GAA COLUMN: The decision in Mayo GAA was right but the delivery was wrong

Let it be said from the start – the right decision was made at this stage for Mayo football. However, unfortunately, as is too often the case, the process – or at least some part of it – was not done well. It's been another controversy-filled week from Mayo GAA. The departure of Kevin McStay and his management team was expected and, to be frank, welcomed by most people in Mayo. However, the manner in which it was handled has left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

Kevin's management team probably got as far as it could. Three years, which reflects the average tenure for an inter-county management set-up these days, and the results and trajectory just weren't good enough. Yes, we were very close – not far off. Two Connacht finals lost by a kick of a ball. Donegal at the death a couple of weeks back; Dublin in similar fashion the year before. The what-ifs are compelling and show how balanced the scales were between this management team being a success and ultimately needing change. Yes there was a league title brought home, but at this stage in our lives, who cares too much for that. 

Kevin McStay’s management team, like the management teams before them, gave their heart and soul to try and get over the line. I can't even begin to realise as a normal person, a spectator watching on, or even begin to speculate the amount of work, commitment, and sacrifice they put in. Their families too. They took criticism, just like every management before them.

However, it has to be said – and this is where Mayo GAA have rightly come in for criticism – the wording they used in their statement was poor form. It was disrespectful and disingenuous to Kevin McStay, not worthy of a man and team who have done as much as they have, particularly given the fact that he's suffering with his health right now.

It was more akin to a Premier League sacking of managers as opposed to the GAA. I'm pretty confident Mayo GAA, had they their time back now, would have rewritten that press release slightly differently, worded it slightly differently. If it was professional, it'd be worrying.

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CONSULTANTS

Westport GAA's Conor McGraynor was quick off the mark replying to one of my tweets, with a more compassionate version of a press release. He simply put it into ChatGPT and got a slightly different but much better output than what Mayo GAA decided to do. Had they done that, they would not have faced anywhere near the amount of criticism they've faced. Not to try and oversimplify it, but it really is that simple.

If you literally asked any AI engine how that statement would be received by the public and if it was appropriate or could have been worded better, Mayo GAA would have avoided the week or severe criticism. You don’t need communication consultants for that.

And it's also important to point this out too – Mayo GAA have come in for criticism, and one of the biggest elements of criticism that has been directed towards them in the past is their inability to act decisively, to let a vacuum fill with speculation and rumour. Just cast your mind back to last year with the management review that took place. It dragged on and a lot of rumours started circulating, controversy rose, and it did nothing for the better.

In fairness here, Mayo GAA have acted. It was very important that a decision was made quickly and new management put in place as quickly as possible, ahead of the club championship and ahead of the pre-season, which new management will invariably want to start earlier.

They'll already be trying to put panels together by September or October, get gym programmes sorted out, and so on. That won't be long rolling around.

It's important that doesn't get lost on the back of all this controversy too, and I'm sure the county board feel they can't do anything right in the eyes of the public.

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THE REAL STORY

Reports during the week from the Connacht Telegraph suggested that the management team refused to step down, which you can imagine led to an emergency executive meeting being held last Wednesday and the decision being taken hastily. If that's true or not, we don't know.

I emailed Mayo GAA last week seeking clarification of the events that led up to the vote. When asked if the reports of management refusing to step down were true, amongst other questions, they emailed me back to say that no further comment will be made until the county board meeting tomorrow night.

Which, it must be said, is the correct thing to do. Mayo GAA need to act and inform the members before any other further comment is made on the situation. Procedure has to be followed, and if that's the case, they need to do it correctly again. There has been an overload of emotions involved in the criticism being directed towards this decision – fair and unfair.

The reality is, if the reports of the management team refusing to step down are true, then the decision taken by the county board to relieve them of their duties – or however you want to word it – was correct. That's reality. Maybe they wanted to be afforded more time to make the decision, too. But again, it needed to be worded with more compassion, a little bit more respect.

It's a situation that Mayo GAA could have avoided. They need to regain control of the situation starting from Wednesday night. Because time moves on quickly in inter-county football.  And it is absolutely imperative that the next person taking up the mantle as the Mayo senior manager is the right man for the job. 

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