Andy Moran strikes a positive note

Yet again the spin of the roulette table came up black when Andy Moran had put everything on red but you wouldn’t know it by his demeanour.

Only nine days have passed since his involvement in a fifth All-Ireland final defeat and he could hardly radiate more positivity if he tried.

Yes, the PwC footballer of the month for August will be back for a 15th season in 2018.

No, he doesn’t think there will be many if any retirements from either the panel or the management group.

Yes, he would like to think Mayo would have succeeded in closing out the game after Dean Rock’s winning free as Dublin did last Sunday week if not by the same means — “I would be hoping we would be clinical enough to close out the game. Would we have done the same thing? I’m not sure.”

No, he didn’t take too much offence to the boos from sections of the Roscommon crowd in the quarter-final replay — “I know the craic, a lot of it was just a bit of jibbing, so I wouldn’t take any heed of it... sure I get my hair cut off (Roscommon defender) Seanie McDermott, it’s grand.”

Yes, he was injured prior to coming off in the 63rd minute having picked up the problem in setting up Jason Doherty for a goal attempt. “So I told them at that stage to give me five or 10 minutes. I could have played on but it was probably the right decision to take me off at that stage.”

No, the fall-out from the final defeat hasn’t been too bad. “To be honest, I thought the function was going to be a nightmare this year. It was actually okay.

“We had the homecoming, I thought it was going to be a nightmare, it was actually really good. The amount of Mayo fans that came out was insane. And it really lifted us.”

Yes, some of the refereeing decisions like the late free in the first half confused him but then he knows there was enough in Mayo’s power to influence the result.

No, he hasn’t a worry in the slightest for Donie Vaughan, who was sent off reacting to John Small’s second yellow card foul.

“Donie and I both own businesses in Castlebar, we spend a lot of time together, he is a really strong character. Donie will be fine.”

Moran hasn’t much concern for Stephen Rochford either even if there was some criticism directed his way for a second successive season: Last year it was personnel (the decision to start Rob Hennelly in the All-Ireland final replay), this year it was tactical.

“He’s a very popular guy in Mayo. We’re like a little republic on our own down there at times. I think there’s a lot of support for Stephen down there. Of course, there’s going to be criticism in every county.

"It’s funny as a player because you don’t look at anything. You genuinely don’t look at anything. You take Twitter off the phone. You take Facebook off the phone. You don’t see any of the criticism so you only begin to hear it when it is all over.”

Given his consistent performances this year, little would have come Moran’s way but it was last year that gave him the confidence to succeed.

“I got an All-Star nomination last year and it probably meant more to me than anything because I suppose people are saying now ‘he’s come back’ but last year was my comeback really. I got hurt, I was captain in 2014, was a sub on and off the team the in 2015 I was an impact sub. It was only midway through the championship in 2016 that I got going.”

Moran, who turns 34 in November, knows he can’t get any quicker but he can be smarter. “I’m not fast. I’ve never really been blessed by height or speed. Genetics wouldn’t be my thing.

"But you have to kind of use your head and the older I’m getting the smarter I should be getting. And I think other footballers should be doing it — you see Stephen Cluxton and Tomás Ó Sé and these guys, they all went to that age as well. Johnny Doyle the same. These guys all went to that, so I can’t see any reason why I can’t be going into that area as well.”

As “fascinated” by the resilience of Mayo supporters as they are of their side’s fortitude, Moran is just as assured about the team’s future.

“Darragh Ó Sé and Seamus Moynihan don’t play in 2004 and they beat us handily. It’s clear who the better team is there. You’re talking two of the greatest players of all time didn’t even play, 2006 similar, it’s clear who the better team is. Not good enough.

“(In) 2012, Donegal were on the crest of a wave, we were on the crest of a wave. The last three or four finals, we lost by a point.

"We bring supposedly the greatest team of all time to a replay and we lose by a point in 2013. I think we performed in the previous three finals.”