Mayo's search for a new manager ended this week when RTE pundit Kevin McStay was handed the reins.
It is the third time McStay was in the running to manage the Westerners but this time the door has finally opened.
After his inter-county playing career ended prematurely due to injury in 1990, McStay was just 32 when appointed as ‘trainer’ under Anthony Egan, who served one season as manager in 1994/95.
Read next: Colm Boyle column: Kevin McStay will be judged by only one metric in Mayo
Being part of a regime that oversaw relegation to Division Three and a decisive Connacht final defeat to Galway may not have helped McStay’s bid to succeed Egan, with the job going to John Maughan instead.
He later managed Mayo under-21s to a Connacht title in 2001 and Roscommon Gaels to a county title in 2004, all the while establishing himself as one of RTE’s leading football pundits.
Taking St Brigid’s from perennial Connacht champions to All-Ireland winners was an achievement that would have struck a chord in Mayo but his second stab at the job after James Horan stepped down in 2014 descended into a farce which he described as the “lowest point of my sporting career”.
He went on to win a Connacht title as manager with the Roscommon senior team in 2017
Mayo fans are understandably excited by the prospect of a fresh voice charged with taking their team to the next level with the All-Ireland title famously eluding the county since 1951.
Since news of McStay's appointment broke, clips have circulated on social media of him delivering passionate team talks during his time in charge of Roscommon.
A number of McStay's team talks from his time with the Rossies featured on an AIB online documentary 'Behind the Gates with Roscommon GAA' and one compliation has amassed over 130,000 views on Twitter alone and has got Mayo fans excited. The full AIB series can be viewed here.
"This is one reason I've wanted McStay for years. Men will walk through walk walls for him," said Mayo fan Eoin Forde.
Martin Coleman commented: "Honesty of effort, absence of ego love that!!"
"Youd fairly take the door off the hinges on the way put of a dressing room after listening to him!" added Kevin Hogan.
Speaking to www.mayogaa.com following the ratification of his appointment , McStay himself stated: “It was always a desire of mine to return someday to manage the Mayo senior football team and I am very grateful to have been given this opportunity now.
"I am looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead and I will leave no stone unturned in my efforts to keep Mayo competitive and challenging for national honours."
It is always an adventure following the fate of the Mayo senior footballers but this year could be even more dramatic than most. Watch this space.
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