Exactly its the general set-up of the team that is the main problem rather than individual players.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 15/06/2015 14:18:50    1737364

Hate saying this after only one game against a very ordinary team, and I know the injuries have a fairly large part to play in it, but after the game its quiet clear that there is no strategy in place. I hope MOD decided last week to just let the lads go out and play any old way and that they would have enough guile to beat wickla, but I honestly think he has come up short in the tactical department once again. Say what you will about players being injured, but the people who came in looked like they hadn't been given any sort of plan at all. As an entire squad you would think every man would know what role they will have to play under certain circumstances. I may appear to be harsh but this is not the first time we have played like this and I fully expect Westmeath to beat us and when they do I feel MICKO and the backroom team will have some serious questions to answer too in front of the public eye this time.

Irish_downunder (Meath) - Posts: 630 - 15/06/2015 14:37:44    1737377

@ hungrymeathman......Dont think you should be putting us in the same sentence as Dublin Kerry & Donegal.Hope im wrong on this but after what i seen yesterday in Navan we will struggle against a Westmeath outfit in 2 weeks never mind the big guns.

thelutch (Meath) - Posts: 1047 - 15/06/2015 15:17:56    1737420

lutch the only reason i put us in the same sentence was to point out that were not anywhere near their standards yet and if we want to compete we need to get to their standards. I just think that we should be closer to them than we currently are at this stage of mods reign :/

HungryMeathMan (Meath) - Posts: 22 - 15/06/2015 15:42:52    1737436

fully agree hungry,at the moment we not even in top 10.Cant see any progress under MOD.

thelutch (Meath) - Posts: 1047 - 15/06/2015 15:57:52    1737450

@Irishdownunder Don't think I could disagree with any of your sentiments, when you figure how easy Wicklow cut through Meath they could easily have scored 3/4 more goals then you would really fear what a top class team would do against us. I know it would be disastrous losing to Westmeath as I live on the border but the thoughts of another hiding from the Dubs isn't great either. I really think we are underdogs against our Western neighbors.

AthboyGael (Meath) - Posts: 75 - 15/06/2015 16:39:00    1737488

McHugh's comments on main page, more of the same stuff of last year, but hard to argue with him. Surely if MoD has a game plan going forward, these are the games to perfect it in and not try to unveil some master plan IF we play the Dubs. He now also has a problem over the next two weeks with training intensity, with risk of more injuries on the hard ground. Nervous times ahead

seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2142 - 15/06/2015 16:41:25    1737490

As I said he needed time,now he has had that time,yet we have no gameplan and the same mistakes are been made.I beleive if we lose to Westmeath,he will have to go..

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 15/06/2015 17:21:41    1737529

How anybody could single out Bray for criticism is beyond me. He won nearly every ball that went into him and the standard of ball going in was pretty poor. It was plainly obvious that several players are way out of their depth, why they are being selected is beyond me.

Defence was disgracefully bad. In fairness to Keoghan he was running around for most of the game trying to put out fires caused by lads not marking. Judge and Tormey in particular were miles off their men most of the time.

Intensity levels were terrible throughout. MOD will be gone at the end of the year and rightfully so, he has had plenty of time but has only brought the team backwards since taking over

Hank_Scorpio (Meath) - Posts: 60 - 15/06/2015 18:00:26    1737554

The general negative feel about yesterday's game has a lot to do with the expectations of hammering Wicklow, now I know it's easy to be wise in hindsight but when the Meath team was announced, all thoughts of hammering Wicklow went out the window for me, there was just too much uncertainty. Now I know we got ahead of them a few times and looked like pulling away but they clawed us back every single time and that was disappointing.

But look at it this way, it was a pretty inexperienced Meath team (only 2 regular defenders started and both out of position) and they got a good test, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, last year we trounced Carlow and it done us no good what so ever. Another positive was the performance of Harry Rooney, some of his fielding was spectacular so we need to work towards forcing keepers to kick long, no handy kick outs.

There is a lot of work to be done of course, that performance wouldn't beat Westmeath unless they had a complete stinker so they'll fancy their chances, hopefully a few of the regulars will be back as well, yesterday proved that we do need them.

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 15/06/2015 18:24:48    1737568

The reaction to the game yesterday has been completely over the top and exceptionally unfair to Wicklow. I'm not trying to cover up our failings, certain players did not perform yesterday and the team looked at times disjointed, nervous and unsure but facts are this, we were without almost half a starting team yesterday including some of our best and most experienced players that we absolutely must have available if we are to have any success this year. I don't know of many teams, with the exception of the Dubs, that wouldn't struggle missing so many players. Wicklow played great stuff yesterday and focussed on our weaknesses in defence, I have no doubt the Wicklow management were drilling into their players heads all week about the players we had missing and the youth and inexperience of the players that would replace them, Wicklow's belief increased during the week and they came to Navan with confidence that they could expose that youth and inexperience and for large parts of the game they did and they deserve huge credit. As for Martin McHugh, well any pundit or expert would would even think of calling the Gooch a one trick pony let alone to actually come out and say it deserves no recognition in my book and he can ramble away to his hearts content if that's what makes him happy. I expect Meath will improve from yesterday, this day last year we went to Dr Cullen Park and put 7 goals past Carlow. Did it do any good? No. Did we learn anything from it? No. Did the game yesterday do us good? Yes. Did we learn anything from yesterday's game? Definitely yes, and all going well we will have the majority of our injured players back for the Westmeath game and have a more settled, experienced and confident team to put out. Yesterday could turn out to be a blessing in disguise, getting a fright off a supposed lesser team will help focus the minds of players and management far more than a 10 point win

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3734 - 15/06/2015 19:52:25    1737636

Hank_Scorpio- You could single him out for criticism if you knew very little about the game. Sometimes I wonder what some posters are watching. He was the best forward in the first half and with two men marking him most of the game. We appear to have few defenders who are able to open up a game with a good pass, as most of them appear to back pass or pass laterally on a continuous basis.

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 15/06/2015 19:53:15    1737638

The Bray bashing is very odd..

Gillespie is a great passer of the ball,and he is a loss in that regard too.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 15/06/2015 20:16:39    1737652

Bray bashing?? Ahh will yous get over yourselves, he had a bad game plain and simple, to say otherwise would suggest not knowing much about football, one of the greatest players we have produced and would have fit in in any Meath team of the past, but his confidence is shot, id still have him as a impact sub, but when i see a player with a great opportunity to score and pass it to a player in worse position i worry, if it happened once id say mistake, but for it to happen 4/5 its bad confidence. Loyalty and support are great attributes in life but in sport it can cost you. Honest opinion is not bashing any player , if it was any other player that put in a performance like that lads would be lambasting him. Goose gander and all that. I have been a huge cheerleader for keoghan but yesterday he was poor in my opinion, if it walks like a duck quacks like a duck, odds are its a duck.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 15/06/2015 21:16:42    1737697

What exactly did lads want from yesterday's game? A hammering like carlow last year? Because that was so beneficial wasn't it. We got a competitive game with the type of team we'd expect to see at the opening of a pitch. Some lads showed well and will be of use again, others showed to be not of the required standard, but at least we found that out and got something from the game.
We will also go into the westmeath game with zero complacency and prob not even favourites which is what you want.

On the topic of a lack of game plan. I'm not too concerned about yesterday's shape, it's in two weeks and hopefully a months time I'd rather see that needed. You could argue that Dublin showed no game plan v longford, just ran up the middle and everyone had a pop.

Jinxie (Meath) - Posts: 6342 - 15/06/2015 21:17:23    1737698

Browncows. One question, have you played senior inter county football for Meath ?

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 15/06/2015 21:17:40    1737699

Royaldunne....I'm not sure what your beef is with Stephan bray, did he refuse you an autograph once or something. He's one of only top class players and one of the only ones that would get within an ****** roar of the top teams even at the age of 33. He won every ball that went into him Sunday and the ones he didn't he got a free for.he didn't shoot the lights out but too say he had a bad game proves it's something personal and not a football based agaenda you have with him. Cop on talking tripe about bray that's just so way off the mark it's comical....and be very careful what u wish for and you'll see what I mean when he's gone

southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 890 - 16/06/2015 08:21:58    1737733

Rd

Can't agree with you on bray. I think his movement off the ball and the space he creates for lads is better than anyone else we have. I'd certainly rather have him in my team than not.

As for keoghan, tell me your not claiming he is a dud. He's probably our best defender.

Jinxie (Meath) - Posts: 6342 - 16/06/2015 10:30:42    1737806

RD

Bray made the penalty, he scored a point, he slapped a high ball down for McMahon to get a handy tap over. That's 1-2 that came from him (we won by 0-4 mind) and that's just off the top of my head i'm sure he set up other scores.

One could argue that without Bray we easily could have lost that game. Cop on.

Uncle_Fester (Meath) - Posts: 217 - 16/06/2015 12:20:08    1737910

To some If Bray doesn't score 5 points from play,he has had a bad game.His movement is greater than any forward we have and was good yesterday too.Don't remember him not winning a ball either.
RD - You have been at him for the last 3 year saying he should be a sub...

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 16/06/2015 13:00:31    1737948