A SHARED EXPERIENCE Former Mayo manager Mickey Moran has a quick word with John Maughan after an FBD League match two years ago. Both men are no longer involved in inter-county management. Pic: Keith Heneghan/Phocus
Roscommon just aren’t good enough
Kevin McStayIT was a turbulent week in Connacht football and after the dust settled one fact emerged, crystal clear: bar an upset or loss of form of biblical proportions, Mayo will play Galway in Castlebar in the 2008 Connacht senior football final. Of course there will be dips and slips in between, but at this early stage of the year, only Leitrim look like they can mount a challenge.
Having won an historic third Connacht title in 2007, Sligo celebrated but somehow lost their manager and now, it appears, there is a strong possibility they will lose their All Ireland championship status too.
A defeat in their final game versus Longford might well spell Tommy Murphy Cup action and the great win of last year will have lost much of its lustre. And of course, the promotional value of the win will be all but lost too.
It has been a baptism of fire for Tommy Jordan and his old managerial clubmate from the Crossmolina reign had a pretty tough one too. As I have often noted in this column, players and managers sign up knowing senior football can lead you to great highs and great days but the opposite also applies; sport at this level can be a lonely, frustrating and often bitter experience.
Roscommon football is in complete disarray once again. The resignation of John Maughan was inevitable; you cannot lose NFL matches by historically record margins and hope to survive.
The county treasurer resigned soon afterwards and that particular event should point you in the right direction if you are looking for the real story behind these latest events. I am positive JM had the support of the majority of the county executive. He was on excellent terms with the top two officials and thus the heave he expected would have come from further afield.
If you have the support of the county executive, you are always safe; because of the number of votes accounted for by the people in position, they are always the king-makers. Or king-breakers.
And thus I am at a loss to see where this heave was coming from. Some of my Roscommon observers tell me that while the amount and level of abuse was over-estimated by all concerned, it was certainly present at John Maughan’s last two games in charge. And of course, this type of abuse can never be condoned. Who do these clowns think they are? Nobody demands their attendance and of course they can always walk away from it. I feel the real damage was done when the manager used the ‘customer’ line to describe these ‘supporters’.
It was a broad brush remark and when it got air-time on RTE’s ‘Sunday Sport’ there was always likely to be a backlash. And so JM felt he had to go.
This is a dreadful scenario for all concerned — the manager and his selectors, the players, the county board and the real supporters. It marks a low point in the superb managerial career of Maughan and a low he had no right to experience.
The players and board will be all over the shop for the next few weeks and the gap to championship is too short to effect any real change. Where will they get a manager from now? Who might want it in its current state? Quality and/or star managerial quality is thin on the ground in Roscommon and those with it are best advised to bide their time. This current situation needs to settle down before any decisions are made.
Senior inter-county football is a cut-throat business these days and the last three defeats for the Rossies indicate the ruthless nature of the opposition: 3-20 versus Dublin, 1-14 when facing Westmeath and 4-20 scored by Armagh. Ros’ could manage a mere 0-6, 0-7 and 0-8 in reply each week. These are tough numbers and the bottom line is the team are facing Division 3 football next season. Have a peep at Sligo’s fortune and realise where things can end up. Roscommon’s problems emanate from one single source; it is as plain as the nose on your face and yet all concerned allow it to fall off the table every time the county gets a football reality check. The overall standard of senior club football, indeed the general standard of many of the different grades, is not anything like it should be.
A few short years ago I managed the local team to the senior championship and thrilled we all were with the win. But the truth is the opposition did not produce the type of championship desire one expects and a few mature and experienced players on our side won the title on their own.
If you remove St. Brigid’s from the current senior clubs in Roscommon you are left with a host of clubs that could be beaten by each and every Mayo senior club and most likely a handful of Mayo intermediate clubs too. Harsh words? I will repeat them: any football man who knows his onions will know the standard of senior club football in Roscommon is, most of the time, average to poor. I would say it is the poorest of the five counties in the province.
Until that improves, the county team is probably at nothing.
Mayo lose battle but real war is yet to come
MAYO will be as delighted as one can be with a one point defeat to Galway in a superbly well-contested fixture. Losing any game is never a nice feeling but they know where they are, and they know who they must face down.
Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’ notes that you must first know your enemy; last Sunday the neon lights flashed on — Galway are back in town. Some new players are now wearing the famed maroon and white and others are maturing nicely; but crucially, the old sweats are in better trim than for some time.
The look may not be quite chiselled but there is a sharpness and fitness to their movements and with summer approaching, the fear for all of Mayo is that they can only improve. But Mayo find themselves in a grand place too. Barring a major upset, their Division 1 status is assured; Laois and Kildare will surely fall.
