The future of Mayo football was given a new direction on Wednesday night when James Horan was appointed as the new manager of the Mayo senior football team for a term of three years. The Ballintubber manager who this year guided his club to their first senior county final was put forward by the five man interview committee and ratified by the county board delegates at a county board meeting. Horan won two All Stars during his playing career for the county, lining out 57 times for Mayo between his debut in 1995 in the national football league and his last game in 2002 against Cork in the All Ireland quarter final. He scored 4-83 for Mayo over his seven year inter county career. Horan’s back room team will be made up of James Nallen, Martin Connolly and Paul Jordan, Tom Prendergast, Dr Sean Moffatt, Paul O’Grady, Joe Dawson, Liam Moffatt, and Ed Coughlan.
Horan beat off competition from former Mayo player Anthony McGarry and former Dublin supremo Tommy Lyons after the trio were interviewed for the position.
The 38-year-old laid out his plans for the next three years shortly after his ratification by the delegates and phone call from county board chairman James Waldron to inform him of the news. When asked what he was doing when he got the call Horan said, “Probably I was just about to leave down my youngest, I was just putting her to bed when James [Waldron] rang. James called me last night to say there were phone calls going out to all the candidates this evening, I had an idea that a call would be coming, I was just pacing around the house just hoping it would be good news and thankfully it was.”
The former inter county star expressed his honour at being chosen for the position. “It's great, fantastic, it'll take a while to sink in. I'm absolutely honoured for people to place so much trust in me to give me the role as Mayo manager, I'm absolutely delighted, I can't wait to get started.” With Mayo’s coming off the back of championship campaign to forget, Horan is taking over a side who are at a low ebb at the moment, but it is not much different from when he first came into the side 15 years ago. “It's probably not in a great place that's fair to say. I remember when I started playing with Mayo in 1995 it probably wasn't in a great place either and in nine months we were in an All Ireland final. Things can change very quickly, I'm not promising an All Ireland final and saying we'll be there, but sometimes we overdo the highs and the lows. But if we set the environment right, set the attitude right, get the right character and the right mix of players, and really set down a good set up, then we can see what happens from there to try to develop some of the players we have, and try and see what happens.”
Getting the environment right
Setting the right environment and getting the right attitude were key things that the new Mayo manager emphasised in his first press conference, after his appointment. “I think Mayo is full of good footballers and I think I can bring something to that,” he told the conference. “With the management team, who are very experienced guys and good guys, I think I can set up a good environment, where players if they want and have the right attitude and the right character can flourish in it. That's what we are about, trying to set that up and see what the players can do in that environment and I think I can help somewhat in setting that type of environment in that.”
Asked about what message he wanted to give to the Mayo footballing public, Horan said that he would ensure that every player gave his all whenever he put on a Mayo shirt. “I suppose the message I give as the management team, is that we will sit down and put in the best system we can, we have some very, very, good people. Mayo people, who know Mayo football inside and out. It's really up to the players to see how much they can develop themselves as a player and a team. I know a lot of Mayo supporters are down in the dumps with how things finished last year, but what we will insist on is that any time a Mayo player goes out that he will give it absolutely everything he has. Mayo people are fairly reasonable and they will give us time and patience if they see that players that are playing are fully committed. The set up will be good, and we'll try to get them to work as hard as we can and we'll see how we go from there.”
It was also revealed that the New Zealand born manager will be scouring the county looking to unearth new talent that could make an impact on the inter county stage. “I'll look at everything and everyone, as I said in the meeting one of the best resources in Mayo that has been under-utilised is the club managers, and I suppose being one, I've been on the other side of that. If they are used very quickly we can get an idea of what players out there that maybe haven't played county or haven't been involved and could work in the county set up so we'll be talking to all the managers and getting people from clubs. One interesting stat I saw in papers during the week was that seven of the Cork team didn't play senior football, I think 12 of the panel were junior and seven division two and if you think of the amount of players that play in Mayo and the amount of clubs there has to be talent and the right type of guy we haven't discovered. We'll be looking for that and we'll be going to every club in the place.”
With Ballintubber having just made it to their first ever senior county final, having progressed from winning the intermediate championship only a few years ago under the guidance of Horan and current Mayo minor manager Tony Duffy, it will be hard leaving his home side Horan admitted. “It'll be difficult, they are an unbelievable bunch of guys in Ballintubber, two u21 titles in a row and beaten in the final this year, they are very good guys and the set up is there and the commitment that those guys have is top class. There are plenty of people in Ballintubber who can go in there and bring them on another step, they’re in a good place if the right person goes in there they can go a step further.” But Horan isn’t going to be walking away from Ballintubber just yet with the county final only a few weeks away. When asked about if he would stay in charge through a provincial and all Ireland challenge if the can see off Castlebar Mitchels in the final he said, “I think we'll work something out there.” Horan’s first serious competitive game in charge will be at home to beaten All Ireland finalists, Down in McHale Park on Sunday February 6 2011.
