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What Now For Mayo

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Replying To A***pirate:  "Genuine question, do Galway football fans travel to watch the Galway hurlers, and Galway hurling fans vice versa?

Strikes me as two completely different fanbases, the west of Galway following the footballers with the east following the hurlers."
Always supported both. Went to countless hurling semi's and finals since the 80's.
I've witnessed the hurling fans walk out during double headers as the footballers take the field one too many times.
Would never happen the other way around.
I'll not support the hurlers again.
Sit back now lads and enjoy the football.

StopTheLights (Galway) - Posts: 406 - 11/07/2022 08:32:44    2431234

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Replying To tirawleybaron:  "There is a way for Mayo to be back in contention next year.
It's a fairly simple one too.
Mayo were under strength all year, primarily to over playing of sigerson players and a few other unlucky ones.

Fix that and they are as good as any team from 3-8.
Even under strength they are still in that bracket.

The other item that need improvement is their attacking strategy. A focus on getting the correct guys shooting from the D is required.

When Rochford took over in 16, he changed the running style of 12-14 and got Mayo's conversion rate from 50% to 66%.
That philosophy got Mayo the highest conversion rate by any team in an all ireland in 2017, except Dublin went even higher that day.

That change in style retained the high pressure, hard tackling of the first Horan era and reduced the reliance on the half back line to get scores.

Wether it's Solan or Dempsey that takes over, they need to keep the majority of what was done very well by Horan and add a focus on creating and taking higher percentage shots.

Tyrone looked a beaten docket at the end of the Harte era only to bounce back and win the next year by keeping the good bits and adding an attacking edge with the same players.

A Mayo team with Mullin, Keegan, Durcan, the O Connors, Ruane, E Mcloughlin, Donoghue and Conroy won't be far away next year.
Especially if you get another level of improvement from Plunkett, Hession, Flynn, Mchale and McDonagh

A few new ideas could get another 10% from Coen, Loftus, Carr and Harrison

Put all of that together and you have a 15 as good as anyone.

Add in a breakthrough years from two of : Callinan, Towey, Orme, Carney, McHugh or Moran and all of a sudden you have a serious all ireland contender again.

All of which is possible as the standards ingrained by Horan won't go away if the right man is put in place to lead them.

There is more than enough talent there, a lot of Mayo's problems come from giving away early goals and not taking the goal chances they do get. All of which is fixable.
The players mentioned above are market leaders in effort, tackling, fitness etc - a bit of finess is all that is required."
Great post and overall I agree with your sentiment. What ever manager takes over here is taking over a serious outfit - I think this year we just looked and I personally felt still raw from last years AI.... it was a mercy that Kerry beat us when they did.

And interesting stats re Rochford - I didn't know that. Stats don't always tell the whole story but that said a lot in the context of just how close we came those 2 years.

He would be my choice for the job - he must feel like he left something behind him. Whether he want's it is another story

Cbar (Mayo) - Posts: 351 - 11/07/2022 10:11:03    2431270

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Replying To Cbar:  "Great post and overall I agree with your sentiment. What ever manager takes over here is taking over a serious outfit - I think this year we just looked and I personally felt still raw from last years AI.... it was a mercy that Kerry beat us when they did.

And interesting stats re Rochford - I didn't know that. Stats don't always tell the whole story but that said a lot in the context of just how close we came those 2 years.

He would be my choice for the job - he must feel like he left something behind him. Whether he want's it is another story"
Just thinking there about who will be in the running for young POTY this year. You need to be U21 so Jack Carney and Enda Hession may well make the shortlist. Don't think anyone on the Kerry or Galway teams are eligible. Dublin only have Lorcan O'Dell. I'm not too familiar with everyone on the Derry and Armagh teams admittedly.

Obviously it doesn't mean a whole lot, but would be a good sign looking to the future.

MayoDan (Mayo) - Posts: 453 - 11/07/2022 10:58:15    2431294

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Rochford back as Manager with Maughan and C McDonald on his team, stop early goals in games, get a left sided free taker and pick the best team and make changes when needed and * No Old Pals Act * of playing certain players from
big Clubs when they are not just good enough. Sam wont be far away at end of year,

jacktheboy (Donegal) - Posts: 475 - 13/07/2022 19:08:14    2431939

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Good game in Chicago with McBrides beating Parnells with a last gasp goal although they should have won more comfortably as they were much the better team. Lots of Mayo lads with McBrides and many Ulster lads including Conor Meyler, Rhian O'Neill and Barry O'Hagen with Parnells. Fionn McDonagh was outstanding for McBrides after his early introduction and interestingly was on left footed free taking duty. He scored 4 points, 2 from play and 2 from 2 frees. Enda Hession also influential as was Jack Carney.

ponga (Mayo) - Posts: 658 - 25/07/2022 10:04:45    2434121

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Replying To jacktheboy:  "Rochford back as Manager with Maughan and C McDonald on his team, stop early goals in games, get a left sided free taker and pick the best team and make changes when needed and * No Old Pals Act * of playing certain players from
big Clubs when they are not just good enough. Sam wont be far away at end of year,"
Maybe McD staying on would be a good thing given his experience as a Top forward. Maughan - not sure what he would add, I wouldn't have him involved

My pref is Roch but I would try to bring Andy Moran into the set-up. He finished his career as a top forward, it has always been our problem (not producing enough of them) and its obvious he has an interest in management.

Cbar (Mayo) - Posts: 351 - 25/07/2022 10:41:18    2434137

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Replying To ahsure.:  "Now now, I remember a Connacht final between Roscommon and Mayo in 2011 where ye were outnumbered by Rossies about 5-1 and the following quarter final against Cork in HQ didn't necessarily capture the Mayo publics imagination also.

My point is a lot of your support (like other counties) is very much at the mercy of the success of the team.
Mayo aren't any different"
Have only just seen this. The 2011 Connacht final was played in the Hyde and was one of the wettest days seen in the West of Ireland in several years. A lot of MO cars set out on the journey but turned back due to impassable roads and general poor visibility. Cork admittedly was a poor turnout, which can occasionally happen.

I worked the matches in MacHale Park for a few years back in my youth, as Mitchels was my club. It wasn't uncommon back then in the early/mid 2000s to get around 10k (sometimes more) at an NFL game, when the average was probably only 3-4k for the division one sides. I remember around 15k for a league game against Kerry circa 2005.

Support may well wax and wane depending on how well the local team is doing (that is human nature) but Mayo's average is significantly higher than the Galway equivalent over a long period of time, that's the point.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 25/07/2022 13:33:30    2434236

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Replying To kiloughter:  "I think the reality is somewhere in between what some fellow County posters think and what ye think. I recall prior to it all starting your 1996 semi final v Ros in the Hyde and only 7k there. Fast forward to 1st round in 1997 against us in Tuam and think there was 18k at it. Your final appearance in '96 swelled those numbers. Again as noted 2011 against Ros and then your support mushroomed in the years after with good, strong consistent support. 2003 in Castlebar not the best measure on us as one of the reasons there was a huge Donegal support that evening was because they were so riled by the neutral venue choice they turned it to their advantage in the week of that replay using every local promo option they could. Interesting in the drawn match in CP (double header with Kerry Ros) he Galway support from memory appeared bigger. In all this I will agree we don't enjoy a strong consistent support primarily outlined by other posters. Large tracts of hurling areas would only support our footballers for a final and we need an exciting team to capture the hearts and minds of the casual fan. In fairness we always have our core as all counties have I guess tbf. On ye it will be interesting to see if your mass support will hold. I don't think it will fall off a cliff but if the next few years don't provide a certain progression even with a transition programme at play your support will come back to normal levels."
I can't speak to you about the Connacht semi-final 1996, I was a kid growing up in London and only came back to Ireland over the school holidays. I was at the Kerry match later that summer and there was a good crowd, as there was for the Connacht Final in Castlebar that year. I dealt with the Roscommon 2011 question in my previous reply to your fellow county men above.

I played football games up in Donegal, Bundoran, Ballyshannon etc. (i.e. the very southern parts of that county) are 3 hours away from Castlebar, all going well. The footballing heartlands of North and West Galway are 1-1.5 hours away, tops. There's no excuse for being outnumbered by them at what is almost a home fixture.

The Mayo support may well dip or go up a bit, but at the mo there's an energy and inflation crisis, one which may go on for a while yet. This will have a much bigger effect across the board on attendances than anything else.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 25/07/2022 13:41:44    2434243

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Replying To yew_tree:  "What's with the Galway posters and their constant jibe.."no competing sports". While Gaelic football is number 1, we have soccer, rugby, Bastet ball, hurling (is growing especially in south Mayo). We have half the population Galway do. For a more realistic look maybe look at the number of football clubs and registered players in both counties. Mayo only have a pop of approx 130k and many young lads leave at a young age."
Yeah, it's nonsense really. I went to a school in Castlebar that produced a couple of All-Ireland winning sides in basketball, youth internationals for the Republic of Ireland, an Olympic swimmer, a professional weighlifter, few lads who went over the water to play pro soccer in England or League of Ireland, even fellas winning Irish championships in raquetball and squash.

Few people realize that Ireland's greatest Olympian was a Mayo man who won three gold medals (admittedly representing the US) as well as three silver and one bronze in 1904.

https://www.con-telegraph.ie/2021/09/18/120th-anniversary-of-mayo-man-martin-sheridans-first-world-record/

Mayo is also one of only three counties in Ireland where the population is actually declining, according to the last census. Galway's is growing and will continue to grow.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 25/07/2022 14:00:38    2434256

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Replying To Cbar:  "Maybe McD staying on would be a good thing given his experience as a Top forward. Maughan - not sure what he would add, I wouldn't have him involved

My pref is Roch but I would try to bring Andy Moran into the set-up. He finished his career as a top forward, it has always been our problem (not producing enough of them) and its obvious he has an interest in management."
Wouild highly doubt that JM would be happy to be a lieutenant in another man's set up. Likewise, I think Andy's got a lot to offer down the tracks, but he is currently contracted to Leitrim.

I'm a bit sceptical on what MacDanger offers, himself and Horan went to the Tyrone v. Kerry semi-final last year and we proceeded to make exactly the same mistakes that the Kingdom did that day. Our forward play has also lacked a pattern since he was involved.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 25/07/2022 14:04:46    2434262

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In all honesty and based on the way the year panned out, with every game being a case of who's missing, for how long, who's coming back in and how fit are they, I'd have been as happy to have given James Horan a write-off on 2022 and let him get things back on track for 2023. I'd trust him as the best man to bring new lads in and get them right to compete as senior intercounty players. I wouldn't have stuck with the same coaches and feel that new voices/ideas in both defense and attack were going to be needed.

There's no one standing out as a leap forward from within the county (no Jack O'Connor type option, including Stephen Rochford). I think one external candidate who'd be capable of doing the job is Cian O'Neill. I fondly remember the way he organised the tactics for the 2012 semi-final v the Dubs and he has also remained in front line involvement ever since. If the players are genuinely there (and we have some good ones) then I feel Cian O'Neill would get the them organised to the max. He'd have to decide his own coaching team, with no insistence on them being from within the county or otherwise. Not sure he'd be interested at the moment (or if we have the funding resources), but he's always wanted the top job over a talented panel, plus he has helped with transforming the neighbours, and so even the geography ought to work.

Out of the names within the county, I think Mike Solan would be marginally the candidate I'd prefer, but not with any strong conviction.

Pericles (Mayo) - Posts: 2521 - 25/07/2022 16:59:02    2434367

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