Dillon demands major review of Mayo football after tame exit

Alan Dillon has called for root-and-branch reform of Mayo football following their humiliating exit from the All-Ireland championship on Saturday.

Mayo’s qualifier defeat to Longford and the subsequent resignation of manager John O’Mahony ended a miserable season for the underachieving Connacht outfit.

Dillon, one of the few Mayo players to impress at the weekend, has called for a countywide review of the game in Mayo. He stressed: "There’s no short-term fix for this team. The county, in general, needs a big shake-up. From the top to the bottom needs to be examined."

But the current team didn’t escape criticism for their showing at the weekend – and this year. Dillon said: "In terms of team performance, we don’t seem to be fighting for each other as a team, as a unit.

"We lost the individual battles last Saturday, not enough lads were digging out the guy beside them.

"Everyone is too focussed on themselves, not the team. In championship, you have to be thinking of how the team can get better, can benefit. Lads started playing as individuals, started to lose the ball, miss passes, and fumble possession. It had a snowball effect and the confidence just seeped out of the team."

Former Mayo captain Noel Connelly, who spent four seasons as joint-manager of the county U21s between 2006 and 2009, has emerged as the early front-runner for the vacant senior post. A local bookmaker has installed Connelly as the favourite to succeed O’Mahony but former Galway boss Peter Ford, current Mayo U21 manager Ray Dempsey and John Maughan, who has already had two stints in charge, are also in the frame. Liam McHale, who served as a selector under Maughan, has made no secret of his interest in the job either.

Dillon told The Mayo News: "In terms of a new manager, there are a lot of good, talented people within the county that everyone in the current squad would look up to.

"People that we would all respect and can motivate a group. I think we have a lot of former Mayo players who are credible and have management experience. I think Sligo are a prime example of what you can achieve with a good management team made up of former players. Those guys have been there before."

Saturday’s defeat to Longford was the culmination of a disastrous eight-weeks period for Mayo during which they lost the NFL Division 1 final to Cork and also surrendered their Connacht championship title to Sligo.

Dillon feels that Mayo’s run to the league decider did more harm than good.

"The National League final probably deflated the team," he offered. "Winning league games counts for nothing when it comes to championship. We weren’t reviewing the problem areas and didn’t see the cracks when we were winning league matches. We were in our comfort zone in a lot of games. Then, in the last three games, we were out of our comfort zone. There’s a huge lesson to be learned there and we need to re-assess everything for next year."