John O'Mahony has joked that Galway have been a transformed team since they got "rid of their Mayo managers". Mayo boss O'Mahony will come face-to-face with his former charges, who he led to All-Ireland title wins in 1998 and 2001, in next month's Connacht SFC final at Castlebar and admits to having been highly impressed with their form since local man Liam Sammon succeeded Peter Ford as manager at the end of last year. "Looking at it now, I did see the Galway matches and certainly they have two games under their belts - Liam Sammon has done a fantastic job with them over the winter," he said. "He has rejuvenated them and they seem to be enjoying their football and all of that. "They are in pole position and they have been favourites from a long way out to win the Connacht championship. We were hurt last year and there is no doubt about that. "So that's it - even listening to some of their players - they are very impressed with the way things are going and the way Liam Sammon has approached them, so they are glad to be rid of their Mayo managers and all that kind of thing. "They are a happy camp at the minute and I have great memories and great friendships, but on July 13, there will be nothing but a good friendly rivalry between two teams who respect each other but will battle like hell to get one over on each other." Tweet

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