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Very very disappointing to see all of this dirty linen making its way into the public domain, especially for Rochford, who is obviously blameless in the original fiasco. Frankly, this is a f***ing soap opera at this stage which you rarely see in the more successful counties.
Being a Mayo fan, you have to put up with an awful lot of sneering and mockery from opposition fans, and often even from people whose own counties have achieved little at national or even provincial level. There will always be many who revel in our disappointments, who seek to stick the boot in when we are down.
I am a proud Mayo man and I will always defend the honour of my county where I feel there's a case to be made. However, if even a fraction of what's been put forward by Holmes and Connelly is true (and I've little doubt it is) then it's hard to muster any enthusiasm for that.
I do think it's instructive that the players accused here are ones whose general performance levels were poor last term.
We have probably both the best and worst fans in the country imo. They can be considered the best insofar as they are incredibly loyal and passionate, who follow the green and red all over Ireland and beyond. Where we fall down is a tendency to make every defeat a crisis and turn every in-house issue into a national f***ing melodrama. Mayo people do need to learn to keep schtum at times. Can you imagine this happening in Kilkenny under Cody or Dublin under Gavin? Me neither.
Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 20/12/2016 14:47:29
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Replying To tiobraid: "Do people really genuinely believe Mayo were a better team this year than last? If so did you genuinely see all their (televised) championship games. With the exception of Andy Moran and Durcan I can't think of anyone that had a better year than last. (Ignore the All Stars/Player of the Year). Anyone that seen them stumble against a Tipp team in the semi final can't honestly say that. I think the Mayo posters are the best to answer the question as anyone that says they were better I believe are blatantly lying!" We got further in 2016 then 2015 but that's it. We struggled against Fermanagh, Tipp and Tyrone. We only clicked to life in the two finals. We also nearly got relegated so 2016 is far from vintage but I think Mayo people are fed up of playing well and just want to win it out.
I think Rochford needs time but must be strong. If there are any outside influences or attempts by any player to call the shots then they must be dropped.
I respect Noel and Pat but wished it could have been dealt with differently. James Horan when appointed said his aim was to take the bu11sh1t out of Mayo football. Looks like it has returned. Interesting to see where we go from here but I agree best thing now is for players to say nothing. Do the talking on the pitch and keep the heads down.
One thing I find amusing is those from outside who seem sad to see this mess we are in...you must be joking. I reckon most of our rivals are laughing their heads off and are delighted. It's time to look in the mirror, learn from our mistakes and move on. Blaming the opposition, referee decisions etc etc does not cut it with me anymore.
yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11232 - 20/12/2016 14:48:10
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You would want to have a whopping plank in your eye to seriously think that the two ex managers didn't have every right to say their piece. They were treated disgracefully by their county yet still maintained their dignity, and I'm sure what rankles most to certain people about their words is the fact that everything they said seems to have a lot of truth in it.
The Mayo players could do with taking a long hard look at themselves and their behaviour.
Steve (Fermanagh) - Posts: 293 - 20/12/2016 14:48:59
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Replying To GreenandRed: "We've usually found someone or something to blame for losing finals rather than finding out where we fell down and then doing something to improve that." It's terrible Green and Red. The county board tried to pull a fast one with the way they went about appointing Holmes and Connelly. They should be shouldering the most blame here.
Ironically Holmes and Connelly have humiliated themselves with this move after they being concerned about being humiliated after the players letter. They should have sucked it up and moved on.
The players are the only ones that can make this right if they win the All Ireland.
Meanwhile Kevin Walsh is keeping the head down building a stronger panel than this year for 2017.
Killarney.87 (Tipperary) - Posts: 2513 - 20/12/2016 14:56:09
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The crux of the whole issue is that H&C lost the dressing room.
Once this happens your done for. It happens in sport.
Supposedly they were dismissive of Horans reign which started everything off on a bad footing
Holmes and Connelly are good mayo gaa men but i think they made a mistake here ..
Maybe AOS has gotten too big for his boots .. i dont know .. i doubt Tony mcEntee would tolerate that
The only people that ever 100% know what goes on in the dressing room are those that are in it ..
I dont think you could get to a AI final , draw it and lose the replay by a point if it was a divided squad
Overall mayo fell into a final .. but did well in both finals..
We dont have the talent dublin or kerry have especially off the bench where matches are often now won
I have to stand with the players .. they have given so much in pursuit of success but lack a couple of top forwards
There are no winners in this dispute
Ah_Here (Mayo) - Posts: 42 - 20/12/2016 14:59:33
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My fellow county man Eamon McGee is out today questioning how Holmes and Connolly are helping Mayo football with their statement. I can't see where Eamon is coming from though.
These guys were ousted quite brutally and decisively, that's a fact. They dealt with it publicly at the time with dignity and calm.
Over a year later they have spoken from outside the camp as to the issues which they feel is holding back the Mayo senior team. They're entitled to do this as they have nothing to do with the panel now; something which the panel themselves chose.
So they have called out what they see at the issues within the squad and those issues as they see them are centred around some individual/collective egos overstepping their mark and trying to run the show to an extent rather than get on with the job at hand.
These issues may be at the heart of what is holding Mayo back from winning an All Ireland and if that's the case, then the best thing those players can do is get real with themselves.l, change and move on to succeed. Connolly and Holmes were exposed and presented as fairly incompetent by this panel of players and those men had to take that on the chin. The players must do likewise now, they are big boys and the only answer is to claim the biggest prize and remove all obstacles to that aim.
They removed Connolly and Holmes as perceived obstacles and now they must collectively and individually take stock and face their own inner obstacles so they can step over the line.
Acceptance is the key and not pity.
They are a fantastic group of players but greatness is rare.
Donegal_abroad (Donegal) - Posts: 1321 - 20/12/2016 14:59:55
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Replying To tiobraid: "Well summed up. With Babs we had a few of our best players dropped but none of them sulked. They weren't happy but the way Cummins, Kelly and McGrath in particular reacted was extremely admirable. Two of them already had All Ireland medals but were in a team going no where but yet went about their business. Mayo will get very little neutral support out of this. Personally I think they were a far better team last year. I'm sure most Dubs will tell you that Dublin were much better last year and Mayo nearly beat them. They were actually lucky this year to get the draw...not unlucky not to win as many seem to suggest. In general the standard of football was way down this year and Mayo were relatively poor by their standards all year including both finals. Kevin McLoughlins move to a sweeper in my opinion was a complete disaster. They lost a player from the forwards who was always good for a few scores and was rigidly required to stay in a role that was alien to him. Donegal beat Dublin a few years ago by attacking them from everywhere. Mayo's system was rigid defensive one that will never win an All Ireland. To get the respect of the players a new manager should come in and make a few changes on the panel especially with Mayo's situation. Rochford didn't do that and Galway hurlers missed the boat this year too. Clearly managers the players had a big say in "hiring"!" Yeah definitely, apart from the defensive meltdown Mayo were very good last year against Dublin. Of course Holmes and Connelly got the blame, the players shouldn't have left the gaps they did at the back when Dublin countered especially with their "5 years of top class experience".
Dublin were off colour in both finals this year but never looked like losing either day.
Killarney.87 (Tipperary) - Posts: 2513 - 20/12/2016 15:00:07
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Replying To keithlemon: "Just reading Ronan McGarrity's comments in the Indo today, I'm not surprised that he's supporting the players as he was one himself but to say that Holmes / Connelly should have just kept quiet is ridiculous. Why shouldn't Holmes / Connelly be allowed to come out and have their say? People say it's doing Mayo football no favours, since when did calling a strike and giving county boards ultimatums do anyone any favours?
The players created this situation, not Connelly and Holmes.
I don't want to be giving Mayo GAA people a dig here because we all know how good a team they are and how close they've been in recent seasons to finally land the big one. We've had loads of posts and threads this season with people taking cheap shots at Mayo supporters who I think are really good skin. I don't have a bad word to say about any I've met in Croke park, but I dare say that a lot of Mayo people are really disappointed with the players here.
I hope for Stephen Rochfords sake that he doesn't fall off that tight rope, like the players in that squads trust, it would appear to be a very thin line. Surely he's got to be worried about his own back here, what happens the next time he faces a big call, how does that play with the rest of the team or the group that got the last guy kicked out. If they're airing grievances about not getting on a tv show, or going the wrong way around a town to a match or getting fed 15 minutes late because mass went long, he's got to be thinking, what else can they get me sacked for??" Holmes and Connelly are 100% entitled to their opinion. The problem is they have lost the higher ground and just look really petty. They don't come across as the men you'd want in charge after this.
Killarney.87 (Tipperary) - Posts: 2513 - 20/12/2016 15:02:19
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Replying To Kurt_Angle: "Don't you mean "Micheal" Jackson? :-)" I'm confused ? I mean the "RIP Michael Jackson" tribute.
Killarney.87 (Tipperary) - Posts: 2513 - 20/12/2016 15:04:41
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Replying To browncows: "Holmes and Connelly said nothing that the 'birds in the bushes' did not know. The players made their feeling known thru a letter demanding the resignation of the co-managers. It is a bit rich of McGee voicing his opinion- he would have been better to have said something worthwhile when his team mate was dropped by McGuiness for a quote. It is interesting how most players now blame a manager for losing matches. On the football Dublin were a much better team in 2015 than 2016 (by at least 6 points) losing 2 of their best players. The guys posting that they were better this year need to take the blinkers off." That's why there was no need for Holmes and Connelly to say anything. It looks like they were opportunistic thinking they could get a petty dig at the players.
It was obvious from what the likes of Brolly was saying and writing after the replay that players pressured Rochford into playing Hennelly and we all saw with our own eyes the results of that.
Killarney.87 (Tipperary) - Posts: 2513 - 20/12/2016 15:09:28
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Replying To alano12: "you really do have a lot of hate inside you it seems...instead of talking about what your far more relevant long suffering neighbours deserve maybe u would focus more on the issue of galway having no fans and getting humiliated by a hurling county?" You're so ignorant it's hard to know where to start. That aside, I'd love to see Mayo win one. But the fact is sadly that they weren't good enough and that ultimately is the fault of the players not the manager. Same thing applies to our hurlers. It seems it's easier to blame the manager than look in the mirror. Players play, managers manage.
You seem to be awful bitter, no wonder others on here are wondering if you're from Dublin at all!
Ailteoir (Galway) - Posts: 861 - 20/12/2016 16:01:38
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Replying To Ailteoir: "You're so ignorant it's hard to know where to start. That aside, I'd love to see Mayo win one. But the fact is sadly that they weren't good enough and that ultimately is the fault of the players not the manager. Same thing applies to our hurlers. It seems it's easier to blame the manager than look in the mirror. Players play, managers manage.
You seem to be awful bitter, no wonder others on here are wondering if you're from Dublin at all!" He has a very familiar style, much like Kilarney.87
Bombardment of replies in a short space of time
Ironically enough he agrees with alano12 on this thread (nearly to the letter)
And look, they both have numbers at the end of their names!!!
keithlemon (Australia) - Posts: 920 - 20/12/2016 16:48:41
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Yew Tree says:
"One thing I find amusing is those from outside who seem sad to see this mess we are in...you must be joking. I reckon most of our rivals are laughing their heads off and are delighted"
Yep.
jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20600 - 20/12/2016 16:54:40
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id imagine the galway lads must be looking forward to playing mayo next year
rhudson (Galway) - Posts: 1478 - 20/12/2016 17:19:30
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Replying To moc.dna: "Most counties have a pooling system where all funds raised together or as individuals are put in & ultimately divided evenly amongst the squad. It's a system restaurants use now as well where all tips are divved out evenly. If one or more individuals pocket their own all the time & don't contribute, it leads to a break down in morale & mistrust. In a group of players trying to win an All Ireland as a team/group if someone is not doing what everyone else is doing, they should be removed from the group. Generally this greed manifests itself on the field also. If this is the situation in Mayo, as well as players looking for others to be dropped, it would appear that it's a nasty divided group." Good point. But also some in the county board may be inclined to turn a blind eye to some things rather than kill the goose before it stops laying golden eggs.
GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7346 - 20/12/2016 17:28:12
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Replying To jimbodub: "Yew Tree says:
"One thing I find amusing is those from outside who seem sad to see this mess we are in...you must be joking. I reckon most of our rivals are laughing their heads off and are delighted"
Yep." When there is this type of rubbish going on , it reflects badly on the sport not just the county , I had that opinion when it was other counties nothing has changed
Damothedub (Dublin) - Posts: 5193 - 20/12/2016 17:44:20
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Replying To keithlemon: "He has a very familiar style, much like Kilarney.87
Bombardment of replies in a short space of time
Ironically enough he agrees with alano12 on this thread (nearly to the letter)
And look, they both have numbers at the end of their names!!!" are you honestly accusing me of being a different poster because my viewpoint is different to yours?
alano12 (Dublin) - Posts: 2208 - 20/12/2016 18:12:16
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Replying To Ailteoir: "You're so ignorant it's hard to know where to start. That aside, I'd love to see Mayo win one. But the fact is sadly that they weren't good enough and that ultimately is the fault of the players not the manager. Same thing applies to our hurlers. It seems it's easier to blame the manager than look in the mirror. Players play, managers manage.
You seem to be awful bitter, no wonder others on here are wondering if you're from Dublin at all!" im not bitter at all..delighted with the year we had...just you are needlessly sticking the boot in on a group of players who have consistently competed at the top level time after time they still keep coming back which has earned my respect..i used to hate them...we disagree on how it was handled i believe the former management showed an interest in themselves not mayo football
alano12 (Dublin) - Posts: 2208 - 20/12/2016 18:13:56
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Replying To Damothedub: "Rubbish ,
Ive had a look back at posts that's not what I see ,
you have an the ends justify the means attitude and that's not my take on it for one bit , you have completely missed that a mans reputation may actually mean something to him , natural justice dictates a mans right to face his accuser , up until now what we have known about the whole sorry saga has been drip fed from the players ,people who love GAA don't enjoy this in ANY county , I hated the Cork Galway and Limericks sagas previously and don't enjoy this one, but if it was me and some thought it was alight to steamroll my name , you bet Id fight back , the response from H/C has been measured had this come out last june / july Id buy that they were only motivated by revenge , but December give a rest ." im seeing it a lot in the media myself..just my view though
alano12 (Dublin) - Posts: 2208 - 20/12/2016 18:15:05
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Replying To jimbodub: "Alano12
Still pretending to be from Dublin I see
- Funny how often you say things like "As a Dub" Being from Dublin" "Our county"
Please explain that backward County jibe?
Are you really from Mayo?" sadly for you im a dub...i have grown to respect this group of mayo players though...and factoring in that the former management team was aided by family members on the county board i havent much sympathy for them although a mayo poster would know more about that then me
alano12 (Dublin) - Posts: 2208 - 20/12/2016 18:16:37
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