James Horan must walk the walk with Mayo this time
He’s had much to say as a pundit, now he needs to put his words into action
JAMES HORAN has had a lot to say for himself since vacating his post as Mayo boss in the late summer of 2014. In the process, he whipped up a fair few bob — and why not.
He has been one of the outstanding managers of his generation. What’s more, nobody denies that Horan, in his four years on the Mayo sideline, single-handedly created the most impressive bunch of warriors in the game.
As a commentator and analyst, Horan has not been shy in his criticism of teams.
This evening, Mayo arrive in Croke Park with the aim of becoming the third team to upend Dublin in less than a month. With Horan back on the sideline for part two of his stint as Mayo manager, it’s only natural to ask: is he more exposed this time, because of what he has said with unabashed confidence behind the microphone?
Will his characteristically deepvoiced, burly comments since 2014 come back to haunt his own team? On Sky Sports and Newstalk’s Off
The Ball, he’s been forthright. On Eir Sport he once said of Dublin’s Jonny Cooper: ‘For me, he’s a pest… refs are going to pick up on the way he’s carrying on.’
That’s a good example of Horan not being afraid to single out one player — though how much Dublin manager Jim Gavin will feed off such commentary for the good of his own team’s motivation is uncertain.
Maybe his past comments will have no bearing against Dublin who focus entirely on themselves to the point of irritation.
But against Galway? The one team Mayo are going to be measured against more than any other in the first half of 2019?
You can bet Galway will edit, magnify and wallpaper the thoughts of Horan in recent seasons. They will unearth, amongst other things, the three minutes he spent giving his online opinion on Galway’s chances against Dublin in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final, on behalf of Boylesports.
Horan, amongst his many roles in print, broadcast and on the internet, was a GAA ambassador for the betting giant. And what was his verdict on the Tribesmen?
Galway, he said, were a ‘little bit too conservative’ in losing to Monghan prior to that All-Ireland semifinal. They were actually ‘poor and tentative’, and Dublin would be ‘too good, too strong. Horan expected the men from the capital to be ‘strong winners’.
In the end, Horan handed Galway the prospect of a six-point defeat. Unshackled as Mayo manager, he clearly relished not having to hold back on his opinions.
But now he’s back amongst the managerial brotherhood. He might find it a lonely place second time around. All the other managers, as usual, will spend their days saying little or nothing, and remaining out of sight in their foxholes long spells.
Horan is the only one who has nowhere to hide.
HE was an unlucky manager first time around. His team received no breaks. Definitely for a team that played with its heart on its sleeve, it was curious that Mayo seemed to be unloved by the vast majority of referees.
They only had themselves to blame for losing the 2012 All-Ireland final. That game against Donegal was the county’s greatest opportunity to end the longest wait. They blew it early when sucker-punched by two goals.
Horan did not have a defence with its head screwed on when leaving its own dressing room at the start of that afternoon.
It was his fault entirely. Second time around it’s going to be harder for sure, after he’s spent four years serving himself up to the public as a know-it-all, which is the basic requirement of all analysts, in all sports.
But Horan might also be a better manager at his second attempt.
We will be able to judge on that quickly enough, beginning this evening, because Mayo have a rare and wonderful opportunity of tearing off another tiny portion of Dublin’s layer of invincibility.
Monaghan have picked at that layer, as have Kerry. Mayo have not beaten Dublin in
anything in six and a half years, not since that surprising three-point defeat of the reigning champs in the summer of 2012. A win for the visitors will be annoying for Horan’s opposite number Gavin who, as a result, would be forced to have conversations in his dressing room that he has never had to engage in these past few years.
Equally, a win for Mayo will open the tiniest chink of light for Horan and his own lads.
The Mayo manager’s biggest job of all, though, is not to defeat Dublin a few hours from now. It’s to rebuild and remould a team. They must have Diarmuid O’Connor acting as general with Lee Keegan at his side in the middle third. Aidan O’Shea should be nowhere to be seen in that area, or anywhere in his own defence.
He’s got two or three big decisions to make, and then he’s got to get all the littlest things right this time around.
There is no room for error. It is no time for excuses. James Horan has spent four years talking through the rights and wrongs of every team out there. This has included his own Mayo team in his public talks.
We hope he knows full well what he has to do now.
‘There were a lot of good things about our performance, but the scoreboard doesn’t lie.’ - BRIAN CODY STRIKES AN HONEST TONE AFTER KILKENNY WERE WELL BEATEN BY LIMERICK LAST SUNDAY