Mayo GAA stands at a critical crossroads

Innovation, imagination and courage required to bring sport forward

Mayo GAA is not in a particularly good place at the moment.

Reading reports from the most recent meeting of the county board, it is clear the organisation is not where it wants to be due to debt and a war being waged against it on social media, helped by the leaking of sensitive information.

It is against this backdrop that the board yesterday began the process of seeking out a new manager of its senior football squad to replace James Horan.

Questions are rightly being asked in regard to who would be prepared to take on such a challenge at a time of apparent internal turmoil and strife.

There is also Mayo’s past record of player power to be taken into account by those who might be brave enough to accept an interview.

On the positive side, it’s a job with the potential to transform the next manager into a GAA icon by delivering the first All-Ireland SFC crown to Mayo since 1951.

And, to be fair, there is the basis of very good squad already in place which is there or thereabouts in terms of making the historic breakthrough, albeit in need of some polish in key areas.

The conveyor belt of young talent is also looking in good shape with several members of the minor team which lost last Friday’s All-Ireland final identified as being bright future prospects.

So, to put it in a nutshell, the task of managing Mayo remains a reasonably attractive option for the county’s and country’s leading coaching brains.

A consensus appears to be emerging among supporters on social media that a fresh face is needed with completely new ideas, a personality with the experience of having won the All-Ireland SFC title.

That narrows down the field considerbly, but the logic is understandable.

Mayo, fans believe, will not the win title without a change in direction that cultivates a winning mentality from top to bottom.

That’s why this appointment is so important - and one must earnestly hope that those charged with the recruitment process combine the qualities of innovation, imagination and courage.

It is this writer’s view that Kevin McStay, if interested, deserves the opportunity after twice being turned down for the post.

While he may not have won or led a team to the Sam Maguire Cup, he did inspire St. Brigid’s GAA Club, Roscommon, to all All-Ireland senior club football championship title in 2013, a significant managerial feat. Mayo GAA is a massive brand, there is no question.

But it needs to reach a point of professionalism whereby it is not being consistently dragged down by controversies and innuendo undermining its reputation and standing.

These distractions are not conducive to achieving a winning mentality, quite the opposite, in fact.

They must be addressed before progress can be made.