James Horan counting the days to Mayo's training restart

The Mayo boss has enjoyed his tour of the county's clubs in recent months

Fri, 04 Sep, 2020 - 14:18

Mike Finnerty

MAYO manager James Horan says he is optimistic that the inter-county season will restart next month and is counting down the days to the resumption of collective training next weekend.

The Westerners are scheduled to face Leitrim in the quarter-final of the Connacht championship on the weekend of October 31/November 1 and have made no secret of their desire to win the provincial title for the first time since 2015.

Mayo, the reigning Division 1 league champions, are also due to take on Galway and Tyrone in the final two rounds of the National League next month.

And while some people remain sceptical about whether or not the inter-county season will actually restart, Horan has no such doubts at the moment.

“I’ve been convinced all along, and I suppose I had to be, that it will go ahead,” said the Mayo boss.

“John Horan and the GAA are saying that it will definitely go ahead, and September 14 we start training again. And we’re just preparing for that and looking forward to that.”

Horan and members of his Mayo backroom team have been spotted at a plethora of senior and intermediate club championship games in recent weeks, scouting for talent.

They have also taken a number of club training sessions, with the likes of Horan, Ciaran McDonald and James Burke coaching the likes of Ballintubber, Breaffy, Westport and Davitts at various stages in the lead-up to the club championships.

The initiative was rolled out as part of Mayo GAA’s efforts to support clubs by making the expertise of their inter-county coaching staff available.

Speaking to Mayo GAA TV, Horan conceded that the last five months have been nothing if not different but he was keen to focus on the positive.

“It’s different, but sometimes different is good and it gives you a different perspective,” he said.

“I think where we are with the pandemic, and all the enhanced controls around the country, I think people are looking at things a bit differently.

“So it’s brilliant for a start to be out playing football, whatever competition it’s in or whatever guise. To watch the club football, and to see guys playing with their friends and guys they grew up with, is huge.

“We’ve seen a lot of the county guys really leading out the club sessions. We’ve been around to a huge amount of them, just to keep an eye on things, how it’s going, and I think it’s been good for the county players and very good for the clubs.

“And ultimately that will be good for the player, which will be good for us when we get back going. So I think it’s gone very well.

“And along with the county guys being back, I think you’ve seen a lot of young players at club level in this campaign really standing up. We just hope we get the chance to get them together later on this year and play a bit more football.”

On the subject of the current crowd restrictions for all outdoor sporting events, which has been GAA games being played in deserted grounds all over the country, Horan had this to say: “I still think it’s harsh that there couldn’t be a couple more hundred people in here, even with the controls and the risk assessments that’s been done. I still think you could have a few more people in here. That would be my personal opinion.

“But the controls are working, there are a lot of qualified people making those decisions, so we just have to go with it."