Oscar Traynor campaign throws up many questions

The Oscar Traynor Cup is often looked upon as a nuisance. It disrupts the end of the season and, since Mayo rarely get far in the competition, nobody really is that bothered about it. But this year, the Mayo League made an inspired choice when they appointed Joe Kelly as manager, even if it was somewhat accidental, almost.

When The Mayo News spoke with Seamus Hughes, Chairman of The Mayo League, in mid-August of last year, he said: “It can be hard enough to get someone to take on the job and Joe expressed an interest in it, and we went with him.”

That statement sums up the expectation the League had for the competition. They didn’t advertise the post; didn’t prepare a shortlist; they just went with a man who expressed an interest in it. It was a handy appointment. It reminded me of a statement I overheard, made by a former Chairman of the League, when he said to the then manager, 30 or so years ago, (when Mayo were having difficulty finding a suitable pitch for a home, first round tie): “Why don’t ye just go to Donegal and get it over with.” Give it to someone and get it over with.

Maybe that’s unfair on the Mayo League. But there wasn’t much expectation in the county, when the competition was revived, for the first time since Covid.

Joe Kelly, however, is not a ‘get it over with’ man.

While he hadn’t done much in club management (sorry, Westport United) he had a good pedigree at underage level. And he was at the time, and still is, in charge of the Mayo Under-21 Development squad. He holds a UEFA B coaching license. They don’t just hand these out as attendance prizes, at some Power-Point laden, night class.

_{Mayo Oscar Traynor Cup team manager Joe Kelly (right) pictured with head coach Eamonn Daly (Pic: John Corless)}

Kelly knew ten of his initial 25-man squad, very well. He had worked with them at underage level. When he started sorting out training, meet-ups and friendly matches, it wasn’t much of a nuisance, because the Mayo season was drawing to a close and the disruption was minimal. The Connacht section of the competition was expected to eliminate Mayo. To ‘get it over with.’

Sligo/Leitrim? Mayo would give them a game, but Sligo is a soccer country, with a League of Ireland Premier Division club, and the soccer players of both counties are not as distracted by GAA as they are in Mayo. When Mayo beat them narrowly, it was unexpected, but surely Galway would sort it out.

When Mayo destroyed Galway at Eamonn Deacy Park, on October 29, people suddenly realised there was something special going on in Mayo. The journey continued. Roscommon were dispatched. Then Kerry in the quarter-final and Sligo/Leitrim again in the semi-final. Mayo were in their first Oscar Traynor Cup Final since 1981.

How did that come about? What went so right? (Okay, they didn’t win it, but they came very, very close.)  And critically, does this prove that the Mayo League is one of the best leagues in the country?

It came about because Kelly got into the heads of the players he selected.

He got exceptional performances out of good Mayo League players. Good players. Not exceptional players. Good players. (I saw Eamonn Dunphy in the paper at the weekend!)

He got performances out of youngsters that most managers would consider too inexperienced to be involved. Young lads became young men, under his watch.

All of the players he brought in were good technically. They were all comfortable on the ball. They had a good first touch. 

Kelly built two teams in the process. He surrounded himself with gifted coaches to broaden the range of technical support.

He brought in trusted help in the form of men like Eamonn Daly, his head coach and close friend, who had won the competition three times, as a player. He brought in the very calm coach and statistician, James Costello. He brought in the vastly experienced Jesper Frisch. He brought in Micéal Schlingermann, the former League of Ireland goalkeeper.

These professionals all brought their own particular skill-set to the team.

Another key ingredient in Kelly’s achievement was that he quietly and discreetly removed from the squad any player whose commitment was less than the required standard. The door wasn’t closed on them; they’d be back in if they met the requirement.

_{Mayo's Dylan McKee beats Waterford captain Adam Conway to the ball Pic: John Corless}

The squad responded to Kelly’s approach.

The players travelled from Limerick and Dublin for training sessions. Club rivalries were set aside, and arch rivals became close friends. Every player I talked with in the squad, without exception, spoke of the closeness of the squad. It was like a club set-up, they told me.

The players didn’t fake it for Kelly.

There were no ‘injuries’ preventing them from turning up for training, or while they were there, turning up, at, training. They knew this was different. The results along the way, proved that and the buy-in was total.

Kelly wasn’t afraid to make bold calls when necessary. When Cillian Redmond picked up a serious injury in the inter-provincials, Kelly brought Mark Cunningham into the squad. Not only that, but he played him at centre-back, a position he hasn’t played in, that much at club level. But Kelly knew him. He was Kelly’s captain at underage, a few years ago.

On the pitch, every player knew where he was supposed to be at any given time and phase in a match. Hours were spent on coaching.

The players believed in the ideal. They left it all on the pitch in every game. They played for each other and for the county.

A good manager will get more from his players than the sum of their individual qualities.  Kelly achieved this. The Mayo Oscar Traynor team got better as they went along and definitely were way better than the skills of the individual players.

All this, is how Mayo got to the Oscar Traynor final. It’s no wonder at least one League of Ireland club is now looking to recruit Kelly.

And so to the question: Is the Mayo League one of the best in the country?

In terms of organisation, it absolutely is, without a doubt. But in terms of the standard of football, sadly, no.  Not yet. Apart from those between a few teams, there aren’t enough matches that challenge every aspect of the club teams, every season. The coaching standard isn’t high enough. Too many players are not sufficiently committed. There aren’t enough players at training. Too many clubs are relying on a mix of players under 20 and over 30. The young ones can’t make training because they are in college during the week. ‘A’ teams and ‘B’ teams train together and the standard isn’t sufficiently high enough as a result. That’s not intended as a slur on ‘B’ teams or their players; it’s just the way it is.

In the 90s, the Mayo League took the radical step of bringing in ‘summer football.’ It has been a huge success. But perhaps now, another radical move is needed. Maybe Mayo FC is it.  Many will say it is – and there is no doubt that it is a good move. But the standard of the Super League needs to improve, if we are to have better junior footballers in the county. That requires better coaching. It has to start when players are young. And clubs have to find a squad of players who are committed and want to win. The role of the Mayo League needs to be a leadership one, not just an administrative one. They have done so well in so many ways, but a forensic look again, might find new ways forward.

All that said, the Oscar Traynor campaign was a magnificent holiday from reality. Let’s build on it and do whatever it takes to make the playing side of the league one of the highest in the country.