Former Armagh star Oisin McConville reckons Ray Dempsey would’ve been a better choice as Mayo senior football manager ahead of Kevin McStay.

McStay and his star-studded backroom team, which includes Stephen Rochford, Donie Buckley, and Liam McHale, were appointed four weeks ago, beating out Ray Dempsey and other candidates to the post.

Speaking on BBC Sport NI's GAA Social podcast, McConville, who has since taken over as Wicklow’s new supremo, feels Mayo have missed out by not appointing Dempsey.

"Ray Dempsey would have been a better choice for Mayo, genuinely," said the 2002 All-Ireland SFC winner.

"I found Ray Dempsey very direct, very honest, and I don't think there's enough of those people around any more, especially in management. He would have been a good fit for them because that's exactly what Mayo need. But look, it's Kevin McStay and he's got a star-studded backroom team.

"Experienced managers that I've spoken to have all spoken about the importance of keeping it fairly tight. That's not a tight backroom team that McStay has. It feels a wee bit overloaded.

"Backroom teams that are hefty in numbers, it's so difficult to manage them. You're trying to manage players, but also backroom teams. A lot of the egos can be in backroom teams as opposed to the players on the pitch."

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