MAYO’S LEE KEEGAN has urged caution in forming a judgement of Mayo’s management set-up ahead of the 2023 season.

Kevin McStay was recently appointed to the position on a four-year term and has assembled a backroom team which includes Stephen Rochford, Damien Mulligan, Donie Buckley and Liam McHale. 

Oisín McConville, who was recently appointed the new Wicklow manager, has suggested that while that management unit is a “strong line-up,” he also feels that it might be “overloaded” and “not tight.”

“Backroom teams that are hefty in numbers,” he said on the BBC GAA Social podcast. McConville was part of Ray Dempsey’s proposed management ticket which was in the running for the Mayo job.

“It’s so difficult to manage them. You’re trying to manage players, but also backroom teams. A lot of the egos can be in backroom teams as opposed to the players on the pitch.”

Keegan says he appreciates McConville’s right to an opinion and added that the new Wicklow manager is one of his favourite pundits. But he also stressed that any assessments of Kevin’s performance at the helm should be held until after the conclusion of Mayo’s campaign next year.

“Oisín is judging before anything is done,” he told OTB AM.

“You can throw out opinions and comments, and that’s all fine. But at the end of the day, Kev and his backroom were picked because they had a better fit to them. That’s just personal choice.

“If it was Ray Dempsey and Oisín [who were selected], again, no problem whatsoever. I think it would be very unfair to start criticising Kevin at all. He’s done nothing yet in terms of players. He’s only getting into his role, looking at club games and trying to get the set-up right. Judge Kevin and the squad next year on how things go. I think it’s very unfair to say that it’s not a tight backroom team.

“I know those guys there, I’ve worked with them all, so to say they’re not tight would be a bit unfair this early in the season. I fully believe those guys will do a great job. Equally, if Ray and Oisín were there, I don’t think there would have been an issue. They would have done a great job.”

Keegan is one of the most experienced players in the Mayo camp, and is currently on club duty with Westport in the Mayo SFC. Looking ahead to his availability for the inter-county season in 2023, he says he will wait until after the club championship before making any decisions.

“If I get through the club campaign in some shape, I could be ok but I’ll have to see how the next month goes.

“We’re in the third round championship this Saturday with Westport so that’s a big game. If we win there, we’re into a quarter-final next weekend.

“It’s coming thick and fast which is good but trying to get recovery can be a bit tricky at times but I’m moving well and really enjoying it.”

Outside the Mayo camp, one of the biggest developments on the GAA scene in recent days is the news that Jack McCaffrey and Paul Mannion are set to return to the Dublin squad. 

“I’ve played against them enough times to know what they can bring and the excitement they bring towards games,” Keegan replied when asked his thoughts on the announcement.

“It’ll focus teams more now because you’ve got two of the best generational players coming back in.”

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