Kevin McStay: My removal from Mayo manager's job was savage and not very classy

Former Mayo manager Kevin McStay said his removal from the role last year was “savage” and “not very classy”. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Former Mayo manager Kevin McStay said his removal from the role last year was “savage” and “not very classy”.

A county board statement last June confirmed its management committee had taken a decision “to relieve” McStay and his management team “with immediate effect”.

The call to remove him after three seasons in charge came four weeks after he had suffered health issues at a training session and stepped back for what turned out to be Mayo’s last two games against Tyrone and Donegal.

“It was tough, it was really, really tough,“ he told Newstalk’s Off The Ball.

“A train you don’t seeing coming is a tough train, because I had a lot of people gathered around me, who were really good people and I thought had a lot to contribute.

“But it’s a game where people make decisions and when you look at it now Kerry and Mayo are in an All-Ireland final and people will feel that they’re entitled to make those decisions.

“But I’d argue that’s not the way to treat people, especially people who have given a lot to their county and to the sport and to be that savage about the issue is not very stylish, not very classy, I would have said. But you drive on.”

McStay, who is glad to report he has made a strong recovery from his health scare, said the nature of his departure was perhaps “tougher to take on my ego than my health.”

He did not want to detract from what is an exciting build-up for the county.

“Look, it’s a big week for Mayo. I don’t want to be nodding to those things. They’re well in the past for me and it’s better for my health that they’re in the past as well.”

From experience, McStay feels the Mayo camp will be oblivious to the widely-held view that Kerry will win on Sunday. “They will be absolutely insulated from the talk that the majority outside would be having.

“I think also Mayo will go into the final with zero pressure. Despite not having won it for so long, I don’t see an outrageous expectation even among ourselves, supporters. We’re realistic too, we’re not amadáns in terms of Gaelic football. We’re know what we’re up against it.”

Meanwhile, McStay, who is the chairman of the Gaelic football expert advisory group, has indicated the two-point arc could be extended inside the 20-metre line.

McStay said it’s “an anomaly” that a kick 40m or more in distance is not considered a two-point score inside the 20m line. The arc stops at McStay used the example of Jack McCarron’s two-point sideline kick, which forced extra-time against Derry in this year’s Ulster semi-final in Armagh.

“If the ball went over the line 10 yards closer to the corner flag, you’d only get one point for it, so that’s an anomaly. They don’t trial that – that would be a proposal to the standing committee on playing rules to adjust that.”

McStay also suggested a backcourt rule, in conjunction with a limit on hand-passes, could be trialled.

“Now you’re really attacking that lateral type of play. They’re unknowns, they have to be tried and checked out.”