Mayo are in relegation trouble but it’s nothing they haven’t dealt with before

IT WAS a bizarre end to a difficult day for Mayo. Having left Clones with only a place in the relegation zone to show for their efforts, Mayo’s day would take an unexpected twist.

The players were probably still on the bus when one of the county’s biggest supporters, Prague-based businessman Tim O’Leary, had called for James Horan’s head on social media.

“#Horanout We are not very good. #Truthhurts always,” read his tweet. O’Leary apologised and withdrew his remark, saying he “had a few too many pints”.

Last night Mayo announced they had “ceased all dialogue” with the millionaire benefactor but O’Leary’s initial tweet followed Horan’s postmatch interview, during which the Mayo manager was asked about the personal abuse dished out to some of his players online in the build-up to the game against Monaghan.

The events of the last 48 hours are another reminder that following the Mayo footballers is rarely boring.

Horan admitted that they hadn’t been good in Clones. The result puts them on the back foot as the League moved beyond the halfway point.

With Meath looking set to make a quick return to Division 2, the other pressing question is who will join them. Mayo are next on the list with the bookmakers. The side with the longest successive record in the top flight, along with Kerry, have put themselves in a hole and will need all their survival instincts to dig their way out of it.

However, there’s plenty of reason to believe that Mayo can recover in their next three games and extend their 22-year stint in the top division, not least because they have pulled off some great escapes in recent years.

Back in 2018, they needed a rightfooted Kevin McLoughlin effort to secure their place in the top flight for another year. McLoughlin’s score, off his least favoured side deep in injury time, secured a draw against Donegal and sent the Ulster men down in their stead.

McLoughlin had done something similar 12 months earlier, kicking a winning point in the penultimate round of the league against Tyrone for a win that ultimately secured their status as a Division 1 side.

This time around they have showed that there’s still fight in them in the way they rescued a draw against Donegal and a win in Navan.

They are boosted by the fact that two of their remaining three matches are at home, starting with the visit of Kerry to Castlebar on Saturday night. They travel to Galway after that before welcoming Tyrone to Elverys MacHale Park in a game that could be decisive in terms of the relegation picture.

Mayo have spread the net wide in their talent trawl this year. Even though he was sent off late in the day, Pádraig O’Hora had some good moments in Monaghan, while the esteem Oisín Mullin is held in was clear when he tracked Conor McManus for much of the afternoon.

And Horan hinted that more of his experienced core will be available soon. Keith Higgins featured as a sub on Sunday while Donal Vaughan and Cillian O’Connor were “down to days” in terms of making their return.

Mayo can take comfort from the fact that they have dug themselves out of worse situations before.