Mayo are on the look out for a new senior manager after the resignation of Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly this evening (Friday, October 2 ). The decision of the pair to step down brings to an end a week of intense speculation around the county after it emerged that the senior panel had at a meeting voted no confidence in the management after just one year in charge of the senior side.
Following on from the news breaking of the vote, the executive of the county board held a meeting on Wednesday night, that was followed by a meeting between a number of the executive board and a large number of players from the panel on Thursday night.
This evening the county board executive held another meeting, before meeting with Holmes and Connelly who gave a review of the season before tendering their resignation to the board. In their statement the duo said, “It is with heavy hearts that we wish to announce that we (Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes ) are stepping down from our role as joint managers of the Mayo senior football team with immediate effect. We took on the job on a three-year basis and had been looking forward to building on what had been achieved this year. We are passionate about Mayo football and it is deeply disappointing not to complete our project.
“By resigning we wish to remove any obstacle that the players might perceive as preventing them from winning the All-Ireland. We would like to thank the back-room team for their superb effort and commitment. We wish to thank the Mayo county board for their support and for all the funding and resources they provided for the team. We would like to thank the players for all their efforts during 2015. We would also like to thank the people of Mayo for the huge support and messages of goodwill throughout the year and in the last week. Mhaigh Éo Abú.”
Mayo picked up their fifth Connacht title in a row this summer and wer beaten by the eventual All Ireland champions only after a replay for the second year in a row in the All Ireland semi-final. The pair stepped down after 15 games in charge of the senior side across three different competitions, they won eight of those games (FBD 2, League 3, Championship 3 ), drew two games (League 1, Championship 1 ) and lost five games (1 FBD, 3 League and 1 Championship ).
Attention will now turn to who will take over the side, with former manager James Horan and current Corofin club manager the two leading names with one major bookmaker.
