The strange, self-fulfilling prophecy of Aidan O'Shea's media profile continues to trundle on. The criticism is that his public profile is too high, and as a result, there are too many headlines about Aidan O'Shea and not enough Mayo. But, of course, when enough columnists and pundits are motivated to speak about the issue, they are setting up the charge that some find him guilty of.
O'Shea has faced another strange week ahead of yesterday's win against Sligo. In yesterday's Sunday Independent, Fergus Connolly, a sports scientist and performance consultant who has worked over the world, including a stint with the Dublin footballers, was scathing in his criticism of O'Shea.
You've that attitude for a start. And a midfielder, Aidan O'Shea, rushing around doing TV shows. What the fuck? You wouldn't see it in Kerry. You wouldn't see it in Dublin. Why? Because you win your medals and then talk about it.
That critique came independent of the main furore of the week: Bernard Flynn's curious criticism of O'Shea for having the audacity to take some post-game selfies with young fans after a recent challenge match with Meath.
At the very end of the match, the Mayo players got around in the circle. O’Shea had finished the match. There were 15-20 kids around, he signed autographs. The team was in a circle about ten yards away. No-one asked him to leave what he was doing, every other player was in a huddle, talking. He was left outside and allowed to do as he wanted.
That happened. He decided to come into the ring when all the photographs were finished, which I found absolutely incredible.
They did a warm-down and the same thing happened. The whole team did the warm-down and ten yards away, he proceeded to have photographs and selfies and whatnot. He was allowed to do his own thing.
I stood back in amazement with a few friends of mine that watched. A certain individual, who’s close to the Meath team, said, 'That’s exactly why Aidan O’Shea plays the way he does.
There have been plenty of defences of O'Shea - Keith Duggan's in Saturday's Irish Times was a particular highlight - few were as entertaining as James Horan's. The former Mayo manager was in Castlebar for Newstalk yesterday, and used some of his half-time analysis to condemn Flynn in hilariously dismissive fashion:
Ah Bernard Flynn, I have to say, he made an absolute tit of himself.
I don't think there is any other way to say it. I don't know what it is, but the big guy who stands out a bit...maybe it is other people's insecurity, they feel they have to knock him down to make themselves feel better. It's bizarre.
The level of flak Aidan O'Shea takes...I was with him for four years. The effort, work, and commitment he puts in to be in the shape he is in, to play football for Mayo, is phenomenal. I remember, we played a game out in Gaelic Park against New York, and I had him captain that day. How he conducted himself, and how he represented the GAA to the community out in New York was absolutely phenomenal. With the young players. A lot of us had togged in, and we were ready to go [home] but Aidan was still out there with those young lads.
Deep down, behind it all, I think Bernard Flynn knows he made a fool of himself. But people need to take stock. Things can run out of control, and I think the Aidan O'Shea thing has. If someone is confident and has something to say, it should be respected, and not be knocked down for being who he is.
