Aidan O’Shea is looking to the future

Looking to the future


Aidan O’Shea has learnt a lot in his short career

Interview
Mike Finnerty

AFTER exploding on to the inter-county scene two years ago with three goals (including one at Croke Park) in his first four championship games, it was no surprise that the-then Leaving Cert student Aidan O’Shea was labelled ‘the next big thing’ in Mayo football.
After all, he stood 6’4” tall and tipped the scales at 15 stone when he was still a minor in 2008.
Almost inevitably for the Breaffy teenager, what went up in 2009 had to come down the following year. A difficult season ended with his only championship start coming on the day of Mayo’s embarrassing exit against Longford. He failed to score that day, or after coming off the bench against Sligo. The honeymoon was over.
The affable O’Shea admits that he has learnt a lot from his first two championship campaigns and is determined to make more of a positive impression third time round.
The 20 years-old DIT student concludes his second year exams in Logistics and Supply-Chain management on Thursday. After that, by his own admission, he’ll be “a professional footballer for the summer”.
His work begins next Sunday at Ruislip.
The Mayo News caught up with O’Shea last weekend just after he returned from a Mayo training session where he operated “around the middle” in an A v B game.
Recent challenge matches against Antrim and Offaly would also suggest that James Horan is ready to abandon the tactic of plonking the gargantuan Breaffy player on the edge of the square for the summer.
Where the man himself would like to play, his form, Mayo’s general health and the group’s aspirations for this summer were all on the agenda when our discussion started.

MF: What are you expecting in London next weekend?
AOS: “It’s a massive day for the GAA community in the likes of New York and London when teams like Mayo go over.
Nowadays, with the recession, you’ve got to be very careful about how you approach these games and how you prepare. There are a lot of good footballers emigrating to the likes of London now and you could get caught up in a serious dogfight very easily.
But we can’t get too bogged down thinking about the opposition. For us, the important thing is getting our own performance right. We need to put in 70 minutes of consistent hard work and concentrate from start to finish.

MF: Why have Mayo’s displays been so inconsistent this season?
AOS: I think a lot of it comes down to work-rate. If you look at the contrast between our league performances against Cork and Monaghan. . We worked really hard against Cork. Maybe it was because they were All-Ireland champions and we needed the points.
But against Monaghan we only played in patches and were only okay. When we needed to step up a gear that day we weren’t able to. That comes down to attitude and concentration.

MF: How do you feel about your own form right now?
AOS: There was a major contrast between my first and second year with Mayo. So, after last season, my main objective at the moment is to nail down a regular place on the team. I’m starting to play a bit better now and am just taking things game-by-game really.

MF: Why do you think your form has improved?
AOS: A lot of hard work is being done and training has been very tough. Obviously, I was hoping to get a run with the U-21s this year but we got knocked out early and that has given me a chance to get some quality training done with the seniors.
Last year I was caught up with U-21s, college, seniors. . and getting pulled in different directions. I’ve been able to concentrate on the seniors for the last while.

MF: You seem to be in contention for a place around the middle of the field?
AOS: I’m not really comfortable with my back to goal. I think after my U-21 performance against Roscommon at midfield I propelled myself into contention for that area on the senior team. I like playing out around the middle of the field. James has been playing me at midfield and centre-forward recently and it’s been going okay.
To be honest, I don’t think I’d make the full-forwardline at the moment anyway with the way that Alan [Freeman] and Jason [Doherty] are playing!

MF: How would you describe your role within the group now?
AOS: I suppose after how I performed last season, the main thing is to get my own house in order first. I wouldn’t be a big talker in the dressing-room but I’ll always be friendly to the new guys in the panel and I’m always available to have a chat with anybody who wants a word.
We have plenty of leaders in the squad though. Alan [Dillon] and Andy [Moran] as captain and vice-captain are the obvious ones but Jimmy K [James Kilcullen] and Trevor Howley are strong characters too.

MF: How have things gone since the end of the National League?
AOS: Training has been upped. With such a break for us between the end of the league and the London game, it needed to be. We needed to get some running into the legs.
It wasn’t ideal playing two games a weekend between club matches and challenge games or ‘A v B’ matches.
But, with the club games off last weekend, we had a two week run-in to London and that has allowed us to tailor training and we’ve also done some good team-building. There’s a good spirit among the lads now and we have a tight group.

MF: How have things changed for Mayo in the last 12 months?
AOS: New regimes bring new, different ideas. Last year we played some very good football in the league but lost confidence after losing the final against Cork. I don’t think we realised how much damage had been done until we went and lost up in Sligo.
James has come in and unearthed some new talent, brought a new approach, some confidence, and the players, all of us, really want to achieve something together.

MF: What are the objectives for Mayo this year?
AOS: The main thing is to get more consistency in games. We need to dominate games for longer periods. We’re only concerned at the moment about getting ourselves right.

MF: What would your message be to the Mayo supporters?
AOS: I’m sure a lot of Mayo people were disappointed with last year’s championship. My message to them would be to be patient, and come out and support us.
We want the same things that they want and we’re working hard to try and achieve that.

MF: Who are the teams to beat in the championship?
AOS: I would feel that Cork and Kerry are the two to beat and then Dublin are in the next group behind them. Cork are probably two to three years ahead of Mayo in terms of the strength and conditioning work they have done, and Kerry have been one of the best teams in the country for the last ten years. We’re not a million miles off but we have a lot of work to do.

FACTFILE
Aidan O’Shea
Club: Breaffy
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Mayo Debut: 2009
Championship appearances: 6