What do Jürgen Klopp, Arsène Wenger, José Mourinho and, eh, Andy Moran have in common?
Well, ‘Boring Boring Arsenal’ aside of course, all can claim to have presided over some of the most interesting eras of their football respective teams and now, all four have been known to slap back at the media.
Klopp accused the press of sensationalism and creating false narratives about Liverpool during poor runs. Wenger scorned the “noise outside” and negative media coverage of his team. Mourinho, in his typically calm and rational way, accused the press of creating a campaign against Chelsea.
Now, we can be grateful that Andy Moran bears no resemblance whatsoever to José Mourinho but it was notable that the most positive man in the GAA came out with uncharacteristic edge to fight for his team in the aftermath of Sunday’s narrow defeat in Omagh.
“Ye’re creating the narrative”, he admonished Rob Murphy of this parish, responding to suggestion that Mayo had missed an opportunity to change the narrative around losing games while in the melting pot. “We won a game two weeks ago by a point.”
“Five out of that starting team today started against Tyrone last year”, stated Moran. “The team is a new team, and I’d love if ye just got behind them. At some stage, you have to look at the positive side.”
Fair? I think so.
Rob, John and I had convened for the MFT podcast in the immediate aftermath of the game, and my own mood could best be described as deflated. I’d even calmed by then, after stomping and scowling my way across the pitch, frustrated and irritated. The weight of previous defeats, recent and otherwise was weighing heavy.
So, I’ll hold my hands up on my own negativity, given we were still in the competition. It was actually quite refreshing to hear a manager firmly backing his team and sharply calling out what ails us as supporters. “You can’t keep saying, well we haven’t won one since 1951. Sure these boys don’t know anything about 1951.”
Andy makes a fair point. And Andy wasn’t in charge in 1951 or 1996 or 2012 or 2021, or indeed over the last three seasons where supporter morale hit the floor. “I think the Mayo fans are going away there today”, he mused, “seeing a team that now, they can go and support for the next couple of years.”
He might be right.
The crowd in Clones was sizeable and loud. Last year, following the Cavan defeat, the Mayo crowd in Omagh was at its lowest ebb since the disappointing noughties – small, silent and beaten down. Last Sunday, despite our problems, there was still a healthy expectation that we could get a result.
In the ground, we may have been slightly outnumbered, but we were not outshouted. For the first time in as long as I can remember, there was no apathy. The Mayo roar was roaring, the heart rates were up and pulses were racing. A rewatch of the game proves the performance throughout was decent enough.
And during the week, it struck me. The Mayo support is just desperate for something to celebrate. Rather than waiting like vultures to feast on the flesh of failure, they are ravenous for these young players – and this young manager – to succeed. And they are sensing that, despite our limitations, there is a spark there that could ignite.
There is also the thrill of watching younger players find their feet and confidence. If the more dejected among us needed cheering on Monday morning, recalling Eoin McGreal’s self-assured championship debut should have done the trick.
No rose-tinted glasses; problems remain.
In the middle and back. The fans don’t quite understand how our panel or bench operates. The trajectory of the season has been strange: the pivot towards youth in the championship versus the conservatism of the league. The post-Roscommon reset.
But our manager in his first year. Yes, there have been questions over his appointment, but that is not his fault. Now that he is in the job, is he not allowed to err, to learn alongside his young team?
The Mayo psyche is a weight on our chests, growing heavier every year. It ensures that we are the harshest critics, the least forgiving of errors. It suffocates green shoots of optimism with the suffocating fear of disappointment. In acceding to it, do we only deprive ourselves of optimism, joy and the wild abandon of hope?
One thing is for certain. Unlike Arsenal, Mayo could never be described as boring, let alone twice so.
As we face Meath in a do-or-die clash, the media this week has predictably been fondly reminiscing over the brawl of ‘96. Three decades later, this young team needs to bring some of that bite (or indeed, their manager’s) to bear on the pitch on Saturday evening, and give the Mayo supporters – and media – something to really shout about.