Mayo will benefit from players’ show of unity, says Billy Joe Padden

Billy Joe Padden believes the unity of the Mayo panel in their opposition to Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly remaining on as co-managers bodes well for the future.

Former county footballer Padden, who commended the pair for stepping down, was struck by how effective the players were in achieving their aim last week. “The players have shown amazing unity in what they’ve done,” Padden wrote in his Mayo News column. “They’ve stuck together, been respectful of each other and the different views in terms of how individual players voted. They have still been united in terms of what they felt was best for the group.

“The unity of purpose they showed by turning up together at last Thursday night’s meeting at MacHale Park spoke volumes.

“They have been able to sit down as a group and communicate the problems they had, identify a course of action, and work together to come up with an agreed solution. That has been impressive and it shows me that the unit is tight. Mayo supporters should take great heart from that.”

Padden, who disagrees entirely with the suggestion that no good will come of last week’s event, continued: “Will they win the All-Ireland in 2016? Who knows? But they have shown that they were prepared to do whatever it takes to try and achieve that aim.

“I think it’s a very positive thing for Mayo supporters that these players are willing to leave no stone unturned to try and win an All-Ireland in the next few years. The easy thing for them to do would have been to ‘go with the flow’ for another year.

“We’ve been asking these Mayo players to be ruthless and single-minded over the last few years. And they have been, plenty of times. And they were again in the last few weeks.

“If they continue to bring that mindset onto the pitch next season then they will be successful again.”