Mayo footballer and GAA heartthrob Aidan O'Shea has voiced his displeasure with the lack of attention given to football in Connacht in comparison to Leinster, and feels that not enough credit is given to his county for their dominance in terms of provincial titles won in recent times.
Speaking to Marie Crowe of the Independent, O'Shea explained how he was inspired by watching the Mayo U21 side that claimed an All Ireland in 2006, and said of his certainty that he would link up with that group of players to bring the Sam Maguire Cup back to Mayo when he eventually made the breakthrough into the senior squad.
While that is yet to happen, O'Shea feels that the successes that Mayo have achieved are being undermined, and claimed that a Leinster title is "raved about" whereas not enough attention is given to Connacht:
You get very little credit for what you are doing in Connacht.
It's grand but Dublin win a Leinster and everyone is raving about the score they put up. Who says Leinster is any more competitive than Connacht? No one is paying any attention to what we are doing.
Realistically, we have two Division 1 teams and Galway are always competitive too. There is always a challenge there.
O'Shea continued to cite James Horan as the reason for a shift in attitude that has brought about a level of expectancy that was not previously associated with Mayo football, but it's clear that the jibes that get thrown at Mayo for their failure to secure an All Ireland is something that bothers the All Star.
I think it all changed with James. The level of preparation increased, like the small details around diet and gym, what was acceptable on the training pitch, arrival at training, preparation before training, and details about games.
He also expected us to win and that was refreshing. He didn't care who we were playing and that belief started to filter through. We believed we were 100 per cent good enough to beat anyone.
With new manager Stephen Rochford at the helm, Mayo will be finally looking to end the drought in 2016, and he got off to a winning start with a 1-12 to 1-10 victory over NUIG on Sunday afternoon.
via Independent.ie
