I advocate full revamp or fair play on finance
IF I had to pick a select few people to save football, I’d pick Jim Gavin, Eamonn Fitzmaurice, Malachy O’Rourke and James Horan.
It will be interesting to see what direction they take and they’ll leave no stone unturned.
What exactly they’re saving football from is another question.
In my opinion, it’s either a radical overhaul — build the game up from the bottom again, no adding on more rules or different zones or keeping X amount of players in a zone.
Or leave it as it is, while encouraging coaches and managers on the benefits of a more positive, less risk averse approach.
There’s a massive appetite within the GAA coaching community for knowledge and it’s great to see.
We are getting there in terms of equipping people with the confidence and skill sets to take on a job.
Thirst
Maybe there is something worthwhile in that approach.
Tapping into that thirst for knowledge, getting the right type of information and advocating for a more positive approach.
Secondly, Jarlath Burns touched on financial fair play in the county game and he’s 100 per cent right in what he says.
It should be a level playing field, which at the minute it’s not, while also leaving the spend on the inter-county game unsustainable.
The problem is, we aren’t exactly good at following protocol in the GAA.
The winter training ban was a running joke amongst county squads.
We appeal at every chance we can get to find a loophole when punished and are very often successful.
We couldn’t even follow a training ban for the pandemic, so it’s expecting a lot for that culture to change.
That we would start following guidelines for payments, which are largely under the table anyway, essentially an honour system in a system where you aren’t rewarded for honour, might be wishful thinking.
I SAW something from Mayo last Saturday night that I’ve recognised a few times over the years.
I watched them implode. Granted it’s the League and Mayo are probably safe but they fell apart — again.
It’s interesting to compare the mindsets of Tyrone and Mayo.
Mayo are way out ahead of Tyrone in terms of conditioning and coaching.
But once Tyrone smelt blood they went for it.
Watch
I remember Rory Gallagher telling me in the post All-Ireland celebrations in 2012 that himself and Jim McGuinness had gone to watch the Mayo v Dublin All-Ireland semifinal.
And when Mayo beat Dublin, he just knew we’d get over them in the final.
I’ve always come back to that story when thinking about Mayo and watching them in big games over the years.
And I gradually came to truly understand what he meant by that.
Mayo should have been able to manage a Tyrone resurgence last Saturday night but they couldn’t and conceded a goal at a crucial stage of the game.
How many times have we written or said that about Mayo over the last 12 years? Harsh, but it’s the truth. We all know what great lads they are.
But I actually think the sooner the Mayo public ditch the gallant losers narrative, the fair play for giving it 100 per cent with pats on the back, the better for Mayo football.
It looks from the outside as if Mayo players have gotten rid of managers in the past.
It looked to me as though they more or less dictated the appointment process when Kevin McStay initially went for it.
I agree with it all and I’d be at the same myself but have they turned the microscope on themselves enough?
I’d actually love for Lee Keegan, Colm Boyle, or any of the recent retirees to talk about the in-house meetings that group would have had over the years.
What was the dynamic of those meetings over the years when they lost lots of games they should have won.
Did they call each other out?
Mentality
You can chat away and analyse Tyrone and their great reaction but the question will always remain about the Mayo mentality.
I’m not really comfortable even typing that out because we’ve seen how different Mayo groups have bounced back over the years.
They’ve consistently shone far brighter than Donegal have in recent years.
And it’s annoyed me over the years when different pundits have taken cheap shots at them.
But when the chance came against Mayo in 2012, Donegal took it.
When Tyrone’s chance came against Mayo in 2021, they took it.
Kerry, the same in the 2014 All-Ireland semi-final.
I feel there hasn’t been enough self-reflection in Mayo on that.
And the fact they’ve lost so many games in a similar way over the years backs that up.
Parts of the Mayo package have annoyed me down through the years and some of it is hard to explain.
But there has been a performative aspect to them over the years where they’re concerned with how they’re perceived.
It’s only a small thing but there’s something in there I’m just not sure about.
There’s an Andy Murray vibe, pre winning Grand Slams, about them.
All the tools but mentally just lacking something.
Maybe I’m wrong, but to me it’s their mindset that has let Mayo down throughout the years.
Nothing else and until they work out what’s wrong, they’re destined to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
Mindset is where it’s always been at — and always will be at.
Look at the difference between Donegal last year and this year with the same group of players? Purely down to mindset.
Mindset is why Tyrone won the All-Ireland in 2021.
Mayo are a good side, but they’ve got to learn how to defend smarter.
They’ve also got to get over the debate about Aidan O’Shea — start him at full forward and leave it at that.
From what I’ve seen of Cillian O’Connor so far, he’s finished.
As I watched Tyrone and Mayo last Saturday night,
I was always told to treat anyone who refers to themselves in the third person with a fair degree of caution but for McCurry/Dazzler, I’ll make an exception.
Niall Morgan is light years ahead of any keeper in the game at the minute for playing that sweeper keeper role and it’s such an addition to Tyrone.
There seems to be a pattern with Tyrone over the last few years.
Instilled
They’ll lose their way and then stumble into the realization that they’ve a talented group there and a culture of winning that has been instilled in them from early on in their careers.
I don’t think Tyrone players themselves appreciate that mindset and how much of a head start they have on other counties before a ball is kicked.
The appetite out there for coaching information and workshops is huge and most of them are great — but what a lot of them don’t touch on is mindset.
What’s that famous Mike Tyson saying? Everyone has a plan until they’re punched in the face.
For me, that’s one of things I enjoy most about sport.
Seeing that punch in the face and watching what answer the team or individual provides.
Mayo got one last weekend. We’ll see what their reaction is.