By Michael McMullan

FORMER Mayo goalkeeper David Clarke feels having men around the camp who have tasted All-Ireland success “can’t but help” in the quest to end the Sam Maguire famine.

While Andy Moran is very much the main man, Clarke saw up close the influence of coach Paddy Tally in training earlier in the season.

In the brief absence of goalkeeper coach, Donegal All-Ireland winner Paul Durcan, Clarke answered Moran’s call to come for a few sessions.

“I spent a small bit of time around the squad at the start of this year,” Clarke said.

“Paddy Tally seems like a real quiet guy that demands respect but doesn’t necessarily demand the limelight.

Tally coached Tyrone to their first All-Ireland title in 2003 and was in with Jack O’Connor when the Kingdom lifted their 38th in 2022.

“Andy, from what I could see, was the main man on the training pitch,” Clarke added.

“Paddy is obviously doing his part, he’s there in the background. Even on the sideline you don’t see him having a major presence.

“Andy is the manager but there is that support around him. I suppose it’s a balance as well, that when people come in it doesn’t upset the rhythm. In my time, we were very lucky.”

Clarke played under Mickey Moran and John Morrison; men he feels Andy Moran learned a great deal from as an impressionable player who had just joined the panel.

He also credited Tony McEntee’s influence during his own playing days as Mayo continued to knock on the door for a coveted first success since 1951.

“Obviously, we didn’t get over the line with those people, but they were great people there for the right reasons and really helped us. I’m sure it’s the same with the backroom team at the moment.”

When Moran and Morrison were in charge, they’d made the trip to training via Sligo where they’d pick up current manager Andy Moran, then a student in Sligo IT.

Clarke said the Ulster duo were very different than anything they’d experienced, indicating how they changed the Mayo squad.

“Andy actually would have spent an awful lot of time with Mickey Moran and John Morrison,” Clarke added.

“He was in Sligo at the time, so they used to travel through Sligo and pick up the ‘young cub’, as they used to call him.

“Andy was probably just in the back like a sponge asking questions. Learning off these two guys, real innovators of the game and really great people.

“John Morrison was one of those people that gave you energy. Mickey Moran was more like a wily old cat that was really calm.

“Mickey was a manager who got the best out of you. He put the hand around you like a grandfather or a father.

“He’s just an unbelievable man and John Morrison provided the energy and had the bit of madness with it.”

When Paddy Tally stepped away from the Kerry management, he took the reins at Derry for a year before being snapped up by Andy Moran in Mayo.

While Clarke is unsure Tally’s knowledge of the Kerry players will have much of a factor on Sunday, a deep dig might reveal some nuggets and mannerisms the Mayo players could pick up.

It could reveal what a player will do before cutting in to take a shot or if there is a prominent dummy to look out for. That’s something Tally may potentially have banked from his time coaching in Kerry.

“I suppose they’re really good footballers,” Clarke said of Mayo’s opponents this weekend.

“They seem like really good guys, they seem honest and I’m not sure there are many flaws with them.

“I don’t think there’s any characters that are there to be got at with Kerry,” he added.

“They seem like all solid, hard-working guys there for the right reasons, who are doing their utmost to win back-to-back titles.”

“I’m sure it can’t but help,” Clarke added of Tally having coached Kerry. “At the same time, I suppose Cian O’Neill has a bit of knowledge of Mayo.

“I know it’s a long time ago, but I suppose you could say he’s learnt a bit what the Mayo psyche is like.

“Maybe Paddy Tally’s experience of winning All-Irelands, of being with teams that got over the line will give us something. I think it’s great to have him in the background.”