Player revolt leaves a county divided

First shock, then disbelief, but come yesterday evening, the mood among the Mayo football public had turned sour.

The county has had its brush with player revolt against a management team in the past, but it has been the manner of this latest mutiny that has left a bad taste, certainly among those to wear the red and green in recent decades.

Why did team captain Keith Higgins and vice-captain Cillian O’Connor seek to meet with Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly in Castlebar on the same afternoon the latter returned from a family holiday when a review meeting was scheduled to take place with the county board executive tomorrow night. Could their reservations with management not wait until Thursday’s meeting. What was their urgency?