James Horan
By John Harrington
James Horan believes Mayo have had the ideal run in to next Sunday’s All-Ireland Final against Dublin. He managed the county to two All-Ireland Finals himself in 2012 and 2013, and one both occasions the ‘Mayo for Sam’ hype-machine was cranked high.
This year though they come into the Final which much less fanfare and expectancy than usual, and Horan also believes it’s encouraging that their form-graph has been building steadily rather than spectacularly.
“It has been a very different lead in for a start,” he says. You feel like they have been getting stronger and better and you’d hope that is leading to a crescendo and maybe traditionally Mayo hit it earlier so that’s very good.
“Four weeks lead in to the final and that’s strong for them too. They are different, there is more unpredictability about them. Jim Gavin won’t be as sure about what he’ll face or who he will face.
“I know Jim will say regardless of the opposition they will set themselves up but there are always match ups in every game, particularly Mayo v Dublin because they are similar teams with similar guys and there will be a lot of match ups that Jim will be looking forward to put together too.
“It’s Mayo in the All Ireland final not having played like they can so you feel it is coming together at the right time so that will give confidence too.”
The Mayo team huddle before the game.
Convincing yourself that you’re a good enough team to beat Dublin seems to be a difficult task for a lot of sides now, but shouldn’t be a problem for Mayo.
They’ve consistently pushed Dublin to the pin of their collars in recent years, and Horan has no doubts the players fully believe they will win this All-Ireland.
“Jim (Gavin) has been using it for a few weeks now ‘the bounce of a ball’ and it genuinely is it. Look at the history. Even last year the drawn game Dublin were on the ropes at the end of the first one and Mayo should have won that. Mayo were in a good position and Dublin came back.
“Even if you look at some of the League games, they’ve been close. Some of them have been high scoring. Some of them have been dogged affairs. So they know each other very well.
“They’re the two best conditioned teams in the history of gaelic games, in my opinion. But that’s just one aspect of it. They have a huge amount of top level players as well. When you throw it all in together, there will be fireworks.”
Horan managed Mayo for four years from 2011 to 2014 and most of the players he developed into real leaders are still key figures in the current side. He’s outside the circle looking in now, but admits he’s still very attached to them as a group of people.
“I try and completely keep away from it, to be honest,” says Horan. “That can be hard. I know some of those players so well and I'll watch and follow what they do.
“But I'm completely away from it. No impact on the team. But it's fascinating to see how they're playing and developing and even some of the players who were coming in when I was there, how they're developing and how the team is changing.
“What impresses me most is the character they have and how they keep developing, keep learning. I know you guys were bored with me when I was in there (listening to me saying that), after every game we'd go and look at it and see where we could improve. But that is the way. It is.
“Winning or losing is important of course but it's not the be all and end all, you've got to keep building and learning. That's what they've done and that's what they do as players. I think they're phenomenal. They're going to have a right crack.”
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These Mayo players have endured a lot of near-misses and heartache in recent years as they bid to win their county a much longed for All-Ireland title, and Horan believes the players can use that as fuel for their fire next weekend.
“Of course you can,” he says. “A manager and some of the senior players, you know, it's hard when you're outside the group to know what they need, maybe they need some motivation, maybe they don't, it all depends what the dynamic is in that group at that particular time.
“Maybe some individual players do need it. But everyone knows the record. But it's not fatal. I think Darragh O Se had an article during the week and I thought he made some very good points in it. Since I've been involved in Mayo football, 'this is the year, this has to be the year because Jaysus some of these boys won't be back'.
“You hear it every year, 'there'll be six or seven boys gone if they don't win it this year'. It's absolute rubbish. It doesn't matter. They'll keep going and keep getting better and, yeah, if, for me, if Mayo play like they can and are smart they'll win the game.
“I'd be always confident in what Mayo can do. I think they're learning all the time, they're getting better all the time, with more options. Dublin are obviously strong. I think it'll be a cracking game, I genuinely do. Mayo to pull clear in the last five minutes.”
**Former Mayo manager James Horan was in Croke Park in Dublin to announce details on the EirGrid Digital Clock Competition launch. EirGrid, the Official Timing Sponsor of Croke Park, are giving one club in each province the chance to win a digital clock and scoreboard. To enter please log onto www.eirgridgroup.com/eirgrid-time-is-now and submit 200 words as to why your club deserves this prize. **
