Who wants the Oscar?

Who wants the Oscar?

Mossy Lally

WITH just a few rounds left in the Mayo League’s programme the question has to be asked: has anyone seen the manager of the Oscar Traynor team at any League matches this season? Is there even a manager in place?
Most, if not all, clubs appoint their club managers at their AGM at the beginning of the year, at least three to four months before the season kicks off. For some reason the MAFL differ.
One would think that a manager of a county side should be given time to prepare his side and even search for new talent.
Obviously, most of the best players play in the Super League but I know from being involved in the Mayo Premier Division this year that, while a lot of the teams are poor, there are a few good players playing in this league that could perform at a higher level.
Mikie Sweeney from Bangor Hibs and Gary Goggins from Fahy Rovers seem like good lads that wouldn’t look out of place in the Oscar Traynor squad. I am sure the same applies to the other lower leagues as well.
Don’t get me wrong, this is not meant to be a pitch for the manager’s job of the Oscar Traynor team. But I do think that at the end of every league programme the best 11 players should be selected by the managers of each team in their respective league and pit them against the best 11 in the Super League. You will never know what nuggets you might find otherwise.
A structure has to be put in place so that every player at every level should be given the opportunity to show what he has or indeed hasn’t got. A few inter-divisional trial games during the season wouldn’t be a major waste of time.
It can be debated that only for the Oscar Traynor competition Fergal Forde and Michael Duffy, both from Ballina Town, might never have got the Ireland junior cap that they both deserved and received.
I would suspect that Joe Lawless from Westport and Stevie Ryan from Castlebar Celtic earned their international caps on the back of their clubs performance in the FAI Junior Cup as opposed to playing with the Oscar Traynor team, again both well-deserved caps.
More often than not various leagues around the country don’t give a toss about the competition. In this county the top players will play for the county but their club ambitions in the Connacht Cup and FAI Junior Cup are higher on their agendas.
It’s pretty common knowledge that the Mayo League find it difficult to get someone to take on the responsibility of preparing and managing the Oscar Traynor Team as witnessed last season when Mick Wallace came to their rescue (fair play to him) just two or three weeks before the first game. If a club was run that way it wouldn’t last too long.
We are told that there is a record number of coaches operating within our game but sadly the Mayo League can’t get one or two to take care of the county team. So what options are open to the Mayo League to try to instill life back into their annual ambition of winning the Oscar Traynor?
Well, sadly, not a lot as I feel that whoever is put in charge of the team should have been appointed six months ago so that preparations could be right.
The quick fix is to invite the Super League champions to represent the county in the Oscar Traynor. At least you will have a well-prepared outfit that know what they are doing when it comes to preparing and managing a team. The clock is ticking!