Stephen Rochford steps into the Mayo breach once more after tumultuous fortnight

Irish Daily Mirror

a day ago

The Stephen Rochford Files are littered with occasions when he pulled rabbits from the hat - many of them proving to be masterstrokes.
But for Mayo to reach the relative sanctuary of a two week break until an All-Ireland semi-final, Rochford will have to perform perhaps his greatest magic trick yet.
It's been a tumultuous week and a half - even by Mayo standards - starting with a shock Sam Maguire Round 1 defeat by Cavan at MacHale Park.
Then Kevin McStay suffered a serious health scare and has since stepped aside with Rochford taking over as Mayo manager.
To cap it all, GAA top brass, Jarlath Burns and Tom Ryan, held a crisis meeting with the clubs of Mayo and the County Board officials amid concerns over financial issues and allegations of intimidation and harassment.
It could all elicit a backlash against Tyrone next Saturday night at Healy Park, and with a smarting Mayo having two weeks to prepare, against Malachy O'Rourke's side who have just seven days after a statement win over Donegal, it's set up for the visitors to go after it.
However, Mayo's head to head defeat by Cavan is disastrous and means they may require a win and a draw against Tyrone and Donegal to stay afloat this season.
Given that Rochford is already assistant manager/Head Coach the lift from a change of manager may not be there, but there could well be a strong on-field statement of support from the players for McStay.
But, this is a management team, that barring a giant leap forward in the coming weeks, were possibly in their final year after failing to make it to Croke Park last year, and taking a hammering from Dublin in an All-Ireland quarter-final when they got there the year before.
The alternative perspective has it that they drew with Dublin last year in the All-Ireland group stages, narrowly missing out on topping their group, and only lost to Derry after extra-time in the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final.
They should be Connacht champions too, having blown it in the final quarter against Galway, getting four points from a posssible 19 on offer while their opponents got four out of five playing into a stiff breeze to win by two
But with Galway completing a Connacht four-in-a-row, that doesn't cut it with a lot of Mayo fans.
If you take out the four week run from the All-Ireland quarter-final to the All-Ireland final, Rochford has literally four and a half weeks of high pressure and almost guaranteed mayhem to make something of Mayo's 2025 season.
The type of football acumen he possesses is absolutely vital in the biggest games where teams know each other inside out and every little tactical edge could be the inch that gets you over the line.
But, if Mayo get to an All-Ireland semi-final - a long way off right now - what sort of shape will they be in?
Will they go more gung-ho, which seems to suit them, and less pragmatic. That's a style issue rather than a tactical one.
Rochford could well come up with something though.
The biggest rabbit he ever pulled from the hat was putting Aidan O'Shea at full back to tag Kieran Donaghy in the 2017 All-Ireland semi-final draw and replay - a decision that was heavily criticised.
Rochford weighed up the wreck Donaghy caused Mayo full backs, as far back as the 2006 All-Ireland final and on into the 2014 All-Ireland semi-final draw abd replay, and figured the only one who could match Donaghy's power was O'Shea.
Mayo won the replay. Rochford had the courage of his convictions and was proved right. He didn't ignore history and opt for blind loyalty.
Then there was Alan Dillon, not named, but starting against Tyrone in the 2016 All-Ireland quarter-final.
A rabbit from the hat, who pulled the strings and laid the foundations for victory before being taken off at half-time. Tyrone weren't ready for him and had to make a tactical substitution after 20 minutes.
Dillon had more touches of the ball in the first half than any other player on the pitch, picking out key passes against Tyrone's double sweeper system. His replacement, Tom Parsons had more touches than anyone else in the second half. Job done.
Then there was Paddy Durcan man marking Kevin McManamon in the 2016 All-Ireland final and the Dublin man, who was in Footballer of the Year form going into the game, being taken off.
Also, Lee Keegan man marking Enda Smith at midfield in the 2017 All-Ireland quarter-final replay and hitting 1-3 from play was another big call that paid off.
The year before Keegan marked Sean Cavanagh, Michael Quinlivan and Diarmuid Connolly on the way to landing the Footballer of the Year award.
Rochford later went to Donegal, alongside Declan Bonner as a coach, and helped them to the 2019 Ulster Championship.
He clearly relishes the detail at this level and the on field coaching time with the players, and it's no coincidence that after his spell as Mayo manager he went in as a coach alongside Bonner and then McStay.
At times, Crossmolina All-Ireland winner Rochford didn't look like he relished his media duties as Mayo manager, but this latest post is a stand-in role.
Mayo, though, are not in a great place. When Rochford led them to the 2016 and 2017 All-Ireland Finals, they had possibly the county's greatest ever player in Keegan and a forward who would win Footballer of the Year in 2017 in Andy Moran.
He also had serious competitors in the likes of Keith Higgins, Colm Boyle, Chris Barrett, Seamus O'Shea, David Clarke, Tom Parsons, Kevin McLoughlin, Aidan O'Shea, the O'Connor brothers - Cillian and Diarmuid - and more.
All of the above are gone, bar O'Shea, who is 34 and Diarmuid O'Connor who has serious miles on the clock and has taken a lot of punishment for the cause.
Patrick Durcan is plagued by injury. Tommy Conroy hasn't been seen this year. His pace is sorely missed for the three-up.
The pieces Rochford has to play aren't the same. If you don't have the pieces, you can't move them around.
Rochford could do with two Ryan O'Donoghues inside and another at number 11.
The new 3-up game also means he can't deploy the type of mass defence that frustrated Dubin in the 2016 drawn All-Ireland final, and held them to 2-9, admittedly in awful wet conditions. But, holding a Jim Gavin team to 2-9 in an All-Ireland final is fair going.
Needs must, and he elected to abandon the front foot football of the James Horan era to try and get the job done.
Rochford will need all of that acumen he's shown in the past and more over the coming month if he's to save Mayo's season and get them back on track again in his unexpected and unwanted second coming as manager.