Former Mayo boss pinpoints ‘farcical’ element of Mayo GAA

He believes the structures is where "so much needs to be looked at".

Mayo suffered a shock loss on Sunday, as Cavan upset the odds to win 1-17 to 1-14 in Castlebar in their All-Ireland round-robin clash. This was their first championship victory over the Connacht finalists since the 1948 All-Ireland Final.

Former Mayo player and manager, James Horan, praised the Cavan performance on the Irish Examiner’s Gaelic football podcast. Horan felt the defeat was "a hard hit" for Mayo and believes Kevin McStay, who is now under pressure from the fans, and the players will get "a lot of heat".

Horan, who had two spells as manager, in 2010 and 2018, feels more of a spotlight should be put on Mayo's facilities, calling them "farcical for an inter-county setup".

He said: “My last two years with Mayo we couldn’t train on the back pitch in MacHale Park. I was scrambling and scraping off clubs to try to get venues to train. I know the U20s are the same thing this year, in multiple club venues trying to get pitches. Can’t train on the main pitch and the back pitch in MacHale Park, you probably know it, it is used by a lot of different teams.

“We haven’t built structures or laid down foundations like we should have over the last decade. We are behind so many other counties, what they have done and how they have progressed. Their structures, their coaching, their pitches, their academies, I think that is where so much needs to be looked at. How many counties have CEOs or performance directors?"

Mayo have made plans for a centre of excellence, after a site was gifted by a UK-based millionaire. The former Mayo boss feels they're playing catch-up to the likes of Louth, who have the structures in place that Mayo don't have.