Horan claims Mortimer criticism hit Mayo hard

James Horan has admitted his players were negatively affected by a statement from Conor Mortimer’s family which criticised his handling of the team the week of last year’s Connacht final.

Mortimer quit the panel the week before the game against Sligo and Mayo subsequently struggled but the experience drew them tighter together as a team.

“It was a shock. I thought we had dealt with the issue early in the week, but the family statement came out then and it was in my opinion unhelpful as regards our preparation.

“I tried to deal with the situation and let the players just play but it possibly did have an impact on the players. If you talk to the players they’ll say that they became a stronger unit after that match, but lots of teams go through things like that and for us to dig out a result like that from such a hard Connacht final, against a very tough and physically tough Sligo team when we weren’t playing well, was great. In a way it worked out very well for us and the team certainly kicked on.

“Conor made his decision in the week leading up to the game and that put pressure on the players and on specific players who play in a similar position to Conor and that was very unfair on them.

“It put pressure on the management team too. It was the talk of the country at the time. In no way did it help us prepare for the Connacht final, but guys dug deep and pulled out the win and we kicked on from there. Who knows what would have happened if we [had] lost that game!”

The commentary that followed made Horan wonder did he make the right call.

“When you see the papers and you hear what’s being said of course things cross your mind but that’s the nature of the game I’m in.

“You must never look back, that’s crucial and we got stronger and stronger as a unit because of that game.

“It was absolutely crazy. We pride ourselves on putting our heads down, training hard, doing what we do and looking forward to performing. That’s our mantra and that’s the way it has always been. That’s what we’re about.

“There’s no nonsense — the team that’s picked is the team that plays and if you get a chance, take it. It’s simple.”