There are times when sporting rivalries get parked up or clamped altogether. And the reality is that it’s probably in times of strife at best or, sadly, more commonly, when those who are struck by tragedy which renders sport itself irrelevant.
Unfortunately, during a lifetime of being involved in and working around sport, there have been way too many examples of the latter. So many, in fact, that to begin mentioning names would not so much run the risk of but guarantee that somebody would be left out. For as long as I have written, that is something which I have striven to avoid.
Of course, not all difficulties go so far as to encompass bereavement, but that doesn’t mean handling them doesn’t require respect, decency and, frankly, an amount of cop on. Because there were absolutely none of any of the three preceding adjectives in the no class, insensitively crass manner in which the Mayo County Board ignorantly blurted out that they had “Relieved Kevin McStay and his management team of their roles“.
Now, anyone who knows the backstory between the eminently likeable Ballina man and Mayo chiefs won’t be shocked at such levels of ignorance. But I think even they would struggle to comprehend the low the green and red have sunk to with their classless dumping of their now erstwhile manager and his team. Especially given current circumstances.
For those not up to speed with the GAA’s cross between a soap opera and a Shakespearian Tragedy, Kevin McStay was only given the Mayo senior football manager’s job when the Co Board could no longer credibly avoid doing so. Even at that, while “Disagreements over coaching style” were flagged as reasoning for the departure of Kevin’s brother-in-law Liam Mac Hale from his original coaching ticket. But looking from the outside in, that would seem to be a one-size-fits-all blanket to throw over attempts to disrupt his time at the helm in any way possible.
However, at least in normal circumstances, if an entity was trying to oust an individual from a given position, they would at least go about the mechanics of such a procedure in as covert a manner as was possible. Not in Mayo. As recent months have garishly proven to anybody involved in or passionate about GAA in the county (Who isn’t?), dirty linen being washed in public has become as regular an occurrence as Enda Kenny topping polls in elections in his political heyday!
By the time this year is over, though, they may have some sort of unwanted record for same. And that’s without even going near the off-field chaos which recently led to GAA President Jarlath Burns and his lacky-in-chief Tom Ryan rocking up to a Mayo Co Board meeting in Westport.
Who, for example, in an organisation diehards strain sinews to profess is amateur, even though there’s increasing evidence to the contrary, holds a performance review into a management team while their competitive season is still ongoing. Not to mention the circumstances in which the opportunity to stop and take stock came about.
In short, because Mr McStay suffered what was described as a “medical episode” during a training session a month or six weeks ago. It was hardly coincidence that this episode occurred fairly soon after the Connacht county had suffered what would be considered a shock defeat to Cavan in the group stages of the All Ireland SFC?
However, to engage in what would normally be an end of season practice under such circumstances is not only distasteful and disrespectful but, from a practical, sporting sense, unsettling to those on and in around the team but is also quite incredible. Or at least it would be anywhere else.
So that’s the script for the horror movie, I hear you ask. Oh no, lads and lassies, not by a long shot. All of that was merely the trailer for the feature length presentation. Which was the abomination of a statement so crassly spewed out by the Mayo board on Wednesday night. Despite the following:
(a) Full knowledge of what Kevin and his family are going through away from football.
(b) The fact that their senior football team won’t have another fixture until next January.
(c) The reality that Kevin nothing to do with the defeat to Donegal, yet it was clearly used as a means to lever him out.
(d) The very thought of apportioning blame in these situations doesn’t sit well with me at all, but if Mayo were really looking for reasons as to why they lost to Donegal – it begins and ends with the players.
For simply not having the cop on to (i) prevent Shaun Patton from getting the quick kick out away and (ii) ‘take care’ of Ciaran Moore long before he ever got into a shooting position.
Regardless of who thinks who caused what, Kevin McStay deserved better, his family deserved better, the Mayo players deserved better as did the masses with the best interest of Mayo GAA at heart deserved better.
Now of course, as if they hadn’t enough dung on their plates at the moment, they now have another headache entirely of their own making – finding a new senior football manager.
There mightn’t be much of a queue.
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