I've taken Mayo as far as I could, says Maughan

OUTGOING Mayo boss John Maughan believes he had taken his team "as far as I could."

He is adamant that the side will benefit from a change of management.

"I worked for seven years with most of the older guys like Gary Ruane, David Heaney, James Nallen and Ciaran McDonald. In order for them to benefit from the last couple of years of their playing careers, they might gain more from a fresh voice and fresh ideas.''

Maughan, who was introduced to inter-county management by Clare at the age of 28, accepted that their All-Ireland ambitions last year - and again this season - had been frustrated by Kerry because they had fallen short in terms of overall ability.

"Of course we'd love more strength in depth. Kerry are blessed with wonderful talented players. Every single one of them is so fundamentally solid in the rudiments of the game and they're blessed with two good feet, with power and pace. And that's something that hasn't happened by accident,'' he added.

He also acknowledges that the fact of having a "tremendous winning tradition" is of enormous benefit to their young players.

"They are being coached invariably by winners - by people who have won at the highest level. It may not be unusual for small clubs in Kerry to have twenty or thirty medals scattered around the village. Young players are benefiting from the experience and the winning talk that comes in a community. When they arrive at senior inter-county level, they are that little bit ahead of most counties.

"That's the reality.''

For all his disappointment at losing last year's final and for failing in two finals with Meath back in 1996, Maughan believes that football in the county is in a stronger position than it was in his youth.

Between 1955 and 1982, they managed only a single provincial win - in 1967.

"In the last decade we have won four or five Connacht titles and we have got to Croke Park about a dozen times.

"Okay we lost a lot of titles up there but at the same time, you have got to take some consolation from the fact that we maximised the resources we had available to us.

"As a manager you have got to look back with some satisfaction on that. Of course the big regret is that we didn't win an All-Ireland title - and perhaps we should have.''

At the age of 25, a promising career as a Mayo footballer was cut short prematurely by a knee injury. At the time, he was living and working in Galway and three years later Clare County Board persuaded him to take over their team.

"I had four wonderful years there and we gave a very good account of ourselves,'' he said. "Winning a Munster title [in 1992] with Clare was on a par with winning an All-Ireland with another county.''

Maughan says he is taking a break from management, pointing out that his family is young and that he is looking forward to enjoying life at a slower pace. And, he is happy to think that there are "a lot" of good quality people around capable of stepping into his shoes.