Good luck to the minors.

On the subject of the senior team, stick or twist with management?
I’m in the stick camp - here’s why.

1. The Cavan game was the outlier (it was awful and cost us but it was an outlier) - 3 very solid performances against Galway, Tyrone and Armagh (3 genuine all Ireland contenders) following a good second half of the league. Mayo were in heavy training during the Sligo and Leitrim games.
2. Do we currently have the squad/forwards to win an all Ireland under any management team - genuinely? I don’t think so but That could change next year with what’s coming through.
3. The Galway, Tyrone and Donegal games saw a return of the intensity we had become accustomed to in Mayo.
4. Good line management particularly in the Tyrone game.
5. Unlucky with injuries against Donegal.
6. Lack of onfield cynicism cost us top spot in the group last year (match v Dublin) and cost us again this year.
7. Aido was used better these past two seasons than in a long time.

Armagh stuck by mcgeeney, I think we should do the same with our management team. Let them see out their tenure. We’re out of the championship earlier than any of us want but aside from the Cavan game, the performances and intensity are there. We need a few players back - particularly Cillian - if ever rules suited a player (3 up - no tracking back for him)

Could a different management team get more out of this squad of players? Maybe but it’s a massive gamble. That’s my two cents - we all have different opinions but the grass might not be greener

I meant Donegal not Armagh

@Our time has come. Fair play for trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear but I'm afraid your post will not age well. We played 6 championship games and lost 3 of them. We were muck against Sligo, Letrim and Cavan all of whom are less than big-hitters.

if this management team or any part of it is in charge next season i will join the thousants of fans that stayed away this year. how much lower have we to go before theres change.

As I said JoeG, just my opinion. I’ve no issue putting my neck on the line to advocate for what I believe is right. The only way that post would age badly would be if the management team stayed on and there was no improvement next year - it’s possible but I don’t think Mayo are that far away when you look at the 3 performances I mentioned above. I’m not ignoring the awful performance against Cavan (that cost us) but Mayo were in heavy training during the matches against both Sligo and Leitrim.

You’d want to be very sure whatever management ticket you’ve dreamed up is an improvement - that’s not a given by the way. At the outset I was 50:50 on whether I wanted the Dempsey/MConville ticket or McStay/Rochford but this has turned into the old Richie Feeney debate - the less he played the better he got. Dempsey/McConville could have had more success than this ticket or it could have been a train wreck. He got the Limerick job and it didn’t go well and now Limerick are reaching their potential under someone else. I’ve nothing against the man by the way but I speak in facts.

Rochford (as manager not coach) done exceptionally well in his first tenure. He’s managed the last two games and done very well too. We shouldn’t ignore that, the grass isn’t always greener.

How much of success is down to squad quality and how much is down to management quality? All squads have a ceiling of potential, Mayo are in transition (they’re not as good as our team of the 2010’s) but I do believe another couple of years will get us back there.

Just my two cents

I’m a die hard Mayo fan but I agree that if this management is there next year will that be the end of my match travels. We have a good defenders and goalkeeper but need to bring on the U20s for attacking forward play and badly missing 2 physical midfielders. We have 1 or 2 that can shoot outside the arc but unfortunately they are kept on the bench for some unknown reason. Time to freshen up or the Mayo support will die

@Our time has come

Interesting view. Personally for me I just can’t see how this management justify another year. They have refused to embrace the new rules. Lowest 2p kickers in the championship with no effort to try and address it.

You said the Cavan game is an outlier but to me the outlier would be the last two games. We struggled to put both Sligo and Lietrim away, struggled for large periods against Galway, who were missing their two best players. Had a good game in against Tyrone. And against Donegal, we played ok but again same old failings came back to bite us.

We have gone from a QF, to a pre QF to not getting out of group. That’s clear regression. We have let Galway dominate Connaught the last 3 years. Not remotely acceptable. Players stepping away from the squad is a huge red flag. The same red flag that appeared during McStays times with Roscommon.

In relation to Dempsey/MCconville, of course it’s awhile ago now and no value in discussing it. But can you explain what you mean by “speaking facts”? Would this current Limerick team beat Dublin, Derry, Cork Louth or Meath? Because I believe that was the task Dempsey had on his hands. Dublin won the All Ireland that year and Derry under Gallagher won Ulster. Cork got an AI QF, Louth lost to Mayo by a point in McHale Park and Meath won the Taltian cup.

My concern would be that I suspect yhe players want new management

I kinda agree with @our time has come. In the bigger picture the league and provincial championship means absolutely zero. So ya the cavan game was disaster but beating Tyrone and so close to Donegal is not far away... I know it's ifs and buts so stick with me for a minute let's say mayo held the last few seconds for a draw (not management fault) or even won the last ball and kick the winner now we have a 2 week break and into a quarter final while Donegal head to killarney{this could have happened). My point is it is very very small margins and in this case it was tiny margins and maybe Rochford had them humming at the right time but the cavan game caught them. Again it's only an opinion something running through my mind or maybe I'm delusional.

Also meant to add Cillian, Conroy, carr, Loftus would have been huge additions had they been available

Our time has come. I told poster s on here 3 years ago to be careful what ye wish for when horan left. That' was after losing a final. We have nothing to lose by offloading this management. Things could not get any worse. 6000 in mchale for cavan game. Loads of players have left. Get them back and the mayo faithful back to match s. There is only one way to do that. Offload immediately

FreetheEastBank that may well be the case, but it would be a brave player or group that would voice it publicly, given that (incredibly) we are still dealing with the fallout from 2015.

Gough admitted his error in the Connacht final last year that cost Mayo a Connacht title. Kick of a ball in the Connacht final this year. A bit of cuteness/cynicism away from beating Dublin and topping the group last year and drawing with Donegal this year. That would have been some turnaround after the abject display v Cavan.
The margins are so fine - our squad is not strong enough yet but it will be. Think about eoghan mclaughlin, Tommy Conroy, Cillian, James Carr, Swannie. Need payers back to row in behind current management in my opinion and we need to unearth a couple of dominant midfielders.
Armagh stood by mcgeeney

The two pointers are only an option if you have players in your squad who can kick them reliably. You play the percentages with the players you have at your disposal. Look how it hurt the rossies at the weekend being over dependent on that strategy.

Regarding my comment on Dempsey Green & Red he was never going to compete for an all Ireland there in fairness but he would have been expected to improve their standard significantly. I don’t think he did. And again nothing against the man. Just think our next move is crucial and I think we’d be better sticking

Our time has come.
Do you really think that all the players you mentioned are likely to return next year under the same management. Not a chance, I would think. If they did you’d have to wonder why they haven’t made themselves available this year. One or two, you can understand but eight smells of something very wrong.

Davitt and Dawson are two of the good stories. Current management haven't had their hands on them long enough. Last Sunday was intensive, but the worst game of the weekend. 6 points/35 mins - the new rules are there to banish scores like that.
Spin it anyway you like but only one conclusion, they'll have to go
What happened to Dylan Thornton. He's down on the program to start at midfield but by Sunday, he's not even in the panel.
No way to treat a young lad and time to put a stop to it or more players will walk. Why would mullin come back to that kind of chaos? Not a notion.

McGeeney is brilliant manager

It’s a good question Nephin. I think management should sit down with Cillian and make it clear he is central to their plans for next year. If he comes back I could see others following as he is a leader.

As I mentioned earlier, the new 3 up rule is made for someone like Cillian and make it clear he doesn’t have to track back past midfield. We need his intelligence in the press and organising the attack and making the most of counter attacks (and physicality/cynicism)

But we can only have a couple of non-pacey players in the 15 at any one time, the new game more than ever is built on speed.

Our time has come, a well articulated view on why the mgt team should stay. I would be in the camp of a change is needed

You mention the team were in a heavy training at the time of Sligo/Leitrim. Has this been confirmed or is it well known? I always recall the 2022 League final when the team were in a heavy block of training. Sometimes seems like an easy excuse to throw out and what is heavy training -v- regular training?!

I’ve found some team selection decisions strange this year. McStay was quoted after the Sligo game saying “ There wasn't as much room as we'd like to experiment in those matches” in referring to the league. Is that not ridiculous mantra? Yet come critical championship games, Morahan and Dawson are parachuted in even though they were available during the league. There’s more room to experiment in championship games it seems…

In my job we spend alot of time looking at Turnover. One often held view is people leave managers not jobs. If the lads that departed the squad at the start of this year felt we were within touching distance of Sam or on a really positive trajectory, I’d bet good money many of them would still be available. All you have to do is go back to listen to Padraig OHoras podcast for a peak insight the camp.

On top of this, the mood music with supporters is not good. The excitement that was there in 2023 has evaporated. The team is regressing (championship stats) and very few players are improving during the McStay era. There is a lack of flair or excitement to the team which is down to personnel and but also down to some degree to management style. The example the last day of players coming back out the pitch with the ball, recycle recycle recycle and go nowhere, that to me is coaching issue. The players if emboldened would take on the shot at least. I’m not saying they would score but many players look devoid of confidence

Overall I think the whole mgt ticket needs to move on and external expertise looked at. The more I see of Rochford, the more I wonder did McEntee have a big role to play in 2016-2017 tactically

After Sunday’s narrow defeat, the conversation has now largely turned to the Mayo management and whether a new management is needed immediately. There are convincing arguments being made on both sides of the debate. It is also fascinating to see how people perceive things depending on what side of the debate they are on. For example, when Mayo beat Tyrone, a lot of people said it was as a result of Tyrone being flat as much as Mayo playing very well. When they went very close to Donegal last Sunday, it was said that Donegal weren’t overly interested, as they had already qualified. That sentiment was even expressed on what was otherwise an excellent pod last Sunday evening. The people wanting to stick with the present management put the poor performances against Sligo and Leitrim down to heavy training and the Cavan result an outlier.
The arguments will no doubt, continue. Here is one interesting observation from the last few months. When the management got criticised during the league and early championship, most of the ire was directed at Rochford. In the last two matches, when McStay sadly had to step back and Rochford took over the manager’s role, Mayo produced easily their best performances of the championship.

We have players capable of taking 2 pointers, Carney Brickenden, Dawson, Flynn. We are no different than other counties..But you have to practice practice practice.
We are bottom of the league for two pointers.
Just too busy practicing our possession game....

I haven’t been keeping up to date and can’t actually recall the names of the 8 players who have left.
I think it’s notable James Carr pulled out as he could be considered to get game time. I don’t think Pádraig O’Hora and Cillian were playing as frequently as before in 2024.
I think Liam McHale’s exit is interesting too - probably a difference of philosophy.
I notice people don’t talk as much about the players who stayed although you’d think they’d go if there was discontent:
Aidan O’Shea
Diarmuid (Cillian’s brother)
Fergal Boland (dropped and was recalled and stayed though gets limited game time)
Eoin O’Donoghue (who was away but opted to come back and although he is many people’s favourite has seen almost no game time all year).
Stephen Coen (seemed very invested in the interview after the Tyrone game).
Paddy (who had to work back to fitness to play).

Darren McHale, I note, looks like a player who is really happy this year.

Mattie looks to have regained focus this year.

Best of luck to the minors on Sunday. I presume Kerry will be decent so it should be a pretty close contest. I'm not a great fan of the change to u17/20 as I feel u17 is a bit young but it is what it is. I think the Gaa is not interested in underage anyway because it does not generate enough cash. Moving the All Ireland semis and Final from Croker Park shows how much the Gaa value the underage. Every young fella that dons the County jersey wants to play in Croker.

@Swallow Swoops: Cillian O’Connor, Pádraig O’Hora, Rob Hennelly, Michael Plunkett, Rory Byrne, James Carr, Aaron McDonnell, Conor McStay, Fionn McDonagh & Aidan Orme the lads that have opted-out in recent years (8 this year and the last 2 the previous year).

We've heard frustrations on training and playing from a couple that could be attributed to the setup (along with the obvious issues around the review and comments from delegates that were fairly targeted) with most avoiding saying anything at all in public, but likely a wide spread of issues/needs/injuries/family situations all playing a part in any decision so very little 1+1=2 there.

@Sticks for the Reek: Nahh.

They made changes on younger players avoiding larger crowds to lower stress and pressure on kids so young. Too many issues with/fears of lads having a bad day in front of a big crowd and it causing them issues or to opt-away from the game entirely. Was all a byproduct of Dr. Pat O'Neill's work on the Task Force for Burnout and fell in with the work on the Age Grade Task Force. (With the whole idea of u17 being a key developmental grade being to take more lads away from it overlapping with their Leaving Cert at u18)

Very interesting TsuDhoNim. Your knowledge is endless but great to have facts passed on. I would go with the task force, better to err on the side of caution.
Best of luck to minors, lessons learned from the Offaly game and we are in with a shout

Tsu, that’s very interesting. Thank you for that. I hope we see some of them back (those who are able to come back.)

How far is the pitch from Ennis train station ?

To get from Ennis Train Station to a football pitch, specifically Cusack Park, you can either walk or take a bus. The walk is approximately 20 minutes, or you can take a local bus like the 300, 317, 330, or 337.

A1 Sean, the way to go.

Thanks

While ye are talking about 2 pointers, in the current Mayo Senior, Intermediate and Junior leagues are the players hitting the 2 pointers regularly in the games?

TsuDhoNim. We all know how big organisations work just like Government. If you want a particular result you get in management consultants and low and behold they miraculously come up with the recommendations that suits your agenda.
I know that some clubs run their competitions at u18 as allowed by the Task force so I don't see the need to have the County All Ireland at u17.
I can see maybe the point about the Leaving Cert impacting more on 18 year olds but of course it they had the All Ireland in September this would not be a problem.I don't buy into young lads worrying as much about a bad performance. They forget things very quickly and if you ask me it's the parents that worry longer. Anyway many thanks for your points but we'll beg to differ on this one.
Hopefully we'll have one All Ireland to look forward to after Sunday.

Our Time has come in relation to players not making themselves available, did you listen to Padraig O'Horas comments on GAA+ ??
In relation to your comments on Limerick and how they are now "reaching their potential under someone else", that potential was in division 4 this year, they were in Division 2 back then....

Best of luck to the minors, I'd be a bit like you sticks as in Not being a big fan of the U17 grade being main underage competition. If anything I would have left U17 as a development squad set up that gets no real publicity etc. as they only young kids, and move the main underage competition to U19, as a big time for player drop off is after they finish school/go to first year of college, It may help retain players.
You could perhaps also consider having an U23/junior combined competition as well to try and bridge the gap to senior for those lads after this or who are on periphery/extended senior panels for further development.

@Gizmobobs: What you've suggested there was the suggestion of the Age Grade Task Force, but they weren't (or haven't to date, it's still an ongoing point of contention at times) able to get the counties to agree to that radical a change.

Our time has come you make a very valid point re management. I feel a change of management would be no harm but honestly am sick of hearing how “bad’ McStay and especially Rochford have been. As you said decent performances v Galway Tyrone and Donegal and also believe Cavan was an outlier. Also the notion that players won’t play for this management or especially that the dressing room was lost appears to be something peddled quite a bit by the anti management supporters. No doubt the lots of extremely talented unemployed managers are lining up to take over this star studded Mayo senior team and lead them to the Promised land Best of luck to the minors on Sunday Really hoping for a win . If they lose I hope it’s because Kerry are better rather than the fault lying with management yet again