Stephen Rochford needs dig out from Mayo players

It is difficult to tell exactly at what point players start to play for their manager as well as for their team. Players know immediately when everyone is pulling in the same direction, but it is that bit harder to figure it out from outside the group.

Looking at Mayo’s abject performance against Cork in their league opener in Páirc Uí Rinn last Sunday, you never got the sense that they were playing for any cause — either team or management.

I’m not for a minute suggesting that Mayo’s biggest opening-round defeat in almost a quarter century means that Stephen Rochford and his sideline team are already on uncertain ground, but if last week’s malaise continues, the din will grow louder, questions will become more pressing and faces will grow more worried looking.