Mayo GAA slams ‘personal attacks’ on players and management team

Mayo selector Ciarán McDonald. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Colm Keys

Mayo GAA has said it will hold discussions in the coming weeks with the senior team management to review 2021 and plan for next season.

In what was termed an “End of Season Position Statement” the board hit out at some of the commentary that has followed the All-Ireland final loss to Tyrone.

“Constructive criticism forms part of the narrative of our games, however unfortunately over the last few days there has been a number of personal attacks on both players and team management that are completely unnecessary and unacceptable to all involved with Mayo GAA,” the statement read.

But the future roles of coaches Ciaran McDonald and James Burke who have been the subject of speculation that they are no longer part of the backroom team, were not directly addressed.

“It is only one week since the game, it is important for all involved to take some much-needed downtime, spending time with their family and friends. The officers of the board, will in the coming weeks, meet with the management team to review the season gone and plan ahead,” a board statement said.

The board acknowledged the sense of disappointment around the result last weekend but also the progress made through the season.

“We understand how much hope and expectation there was for the match last weekend and realise that everyone is extremely disappointed, However it is important that we support each other throughout Mayo GAA. We acknowledge that with so many changes to this year’s panel, great progress was made during the season.”

The release of the statement is unusual in the timing and context in which it is presented, against the background of the roles of the coaches being such a local discussion point.

McDonald has been a coach with Mayo for the last two years while Burke has been present for every year of manager James Horan’s second term.

McDonald is one of the county’s most popular past players, renowned for his skill and vision on the field. He played on losing All-Ireland final teams with Mayo in 1997, 2004 and 2006.

Burke was initially enlisted to train the Dublin-based Mayo players but quickly took on a much more prominent role and has been a very visible presence on the sideline.