O'Brien has eyes firmly fixed on more progress
November 30, 2009
It was just like the 'good old days' for Meath supporters this year, making trips to Croker in August and David Jennings talks to Eamonn O'Brien about his first year at the helm of the Royal County.
It wasn't quite as competitive as the race to become Bill Cullen's next apprentice on TV3. Indeed, there weren't even that many candidates seeking the role. But nevertheless, the search for Colm Coyle's successor would have made for compelling viewing.
The boardroom antics would have been particularly entertaining. A five-man committee was employed and a series of interviews were conducted to try and find the right man to lead Meath back to prosperity. There was a split in the camp but Luke Dempsey was reluctantly chosen.
However, before the former Westmeath boss had hung his coat on the back of the bainisteoir's chair, he was given the finger wag. Fired. The runners and riders were reloaded back into the stalls and this time the field was reduced to a handful of runners.
County Board Chairman Barney Allen had the name of Eamonn O'Brien written on his docket. In Allen's eyes, the former Rathkenny boss had the best form on offer. He had a wealth of managerial experience; a great knowledge of football in the Royal County and his relaxed demeanour was exactly what was required.
A new three-man committee consisting of T.J Reilly, Francis Flynn and Allen were assembled and this time they agreed on O'Brien. Allen had got his man. But could he bring what were widely regarded as a team in decline back to dine at the top table? It certainly appeared to be an arduous task he was facing.
The Royals were sent crashing out of the All-Ireland race last term by Limerick and the pundits reckoned it would be an awful long time before they returned to dine with the top sides around at the top table.
No Leinster title since 2001. No All-Ireland since 1999. But what was of far more concern to football fans in the county was that Meath hadn't really been competing with the big boys for much of the decade.
In 2007 expectations were exceeded when under the guidance of Colm Coyle, Meath reached the All-Ireland semi-final but they were demolished by a far superior Cork outfit there and most observers believed that voyage to be a flash in the pan.
Eamonn O'Brien didn't. The man that led Rathkenny to the Mattie McDonnell Cup back in 2006 saw potential. He was adamant that the current crop of Royal representatives had what it took to make an impact on the All-Ireland stage.
So how did O'Brien feel when he got the job? "I said when I got the job that I would give it my best shot. That I would prepare well and give it the best that I can and there is nothing more you can do after that at any level. I said that to the players too. If we all do that we will perform well and then if we are good enough we will be there or thereabouts," O'Brien said.
"The way I look at is that you give it your best shot and as long as you are doing that you can be happy. I'll let other people judge how we should or shouldn't do," he added.
The year didn't start too promisingly for the new boss. A trip down to the banks of the River for the first round of the National league proved a confidence sapping experience. But O'Brien had set himself a target and he wanted to get closer to the so-called top three of Kerry, Cork and Tyrone.
A prolonged stay in the race for Sam Maguire certainly did just that and going down to All-Ireland champions Kerry at the penultimate stage was quite an achievement for O'Brien and his firing troops.
Now O'Brien wants to break into the elite group. He wants Meath to be back in All-Ireland finals and the challenge for 2010 is to find another ounce of improvement. Something that the manager believes is well within reach.
"Before we played Cork in the league at the beginning of the year, I stressed that Cork, Kerry and Tyrone were a little bit ahead of everybody else and then you had another group chasing them and that it was important that we got into that group this year. I think we did that.
"The challenge now is to go the next step. It is a big step to get up to the Tyrone's, the Kerry's and the Cork's. Having said that we didn't play well against Kerry and yet we were there or thereabouts in the closing stages. If Cian's goal had come ten minutes before the end we would have troubled them and it certainly would have been an exciting finish."
O'Brien had nothing but praise for all the players that were involved this term and evergreen Dunboyne clubman Nigel Crawford earned special praise from the boss.
"Nigel (Crawford) had a great year and also showed great leadership on the field. As I said from the very beginning, I was happy with the effort and work-rate of everybody in training. It's just a case of trying to continue that for next year and getting more momentum going."
But unlike most Meath fans, O'Brien wasn't entirely happy at reaching the last four. Despite exceeding all expectations, he wanted to go further. See the Walterstown-native is a born-winner and admitted that after getting to an All-Ireland semi-final, you want to go all the way.
"When you get there you want to go that bit further. When you're beaten it comes to an abrupt end. But the biggest challenge facing us now is to try and build on that for next year. To try and improve the players that were o the panel and to add a few new faces to it as well."
For O'Brien there was an overwhelming sense of 'what might have been' if he had a full pack to pick from throughout the year. Unfortunately three aces in his pack, Stephen Bray, Kevin Reilly and Shane O'Rourke were severely hampered by injuries all year with the latter pair getting little or no time to show their undoubted potential.
Had that trio been available for the entire campaign, O'Brien firmly believed that their presence would have made a big difference.
"We were short Kevin Reilly, Stephen Bray and Shane O'Rourke for a lot of the year and really Meath need those type of lads fully fit. If you had those lads they would be a great addition. They would give you huge options.
"I think it is very difficult to perform to your potential when you don't have a full panel to pick from. Kerry struggled in a number of places early on and they were able to use the qualifiers to sort out those problems. When Tyrone didn't have Sean Cavanagh they struggled against Cork."
O'Brien worked alongside Donal Curtis, Robbie O'Malley (selectors) and Colm Brady (trainer) and he was keen to stress that their influence was of paramount importance in Meath's successful year.
"We try to work well as a team and that's not to say that everything is always perfect as there are always differences of opinion. Otherwise if we all of the same mind all the time, we wouldn't get any progress made. We need them different opinions so at the end of the day we can come up with what's best for Meath football."
So looking ahead to 2010, O'Brien already has his eyes firmly fixed on the National league campaign. Last year, he was criticised in some sectors for his experimenting tactics but he stressed that he was forced to blood new talent due to the amount of injuries in the early part of the season.
But this year O'Brien wants to win every game, no matter what the competition. Yes, we will be seeing a few new faces but he hopes on each occasion, he will be able to put out a team capable of winning each game.
"I want to win every game. Whether it's an O'Byrne Cup match or a league match or a championship match. Having said that there are times when you have to thrown people in at the deep end and see if they can perform at a higher level. I'd hope that we can do that in a measured way. Now last year we had to do a little bit more experimenting than we would have liked with injuries. It depends on who's available to us in the league as to what team we will put out but I certainly want to win every game."
Exciting times ahead.
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