I have to agree, I have reviewed my opinion of Mulholland on a number of occasions and I have finally come to the conclusion that I was right the first timeâŠHe hasnât a clue.
The performance against Mayo was a bit on the shambolic side to be honest. Galway started the game with an effort at the blanket defence, something that they have never really attempted to play before, but having seen the way Roscommon managed to limit Mayo in the semi-final, it appears that Mulholland just decided to copy it. The blanket defence is not just something that you learn to play overnight, the likes of Donegal, Tyrone, Mayo and to a lesser extent, Dublin, spent years fine-tuning their systems. It was clear after a few minutes that the Galway lads just werenât comfortable with it and it played right in to Mayos hands.
To have any hope of winning the game Galway needed to put Mayo on the backfoot early on, but instead the initiative was handed to Mayo and it took our manager over 25 minutes to sort things out, with Galway reverting to a more orthodox formation from which they almost immediately began to enjoy a bit more success.
He still failed to notice that Andy Moran was taking Finian Hanley on a wild goose chase around Castlebar, leaving huge gaps in front of the Galway goal. Hanley himself needs to cop the fuck on tooâŠIf youâre going to follow Andy Moran all over the place for most of the game at least get an odd tackle in, or get out to the ball ahead of him now and again, I canât think of one successful intervention he made all game. While all this was going on, DĂłnal OâNeill was being rotovated inside by Cillian OâConnor. He just couldnât compete with the physical power of the Mayo man. It was quite obvious that Hanley would have been far better match for OâConnor physically, while OâNeill would have proved a much stickier opponent for MoranâŠThat Mulholland failed to notice this, or was just too stubborn to change it, is a damning indictment of his tactical nous. Doesnât say much either for his selectors, Paul Clancy and Declan Meehan.
Iâm well aware that even if Mulholland had got his tactics spot on, it was still going to be a hugely difficult task to go to Castlebar and win. This Mayo team is a project that has been several years in the making and itâs pretty much fully mature at this stage. At times, it was like boys against men, Colm Boyles bone-crushing, but fair shoulder on Damo Comer let the Galway boys know early on that Mayo were in absolutely no mood to give up their Connacht Crown. Galway contributed handsomely to their own downfall however, the defending for Lee Keegans goal was absolutely deplorable, the Mayo man sprinted past 3 or 4 Galway men strolling back in the general direction of their own goal before he finished Cillian OâConnors pass to the net. With Hanley gone AWOLfrom the full back position, and OâNeill having a torrid time of it, Mayo really should have scored another goal or two. OâCurraoin and Flynn battled bravely but they have had better days together at midfield.
At the other end, Galway were kicking the ball in high to Danny Cummins, much to the delight of Ger Cafferkey and Co. In fairness to Cummins, he did manage to win a decent amount of possession, but unfortunately he left his shooting boots at home and shot some dreadful and demoralising wides throughout the course of the game. Galway also had goal chances, with Gareth Bradshaw and Shane Walsh rattling the woodwork either side of half-time, and of course Walsh also missed a penalty that would have reduced the gap to 5 with over ten minutes to go. Walsh wasnât really in the game at all until the second half, but did well after the breakâŠHis free-taking, in particular, was quite impeccable up until he missed the penalty. Conroy only really started to enjoy some success when he was moved back in to the full forward line, while James Kavanagh and Sean Armstrong played well after they were introduced.
Strangely, there was no sign of Michael MartinâŠwho had played quite well throughout the league and in the London & Sligo games. Michael Lundy had a decent game, he carried a lot of ball and scored a good point in the first halfâŠIâm not convinced by him however, Mayo didnât seem to pay him any attention him at all and were quite happy to let him have possession, seemingly satisfied he wasnât going to cause them too much trouble. Mulholland seems to have a habit of picking rather limited players out of no-where, that he shows huge loyalty to, and Lundy seems to be the 2014 version of John OâBrien, or Michael Farragher.
To be fair to the players, they didnât drop the heads and kept battling right to the finishâŠAt one stage it looked like they might ship a hiding similar to last years. They face a real test in this weekends game against Tipp. If they donât approach it in the proper frame of mind, and if they fail to give Tipp the respect they deserve it will be a long afternoon for Galway fans. There can be no excuses for Galway if they are beaten, they only narrowly beat Tipp in last years qualifiers, while the Laois team that they beat have given Galway two unmerciful hidings in the last two league campaigns. If Galway pick their strongest team, and if they are deployed properly, Iâm confident they will win, but thatâs a big if when itâs Mulholland picking the team.
