Time for Mayo to get going again

VERSATILE Billy Joe Padden would like to see Aidan O’Shea going out the field again in 2017. Pic: Sportsfile

Column
Billy Joe Padden

ONCE you’ve been in the Mayo senior set-up for a while, the FBD League is a necessary evil. But for the established players, you can be sure that they could take or leave games like these ones in early January!
The young lads who are looking for places will be putting pressure on themselves to perform, but when lads are not physically right it’s not easy to show what you’re capable of.
Overall, though, I really think Mayo supporters, players and management will be delighted to see the games coming, because it’s going to be a chance for everyone to start talking about a match again that isn’t the All-Ireland. It’s a chance to move on, get some closure on 2016.
Stephen Rochford will have spent quite a bit of time, I’m sure, over the last few weeks and months meeting players and talking to members of his backroom team.
Some lads will have had questions they needed to be answered, and I’m sure management will have had a few things they wanted to discuss.
Some players, like Brendan Harrison, will probably be told to just keep doing what they’re doing. Others, like Diarmuid O’Connor, might be told that there are a few new roles in mind for them during the league.
I have no doubt that Stephen has three or four guys in his head that he’s looking to make the step up during the first few months of the year.
Stephen Coen, Conor Loftus, Evan Regan and maybe even Eoin O’Donoghue will all be on that list and I think we’re going to see them feature quite a bit during the spring.
Unfortunately, Coen and O’Donoghue will be tied up with their colleges in January but they will get their chances sooner rather than later.
It would be nice to win the FBD League with plenty of young lads in the team.
I really don’t want to see fellas like Colm Boyle, Seamie O’Shea or Andy Moran being wheeled out too much in January.
If Aidan O’Shea is going to be tried out at midfield during the National League, then I’d like to see him getting some game-time there this month.
I really feel that he needs to be doing different things for the team in 2017. We’ve asked him to play a lot of football at full-forward over the last few years, but that’s becoming more and more difficult with blanket defences. I’d like to see him going out the field again.
Get him on as much ball as possible, get him to lay it off, and then go again.
I really hope we don’t see him at full-forward; 15 or 20 minutes in a few games around the middle of the field would be better for him and the team.
I’m not sure how his basketball commitments are going to affect him over the next few months, but it would be good for him to get some football into his legs in January.
As for advice for Stephen Rochford, one thing I thought he did well in his first season was to plan for the long-term, to peak in September. He and the management didn’t let the short-term setbacks or knocks affect them.
After the events of the All-Ireland final replay, he might feel more pressure now going into the new season but, as I’ve said all along, it’s vital that he holds his course. He and the management are looking for marginal gains next year, so the important thing for Stephen is to be clear on how he’s going to achieve them.
I’m sure he has been through some tough days since the All-Ireland loss, and he’s shipped a fair bit of criticism. But he’ll be more aware than anybody about the mistakes that were made, and he will have reviewed his performances as well as the players’ displays.
Even if Mayo had won the All-Ireland, every game would have to be reviewed.
Mayo did 98 per cent of things right against Dublin, 99 per cent would have won it.
So there’s plenty to be positive about too for the group.