Coyler I stand by what I said. The only temporary solution is for sean boylan to be appointed until end of championship. He will not let the players on this team dictate how to play. I watched banty today and it was clear very few of them were doing what he told them. How can that continue? Sean until end of year then we put in place a manager on a 3 year basis. With set goals one of them must be achieve division 1 within 3 years. It can't be that hard with the right man and new players. As a stop gap appoint sean.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 08/04/2012 18:50:40    1146338

First and foremost i thought louth were outstanding today,they played good attacking football good hard defending and most of all what you get with every louth team regardless of how good or weak they are.....absolute pride in the jersey!


Alot of credit has to go to peter fitzpatrick who at the start of the league set his sights on avoiding relegation,peter fitzpatrick got it right he did not aim high because he knew what his team could achieve....and achieve sumthing like that you can build confidence in your team and most important the players will have confidence in the manger,it a great step in the right direction!


I think if Seamus Mcenaney goes now could be the best thing for meath football..because the next manger will never have as bad record as Seamus Mcenaney!

WhyTheLongFace (Meath) - Posts: 876 - 08/04/2012 18:51:30    1146342

Meath will always be better than Louth! Everybody knows that

flyer (Meath) - Posts: 815 - 08/04/2012 18:52:11    1146345

problem lies deeper than banty. We need a better structured young player development system for lads ages 14 right through to 21. Cavan/dublin/tyrone etc all have this where their young players have programmes and have been doing strength and conditioning leading to players being faster stronger fitter and more confident. Meath underage teams have player burnout restrictions in place which limits them to a certain amount of training each year. How are they suppose to develop footballers when they're not even permitted to train? But of course im dreaming as being from meath means we have to be at least 20 years behind every other county. I know this wont solve the problem with the senior team immediately but its development and a good place to start. For the time being i would get rid of Banty. Lets face it things cant get any worse so get rid of him and the only way is up.

royalrumble2011 (Meath) - Posts: 27 - 08/04/2012 18:54:58    1146354

Wicklow arent promoted yet, and offaly and carlow are in division 4 next year.....though it's slightly embarrassing to have to be making those excuses. It's not a mortifying embarrassment though, you'd swear it was the equivalent of Barcelona being relegated to the 10th tier of Spanish soccer or something. I know Meath have a proud history and have had great moments, but that doesn't make them immune from having bad teams and relegation.

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1643 - 08/04/2012 18:58:39    1146358

i agree i think getting sean boylan in for the rest of the year is a very good idea because he knows about meath more than anyone and in fairness what good will it do gettin a totally new man in to do the job for the rest of the year when he mightnt know the players well and it wont give him much time to get to know them either. atleast with sean if he came in, then he could steady the meath team abit atleast for this year and then the county board can take their time to pick a good manager who can start next year.

meathalltheway (Meath) - Posts: 789 - 08/04/2012 18:59:02    1146360

Good man flyer. All the evidence in Navan today sure backs up that statement.

georgelee (Louth) - Posts: 523 - 08/04/2012 19:00:52    1146363

rath_togh - so you think that our problems may be solved by having more players from junior teams- are you not aware that we cannot get by the first round of the Leinster junior championship!

Someone has said that we should get rid of all the players over 24 from the panel- you have obviously not been watching our u21's and the management of same-one win in two years.

A lot of our team managers (and that goes for clubs and all grades of county management inside the county) need to wise up and start playing football instead of weights/drills.

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 08/04/2012 19:01:20    1146367

It's also not a position Meath havent been in before, in 2005 (under Sean Boylan) and 2007 Meath were in division 2 of the NFL, this was when division one had 16 teams in it, so practically the same as being in the new division 3. A good sign though is that each time they went down they came straight back up, in 2005 they lost the final by an unfortunate last gasp goal to Monaghan, and in 2007 they beat Roscommon in the final.

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1643 - 08/04/2012 19:10:52    1146388

The true cost of today's debacle is that playing Fermanagh, Monaghan, Antrim, Cavan, Sligo, Roscommon, Wicklow or Clare next year will be very poor preparation for the 2013 Championship. Get four away fixtures and we could end up remaining in Division 3.

That's the price you pay for a lack of manliness, personal motivation and pride in the jersey. Even a team that threw a game would be too embarrassed to look as bad as Meath were today. Easter Sunday and a relegation battle was no day for the players to launch a mutiny. Whether they did or didn't, they ought to be ashamed of themselves after that performance.

Well done Louth, you reminded me of what Meath teams of old use to be all about. I should have stayed at home and bought a giant Easter Egg instead.

GlasagusOr (Meath) - Posts: 1348 - 08/04/2012 19:14:29    1146396

browncows

No I posted the Junior point because it is actually a fact and a policy. I meant it as one facet of why I think - and in agreement with posters that - the current regime is delusional. The point I was making was that no Meath manager had ever shown snobbery to any grade of club football. I mean it as one instance of how the attitude and philosophy was wrong from day 1, before a ball was ever kicked. Neither is it a call for the inclusion of Ratoath players as our best footballers aren't proven at adult club yet never mind county.

"you think that our problems may be solved by having more players from junior teams"
You cannot have more when there have been none under Banty.

I agree with all else you have written. In re to the Meath Junior team I think you'll agree with me that teams for the past few years have been far from our best IFC & JFC selections

rath_togh (Meath) - Posts: 740 - 08/04/2012 19:21:39    1146406

Mick O Dwyer anyone?????

1loyalroyal (Meath) - Posts: 61 - 08/04/2012 19:29:55    1146423

I have always followed Meath no matter what,but if the players etc have no pride in the jersey,why should I (and many other fans),pay good money to go to the championship opener?

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 08/04/2012 19:30:40    1146425

Now the time for Banty and co to move on really time for likes of Flynn ,0 rourke past legends to get off the fence and get involved and try and get Meath football out of this crisis our under age structure is a joke and there is where the problem lies

Quickball (Meath) - Posts: 15 - 08/04/2012 19:38:42    1146447

Quickball

The reason these Meath legends won't take the job is because they know what goes on behind the scenes,why would they want to get involved in that?

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 08/04/2012 19:43:55    1146458

I was at the match,I live in Westmeath but am from a Meath family. Never seen the likes of it with Meath? I was truly embarassed to be a Meath fan. Everything was awful. The atmosphere, the (lack of) attitude, the fights and bust ups, and the players really came across as if they couldn't care less. Which is disgraceful. No matter what they have going on with the back room team, today was a crucial match and to act like they couldn't be bothered is farcical. When Brian Meade was sent off and reached the sideliine, Banty went over to say something to him and put his hand on his arm, and Brian shook his arm off and glared at him and stalked on. Complete lack of respect? Never saw the likes of it before. What the hell is going on?

westmeathmiss (Westmeath) - Posts: 4 - 08/04/2012 20:03:55    1146507

i think the fact that Harnan AND cALLAGHAN, DEPARTED, speaks for itself!

sob (Meath) - Posts: 492 - 08/04/2012 20:05:42    1146515

I realize banty doesnt kick the ball etc on the field but he sets out the tactics and players have play by that/ he picks the team and some of the teams he has put out i found very strange. personally i know if ya dont have faith in your manager or belive in what he is asking of you then that transfers to the game play regardless of how good you are. if you look at how flanagan turned westmeath season around goes to show that an average team can play rather well and maybe it shows he is a decent manager. alot of things went wrong today but i seen plenty heart in the team at times today but i would sympathies to a point with he team trying to play a way that they clearly arent comfortable with. and to me a good manager can get extraordinary things out of average players and they also have a plan A, B, C etc but banty seems to have only A and occasionally B! there is also alot of chopping and changing which doesnt help to keep cohesion in a team. im sure its different at county level as i only play club level and manage at it but i think thats what makes a good manager.

bertiemac (Meath) - Posts: 4 - 08/04/2012 20:15:37    1146544

People in Westmeath were calling for Flanagan's head at the start of the league. It's swings and roundabouts, a spin of the die with managers really. Win a game and he's a hero, lose a game and it's his head on a plate.

westmeathmiss (Westmeath) - Posts: 4 - 08/04/2012 20:20:45    1146556

ziggy32001
County: Meath
Posts: 1310

1146458
Quickball

The reason these Meath legends won't take the job is because they know what goes on behind the scenes,why would they want to get involved in that?
Exactly hole in one , how about meath Supporters wearing a different color scarf or hat as an anti current co board protest.sound radical by hey squeaky wheel gets the grease

royalpainter (Meath) - Posts: 874 - 08/04/2012 20:27:15    1146564