Flynn: No blueprint for winning All-Ireland in new structure

Mayo's encouraging start to the season came to a shuddering halt in Castlebar on Sunday as neighbours Roscommon put the league champions out of the Connacht Championship.

Kevin McStay's men, along with Galway, Dublin and Kerry, were seen as the likeliest All-Ireland champions under the new system, which will see the eight provincial finalists, plus the next seven teams according to league ranking, and last year's Tailteann Cup winners Westmeath, compete for Sam Maguire.

Mayo will now cool their heels for more than a month as they await the draw for the round-robin, which will see them graded as third seeds in a group of four.

However, having gone all the way to the league final in a hectic spring campaign, there is a school of thought that a month to concentrate on training could be beneficial to the Westerners.

Paul Flynn won six All-Irelands with Dublin, but none under this new structure and, speaking on The Sunday Game, he was not sure winning a provincial title is the best way to go about landing Sam Maguire.

"There is a long season and I would see this as an opportunity for them. I would question the value of the provincials this year and there is no blueprint for winning an All-Ireland in the current structure.

"It's brand new. so we don't know what is the right way to do this. Mayo can use this as an opportunity when they do regroup - take the block now to do a bank of work and be ready for the group stages when it is really, really important."

"There is no blueprint to winning an All-Ireland" Paul Flynn tells The Sunday Game that Mayo's loss to Roscommon doesn't put an end to their All-Ireland hopes.