MARC Ó Sé

With Mayo’s dream destination now beyond them, changes are needed if they are to avoid slipping from view

Mayo need radical change or they will fade from view

APOWERFUL piece of footage emerged from Mayo this week which can be viewed either as a parting song or a battle cry.

It is from some hostelry in Mayo, most likely last Sunday, as they gathered as a group to numb the pain of the night before.

For a group who has seen it all, it was a window into a past that was almost long forgotten.

It is eight years since they had a long summer in front of them with no ball to play for Mayo, and nothing but an uncertain road to ponder regarding their future.

If so, with Aidan O’Shea auditioning to head up a Garth Brooks tribute band, they found their voice as he led them in the country icon’s anthem, The River. ‘I will sail my vessel Til the river runs dry Like a bird upon the wind These waters are my sky I’ll never reach my destination If I never try So I will sail my vessel Til the river runs dry.’ If Brooks had not recorded it in the 1990s, that was a number you could have been forgiven for thinking he penned just for them.

The question, of course, on everyone’s lips is has that river finally run dry?

My gut instinct is to suggest that it hasn’t, but even so I believe that their destination is now beyond them.

But I think we should park the latter for a while. It cheapens the Mayo story if you seek to define it by the stark reality that they never won the All-Ireland. They were more than that and the glory of this Mayo group is how they chased their dream rather than in their failure to catch it.

The one thing I never bought about this group was that they were never ‘good enough’ to win it out.

They were plenty good enough, but they never caught that champions break in their lifecycle.

In our hey-day, we caught plenty of them along the way, most obviously in 2014, when Paul Durcan gift-wrapped that kick-out to Kieran ‘Star’ Donaghy.

We would like to think we would still have won without that, but who knows?

The Mayo players would not be human if they did not look back and think that fate, as much as anything, conspired against them.

Sure, it can be suggested that they lacked the squad depth and the attacking cutting edge to win an All-Ireland, but here’s the thing... While Star was not looking Donegal gift horses in the mouth on All-Ireland final day, Mayo were conceding two own goals in a final and still not losing. Everywhere they turn they must see little twists of fate that sent them the wrong way.

Had Donaghy not come off the bench to make those plays at the end of the drawn semi-final, or had Robbie Hennelly’s free-kick at the end of the drawn game had another couple of inches in it, I am convinced Mayo would have gone on and beaten Donegal in the 2014 final.

Had Conor Lane spotted Denis Bastick picking the ball of the ground in the final play of the 2016 drawn final, we would not even have been having this conversation.

But we are and now it has moved on to a different place as to whether we will ever get to talk about them again. I believe we will because I don’t believe we will see the mass departures so many are predicting.

I don’t think they are ready to go yet, which is a good thing in one way, perhaps not so good in another.

It is good because we are talking about some of the greatest players that ever played for Mayo in the likes of Keith Higgins, Colm Boyle, Seamus O’Shea and Andy Moran are among those being mentioned as possible retirees.

On their individual merits these players are good enough to play a part next year – Higgins is one of the best defenders of all time while it is only 12 months since Moran was the best player in the land – so let’s not discard them too quickly.

It is not so good, though, if the main reason they are coming back is because of a lack of options and a lack of competition for places.

I took heat earlier this year when I wrote that I did not think Mayo would win the All-Ireland and suggested relegation might be a blessing in disguise as it would allow them to rebuild from Division 2.

Next spring they will almost certainly take that hit, bring in several new faces, rest some old ones in the hope that come the summer they can deepen their squad without diluting their experience.

I still don’t think it will be enough. Stephen Rochford has done a good job with them but they may need a different voice next year, although not necessarily a new one.

It would be fascinating if James Horan, who is still very close and loyal to this team, returned for one last push.

I have got to know James this year and while he has never made any reference to ever wanting to go back, when he speaks about that Mayo team you can still hear the warmth and the affection that is there.

It is hard not to believe that love is not coming right back at him.

His return would ensure that everyone would be back next year and it would recharge a lot of batteries which are running a little flat.

I don’t think it will win them the All-Ireland, but it would allow them to sail one more time and there would be a thrill in seeing that for all of us. ‘There’s bound to be rough waters And I know I’ll take some falls But with the good Lord as my captain I can make it through them all,’ sang O’Shea.

With Horan as their captain it will get them believing again and fuel a voyage that deserved a better ending than a mid-summer sing along.