Mayo can honour Horan’s legacy by taking final step to glory

Two very significant developments took place many miles away from last weekend’s thunderous All-Ireland football semi-finals, both of which instantly acquired a golden hue of folklore.

On Saturday and Sunday all eyes were on four counties. But they weren't idling elsewhere. Last September, Jim Gavin drew quizzical looks when he sat down in a stark auditorium in Croke Park less than an hour after guiding Dublin to the All-Ireland and observed that his team were at a slight disadvantage as other county sides had begun preparing for next year.

But maybe the words had a ring of truth: maybe he was anticipating the weeks of chaos and celebration and Sam Maguire duties, the deferred club games and the Christmas functions and how all of a sudden, it is February again and you know that other teams, serious teams, have three accumulated three months of work and anger.

That is happening right now. Up in Armagh, the torch was passed from Paul Grimley to Kieran McGeeney, who will take charge of his native county for five years. Armagh moved with more purpose and belief and smoothness with every passing week this summer and pushed Donegal hard in the All-Ireland quarter-final. The thought of that panel in McGeeney's hands for five years should send a shiver not just across the province but across the country. They won't be out to just win McKenna Cups.

Meanwhile, word has broken in Down that Marty Clarke, whose one incandescent summer as playmaker for the Mourne men saw them reach an All-Ireland final, is returning from Australia. More importantly, the Down board are reportedly in talks to secure Tony McEntee as manager.

Managerial acumen

If they land the Crossmaglen man, then they have surely found the perfect successor to James McCartan’s fine reign.

McEntee has demonstrated his managerial acumen in the club game and his fascination with the tactical possibilities of the game in his Irish Examiner columns, which are part coaching manual and part mid-Ulster bluntness. You'd have to imagine that if McEntee signs up, then Down v Armagh next summer would, as they say, be quare value.

All of which is a prelude to Mayo. The feeling remains here that the GAA erred in moving the Kerry-Mayo replay out of Croke Park but Limerick on Saturday instantly played host to the rarefied passages of high drama which the championship conjures up. It was splendid.

All week, there had been brewing fears that the traffic would prove nightmarish. Word that the city was to hold its first Gay Pride parade just hours before the semi-final – seemed to confirm that it could be a hectic day in the city.

But it went wonderfully. Both sets of supporters seemed to enjoy the novelty. The nearby hotels resembled Harrod’s minutes before the beginning of the New Year’s sales. The rush for tickets was intense. Emotions under the Mackey Stand’s dark hood were at fever pitch. The occasion was breathtaking in its fury. When it was over, Mayo were out and James Horan’s magnificent four year campaign was over.

Anyone reading Kieran Shannon’s recent tribute to the four years he spent involved in the backroom team couldn’t doubt just how big a moment this was in the sporting and actual lives of those involved. Horan’s departure changes the dynamic. Chief among the Ballintubber man’s qualities was his unflinching belief that his squad had the right stuff.

Recall a March day in Ballyshannon in 2012, where Mayo fell into a black hole against a Donegal beginning to move with intent. They took a bad league beating. Afterwards, Horan stood at the far end of the pitch for some minutes in consultation with his selectors. It seemed like a bleak moment. But Horan ambled up the waiting journalists, made a joke and explained away a bad day at the office. There was no crisis, nothing to worry about. That September, both counties met in the All-Ireland final.

Horan was loyal to his players in that he demanded the absolute best for them and from them. He was firm in his convictions, which led to an abrupt departure from the panel by Conor Mortimer. Again, Horan handled that episode calmly and reasonably. There were days when you couldn't help think that the only thing Mayo missed was the very gift at which Mortimer excelled: the pick-pocket's art for thieving crafty points that nobody really notices until the game is over.

Those seconds

Mayo came desperately close to winning an All-Ireland under Horan and they greatly enriched the championship over four years. If there was a moment to be replayed, it would surely be those seconds after Andy Moran’s goal against Dublin in 2013. Mayo were right where they wanted to be then: in an up-for-grabs All-Ireland final with 20 minutes remaining. The Mayo supporters needed to stage an uprising in the stands there and then. They needed to create an atmosphere of chaos and disorder. Instead, a quiet descended and Dublin assumed control of the day. A sliver of opportunity presented itself in those few seconds.

The key thing for Mayo now is that the build on the James Horan work. He has shaped a highly skilled and physically impressive team which, it seems, has limitless heart. They await a new voice.

But the most pressing obligation for all involved in the welfare of Mayo football is that everything that can be done to facilitate this team taking the last championship step is done. Choosing a successor is critical. Mayo seems blessed with an abundance of talented managers.

On the Sunday Game last week, regular panellist Kevin McStay admitted that he was hoping for a phone call. He showed his managerial control by guiding St Brigid's to a famous club All-Ireland in 2013, a path which included a win against Tony McEntee's famed Crossmaglen, the ultimate example of team football.

Following Horan is an intimidating prospect. And putting yourself forward as the candidate who can help the Mayo team take that last tiny, cosmic step takes courage. McStay is in the happy position of being young and being retired. It isn’t too hard to imagine that Mayo would become just as much an obsession for him as it was for James Horan. It is easy to imagine McStay getting them moving again and adding a vision shaped by decades of playing and then analysing football. But the important thing is that Mayo now honour Horan’s legacy by going after that slippery, maddening and heartbreaking September win with the same unflinching urgency and honesty which he brought to the cause.