James Horan says Stephen Rochford's late appoint will see the new Mayo manager "running to get up to speed".

Writing in his column for the Irish Daily Star, Horan indicated that last night's ratification of Rochford was left late by the Mayo county board and feels that the former Corofin boss now faces a hectic schedule over the new few weeks before the new season gets underway.

"When Rochford gathers them together, the core group of the squad will be ready to rock, so that won't be a problem," wrote Horan, who previously managed Mayo between 2011-2014.

"But the issue is that the manager has to find out the dynamics of what's involved in a very short space of time. Once the season starts, it's difficult to catch up on everything.

"The FBD League runs every weekend through January, then you're into the National League - where you are playing nearly every weekend in February and March.

"Mayo's first three League games are away trips to Cork and Donegal sandwiched with a home tie against Dublin. That's quite a baptism of fire for new management."

The Ballintubber man also touched on the step up Rochford will have to make up, despite having managed at the highest club levels.

"Rochford seems to be a modern manager, up with the latest trends, and I think he'll be able to work with the players," he wrote.

"The Corofin players have had a lot of praise for him, but he'll know this is a big step up. At inter-county level, there's just so much more to deal with.

"From county board to the media to the public to the logistics of training matches etc, it's a major undertaking."

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