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Career lessons and soccer tactics: What will Andy Moran bring to Mayo?
AFTER THE BLUNT break-up that ended Kevin McStay's tenure, the appointment of a recent Mayo GAA hero has at least reinjected a bit of hope into a county which has drifted away from All-Ireland contention.
Mission one already accomplished for Andy Moran. What's to follow will be harder to achieve, but it's a task he has been preparing for ever since the moment he announced his retirement.
In one of the exit interviews from his playing days, there was little doubt what Moran had in mind as he spoke about going down the coaching route.
'I've been dreaming about winning an All-Ireland since I was five years of age. Hopefully, my story isn't finished with Mayo yet,' he said.
The 41-year-old's career was a story of personal growth. Having emerged as a roaming half-back/half-forward, a broken leg and cruciate injury triggered his transformation into a full-forward.
He studied soccer strikers to learn the inside movement required, as well as contemporaries such as Paul Geaney, Con O'Callaghan, and Ollie Murphy. His career as a gym owner, much like TJ Reid, helped him produce his best football into his thirties. Following his 15th season of inter-county football, Moran was named Footballer of the Year for 2017, a day after his 34th birthday.
James Horan convinced him to give one more year in 2019. In a similar vein, one of Moran's first calls is likely to be to 33-year-old former teammate Cillian O'Connor, enquiring whether the championship's record scorer fancies another spin.
Mayo's Andy Moran taking on Michael Fitzsimons of Dublin during the 2017 All-Ireland final. Tommy Dickson / INPHO Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO
Moran would've relished Gaelic football's new rules (much like O'Connor would). He coached a Monaghan side who were early embracers of those opportunities. The Farney's 58 two-pointers were more than any other county, averaging 4.5 per game. Attacking returns have too often been Mayo's greatest fallibility.
After joining Gabriel Bannigan's backroom team last autumn, Moran identified moving the ball quicker as a priority and impressed the opportunity of squeezing up on opponents. They were beliefs that chimed with the intent of the Football Review Committee's modifications.
'I believe in football being a forward-based game, in terms of being progressive,' he told the Farney Army Pod last October.
He added: 'I think (Gaelic) has taken an awful lot from soccer, but I think it has taken the bad stuff if you ask me. If you look at the real top teams now playing soccer, all their passes are forward. They might go back once, but the next one has to be forward.
We need to take that into our game, where it's more of a forward transition game than a backward passing game.
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'We're nearly taking soccer from back in the 1992 Euros, pass it back to the keeper and use it, but we need to get to the modern soccer, which is pass the ball forward.
'Like most teams, when they're attacking, they've five fellas across the front line. If you look at Arsenal now, they'd have Saka one side, they'd have a left back the other side, Martinelli, Havertz, and somebody else in the middle. They'd have five guys up.
'In Gaelic, we're taking the bad stuff out of the possession, instead of getting it forward.'
That experience of Ulster football served as a final apprenticeship to sharpen him for his home role.
Moran set about learning his trade outside the county bounds as he was appointed Leitrim manager ahead of the 2022 season.
His tenure featured some bad luck in penalty shoot-outs. They were eliminated in the Tailteann Cup quarter-finals by Sligo on penalties in 2022 before the lowest point, losing to New York at Gaelic Park in another shoot-out.
His third and final year brought promotion from Division 4 and, doubling up as U20 manager, a stunning triumph over Mayo.
Andy Moran was appointed Leitrim manager ahead of the 2022 season. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
The Leitrim County Board hailed his 'boundless levels of energy and enthusiasm' upon his departure that summer.
With Monaghan, Moran was involved in a Division 2 title and a run to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
His Mayo backroom team has also caught the eye. Colm Boyle is another hero of that 2010s era, who, like Moran, earned a reputation as an insightful pundit upon his retirement.
Paddy Tally is coming off a tumultuous year as Derry manager, but holds an impressive coaching CV. He has been involved in All-Irelands with Tyrone (2003) and Kerry (2022), while helping Down to the 2010 final.
Moran's final game as a player was the All-Ireland semi-final loss to Dublin in 2019. Since then, the goalkeeper, the entire defence bar Stephen Coen, half of the midfield pairing, and four of the substitutes called upon that day have retired. Enough time has passed to ease the potential awkwardness of managing former teammates.
The slight fall off in support highlights that expectations aren't immediately set sky high, although Moran knows where the bar is fixed from his playing career.
The board statement reaffirmed their belief in the county's stature in the game when stating: 'The level of interest and calibre of applicants once again highlights the strength and reputation of Mayo football.'
Their victory over Tyrone and the nature of their narrow loss to Donegal underline that Mayo aren't far away on their day. Their defeat to Cavan and shaky Connacht displays show that they are miles away when off form.
An early aim will be to bring the consistent application which defined Moran's career. Another will surely be to halt Galway's five-in-a-row Connacht bid.
The playing resources aren't what they were in his playing days. He will need to build around the remaining leaders from then.
Beyond recruiting Cillian O'Connor, pressing matters include getting the most out of the remaining years in Aidan O'Shea (perhaps in an Andy Moran-type role) and a clear run of fitness for Paddy Durcan, Tommy Conroy, Diarmuid O'Connor, and Eoghan McLaughlin.
Ryan O'Donoghue has been too often starved of support. He needs back-up. Otherwise, teams that succeed in snuffing out his influence will continue to beat Mayo.
Given his career trajectory, Moran will hope to inspire improvements from the in-between generation, who are approaching their peak years.
Infusing some of the young stars from their U20 Connacht champions is another important step. That team produced some exciting attacking displays, which are just what Mayo need, before falling one point short in an All-Ireland semi-final.
Their minor teams have also reached the semi-finals in the past two campaigns, which will form the basis of next year's U20 offering. Translating that promise to higher grades hasn't always come easily.
Still, if they can add those attacking reinforcements, there is enough of a base there to regain their status as a contender.
The new man will need patience and loyalty from the board, but he could be just the man to return the feel-good factor to Mayo football.
