Mayo boss has no regrets over Cuthbert snub

Mayo manager James Horan stuck to his guns last night and insisted he had no regrets over his comments about Cork’s management team following their All-Ireland quarter-final last Sunday.

Cork selector Ronan McCarthy had drawn attention to what he claimed to be tactical fouling by Mayo forwards Cillian O’Connor and Kevin McLoughlin prior to the game while Cuthbert described Mayo as “streetwise”.

Horan showed his displeasure after the Connacht side’s one-point victory at Croke Park by snubbing the traditional post-game managers’ handshake and proceeding to label the Rebels’ pre-match comments as “disgraceful” and a “new low”.

Four days on and his views hadn’t softened: “I don’t think it was right,” Horan said last night in Ballina at Mayo’s press night for the All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry on August 24. “That’s basically what I said.

“That’s the way I felt and it’s the way I do feel. Cork have certainly moved on and we have moved on. We have other things to focus on and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Horan said that he did “not really” regret the decision to ignore Cuthbert at the final whistle and, while he admitted that the whole situation was far from ideal, his priority was that his players received the respect they deserved.

Yet, there was an acknowledgement, too, that such pre-match phoney wars and mind games may be here to stay in a modern age where coverage of games and press nights has mushroomed far beyond what was the case even ten years ago.

“So you have here tonight: how many press guys have you? You have TV crews, press, Sundays, radio. Then you have social media: Twitter, chatrooms. Maybe 20 years ago there was a lot worse stuff said but not as many people knew about it. Maybe that’s the case.

“I know there was a lot worse games of football played 20 years ago than there is now, but football seems to get it worse now. Maybe because a lot of more people see it. Exposure, or whatever. It has to be about the football. There’s a bit of handbag stuff that goes on sometimes, but for us it is about football.”

The Connacht champions reported no injuries in the aftermath of the Cork game and just over two weeks before they take on Kerry in the last four. O’Connor was the main worry, though Horan sought to clear that up.

O’Connor took what Horan described as “a bad knock” on a calf and suffered some cramp, but it is believed he completed most of Wednesday night’s training session