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Thanks for the comments ProudRoyal. There is lot of work to do in areas such as kickouts last ten minutes and squad depth. But thats for next year. But overall this year has been our best in 9 or 10 years. Theres the making of a proper good inter county gaelic football team in the next few years. Hopefully it happens. But overall its being an really good year for Meath footballers. The players deserve huge credit for that , all the panel and management. I cannot wait til next spring. 7 games in.div 1 . 1997 was the last year Meath were in an 8 team div 1. Way to long a wait for a county with great tradition like ours. And only spending 1 of last 20 years in div 1 , 18 in div 2 and 2 in div 3 explains why we have only won 1 leinster title since 2001. Next years league campaign is massive. It could be the defining campaign for so many of these Meath players and management ..If we could stay in div 1 it wud be massive. It could be the turning point.. Only Monaghan and Galway have stayed up in div 1 since 2013. If we could stay up and put a few seasons back to back in div 1 it would be transformational. Fingers crossed we do. But again thanks to the players for the effort they have put in this year. I have really enjoyed watching them play.. Furlong1949 (Meath) - Posts: 1067 - 06/08/2019 16:42:28 2221701 Link 19 |
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Well said furlong.
royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 06/08/2019 17:07:03 2221723 Link 1 |
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And so 2019 ends for Meath. cabbage (Meath) - Posts: 162 - 06/08/2019 18:06:49 2221776 Link 0 |
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Thanks Royaldunne. I appreciate it. So many positives this year. We have had some bad seasons since Boylan left. This along with 2007 and 2009 are the years we can say we can look to next season with positivity. ( 2010 ended in such madness manager gone the year the ended badly). The real difficult part comes now staying in div 1. But I think we going up at the right time. McEntee will be in year 4 , which is usually the seasons the quality managers make a difference eg Boylan in year 4 , late Eugene McGee in year 4 and Dwyer in year 5. The next 24 months we will have a better idea how good manager McEntee is. The next 24 months will be the defining moments in McEntees tenure. Can he keep us in div 1. And can make us real competitive at super 8 level where we are going toe toe for full game with Mayo kerry Tyrone Donegal Galway and even achieve victory. McEntee has made mistakes, but overall he done a real good job so far. However the next part is the hard one. He has built a new exciting young Meath team. But the next part is the hard part. Players like Lavin 24 Gallagher 25 McGill 26 Mcoy 25 Harnan 24 Sullivan 25 J McEntee 25 S McEntee 25 McMahon 26 should be all peak as footballers in next 24 months. Most not all , but allot sportspeople peak at 27. So its a good time for them to be in div 1. Lavin Gallagher McGill McMahon are improving from.season to season..Here hopes that continues. The young lads will be in year 2 and players like James Conlon 21 Ethan Devine 20 Dara Campion 20 Thomas McGovern 21 and Shane Walsh have all made their debuts this year and played v the Dublins Donegals Mayos and kerry in July and August in.championship and that is massive benefit for their development. Young talent like Cian McBride two Dunboyne lads Matthew Costello and luke Mitchell of this years under 20 could be great additions to the panel. But we have to be careful.with players 18 or 19. It can take a while for them develop and u never know with form and if they will committ. But I could see 2 or 3 or maybe 4 coming of this year's under 20 team being worth consideration .7 from last years under 20 team played senior for Meath this year which is a great sign. The possible return of proven inter county players like Donal lenihan, Ronan Jones, Ruari O Coilean, Niall kane , Eamon Wallace, Joey Wallace , Paddy Kennelly and Alan Forde. A return of even half of these players will.add depth to panel and lenihan and Jones would be first team starters and kane and Forde would be pushing hard for first 15 place..Hopefully many of them.can return. If we could get 4 games in Navan that will help our cause also. All this together indicates if we can add 2 to 3 players we need to first 15 and more depth to panel it will help our case next year. Three years ago on this forum I said looking at all.past evidence of how teams develop, McEntee cv age of players especially from 2012 minor team, I said 3 years ago that the first two years of McEntees tenure and we would see improvement in year 3 with promotion and and in.year 4 and year 5 we will see Meath make a real impact. So far for me everything look like its going right on schedule and we can achieve those above aims. We might not there is no guarantee but I feel we have really put in strong foundations this year and are going up.at the right time that we do have a real.chance of staying in div 1 and competiting at super 8 level in next 2 years..After the 6 or 7 best teams in the country we are the next best team placed to break into top 6 or 7. Time will tell. But we are in good position. Have made real progress and while it will be so tough but playing Dublin kerry Mayo and Donegal in championship in june and July is absolutely brillant preparation for div 1 football. I have enjoyed watching this Meath team this year lets hope that in.the next 24 months the excitement around this young Meath team grows and grows. I cannot wait for the spring. Furlong1949 (Meath) - Posts: 1067 - 06/08/2019 18:16:55 2221780 Link 18 |
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Great post Furlong, the two lads u mentioned Costello and Mitchell are Dunshaughlin lads.
seanboylansdonkey (Meath) - Posts: 5 - 06/08/2019 21:10:32 2221898 Link 1 |
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I hate to be picking holes in your articles, yes articles rather than posts but I think you will find that Mick O'Dwyer hit the jackpot in his first year as manager rather than five, five months would be closer to the mark. However his first defeat as manager in Croke Park came at the hands and feet of a Mick O'Brien managed Meath team in the 1975 NFL quarterfinal. Meath who played in Division 2 that year then beat Mayo in the semifinal and Dublin in the final. While Kerry returned in September to win Sam we rather tamely lost to (yes whisper this) Louth in the first round of the Leinster Championship. Louth in fairness put it up big time to Dublin in the second round going under to a late Jimmy Keaveney goal in a high scoring game in Navan. Now wouldn't it be a super, super season to beat Kerry, Mayo and Dublin in the NFL all in the one season. MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 1063 - 06/08/2019 22:27:54 2221946 Link 1 |
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Excellent points Millerx. Really concise and informative. U r 100% correct. However u took me up wrong. I probaly explained myself poorly. I was referring to Dwyers time at kildare not kerry. It took Dwyer 5 years to make the breakthrough with kildare in 90s. What he did with kerry in 1975 was freakish. Only 3 teams have come from nowhere to win Sam eg Dublin in 1974 with Heffernan, Kerry in 1975 with Dwyer and Meath in 1996 with Boylan, the 3 greatest managers in the history of gaelic football. There is an odd exception of a manager making an immediate impact. But it was usually Ulster teams who had very little All Ireland sucess prior eg Joe Kiernan with Armagh in 2002 and Mickey Harte in 2003 and Jimmy McGuiness in 2011. But it takes years to build a team. Especially if u have a traditional county who had past sucess but was now in doldrums. Examples below. These are the three most sucessful managers in the history of leinster football outside , 3 of the greatest managers ever. Sean Boylan It took Sean Boylan 4 years to make the breakthrough. After year 3 after massive hammering to laois in leinster championship Boylan was under huge pressure to go. Players convinced him to stay. In year 4 he made the breakthrough. Mick Dwyer took over kildare in 1992 and in his first year as manager kildare were knocked out of leinster championship by louth. He left the job for a year and came back at his second attempt in his fourth year kildare improved but made the breakthrough came in year 5 . The late Eugene McGee took 4 years to make breakthrough with Offaly in 1980. His first few years were very poor. Fans and the county board wanted him gone. Only for support from county chairman he was gone after year 2. He improved in year 3 and made impact in year 4 and won Sam in year 6. Other examples Jimmy Barry Murphy took over Cork in mid 1990s. Cork were in the doldrums. In his first few years dreadful defeats to limerick and especially Clare. But in year 4 he made the breakthrough. Nicholas English also took over Tipp in late 90s and also suffered bad defeats especially to Clare. In year 4 he made the breakthrough. Recent examples Kevin Walsh had two very disappointing seasons with Galway at the start. He improved in year 3 with promotion. And it was in year 4 he made the breakthrough with staying in div 1 , reaching league final div 1 , beating kerry in the championship for first time in 50 years and reaching All Ireland semi final for first time in 17 years. Kieran McGeeney has been in charge of Armagh for 5 years. While he did reach 2 quater finals in those 5 years , he has spent 3 of last 4 years in div 3 and went 4 years without a win Ulster championship. The last time this happened for Armagh was in 1967 1968 1969 1970. This year in year 5 he stayed in div 2 , won a match in Ulster and played well in the qualifiers. He was awarded a 2 year contract yesterday to bring his tenure to 7 years. Again another example of slow rebuilding county job. Dublin took years to make breakthrough. They were top 5 or 6 teams in the country in 2005. It took them 6 years to reach an All Ireland final and two managers. Gilroy in his first year taking over 4 in row leinster champions was humilated by kerry in 2009 and humilated by Meath in 2010. It took Gilroy 3 years to turn a team that won 4 leinster titles in a row and where in top 5 in the country 3 years to make them the best number 1 team in the country. So its long process to re build a team. Year 1 or 2 or nothing years. Lots of disappointment. As the manager is looking at the last managers panel ans build his own. Year 3 is the year of the improvement. And year 4 or 5 or even year 6 is year of impact. That would be the pattern of same inter county re building jobs. U cannot buy players u have to develop whatever generation is available to u in the county at that given time. McEntee has done a good job so far. If we had so improvement this year , he would face criticism and I would have been personally critical. Its the same next year. In the next 24 months we will find out how good manager McEntee is. If we don't make an impact in next 24 months questions have to be asked and I would be critical. Year 4 or year 5 is when the top class manager make a difference. So far wherever Andy has managed he has been a sucess. But in next 24 months be faces his most difficult challenge to prove he is top class inter county manager. Keep Meath in div 1 and make Meath really competitive at super 8 level. He has done well so far. But year 4 and year 5 are critical. If we do get relegated the team is young enough to go back straight up the next year. So there is good chance we will spend 2 of next 3 years in div 1. Roscommon got promoted to div 1 they were relegated to div 2 and got promoted to div 1 again last year. Cavan got promoted to div 1 they were relegated to div 2 and got promoted back up next year . But they both got relegated. Kildare Roscommon and Cavan have yo yoed div 1 and div 2. So if we go down I can see us also getting promoted again in 2021 to div 1. 11 games v div 1 teams in from july 2019 to May 2020 will bring the team on in experience and strength and conditioning. So with age profile of team even if get relegated we should get one more chance. But thats it. If in year 6 McEntee and this team are still yo and yoing the divisions. Progress will limited and poor. The key is staying in div 1. Back to back seasons in div 1 is key. Who are the three teams who have spent longest time in div 1 in last 25 years. The three teams who have reached All Ireland finals 1 Mayo have spent the longest stretch in div 1 22 years in total. They have reached 8 All Ireland senior finals in that period. 2 Kerry are the team who have spent second longest in div 1 with around 20 year stretch. kerry have played in 13 All Ireland senior finals since. 3 Dublin are the team have spent third longest stretch in div 1 just under 20 years. Dublin have played in 6 All Ireland senior finals since. Meath prior to 2000 only kerry and Dublin had longer spells in div 1. Meath won national league div 1 titles in 1930s 1940s 1950s 1970s 1980s 1990s and reached a final division 1 in 00s. Only kerry Dublin Cork and Mayo have won more national league div 1 titles. All our All Ireland winning teams won league titles div 1 exception 1967 team. All our sucessful teams spent years and years in div 1 after the league was set up in 1930s. And remember there has been less sprend of winners of league div 1 winners then All Irelands winners. A few counties have dominated league div 1 titles in the past they r kerry Dublin Cork Mayo and Meath. The rest have had little sucess. Roscommon have only 1 won league division 1 title that was in 1978. laois have won only 1 league division 1 title and that was in 1986 . Monaghan have won 1 league division 1 title and that was in 1985. Offaly have only won 1 league national div 1 title and that was in 1998. Armagh have won 1 national league division 1 title and that was in 2005. Donegal have won 1 national 1 league div 1 title that was in 2007. kildare have won zero national league div 1 titles. So have Westmeath and louth won zero league div 1 titles . Cavan have won 1 national div 1 title in 1948. . All those great football counties; Roscommon, laois ,Monaghan , Offaly, Armagh, Donegal ,kildare, Cavan, Westmeath and louth have won in total 7 national league division 1 titles together. Meath have won the same number of national league division 1 titles as Roscommon, Laois , Monaghan ,Offaly, Armagh ,Donegal ,Westmeath ,louth, Cavan and kildare put together. It just emphasises how sucessful a league team we were in the past. Meath have 7 national division 1 titles with 5 different teams. Our sucess in the past was built on permanent year after year residence. in div 1. Its the same for everyone. Galway and Down havent won national league div 1 title 35 years ago. Both have had dreadful period in last 18 years ( 2010 was the only bright spot for Down. ) So next spring is massive. It could be the defining moment for this team and management it would be massive. If we get 4 games in Navan I think we can. stay in div 1 .If we get 3 games in Navan that would mean we would unlikely stay in div 1 . The right opposition in Navan is important also. Galway in Navan would be a good draw. Galway havent beaten Meath in Navan in championship or league in 36 years. With 1 championship win and 8 league wins in Navan for Meath against Galway in last 36 years. So Galway in Navan is a game we can win. Monaghan in Navan would be tough but winnable. So the draw is important. My gut feeling is with evidence also , I believe we will stay in div 1 and reach super 8 and win a game at super 8 level next year. It just a feeling in my water. I might be wrong. No one knows what will happen. But I just have feeling in my water. Hopefully it happens. The dream then would be stay in div 1 for 3 years us reach All Ireland semi final and close gap with Dublin yearly and win leinster title and reach All Ireland semi final 3 or 4 years time. That would be the dream outcome. But who knows what will happen . But we r involved in a classic county rebuilding job. And so far the signs r good. We are going in the right direction but next year and the year after are the big ones. It will tell all. The next 24 months will be defining period for team or management. For me the signs are good. But u just don't know if u lose certain players to injurry or college or work abroad u just dont know. But next spring is massive . Just as important as the championship if not more so. Stay in divsion 1 next year would be a massive massive moment. Heres hoping it happens. But so far so good. Again well done to team this year the team have been really good all year long and I have really enjoyed watching them play. They are putting Meath football back on the football map again. U cannot be proud of this young team and what this team have done this year. They have yet to peak and that will happen in the summer of 2021 to summer 2022. I cannot wait to see their development. They are credit to our great county. Furlong1949 (Meath) - Posts: 1067 - 07/08/2019 03:09:50 2222008 Link 19 |
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Thanks for the comments Seanboylansdockey. That was a mistake I sud have said Dunshaughlin. Costello is very good young footballer. Costello and Campion are real prospects for the half forward line in the future. Campion is very creative player and he took his goal brillantly at the weekend. If that was Con Callaghan or David Clifford who had scored that goal the sunday game would have praised it and praised it. Instead all they talked about was bad kerry defending. Sullivan made a great run but Campion had allot of work to do and from a real tight angle scored a great goal. His performance v Donegal in Ballybofey in.the league and v kerry last weekend shows he has real big match temperment. Costello is younger but needs time. But he has very good vision for a centre forward which u dont see anymore , half forwards picking out passes anymore. There is no Trevor Giles or Greg Blaney or Brian McGuigan in football anymore. The best is kilkennny who is an excellent footballer but doesn't have the vision of giles , kilkenny is to conservative. Im not saying Costello is that good. We dont how good he is. We need to give allot of these players time and be patient. Some like Shane Walsh can impact straightaway but I remember it took Ollie Murphy 4 years to become first team starter to Meath. We have to be careful and let them.develop at their own pace. And truthfully not all talented young players become great seniors. But I just think Costello is quality footballer has real vision and can pick out a pass really well and he has a great understanding with Mitchell who is real proper finisher. Cian McBride wud be the other player worth looking at from this years under 20s and Aaron Lynch is also good forward worth looking at also. And Morris also. But Costello and McBride would be top two worth looking at from this years under 20. Furlong1949 (Meath) - Posts: 1067 - 07/08/2019 08:06:12 2222021 Link 20 |
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Taking a break from the forum for while , til Byrne cup . I am.sure theres a few here who will be delighted to not see anymore of my long winded essays. I am on this site sporadically and usually for Meaths league and championship campaign. Its over now so I will be back next spring for Byrne cup. So keep up the great work guys I will be still keeping an keen eye on all the posts . Enjoy the club championships everyone and hopefully a few new players will stand out so we can add them to the panel seniors . Take it easy and keep it real til next January. Peace. Furlong1949 (Meath) - Posts: 1067 - 07/08/2019 21:30:09 2222452 Link 18 |
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Furlong1949 quote: 'but I remember it took Ollie Murphy 4 years to become first team starter to Meath'. Yes it did but that had more to do with the club he was from. If he had been from the managers club he would have been on the team much earlier!! - that is a fact of life unfortunately . Now the Manager was one of the best in the business but like all humans he got some calls wrong. browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 08/08/2019 00:49:26 2222541 Link 20 |
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Ahh furlong give us a essay on club football please it will b boring without you.
Borderroyal (Meath) - Posts: 488 - 08/08/2019 16:27:40 2222738 Link 1 |
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We're trying to close an 8-10 point gap on the likes of kerry, donegal and Mayo but the reality is Dublin are miles ahead of them. We won't beat Dublin in Leinster or the all Ireland again so if we're in a position next year where we play them in the leinster final Andy would be wise to play a second string side like Tyrone did this year. Jack_Goff (Meath) - Posts: 2920 - 10/08/2019 18:32:55 2223463 Link 18 |
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such nonsense talk.
meath1977 (Meath) - Posts: 534 - 10/08/2019 20:15:34 2223588 Link 15 |
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Which part? The beating Dublin again or the second string?
Jack_Goff (Meath) - Posts: 2920 - 11/08/2019 02:06:05 2223766 Link 19 |
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We are trying to close the gap on Mayo,Donegal,Kerry etc you are right about that jack.As for beating Dublin?it looked like mayo might be in with a good shot of it at halftime but then Dublin blew them away 2-6 in ten mins or so was unreal, so the reality is yes we will find it very hard to beat Dublin next year as will any other team.As for Andy Mac playing a second string v Dublin?Just imagine your a player on the first team,you burst your ass all yearand say you get to a Leinster final and your manager says right playing a weakened team in the final,now if it was me I'd be rightly p---ed off.As a player I want to play the best,want to beat the best,want to play in finals in Croke park win or lose that's what every team wants.I also think it would be sad day if Meath waves the white flag before a ball is even kicked.Now I understand what your saying(correct me if I'm wrong)we rest the first team for the qualifier so we have every chance of getting to the super eights's,(would be great if we did)so we get to the super eights say we get through to the semi or final and meet Dublin then what,the mentality of the team is sure what's the point?our manager doesn't even believe we can beat them never mind anyone else.In my opinion you start your best 15 in every game no matter who you are playing ,unless like the Dublin v tryone this year when both teams are already in the semi's maybe you give a couple of fringe player a shot.Again that's just my opinion and I respect your's and anyone else's here because we all want the same thing for Meath to get back to the top.
Proudroyal (Meath) - Posts: 256 - 11/08/2019 10:24:24 2223838 Link 1 |
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no team should think the way you are thinking. Dublin are the best football team of all time but you go out and do your best against them that's all you can do . the Dublin game last week both teams were through that's why second teams were put out
meath1977 (Meath) - Posts: 534 - 11/08/2019 11:01:15 2223858 Link 18 |
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In my opinion we just won't have the ability to reach the level Dublin are at. The finances and resources are just not there. Dublin are above the level of most AFL teams and the scary thing is they could go even higher. So from my point of view I'm not deluding myself and hoping we'll someday reach those unrealistic heights. I'm hoping we can reach the level Mayo, Kerry, Donegal etc are at and maybe win a national league in Div 1. As for the second string the aim is to make the super 8's. Not flog the players against Dublin and receive a hammering. If we win a leinster semi final, train the lads to peak for the qualifier match and play a different 1 against Dublin. We got the best draw this year vs Clare but another year might not be so lucky. Jack_Goff (Meath) - Posts: 2920 - 11/08/2019 15:33:52 2224007 Link 20 |
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Just for a bit of perspective here lads the difference in conditioning between Meath and Dublin is like Lansdowne Road and Leinster Rugby. I actually don't expect our county men to reach those heights. This is an amateur sport and the level it's gotten to is unattainable for a regular county. Look at kerry, Tyrone and Mayo. They are closer to our level of conditioning then Dublin. That should be the bar we need to reach but unfortunately the GAA created the Dublin monster. Jack_Goff (Meath) - Posts: 2920 - 12/08/2019 01:30:50 2224410 Link 18 |
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O'Brien black card against us overturned on appeal. That happened at the town end close to the stand side, exactly where i was sitting. Can't remember which Meath player he took out but I remember thinking it was a definite black card. No one, Kerry or Meath in the area I was sitting seemed to disagree. Haven't seen it on tv but live it looked deserved. This is bending of the rules because it's the final. cabbage (Meath) - Posts: 162 - 16/08/2019 07:55:55 2226243 Link 1 |