ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 06/02/2017 18:12:39    1952918

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 06/02/2017 18:18:03    1952920

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 06/02/2017 18:36:45    1952932

When Menton played wing back two seasons ago he won a lot of dirty ball...But yesterday with the new Mark rule he was playing midfield and punching the ball :/

I always thought with the introduction of the Mark rule it would suit Meath football ! Winning clean catch ball from kick out would do away with a lot of punching the ball down to nobody or the opposition ! You know this is going to be very hard to believe and a lot of lads will be scratching there little loaf of bread to this one..But Paddy O'Rourke would have caught a lot of ball yesterday from midfield from kick out...and from there we would have established a platform to reset and attack ! See football its very simple game really ..Paddy O'Rourke he can't sing he can't dance and he looks awful but he would have won clean ball from midfield yesterday and called the Mark...if Kildare didn't have Menton yesterday punching the ball down to them they wouldn't have won ! So is there any need for a shiny brand new Seamus Kenny if we were able to catch the fecking ball :)

ps

There were five marks called in Salthill, with four of them directly leading to scores !

WhyTheLongFace (Meath) - Posts: 876 - 06/02/2017 19:08:50    1952948

It really is deckchairs on the titanic stuff for the Derry game as Andy said there are no more players back.

One of the mistakes that Andy made yesterday was not swapping Keoghan with Douglas during the first half. A couple of occasions when Keoghan moved forward Douglas went back & covered & I thought there had been a switch. I think we have to try Keoghan on the half back line for at least this game. Leadership from him and Biggy in the middle part of the field will be will be vital.

1. POR (I think he takes better kickout options)
2. Douglas (v quiet yesterday but I dont think his man scored)
3. Menton (not suited for midfield - hopefully can plug the gap here)
4. Burke (not sure what happened yesterday for black card)
5. Downey (deserves a start based on OBC)
6. McGill (more effective there imo than full back)
7. Keoghan (hopefully get more breaking ball)
8. Flanagan
9. Biggy (longer term hope we have other options but need him here this weekend anyway.)
10.O'Sullivan
11.Bobby O'Brien
12. Forde (should try o play the Seamus Kenny role as mentioned by someone else)
13. Wallace (also quiet on sunday but hopefully potential in two man FF line)
14. O' Coilean ( move out a bit on to the half forward line)
15. Lenihan

oldsam_newsam (Meath) - Posts: 638 - 06/02/2017 19:28:26    1952958

oldsam_newsam (Meath) - Posts: 638 - 06/02/2017 19:30:28    1952959

bert09 (Meath) - Posts: 1792 - 06/02/2017 20:00:49    1952975

Alternatively, we could try not kicking long balls into midfield from out kick-outs, if we don't have anyone there capable of catching them. Develop a plan for taking quick short kick-outs to corner-backs, or kicking it out to the wings to half-backs and half forwards making runs for the ball.

anfearbeag (Meath) - Posts: 1134 - 06/02/2017 20:01:31    1952976

bert09 (Meath) - Posts: 1792 - 06/02/2017 20:08:48    1952982

This team is simply unable to compete with a top 10 team. No foundation in place with a poor midfield and poor supply of ball into a mediocre full forward line. Brian Sheridan was a gamble that didn't pay off. Keoghan is clearly overrated and isn't being played to his strengths. At least Alan Forde showed some ambition and took on his man at times. Why isn't Conor Downey starting?

Jimin10 (Meath) - Posts: 783 - 06/02/2017 20:14:57    1952984

Crinigan (Meath) - Posts: 1319 - 06/02/2017 20:19:35    1952992

seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2149 - 06/02/2017 20:34:31    1953003

bert09 (Meath) - Posts: 1792 - 06/02/2017 20:38:39    1953006

Barney123 (Meath) - Posts: 676 - 06/02/2017 20:39:22    1953007

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 06/02/2017 20:41:55    1953009

On thinking of my best 15 I keep completly changing my mind ! I would play with the sweeper system ! We have a habit of conceding big scores..I think at the very least we need to be hard to beat! We need a huge workrate!! Sweeper cutting out long balls into our full back line !! We need to inject pace into the forwards, have them playing off each others shoulders but be patient when needed and be clinical !! Too many wrong decisions missed goal chances ! I remember at a training session in seneschalstown just after he took over the first time he encouraged us to be confident and sometimes try the spectacular and it really payed off!

grahamc9897 (Meath) - Posts: 1174 - 06/02/2017 21:12:50    1953030

As there were only two FF players inside yesterday, I think instead of having Wallace drop deep and hover around the place mostly for his pace, we should try someone like Downey instead (I'm open to suggestions who else might fit) to take on the role of winning breaking and dirty ball around the middle. It is more suited to a small tigerish defensive type player who is not afraid to go in where it hurts (like Kenny was, a half back converted/switched to playing a defensive half forward role by EOB) and with the ability to use the ball well when he gets it (and initiate attacks). I'd leave Alan Forde where he is, wide on a wing. We are going to have to set up more defensively. And if we have two mobile corner forwards/forwards inside with pace, for flip sake deliver some low ball into them, in front of them or wide, not high balls that nullify the advantage of having their pace.

GlasagusOr (Meath) - Posts: 1348 - 06/02/2017 21:13:55    1953031

Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 757 - 06/02/2017 21:39:33    1953053

You drop/pick up points in games you don't expect to. Anyway, the most important games are the ones vs. potential relegation rivals. Have the head to head advantage. A win in Newry is essential or we're heading for D3.

GlasagusOr (Meath) - Posts: 1348 - 06/02/2017 21:50:07    1953062

With all the talk of the midfield situation, we may have got away with it last year to an extent but this new mark is meaning we've gone from in the space of a few months, where it looked the midfield position in GAA as we know it was bordering extinct, right back to a massive emphasis being put on fielding with the mark rule, which to be fair is proving a success. In that sense we're unfortunate with the timing of Rooneys departure as he'd have flourished under it. I should add Kildare are particularly strong here, Feely will mop up some amount of marks this year, and even Moolick is better than most midfielders we'll face in this division.

Anyway as for suggestions, we can barely get two on the inside forward line as it is, never mind three so the spare man is in and around the park to hopefully counteract our weakness. The 'spare man' Sunday was Wallace but I'm not sure where he was meant to be really, keep him wing forward if he can play himself in to the form we know he's capable of. The obvious one is bring in Lowndes now, he's athletic, not lacking in height, and I touched on the quality of ball to the forwards in the other thread; this is where I feel he's best as he's a proper footballer. As a third midfielder he could effectively be the playmaker from deep which is something else badly lacking. As dangerous as our half forward runners are, they're not Trevor Giles, or even Niall Kellys as we saw Sunday. Menton still shows glimpses in the middle even if we know it's not his best position, there's some good aggression there, so I'd keep him there for now til we have alternatives, and Flanagan has probably earned a shot at partnering him.

Elsewhere we badly need to find someone to partner Lenihan inside, we don't have many natural inside forwards, take out the injured Newman and there's very little there, is McMahon injured as well? Unless we're looking at two half forwards in Bobby O Brien and O Coilean to move inside for now I'm really struggling to think of other options. Neither Kennelly or Sheridan have worked, nor did we unearth anything in The O Byrne cup.

As a few have said I'd have POR back in goals for the kickouts, his ability to bypass midfield is now massive.

In defence, I'd have Lavin back in the corner, he was arguably our best defender up there in the summer that day. Burke takes some stick on here but I'd definitely have him in the side this week, he won't be bullied or stand off in how we were doing so on Sunday, and if there will be changes he gets the benefit of the doubt as he happened to miss most of Sunday with the black card.

dunboynelad (Meath) - Posts: 227 - 06/02/2017 21:56:42    1953065