{"id":581799,"date":"2026-07-12T12:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T12:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/581799\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T12:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T12:42:13","slug":"moran-says-mayo-fans-should-enjoy-the-all-ireland-dream-if-they-go-a-bit-nuts-let-them-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/581799\/","title":{"rendered":"Moran says Mayo fans should enjoy the All-Ireland dream: \u2018If they go a bit nuts, let them\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Moran<\/a>\u2019s press conference was almost six minutes old when the convivial tenor of proceedings took a turn. <\/p>\n

The question was coming eventually. The hype factory. The neverending dream. Mayo<\/a>\u2019s quest. On the verge, again. Could it be this time? Whatever way it was going to be phrased, Moran would have known it was coming.<\/p>\n

He has seen the same hype factory open its doors many times, he has seen it ramp up its output only to promptly close again, he has seen it reopen, close, reopen, close. He knows the rhythm of these things. <\/p>\n

So, we can only assume he had already decided how he was going to play that particular ball when it was tossed at him: \u201cAndy, In terms of the build-up, do you think the county will go crazy again or have they been burnt too many times?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou laugh at that, lads. I don\u2019t laugh at that,\u201d fired back Moran. <\/p>\n

\u201cI find it very actually dismissive, if I\u2019m being honest. I think it\u2019s a bulls**t question, if I\u2019m being honest. I don\u2019t mean that in any disrespect, but I think it\u2019s a disrespectful question. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur county have been starved the last four or five years. If they go a bit nuts, let them. You\u2019re (media) going to go to a game tomorrow. Every single one of ye, you\u2019re going to write to Kerry or Dublin are going to win the All-Ireland final. Right? Right? <\/p>\n

\u201cDoes anyone here think Mayo are going to win the All-Ireland final?\u201d<\/p>\n

Silence for a moment. Then one single whispered voice offered a no.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. Thank you. So that question is nonsense. If our supporters want to enjoy it, let them enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that, we can take it, is going to be Mayo\u2019s mantra for the next fortnight, a reimagining of that timeless classic, \u2018Nobody believes we have a chance, they\u2019re all writing us off.\u2019 It\u2019s as good a motivating tool as any, to be fair.<\/p>\n

\"AA view of Mayo fans celebrating at Croke Park for the match against Louth. Photograph: James Lawlor\/Inpho <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Kerry v Dublin preview: Champions to get the job done against liberated challengersOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Perhaps Moran\u2019s experience has taught him that following a 17-point semi-final win, completely burying the expectation won\u2019t float. <\/p>\n

Plus, they have a sprinkling of stardust in 18-year-old Kobe McDonald, who brings something very different to Mayo\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\u201cOisin (Mullin) is a tiny bit different – he\u2019s a defender and he\u2019d take you out of the game and he has that burst going forward,\u201d said Moran when asked about what McDonald offers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe two that I\u2019ve seen like that are Pearce Hanley and Kobe. Let\u2019s be honest, they\u2019re generational talents. <\/p>\n

\u201cCiar\u00e1n Kilkenny, who went over [to Australia] for a month or two and came back a couple of months later and played against us in 2012 in an All-Ireland semi-final. Of course these boys bring something different. The Aussies aren\u2019t after them because they\u2019re average players, they\u2019re after them because they\u2019re the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald was part of a lethal full-forward line on Saturday that combined for a total of 2-17 against Louth \u2013 Ryan O\u2019Donoghue with 1-11, Darragh Beirne with 1-2 and McDonald with 0-4.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe went through on goal in the last minute against Cork, I tried to tell him to hit it over the bar, but there was no chance, he\u2019s just his own guy,\u201d added Moran.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t even know he\u2019s around the place until he puts on the pink boots and starts playing a bit of football. I swear to God, he\u2019s quiet. He\u2019s just quite a humble young man. He plays with that kind of 18-year-old freedom.<\/p>\n

\"Mayo’sMayo\u2019s Kobe McDonald celebrates a score with Jordan Flynn. Photograph: James Lawlor\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a few of them in terms of Eoin [McGreal] would have the same sort of, I suppose, quietness, but when he plays, he plays differently. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen these guys come along, they absolutely elevate everyone around the place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephen Coen is one of Mayo\u2019s more experienced players. He has seen the hype factory go in and out of business too, but he doesn\u2019t go along with the storyline that Mayo\u2019s presence in the final is a surprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we would have entered the competition if we didn\u2019t think we could be here,\u201d said Coen.<\/p>\n

\u201c16 teams, Division 1 and Division 2. There\u2019s no difference between anyone, but you have to go and do it. And now in the next two weeks, we have to go and do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say we\u2019ve just grown as a team. We fight for each other, back each other up, cover, defend, play the ball, into space for guys with speed and talent. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we\u2019re always supporting each other, so I think we\u2019ve just been very connected over the last seven or eight weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Louth manager Gavin Devlin has challenged his players to treat Saturday\u2019s semi-final loss<\/a> as a bump in the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just spoke to them (the players) there inside and it\u2019s disappointing but it\u2019s not a day to drop your shoulders. It\u2019s a day to get your shoulders up. What they did for Louth (this season) is amazing,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a gap out there today. There was a gap physically, speed-wise. When we were coming out with the ball we were getting turned back. That\u2019s the first thing I felt, all year we\u2019ve been able to break lines and make impacts. <\/p>\n

\u201cToday we were getting turned back. You can see that visibly early on in the game. We\u2019ve got to close that gap.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Devlin has nailed his colours to the mast as regards the All-Ireland final. Ultimately, there\u2019s no escaping Mayo\u2019s search for Sam Maguire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe noise and the fever that they bring as well, they\u2019re mammoth. Honestly, for me, I\u2019d love to see them go over the line now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been there just enough times now. It\u2019s time to go and break that glass ceiling. I\u2019d love to see them go and do it now.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Mayo hammer Louth to make ninth All-Ireland final this centuryOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Moran\u2019s press conference was almost six minutes old when the convivial tenor of proceedings took a turn.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[76],"tags":[167029,18,131567,19,17,165046,131566,26710,132],"class_list":["post-581799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-andy-moran","tag-eire","tag-football-championship","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kobe-mcdonald","tag-louth-gaa","tag-mayo-gaa","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116907065872988960","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}