New speculation emerging in debate over Mayo football's future

by Aiden Henry

AS speculation continues as to who will be in charge of the Mayo senior football team when they return for the 2026 season, another big name has emerged around the county in the past week – two-time former manager John Maughan.

Maughan's CV is certainly very impressive. He has had great success with several county teams in the past.

In recent years he has put all his energy into club teams, most notably Lahardane, who he led to a Mayo junior championship title and also to a Connacht title.

Last year, as a coach with his native Crossmolina, he helped the Deel Rovers to win the Mayo intermediate crown and go on to win the All-Ireland title.

It now seems as though many Mayo supporters feel that with his great success with county teams and having been involved in the local club scene for the past number of years, he is the man to resurrect the fortunes of the Mayo senior team.

However, it would seem there is going to be no shortage of names for the Mayo job if it does become available.

Last week it was expected that the likes of James Horan, Andy Moran and Austin O’Malley would be at the top of the list.

Now, not alone has Maughan come in for big support, but other names doing the rounds all week include Oisin McConville, the Wicklow manager (and we must remember that McConville did show interest in the Mayo job when it came up three years ago), Tony McEntee (who recently stepped down as the Sligo boss after five good years in charge), and even the present Offaly joint manager Micky Harte.

This list could well get longer in the coming weeks.

It's all speculation at this juncture, of course, because we don't know yet if there will be a vacancy for the Mayo senior job.

After Mayo’s exit from the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship last Sunday week, many of the county's supporters felt it would also signal the end of Kevin McStay’s tenure as manager.

While McStay wasn’t on the sideline for Mayo’s last two games due to health reasons – and we wish him well in dealing with those issues – the disappointing loss to Cavan in the first round of the All-Ireland group stages was seen as one big defeat too many for the present management, and that it may be time for a change.

That change can only come about if McStay decides to step down or the Mayo County Board feels it is time to replace him. At the time of going to press, there has been no word from any side if either of these options will be taken.

Over three years, despite his best efforts, McStay has had a difficult time at the helm. The end of year one saw coach Liam McHale, who had been his main assistant, step away from the management set-up.

McHale, who is regarded as one of the best coaches in the business, left a void by stepping away. It was a major blow to the McStay tenure.

The end of year two saw a review of the Mayo set-up. This went on for some time but, in the end, the Mayo County Board confirmed everything was ticking along nicely. The decision taken by some players to leave the squad at the end of the review suggests not everything was as rosy as it was portrayed.

This year, Mayo's exploits on the field of play were mixed. They reached the league final but it some ways it was by default as most of the other counties didn’t want to qualify for it with the championship looming.

A certain set of results on the day of the final round could have seen Mayo relegated, in fact.

More than that, however, their failure to reach the last 12 of the All-Ireland senior championship series was the killer blow.

Many Mayo supporters are unhappy with the senior team's style of play.

An issue raised all year long is the way they play the ball over and back the field, showing little desire to go direct. It could be argued that it has cost them dearly.

In the first half of the final group game against Donegal, when assisted by the wind, they reverted back to this old style of play.

It was only when they went more direct in the second half that they really troubled their opponents and almost pulled the game out of the fire.

This has been happening all year and the management appear not to have addressed it.

In addition, a startling fact is that Mayo sit at the bottom of the inter-county table for two-pointers. It is not the best statistic to have in this new era.

Another matter that only emerged last week was the decision to put the team up in a hotel in north Mayo the night before playing Donegal in Roscommon. Would it not have been better for players to sleep in their own beds, especially those for whom the venue was little more than half an hour away?

This reporter's instinct is that there will be a vacancy for the Mayo senior job in the near future. It would come as no surprise to see Kevin McStay coming out and say he gave it his best shot and that it was time for a new face to take over.

The Mayo County Board could well come under severe pressure to make a change.

I am sure they will have well noticed the drop-off in support for the county senior team. They possibily feel something needs to be done to change that.