LEE KEEGAN BELIEVES former Mayo team-mate Aidan O’Shea has ‘emphatically answered’ his critics after being scapegoated ‘every year’ for the team’s failures.

Freshly retired Keegan reckons the big Breaffy man was an ‘easy target’ for criticism when the team came up short of All-Ireland success.

And while the five-time All-Star said that O’Shea rarely complained about the flak that came his way, he reckons it must have hurt.

Experienced O’Shea looks like a player reborn under new manager Kevin McStay, powering the team to National League success with a series of strong displays on the edge of the square.

There has been little time to celebrate that landmark win as Mayo will host Roscommon in the Connacht championship on Sunday.

Asked at the launch of RTE’s coverage of the Championships if he felt O’Shea was unfairly singled out for criticism in the past, Keegan nodded.

“Every year, every year,” he said. “Because his personality is so big. And you know what, Aidan takes a lot of the brunt on himself regardless, because he’s that kind of personality within the group. He doesn’t want other guys being impacted or taking on flak that shouldn’t be coming their way.

“The thing is, we tried Aidan O’Shea at full-forward for many years but the problem was our game plan was around running it. And if you’re a full-forward like Aidan, why would you want to move for it when you have strike runners like Oisin Mullin or Paddy Durcan or whoever coming on the end of a move?

“Now, all of a sudden, it gives Aidan that confidence that, ‘You know what, if I make a run, more than like I’m going to get the ball’. So that gives confidence to Aidan that the guys back on the ’45 are looking at him and it also gives confidence that we’re not just going to continuously run it and run it and run it.

“That’s why we’re getting the best out of Aidan O’Shea, because we’re kicking in the ball. It was the same with Con O’Callaghan in the second-half last Sunday, Dublin finally kicked the ball in directly and you can see the damage it does when you have a big target man on the edge of the square. It can really hurt teams.”

Keegan said he never noticed O’Shea being particularly down or upset by criticism of his role within the Mayo team but he believes it had to impact him.

“He didn’t show it but I’m sure at some stage it does take it out of you,” said the former Footballer of the Year. “I suppose Aidan being the big personality that he is, he never lets on that it does get to him. I’m sure there are times, when it’s just going full spiral, when it just keeps coming and coming and coming, and unfairly at times, sometimes justified, that it must have been difficult. It happened to us all, we all got criticism and rightly so.

“But I think because of the presence and the personality that he is, I think it’s just an easy target sometimes to go straight for Aidan.

Keegan and O'Shea before the 2021 All-Ireland final. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

“I think he’s emphatically answered the questions this year of where he’s at in his career, with how he’s playing. And we’re getting the very best out of Aidan as a result of the game plan that Mayo are playing, but also the freedom he obviously feels.

“I think it’s the first time in a while that we see Aidan playing with a big smile on his face because he’s getting the type of ball that he wants, that he can do damage with. That’s giving him the confidence to play the way he wants to play.”

Keegan will spend the summer analysing games for RTE. He admits he’ll be keeping a close eye on his own Mayo, whilst attempting to be objective.

It’s a big ask for the league champions to keep winning big games indefinitely, particularly with two Division 1 teams – Roscommon and Galway – standing in the way of Mayo and a Connacht final spot.

“My biggest worry for Kevin and Mayo is trying to keep that freshness, particularly towards the latter end of the year when games are coming thick and fast and the competition is getting stronger,” said Keegan.

“I think it’s all well and good going really hard now, but there has to be a bigger picture for Mayo and where they are at.

“But I think Kevin knows what to expect this Sunday with Roscommon, he obviously has a lot of close ties with Roscommon, so he’ll be well up for that game and for laying down a marker for the match against Galway in two weeks, all going to plan.”

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