Liam McHale was on Off the Ball on Newstalk last night to talk about the appointment of Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes as the new Mayo bosses. Edwin McGreal in the Mayo News revealed the farcical nature of the appointment, which one county board member called "a sham".
Kevin McStay was another candidate for the job and McHale would have been part of the coaching ticket. The former Mayo footballer says that McStay received a phone call on Saturday where he was told that his application was unsuccessful due to Connelly and Holmes' presentation being better and his being "a little too radical."
Here's what he had to say:
He was told that their presentation was better, Kevin's presentation was a little too radical, there was a little bit too much change in it for the county board and that they were going to go with Noel and Pat.
He went onto explain what he thought was too radical about their ideas for the future of Mayo football.
Obviously we've lost two All-Irelands Joe. Whilst it's great to get there, we've been doing that now for the last 25 years. We just felt, Kevin felt and I felt that there were a lot of changes need to be made in the style of football and the way Mayo approached the game. The county board, Paddy [county board chairman] in particular wanted continuity they want things to go pretty much the same way.
There was also a tinge of melancholy to McHale's interview as he expressed sadness at the thought that he will never win an All-Ireland with Mayo.
The biggest disappointment for me is not that we did not get the job this time. The biggest disappointment for me is that I will probably never be involved with Mayo again as coach or selector. Obviously my dream from 18 years of age to now was to win an All-Ireland with Mayo. I failed to do it as a player so I was always hoping that one day I might be able to do it as a coach or manager or selector. I feel for me now that day is done. I'll never be involved with Mayo football again.
You can listen to the full interview below.
Picture credit: SPORTSFILE
