Mayo followers need some leaders
WHAT began in February on a promising note was over by June in habitually dismal circumstances. Once again the wacky nature of Mayo football had numbed our senses. Who could be blamed for asking how many more ways are there to skin a cat?
It is the year that was.
To one inured to defeat, Mayo’s opening game of the league in February was surreal. The old enemy had come to McHale Park sporting a brand new manager . . . and, we thought, a freshly minted Galway.
Inexplicably, they didn’t perform. Against a side to which the Green & Red is like a red rag to a bull Mayo ran riot. Joe Kernan could only have been as flabbergasted as we were watching his men caught up in this Mayo vortex.
The lead had climbed well into double digits when Michael Meehan — introduced at the interval — almost single-handedly restored some dignity to Galway’s performance.
He scored 1-3 of 1-10 and narrowed the gap at the end to seven points.
Reaction of their supporters was more sensible than big Mayo wins normally unleash. Conscious of a further meeting between them two weeks on at the same venue, in the FBD final, their verdict was deferred.
Sure enough, Galway had recovered some pride on their return and this time ran Mayo to three points. Normality had been restored. In the meantime Mayo had notched up their second win of the Allianz League . . . over Tyrone by a single point.
Although they lost to Dublin by the same margin two weeks later, victories over Derry, Kerry, Monaghan and Cork formed a significant launch pad for championship progress.
Bitter experience had taught us to keep any impressive run of wins in perspective, however. Whatever it is about their character league football has invariably trumped Mayo’s championship endeavour.
Way back in the thirties when the county won an unprecedented six national league titles in a row, only once did they manage to tie league and championship together.
They abstained from competing for a seventh title on the trot . . . preferring instead to concentrate on the championship. Despite their best efforts, however, the All-Ireland eluded them. The following year they recaptured the league crown.
So in a fashion we were somewhat prepared last spring when after beating Cork in the final match of Division 1 the whole thing went pear shaped for Mayo. And as ever we can’t explain it.
As was eventually demonstrated a five-points win in the land of the Lee constituted more tinsel than substance. Having spared some of his stars that day, cagey Conor Counihan let them loose in Croke Park for the final, and delivered not just a league title to Cork but another sucker punch to Mayo¹s ever susceptible character.
Watching ten members of the team contribute to the scoreline in that first match against Galway, and having followed their wins over the cream of the country subsequently, you winced at how quickly the poverty of their spirit in Croke Park was re-established.
The upward sweep of the graph had nosedived again. Mayo once more looked helpless as old doubts swept back to haunt them.
Resurgent Sligo took full cognisance of that downbeat mindset in the championship and it was no surprise when Mayo faltered again, at Markievicz Park. What was not conceivable was their dismissal from the competition a couple of weeks later by Longford, one of the weakest counties in the country.
In that rudderless performance was exposed the mental turmoil of a side struggling to rediscover their balance. Longford, with nothing to lose, threw at them whatever they could dig up, and in terms of abandon and any which way to play that was considerable.
Against unrestrained aggressiveness, Mayo lost their shape and all sense of purpose. And a season that had begun so brightly retreated to the shadows in high summer.
Can anyone change the culture of underachievement in which Mayo football becomes paralysed not just when they hit Croke Park, but also when under pressure in crucial games? That’s the dilemma that confronts the new management, as they tackle the impossible dream.
They don’t lack for nerve. No manager would tolerate that. Ger Cafferkey, Chris Barrett, Keith Higgins, Donal Vaughan, Trevor Howley, the O’Sheas, Alan Dillon, Alan Freemen and the rest have never failed to engage in the dogged demands of the game.
But they do need leadership on and off the field. It is the anvil on which confidence is forged in order to adapt their game to any circumstance.
Apathy of the clubs must be tackled
AS the Mayo GAA Board prepare for their annual review, there’s change in the air. Having completed five years at the helm chairman James Waldron makes way and Kiltimagh’s Paddy McNicholas is poised to take over.
Mike Connelly of Hollymount looks set to be the Leas Cathairleach while Eddie Cuffe is the favourite to be elected assistant to treasurer J.P. Lambe, while Aidan McLoughlin from Swinford is likely to step into the role vacated by PRO Kevin O’Toole, who has never been less than thoroughly professional and courteous to the press.
At the same time, clubs and divisional boards are going through a similar process. Good voluntary workers are difficult to find, and reluctant members are sometimes pressed to take up positions to which they are not suitable.
The voluntary contributions that officers and members make to the GAA are almost always above the call of duty. It is an onerous and thankless task. They are driven mainly by the values the organisation stands for, and by an irresistible urge to serve club and community.
Whatever satisfaction they take from their work comes not from the endless hours away from home and families, but from seeing young men and women reflect the values they have set.
One vital position over which enough care is not always taken at election time is that of county board representative. When crucial decisions were being made during the year several clubs were marked absent.
There wasn’t a full club representation at any discussion on the selection of manager or on whether structural changes were needed to streamline Gaelic games in the county. Apathy apparently has taken root. In future the names of absent clubs should be disclosed at meetings, not those present.
A systematic review of GAA activities in the county, under the overall chairmanship of Liam Horan, is now under way. It is a crucial milestone in the growth of the organisation — not just another sub-committee established to appease the critics of present structures and procedures.
The future of Mayo football may depend on recommendations from that committee being sanctioned — and implemented — by the county board.
This serious root and branch appraisal will conclude with a draft plan. Top business and football brains have been reined in to conduct the review. The draft report will be in the hands of the County Board as early as January, and then circulated to clubs and the public for discussion.
The final document should be ready in time for ratification at the February meeting of the board.
For want of support a significant plan drawn up five years ago to develop the careers of promising young footballers, was not implemented.
Hopefully, a similar fate is not awaiting the deliberations of the present committee. It behoves every person with an interest in the future of Mayo football to ensure that whatever new structures and procedures are agreed are implemented without delay.
