Blame the own goals.
Blame the penalty concession.
Blame the changed kickout strategy.
Blame a missed free, a tough one albeit.
If you need to blame someone or something, if you need to find one tiny inch to hold responsible for why Mayo have fallen short for the last six years, blame something that actually happened on the pitch.
Or, you know, you could just blame the fact that they’ve lost after a replay twice in the last two years to what is one of the best teams ever.
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"I think it's a bit of a witch hunt on the Mayo footballers and on Aidan O'Shea in particular" – Wooly
(14:05) https://t.co/XoHJq8xiCq— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 18, 2017
The narrative driven by the buzzword ‘celebrity’ now is just another desperate attempt for analysts to bring something – anything – to the table regarding Mayo’s chances.
It would be a very dull conversation if you actually laid out the truth that, no matter what happened in the league or what will happen in the provincial series, Mayo are one of the top three sides in the country and, come what may, they’ll be in an All-Ireland quarter-final and probably looking at Kerry in the semis.
It’s difficult in May to talk about Mayo when you know you can’t really look at anything that matters until late August and when you know that, whatever anyone is saying, they’re going to keep going until late August too.
But the vacuum extends the whole way back to February because, in reality, everyone knows Mayo won’t be relegated from Division One either so their league form doesn’t really matter too much on top of all that. And, unfortunately, a vacuum will be filled.
So, from Pat Spillane writing them off in the first week of the season, the whole way to Bernard Flynn and “a certain individual close to the Meath team” pointing out that Aidan O’Shea stood for photos with kids after a challenge game, people are looking for different angles to take and they’re looking for any area anywhere that Mayo could improve in.
Fair play to Aidan O'Shea for perfect response to criticism of how media is treated in GAA | SportsJOE.ie https://t.co/S61leW8EeC
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 3, 2017
That’s what happens when you’re so close for so long. You get over-analysed and you get random suggestions as to what it is Mayo can do to be one point better off this season.
You get boys suggesting that they’re tweeting too much and, on the other side of the spectrum, you get experts saying they need to find a Mattie Forde or a Peter Canavan – you know, stop ignoring these world-beaters you obviously must have lying around the county.
Aidan O’Shea gets compared to Michael Murphy – a completely different player in a completely different county.
His politeness to take time out for kids and make their days with an autograph or a photo gets scrutinised and used as an explanation for his dip in form and, ultimately, why they didn’t beat Dublin last year.
If Aidan O’Shea had played better, Mayo would’ve won – that’s the idea. And if Aidan O’Shea wasn’t so obsessed with taking photos, he would’ve played better.
When inches – mere inches – separate you and Sam, people are going to look in the most ridiculous of places to make up those inches. This week, it’s selfies. Next month, it will be something different again.
No-one seems to want to look at the simple fact that, when all was said and done, Mayo lost last year’s final because Cormac Costello was brought on from the bench and he kicked three points from play in 14 minutes.
No tweets or selfies or TV shows would’ve changed that. They won’t stop Mayo being back in the big time again this year – and they certainly won’t be to blame either if they don’t do it again.
