National Forum

Mayo GAA Thread

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Replying To ponger:  "Even the Thursday after I'm still getting mileage out of this story.

Anyhow a few bits. The mayo players haven't suddenly become useless overnight but what has changed is the rate of change within the game. Week on week I've seen teams bring new things to the table (this week it was kerry picking all the midfielders) and i think Mayo have just stagnated from a tactical point of view.

As an example, in the first round of Ulster vs Tyrone, Tyrone went very direct for the first 10 or 15 minutes. Cavan lads were out in front and turned them over. That was the last time they done it and immediately switched to plan B. The brough it to the arc and worked it and on about the 5th or 6th pass they had a pod of 3 running against 2 defender and the rest is history.

Mayo never had a plan B. The half forward line struggled to break the line but continued the same way for the whole game. Don't get me wrong they got inside a few time but it was usually 1 player with no support with 2 or 3 backs bearing down on him. They were hard earned point if you know what i mean. Teams just have to bring something new every week as other teams are developing at a rate. The impact of these rule changes has a long way to go yet"
Ponger you're saying Mayo had a plan A, was Plan A getting from the dressing room to the pitch because noting much happened after that.

cluichethar (Mayo) - Posts: 533 - 22/05/2025 17:25:57    2611788

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Replying To cluichethar:  "Horan had great teams got them fit and fast but he lacked ability on the sideline during games."
Maybe so at times, but the current crew seem to lack ability full stop.

MayoDan (Mayo) - Posts: 459 - 22/05/2025 18:15:14    2611795

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Replying To MayoDan:  "Maybe so at times, but the current crew seem to lack ability full stop."
As someone pointed out earlier, the players that we have now seem to have regressed, not progressed under current management.

Horan had great players but he helped to make them great players. In his first stint (2011-2014) he didn't lose 1 game in Connacht. Rochford on the other hand didn't win 2 Connacht title with more or less the same team.

So maybe we don't have a Boyle or a Keegan in this team - but maybe we do and they are just not been prepared property by incompetent management.

Cbar (Mayo) - Posts: 360 - 23/05/2025 13:16:51    2611874

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Replying To Cbar:  "As someone pointed out earlier, the players that we have now seem to have regressed, not progressed under current management.

Horan had great players but he helped to make them great players. In his first stint (2011-2014) he didn't lose 1 game in Connacht. Rochford on the other hand didn't win 2 Connacht title with more or less the same team.

So maybe we don't have a Boyle or a Keegan in this team - but maybe we do and they are just not been prepared property by incompetent management."
Kevin McStay is the manager with selectors but with Rochford there it looks like more of a joint management effort. I wonder how much the two men in charge, with Mr Mulligan assisting on the sideline and shouting too much for my liking, is affecting morale and performance? Granted there were better quality of players under Horan and Rochford as sole managers but players knew who the boss was.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8024 - 23/05/2025 14:04:47    2611889

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Big meeting for Mayo GAA early next week it looks like with the head units coming down from Croke Park. Ominous?

boxtyburgerbuns (Leitrim) - Posts: 321 - 23/05/2025 15:22:19    2611915

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Replying To Cbar:  "As someone pointed out earlier, the players that we have now seem to have regressed, not progressed under current management.

Horan had great players but he helped to make them great players. In his first stint (2011-2014) he didn't lose 1 game in Connacht. Rochford on the other hand didn't win 2 Connacht title with more or less the same team.

So maybe we don't have a Boyle or a Keegan in this team - but maybe we do and they are just not been prepared property by incompetent management."
Boyle is a good example actually.

Made his championship debut in 2008 under O'Mahony but didn't cut it and was released shortly afterwards.

Got recalled in 2012 under Horan and went from strength to strength. This idea that Horan inherited a generational group of talented players is not true.

Of course a lot of credit goes to the individual lads putting in the hard work, but the whole environment is created by the senior management team. Our current setup has clearly failed in that regard.

Look at Donegal and Armagh for example. No recent underage success worth talking about (Tyrone and Derry have cleaned up all titles in Ulster at minor and U20) yet they are arguably the two strongest teams nationally at senior level. All down to management.

MayoDan (Mayo) - Posts: 459 - 23/05/2025 16:53:32    2611944

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Replying To boxtyburgerbuns:  "Big meeting for Mayo GAA early next week it looks like with the head units coming down from Croke Park. Ominous?"
Probably but we deserve answers. Our clubs are saddled with levies for the next 30 years over the MacHale Park debt. What ever about the on field problems our board has been mismanaged for years.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11594 - 23/05/2025 19:29:25    2611967

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Horan was a good Manager and could prepare a team very well, but never solved the problems of conceding soft goals in nearly every big game.

jacktheboy (Donegal) - Posts: 480 - 24/05/2025 11:41:13    2612016

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Horan was a good a manager but because of the way finals went for himself and the players, and they would say that themselves.
Horans team were always well conditioned but also he always had pace in the team which is crucial and something the team is lacking in now.
In Horans second term he had Keegan, Durcan, Mullin in the back line who all had great pace, Ruane, the two McLoughlins, Conroy, D O Connor also, it makes such a difference.
The team now is heavily reliant on Hession to get the ball up the field, he was also there under Horan made a big impact in the semi final when beating Dublin. Apart from him there is no blistering pace, Durcan and Conroy and big losses for this team for that reason and they are good players.
Yeah would agree with the early goals weakness with Horan, and the conceding of goals from high ball in, Brogan, Murphy, Donaghy, Tyrone exploited too..

tommy132 (Mayo) - Posts: 640 - 24/05/2025 14:18:48    2612034

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Replying To yew_tree:  "Probably but we deserve answers. Our clubs are saddled with levies for the next 30 years over the MacHale Park debt. What ever about the on field problems our board has been mismanaged for years."
How much co board levies do the club's have to pay

eoinog (Sligo) - Posts: 2115 - 24/05/2025 14:24:08    2612035

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Replying To MayoDan:  "Maybe so at times, but the current crew seem to lack ability full stop."
Not denying that Dan

cluichethar (Mayo) - Posts: 533 - 24/05/2025 15:01:32    2612039

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The current mood reminds me a lot of Horan's final year in 22. Particularly the qualifiers against Monaghan and Kildare. I think we played worse in that Kildare game than last Sunday and Cavan played a lot better than Kildare who were already on their downward slide. After the crowd headed off from the earlier Roscommon\Clare game it was also the emptiest Croke Park I've ever been in for match, including club finals. If it wasn't for a Keegan\Mullins move that produced a goal against the run of play we'd have lost and were well beaten by Kerry in the quarter final. Horan deserves a lot of credit for what he achieved but if he gets another go without the quality players he had previously, I think he'd need to bringing a lot more than conditioning to the table.

Immer (Mayo) - Posts: 37 - 24/05/2025 18:05:46    2612112

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Hopefully a quick and full recovery for Kevin McStay.

The_analyser (Roscommon) - Posts: 4059 - 24/05/2025 22:05:56    2612217

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Replying To The_analyser:  "Hopefully a quick and full recovery for Kevin McStay."
Hope is feeling well and happy soon.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8024 - 25/05/2025 11:27:27    2612307

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Best wishes to Kevin and his family. Hopefully he's back to full health soon.

D.Hyde (Roscommon) - Posts: 273 - 25/05/2025 11:56:36    2612321

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Best wishes to Kevin McStay and I hope he is back to full health soon.

Tirchonaill1 (Donegal) - Posts: 3212 - 25/05/2025 14:18:46    2612379

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Best wishes to Kevin McStay in his recovery..it shows there is more to what happens on Gaa field..

CTGAA10 (Limerick) - Posts: 2527 - 25/05/2025 14:42:40    2612391

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Wishing Kevin McStay a speedy recovery and wishing him all the best.

CiarraiMick (Dublin) - Posts: 3942 - 25/05/2025 14:49:41    2612394

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Best wishes to Kevin McStay for a speedy recovery,

tireoghainabu (Tyrone) - Posts: 396 - 25/05/2025 15:08:58    2612398

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Best to Kevin, hope to see him back on the sideline soon

suckvalleypaddy (Galway) - Posts: 1741 - 25/05/2025 15:15:14    2612399

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