Always learning on football’s journey

At a time when Mayo football people are licking their wounds and reflecting on a disappointing season, former Footballer of the Year and current Leitrim manager Andy Moran speaks to Michael Gallagher about some of the ups and downs, the learnings and the lessons picked up on his inter-county journey, which began as a struggling Mayo Minor.

This is the week of the Electric Ireland All Ireland Minor Final and it’s a special time for the young lads from Derry and Armagh. I was lucky enough to play minor for Mayo under JP Kane and it’s only in hindsight I realise how good JP was. A great man, who really believed the development of the person, and the amount of players he worked with who went on and played senior football with Mayo is huge.

A lot of growing up happened for me in that period. Everyone from your home town and your family are telling you how good you are and then you go into this big, bad, inter-county world and you learn you’re not quite as good as you thought you were.

You learn so much in that environment. I struggled to make squads, struggled to make teams but the learnings I got from coaches and other players was the key thing for me. We were lucky enough to get to play in Croke Park which was hugely important in the learning process. 

At the moment, minors aren’t allowed play in Croke Park and I don’t agree with it. I think we’re taking some of the personality out of the GAA and we need to be careful about how far we go with that.

To get the experience of Croke Park is priceless. I was reading during the week about how (David) Clifford got the better of (Conor) McCluskey in a minor match in Croke Park a few years ago, yet did you see how McCluskey played on Ryan O’Donoghue last week in Castlebar. I’m sure he learned so much from being exposed in a big game in Croke Park a few years earlier and that experience made him a better player and gave an insight into what serious challenges are all about.

MAYO SENIORS

Right now, Kevin (McStay), the boys and the supporters are just very disappointed that they didn’t get to Croke Park. It’s really hard to get a handle on where teams are because there’s so much assessment needed of the championship itself. Are Mayo behind Derry – are Derry ahead of Mayo? It’s hard to get a handle on where teams are if we’re being honest about it. When the season is over, I think the powers-that-be will go back and reflect and see how the season worked out.

There’s a lot of talk about Mayo not being able to close out games, but all three were different. The Dublin one came from a pin-point kick-out. They had done it a few times earlier in the game where (Ciaran) Kilkenny caught three or four clean around the middle. That was a planned move. Jack (McCaffrey) was on the pitch at the time and they made it work. Against Derry, Sam (Callinan) had a chance, but his handpass just went wide of the post. Then, Derry hit the post at the other end, the ball comes out and it’s punched over the bar, so that’s a different set of circumstances within a game. 

If Mayo are to look at the Derry game in isolation, their major disappointment will be the first half performance. They didn’t really get going, they didn’t use home advantage. Derry were a bit shaky coming down. They were there to be put out of the championship and in the first half we let them get their flow, get their energy and let them into the game. Once they got going they showed all their class. Mayo should have gone after them in the first half.

MCSTAY UNDER PRESSURE?

Definitely not! Kevin has a four year term. Inter-county management is a tough place. This year’s Connacht final is a reflection of where inter-county management is at right now. It felt like the two managers were under pressure. Padraig (Joyce) was going for his third Connacht title in a row; Kevin had won the National League last year and was going for the Connacht title. Ten or 15 years ago, if you won a National League or you were going for three Conncht titles in a row, you’d be lauded as a bit of king, but they were under pressure, so it shows the pressure managers are under whether you’re in Leitrim or Dublin. It’s just the way the world has gone.

LEITRIM’S YEAR

We had an unbelievable season. Laois are in the Tailteann Cup final and playing great football. We went up in the second last round of the league and beat them in a must-win game before beating Tipperary to win promotion. That’s such an unbelievable achievement for that group of players and they’re getting no credit for it.

At the start of the year we were rated sixth to get out of Division 4, but that bunch of players did it and deserve huge credit. There’s something special happening in Leitrim. They went and won an U20 game against Mayo and drew with Sligo who are putting in huge work at underage, and then you get out of Division 4. If that’s not success, I don’t know what is. The next step is to build on that over the next three years, consolidate it and kick on.

My term is up now and I’m sitting down next week with the chairman to discuss the future. I think the key thing is any new agreement should have a three-year term where the opportunity is there to build and make things better. I feel you make the right choices if you know you’re there for more than a year. If you’re there for a year, you make choices just for yourself and how choices impact you, but if you’re there for longer you’re making the right choices for Leitrim.  

Andy Moran was speaking to the media ahead of this weekend’s Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Final.