regarding Clifford and it’s only fair - Clifford is an outstanding talent but refs have a duty to be consistent in their application of the rules and they absolutely are not applying the same rules to our own number 13 as they do with the Kerry number 13. It’s long been the case. Even if McStays comments were deflecting, perhaps it may be to protect his player. Let’s not forget the public flogging O’Hora got for daring to challenge Clifford even verbally (which was done when Clifford was mocking an injured Jordan Flynn on the ground) in the last time both met in a League final.

Anyway - on to Sligo next week, and hopefully we can get a result without injuries and a short rest for the players to recharge before Leitrim.

Nephin his eyes were on the ball to collect it and getting goal side of the two Kerry wouldn’t have in his head and of course in the circumstances going inside the arc to collect the ball and give away the free would have been the the best option but alot of stuff to compute in a few seconds

Feeling very deflated today. It was like men against boys. Maybe it is all part of Mcstay's master plan and we will come good in championship. We have a fast turnaround to get ready for sligo on sunday. I was very disappointed with the mayo support yesterday. We need to start upping our game in the cheering and roaring support to the team department.

League is over, stayed in the division and that's all that matters.
League final was a nuisance of a game, I thought Mayo would be a big beating and they didn't and were in the game until near the end, gifted Kerry a goal, passed the ball back to them for a few of there scores. Mayo were flat, nothing was going right for them, handling and decision making was poor.
They need to forget about very quick and focus on next weekend, when the real football starts.
Reape and the Full back line wont change, unless injured, played well yesterday out the field was the issue, no pressure on ball kicked in.
Half back line is an issue, every team now has good pacy footballers in the wing back positions, its an important attacking platform, yesterday Mayo had Coen and McLoughlin, Mcloughlin tries and is strong and great pace but again for the amount of time he has been a inter county footballer his skills have not improved, not comfortable on the ball and this leads to his bad decision making and terrible turn overs, the goal showed what he can do but he doesn't do it near often enough and the goal was only making up for the scores that came from turnovers and bad tackling. Stephen Coen, people seem to have a blindspot for him, does not do enough to be i the team, people do say he organises the defence which he does not and anyways when has a Mayo defence ever been organised. He is getting caught for pace now with the space thats created with the new rules. Yesterday the defenders were rotating a bit, they all were tackling and putting pressure on the shooter but I cant remember Coen doing this at any stage. McBrien was a bit lost yesterday, he will be center back for the year though and i think he will be fine there.
Majority of attacks go through Carney, Flynn and Ruane now, all 3 didn't have great games yesterday so then that will effect the forward play. Carney is a good kicker, Flynn is ok and Ruane can kick a score but rarely seems to kick pass, they need to up there kick passing game. I'm hoping the team were holding back yesterday in the kicking game and that they will start hitting O Shea inside, its a no brainer to use him especially with the forward mark its a guaranteed minimum 1 point.
Conor Reid and McHale, i still dont know if they are good enough to start. Maybe Neary and D O Conor for the 2 wing forward positions,. Id be happy enough to keep the same full forward line, Irwin has done enough to hold his position. Towey and Boland are good players to have come on for last 15/20 mins.

Predicted Team for Sligo

Phillips
Morahan McHugh Hession
Kelly McBrien E McLaughlin
Ruane Carney
Reid D McHale Neary
O'Shea Irwin R O'Donoghue

Hopefully Reape isn't out for long, but I don't feel we should be rushing him back for a D3 team.
Eoghan McLaughlin needs minutes. Irwin, Reid and McHale didn't do their league campaign justice yesterday. Neary you would feel didn't see enough game time on Sunday, and you would have to think Kelly was unlucky not to get any.

@Bate the blanket fully agree with you there he got everything from the ref yesterday and got unfair calls going his way when it should have been a mayo ball a few times...!

Disappointed from yesterday we were just wrecked maybe saving energy for Sligo that's all that matters now.

No one will remember this game in a few weeks. A final no one wanted to be in sure .

The annoying thing is that was a very soft goal we let in . We were right in it.

Kerry were not that good at all another annoying thing ..we might not win sam but kerry won't win it either.

Still think we will come good and win connacht .

We will bounce back.

Well said Clare about the bouncing back bit. No way was that the real Mayo out there yesterday. My fear is it wasn't the real Kerry either.
Met a good Roscommon friend who lives close enough to me in one of the dens of iniquity I fell into last night and he reckoned not one team, aside from Offaly, bothered over the weekend.

Clifford certainly gets rough treatment, of that I've no doubt and I've seen it myself in the flesh, but what I don't like to see is the remonstrating with the ref, demanding opposition players be punished etc. It's soccer-like behaviour and beneath a man of his generally very good temperament and capabilities. Also, he gets plenty of frees and more or less the benefit of the doubt against his marker more often than not. Himself and O'Shea make a very good comparison study because it absolutely highlights how differently players can be perceived by officials, especially when you think back on what the likes of Philly McMahon got away with in the 2010s era on O'Shea.

Clare Kerry are deservedly favourites to win the all Ireland.they opted to punch over the bar a few times yesterday when a goal could easily have been worked.no point in running down Kerry because we were so poor

We will see the real teams from here on in. A lot of shadow boxing throughout the league but that's finished and Sam is all that matters.
I can't say where the winners will come from, Kerry have a good shout as they do most years, Galway building nicely, Tyrone and Armagh dark horses, and lest we forget Donegal and the Jackeens.
I thought Limerick, Offaly and Wexford were very impressive over the weekend. Some green shoots coming up across the country. For me its win Connacht and get the squad + bench the best available. Imagine the cheer we would of gotten if Durcan, Tommy C or god forbid Cillian had of trotted on yesterday. There's magic to come.

@1985 just my opinion don't think kerry will do it sure they are favourites every year .

I'm not running down kerry it's an opinion like your own opinion . We wee poor but so we're kerry and others have said this to .

Sam will go to the North this year .

@Ever the optimist yeah agree with you there

Yeah sure no one wants to be I'm the league final wish we had rested certain players.

AOS, never got, or will get a free. I have no doubt Clifford get fouled more times than not. But lets be quite clear, AOS, Michael Murphy of Donegal, need to be shot, to get a free in a match. And at least one of Clifford free was a dive, and he has a duty of care, as he the idol of not only Kerry kids, but kids to length and breath of Ireland. And you start that s@hite, it will never end, and we ruin our national game. I am not sure it was wise of Kevin McStay either to start this conversation on Clifford, you open yourself to more headlines, and not sure it will change things. Have to forget about league now, Sligo need to be respected but so important we focus on them. Still have a super opportunity to reach a Connaught final, been on easier side of draw, and be properly prepared for whoever lies in weight, to loss Connaght as well, then this would be a bad year again

Clare unfortunately if others are saying Kerry were very poor yesterday then It doesn’t say much for us where at times we looked totally clueless.personally I couldn’t definitively say where Sam is going this year be it kerry or apparently definitely going up north

Our problem on Sunday was we were pure flat, mentally and physically.
Could be a hard week training.
Normally a team tuned in will get a percentage of the breaking ball, we got none.
Next Sunday is the day to be tuned in.

I left Croke Park with more questions than answers yesterday. Why wasnt one of sub goalies tried during league games? Now Reape is injured, so manager's hand forced. Lots of the subs got no game time again. Why wasnt Eoin O'Donoghue given more time? Jordan looked wrecked/exhausted, which is very worrying. Then we had the President listing out the top ones on county board and thanking them. Well if they (and all previous ones he praised too) are so wonderful: how come the clubs are levied to the hilt with the debt situation, no All Irelands won for decades, no Centre of Excellence, no ongoing fundraising, no fundraising in New York 2024 (I note Galway making a big effort to make money out there next week), no training facilities, ONE hour per team was referenced by Colm Boyle recently that underage teams had use of a pitch. I could go on....
.

I wish people would stop whinging about Clifford. He is targeted more than any player in the game and has had to develop tactics to cope with that. Nobody achieves greatness without a hard edge and he is undoubtedly the best player of the last few years. Minimising his influence is our job not the referees.

As ever, the problem is management. When Plan A does not work there is no Plan B. When other team change tactics we are too slow to respond and when radical innovation is required we are simply staring into a void hoping something will happen. We need to face hard truths instead behaving like losers and recycling the same old boring grievances.

@1985, Not too many pundits if any predicted an Armagh win last year. You take it like a pinch of salt this weather, more for entertainment than anything else. I think its wide open for 6-8 teams depending on form, injuries and the rub of the green. Kerry or Dublin can Never be written off but I have to agree with Clare, I see Sam outside these two this year. Both are beatable, not so sure about a fully fit Galway or Donegal selection. Time will tell i suppose.

At risk of being shot down, dare i say Murphy and O'Shea don't get frees primarily because they're not looking for them?..look this public adoration of Clifford is stomach churning, it's beyond a joke. It's reminiscent of the crowds flocking to see the relics of yesteryear. He's great, yes Ted... doesn't mean he's exempt from getting a good old bit of back door loving, like so many in the past. Jaysus, he'd know all about if Mick Lyons was whispering in his ear.

A lovely day, a good Mayo crowd but very poor atmosphere there yesterday. I know its good for the team to get a run in Croker but would somewhere like the Gaelic Grounds not be better for a crowd of that size. I hate to say this but it reminds me of going to Baseball game in the US, everyone has a nice seat but there is no crack like in the old days when everyone was standing. Mayo lost it at in the middle of park (don't say Mid Field anymore at its now the middle third) and I was expecting better there.

@ bonni every team is beatable on a given day but I wouldn’t be definitively saying Kerry won’t win it given their history nor did I think we would win yesterday given that Donegal who didn’t want to win the game almost did in spite of themselves

I didn't think Kerry were poor yesterday I thought they were well up for it and played very well in parts. From a Mayo perspective we made a lot of mistakes that were punished the goal and a few Kerry turnovers that resulted in points. We also turned them over twice in very dangerous positions only for us to get turned over ourselves - these should have been goal / scoring chances. Also thought Ryan's 2 pointer miss at the end of the first half was crucial.

Any news on Reape today ? I dint think it looked like a break and read somewhere this morning McStay said it wasn't or didn't look major

@Thedarkyfinn

Heard Reape should be ok for the Sligo game .

Yesterday's game was an accurate reflection of where we are at going into the championship. Kerry are a tough, seasoned team, with an appetite for winning. They'll be disappointed to concede the goal and ROD was a thorn in their side that they did not come to grips with. They're contenders for Sam but not a shoe in.
Mayo, on the other hand, are learning their trade, our young players are progressive and will be all the better for the experience.
But we have problems in key areas. No strategy for winning breaking ball in midfield and we need to 'clean field' more ball. Sligo are strong at midfield, Rally would get his place on any county team.
We don't have an 11, a leader of the pack. Maybe DOC will be the answer. And the other fault, we're still playing 'old rules' football. Typified by lateral runs and pass back. The new rules are all about having a go, kerry showed us the way with some brilliant long kick passing, on the other hand, we starved AOS, forcing him to come deep looking for ball but then out of position for the long ball into the danger area.
Quarter final is a realistic target for us but there are plenty of counties that can trip us up, Sligo not one of them imo.

Pick a few forwards.
Just 2 or 3 midfielders because with everyone trying to field the ball there's nobody looking for the breaks.our top breaking ball merchants recently weren't giants, Dillon, Doherty, Kevin McLoughlin, Boyle etc.
Give Fenton Kelly the marking job on mobile playmakers like he did on Ryan McHugh.
Put our fullback (David McBrien) in at number 3.
Most of all spend every available minute on the training ground working on a kickout strategy. Get your kickouts wrong and you're in deep trouble and confidence ebbs away.

Can we please forgot about Kerry?

And can we please focus on Mayo. We can’t control the actions of David Clifford and weather or not the refs give him soft treatment.

What we can control is our style of play, which went back to the rubbish we saw at the beginning of the league. Slow, passive sideways football. If our management don’t go out and attack the game then how the hell do we expect to win?

Every team that has won an All Ireland in the past has done so by deciding to go for the kill when the opportunity presented itself. And the new rules encourage attacking play. So why on earth are we trying to go against the grain? Why do you put 2 men who are 6’3+ in the full forward line and refuse to kick the ball into them?

I work with a Kerry man who also pointed out an issue with our attack, no speed and a lack of natural mobility. I’d say Kerry’s slowest forward would be Mayos quickest. Irwin, O’Shea, ROD, Reid and Flynn have never been lads we have praised for speed. All big men but no ball kicked into them. And what’s worse is that at club level most of them don’t even play in attack.

Instead of giving out about the best attacker in the game, Kevin should focus his energy on developing our attackers and playing to our strengths!

After Armaghs win last year any team in division 1 will feel they can win the All Ireland.

Winning all Irelands is about luck as much as anything.

Keeping key players fit and in form.

Stating in April Kerry won't win the All Ireland is ridiculous and might be just wishful thinking.

Kerry yesterday were without Seanie Shea, Diarmuid OConnor and Tom Sullivan.

I expect the winners to come from,

Donegal
Galway
Kerry

If lady luck is on their side.

Another dose of reality dished out yesterday. I could sense some people getting the optimism back after a strong finish to the league but we are way off it at the top level.

For everyone here who's had the knives out for Jack Coyne for the last few weeks, he's the only Mayo player on the GAA's team of the week.

Listened to the OTB football pod, James O'Donoghue didnt get the memo in Kerry on the yerra stuff, doesnt spare Mayo and their forward play. Hes scathing on the lack of quality, natural forwards and skill levels particularly in half forward line. Its very hard disagree with him.

Aside from ROD you were looking at a front 8 that contains natural midfielders in Reid/Flynn/Carney/AOS/Ruane/Irwin and a natural wingback in Eoghan McL.The net result was a paltry 1-12 from play. If that wasnt the day to back natural forwards on a perfect day with new rules favouring scoring forwards then i dont know when is.

Rewatching the match on tv last night i actually wouldnt be overly critical of any of the defenders on a individual basis, given the fact we were bet up a stick at midfield and the supply of ball coming in was endless, Given that the likes of McHugh/Coyne/Hession etc prob done as well as could be expected.

As always, The issue with Mayo when it comes to the real stuff in June/July will be the lack of quality and skill in attack

Any of the top 8 teams can win it . Including mayo .

It's only April you can't totally write us off just after yesterday's poor game . We only hit 3rd gear but lateral play needs go now!

We were saving our energy for Sligo .

If we had won yesterday every eejit from other counties be saying that's our all Ireland and now we lost called bottlers and no chance at winning it now to ..

We weren't awful in parts yesterday but honestly feel we were more focused on the Sligo game.

No one gives a toss about the league did well not to get relegated.

Kerry were also on the verge of being relegated let's not forget that .

It's wide open sure everyone thought Derry would win all Ireland this time last year look what happened things can change very fast..

If Galway are contenders then so are mayo they were crap v kerry.

@WestKerry - Both teams missed their fair share but I think Kerry were excellent yesterday. Mayo found it very hard to break down the backs, dominant/rampant at mid field, a forward line to scare anyone and still missing a few key players to come back.

Sligo game on Gaa+

Clare - are Kerry not in the top 8 teams because you stated earlier that Kerry would not win it as it was going north this year and I don’t believe any eejits from other counties would be saying we would win the all Ireland if we won yesterday.you have said numerous times that if we can’t beat the likes of Sligo then we are going nowhere but now our performance yesterday was because we were focused on Sligo next Sunday

I’m amazed at some of the comments today. The sense I’m getting here is we were poor yesterday but there’s more in us, that Kerry are no great shakes and Clifford should be banned for crimes against GAA!!

I’m so sick of Mayo teams rocking up to national finals especially in Croker and getting their arses handed to them. There was way more an emotive reaction when Galway won a few weeks back in a less important game than losing another showpiece event. We are too used to losing. Forget about all irelands, I make that 3 NFL titles since 2001 we’ve won but we’ve lost 07,10,12,22 and 25 now.

The performance yesterday reminded me a lot of 2004-2006 period. In fact I was thinking at times yesterday this is like watching those times again. Either we are massively out of our depth or management have a lot to answer for.

For me I would be questioning a number of things
1. Why wasn’t a second keeper trialled during the league games? It had been talked about all season that the sub keeper had no game time. Then yesterday there’s was no option but the play Phillips
2. Why are we persisting with McBrien at 6 when he’s one of the best 3s Mayo have produced since Kevin Cahill?
3. What’s Sam Callinan role now? The lad billed as the chief man marker last season now is short of confidence and looks a bit lost
4. Where’s Rory Brickenden gone? Played so much over the past 2-3 years but perhaps I missed the memo on an injury? Not saying I’d return Rory to the team but seems a misjudgment from mgt over the past 2-3 years
5. Midfield. Said it yesterday but why do we get beaten up there so badly in showpiece events. Reminded me of Tyrone 21 just got destroyed yesterday. And it wasn’t Darragh Ose either we were playing. We can often make superstars of players. I haven’t seen much of Kilpatrick or Kennedy since 21
6. Forwards - what do we expect of Conor Reid or Eoghan McLaughlin? When are we going playing forwards? If it wasn’t for Aido yesterday we’d have been hugely adrift at HT

Im sorry for the rant above but I’m sick to me teeth of a Monday after a final game in Croke Park and Mayo have been well beaten. When can hide behind if didn’t matter but it annoys me

Donegal is not in the north and I'd bet it's headed that direction.. Tyrone being in the north, through which most Donegal folks travel if living in the inishowen peninsula. I've seen nothing to dissuade me recently that it's not between either of the above. Galway might trouble them or split them, but I doubt it.

Listening to the podcast I agree with martin about the form of sam callinan it's very worrying he's not carrying any ball and he's gone from number 1 man marker to not even been in our top 3 he's played a lot of football between county and club over the past 3 years though.

And tomorrow is April 1st Clare.
Two really disappointing things I noticed in Croker yesterday.

The real unawareness of the breaking ball at midfield and players not being alert for the Mayo kickouts, making themselves a target etc.

But the most disappointing thing was where the Mayo nr 3 stated behind D Clifford when a ball was played into space in the 2nd half, Clifford was only going at half pace, the Mayo nr 3 should easily have got to the ball as it was coming in, a low ball , ie attack the ball, first to the ball, we saw the Monaghan defenders do this on Saturday Evening.

Standing behind, defending from behind will not work in Croker under the new Rules amd the faster style of football.

@1985 Didn't say Kerry would not win it, they are perennial contenders that you just never write off. Look at how many times they have lifted Sam. My gut just says it will be someone else this year.

Lads and Ladies, it's only a game! I recall being at a League game against Kerry in the early Eighties and got talking to a man standing beside me behind a a barrier in the terrace. I gathered he was a Kerryman but he certainly didn't boast about it. We discussed all the Worlds troubles and bit of football. He kindly invited me for a few pints in The Royal Dublin. . A very interesting man who didn't give me his name. Imagine my surprise when I read the back page of the Evening Press the following day! He didn't have sympathy of pity for the Mayo team beaten that Sunday. . he had admiration for Mayopeople and yes, he did remember some of the advice given by me to the referee!. Con Houlihan RIP.Its only a game and we should be proud of ourselves...mayopeople

The expectancy we have in mayo is unbelievable. McHugh, Callinan, McBrein, Towey etc played as good as they are at this present time. Neary showed some nice potential. Irwin, Reid will have learned from experience....
We have to address the issues which are holding us back.
As for winning Sam, I would definitely add Galway, they dismissed us as easy as Kerry did, and they have a steely look about them, but it has taken years to get there...

Tyrone for Sam this. Best side from front to back, best GK in the game, two massive units in the middle and 3 brilliant forwards that would walk onto ay county team. No mental weaknesses with Croke Park or AIF days either. Plus, in Malachy O'Rourke, they have a smart, canny manager.

RE yesterday, I can't help thinking that we looked sluggish and heavy legged and carried no real pace or zip to our game. Beaten in the air in the middle third and soundly beaten on the ground in the battle for breaking ball. Both those weaknesses point to a lack of aggression, a lack of intensity. A lack of real desire to go in where it hurts, risk life and limb! I am half thinking that while we named virtually our starting 15 for championship, the instruction might have been "go for the win but mind the legs and don't get injured". It would be hard not to give that instruction because think about the alternative.... We go flat out to beat Kerry, win but lose 1 or 2 key players due to collisions/injuries/exhaustion etc. etc. We'd all be saying "ffs, what were they at?"
The facts are we are not as bad as we showed yesterday. For periods of that second half we were only 3 points off Kerry, while in reality it felt a much bigger margin. We got totally screwed by Coldrick in 3 or 4 very big situations. For our Kerry brethren, you can dress it up anyway you like but it's undeniable that Clifford gets preferential treatment from refs, and, ye got every 50/50 call (and some 40/60 calls too) your way yesterday. O'Shea was battered from pillar to post by Foley and Murphy and didn't get a single call. Now, that's not what beat us, but when you have those decisions going against you when you are already blowing blue smoke, well there's only one outcome then.
Beat Sligo by 9 or 10 points on Sunday and all this will be forgotten.

Bonni I didn’t say you said it .it was a reference to a previous post that you commented on

The All Ireland isn't won in March thankfully so we move on. Kerry have a better team than us to win it and good luck to them if they do. Not ruling us out and it just takes a good run of three games at the end to win it. Look at Armagh last year. It's wide open.
On Clifford he is a brilliant player and will probably be one of the best this year when player of the year is picked. However he deliberately went across where Reape had the cone for kicking the ball out to slow him up. Reape pushed him and he went down like a sack of spuds like a school yard bully and called teacher. Not very sporting and took his retaliation out on Reape later and no card. So no doubt in my mind he gets favourable treatment as a star player but he is no different from all star players in other sports Messi and Ronaldo good examples. And remember in his young days he was a class soccer player also. Notwithstanding all this he is a joy to watch in full flight.
I just wonder will other teams now start walking in front of the cone to stop fast kickouts and what is the rule about this.
Also it was a shockingly poor game of football.
So much for the clueless media hype about the new rules.

Sticks, technically cone shouldn't be left on ground after a kick out.

Gizmobobs I stand corrected but I don't think Niall Morgan uses the cone. Is the cone compulsory or optional? No cones in my day. And what if player walks in front of goalie to stop the quick kick out. Whats the penalty?

Did that not happen when reape was making his way to place the ball on the cone?

Absolute nonsense about clifford,was at the game yesterday and sat evening ,as a rossie cliifford for such a big fella has unbelievable power and skill ,the defenders are shown up when going for ball with this guy,ros defenders were shown up for clear lack of strength in our own hammering, cillian o connor was well able to win soft frees in his career and does not have half the power that clifford has,yet in my opinion he was a wonderful footballer for mayo

I thought any bit of moaning was to be punished as dissent. Coldrick should have punished us for it as much as Kerry. It's kind of stuff that will continue to drive us insane and you would not at all be surprised to see another ref completely flip a free in and move it deep into the other half for a two point free, because the corner forward 50 meters away let out a muted sigh.

We were beaten all ends up yesterday. Destroyed at midfield. Slow ponderous attack. No ball kicked in.

Thats it. That's what the focus should be. Never mind the ref

Exactly we can't always be blaming the ref. I'm sorry to say we are not good enough. We have a lot to do.

Some good points Roco88. We definitely make heroes out of average enough players. You could add McShane and McCurry to that, handy enough players but megastars against Mayo in the '21 final. Then little heard about them since.

Reflecting on Sunday now, I'm not too concerned. The League final is becoming less and less important, flatter atmosphere every time. The wins never served us well in the past and I think that was in our minds.
Overall we're playing our best players, so we gotta work with what we have and drop the sense of entitlement. The days of Cillian and Andy Moran in his pomp are long gone.

Lads, we are where we are, and that's well outside the race for Sam. Kerry are just much better than us at the current time and we are realistically ranked 8-10 nationally.

Personally, I think the chickens have come home to roost, in the sense that Mayo have fallen well off our traditional standard at underage level in the past decade or so. If we look at the team that we had from 2011-2017, that side was built off the very solid foundation of an All-Ireland U21 victory in 2006, regular Connacht championship wins and All-Ireland final appearances at u21 and minor level.

In the past decade, we have regularly taken some absolute tankings at minor and U20, even in Connacht, with the odd exceptional team, such as the U21 All-Ireland winning side in 2016, or the minors in 2022. We have been well beaten by Sligo on several occasions in recent years at U20. No disrespect to Sligo, great work is being done there, evidently, but given their small population and the soccer-mad nature of their county town, we shouldn't be content with this situation, at all.

The lads we have are very honest, do a lot of hard running and harrying, but we are still very deficient in forward play, shooting, spatial awareness, tactics etc. Some of this is probably down to management, but IMO we are not producing players of the same technical quality as the top counties. If you compare us to how efficient Armagh were in the All-Ireland final last summer, we are light years away.

Also, we need to give it a rest on David Clifford. I agree that he gets a little bit too much protection relative to some other big men, Aido amongst them, but the harping on about him will just be portrayed as sour grapes.

We should not take Sligo for granted, IMO, as some seem to be doing here. I remember us leaving Longford with our tails between our legs with a far better squad.

@Pebble - great analysis and great turn of phrase. Not sure about Tyrone though but on a second read you never know.....

@Batetheblanket.I was wondering if I was the only one that thought that Joe O'Connor took way too many steps before fisting a point, or did I imagine it. I would have to see it again, but I counted at least 8 steps without playing the ball. I can understand getting away with I or maybe 2 extra, but this was blatant. What is the point of the rule if not enforced. On the subject of fouls on D Clifford-like any top forward, he will get fouled a lot, but he is not entitled to any more leeway than any other player and he certainly got a lot of soft frees in this game-you could see how exasperated the defenders were. He uses his arms to fend off players, but if the defender uses one arm to restrain him, he invariably seems to get a free. And he does too much moaning, even after getting his free. He need to know and so do referees that he is not untouchable. And this brings me to the definition of a foul, or lack thereof. It needs to be much more clearly defined, what is allowed and what exactly is not allowed, and this now even more vital under the new rules, with more 1 v 1 marking. PS. I am not blaming the referee for the result as Kerry were way better than us in every aspect.

GlasagusDearg - I counted 10 steps when watching it back on TV. I recall going nuts at the time too as it was a case of blatant overcarrying.