"Dublin have improved over the last three or four years. The likes of Kildare and Meath, who were so strong sort of ten years ago when they were contesting All-Ireland semi-finals and finals on a regular basis themselves, they don't seem to be at that level.

"And certainly at underage they haven't been too successful."

I wonder if the GAA paid for 100 full time coaches in each of Meath and Kildare and around 5 in Dublin would the standards be the same? Very short sighted from the man who I've always had respect for. It's clear the when the investment went a certain way 10 years ago so the the standards for the counties in question.

Jack_Goff (Meath) - Posts: 2920 - 26/08/2014 17:20:24    1642445

Ya agreed,but also I think he is overstating Kildares success...

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 27/08/2014 11:24:11    1642853

The man has stated the obvious and it is fact that kildare and meath have regressed over the last few years and Dublin have improved. Again there is no point in churning out the whole resources, finances etc. etc. arguments. If that was the only reason that teams were successfult then explain to me what you attribute donegal's success over the last 4 years. Time for meath people to start accepting the truth and then ye might start to move on.

Adamski (Dublin) - Posts: 339 - 27/08/2014 12:48:44    1642899

I think MDMC's comments about hard work beating talent most of the time says a lot about the recent Donegal/Dublin success stories. Savage work ethic being employed by both sets of players, never mind the way they play. Didn't happen overnight for either of these 2 teams. If the willingness is there from the players and the support/resources are there, then there's no reason why we can't get competitive again, and pretty quickly too.
I don't see the same level of planning/prep from MOD and the current Meath panel when you compare it against JMcG and the Donegal panel. In this respect Meath and most others for that matter are being left behind by an elite group of teams. 5 year plans are great in concept but so far I see the gap widening between Meath and the top teams.
We're now going into year 3 with this management team and the early promise hasn't been built on so far. We can either use 2014 as a watershed year (as Dublin did in 2010) and do whatever is necessary to ensure that the sort of mauling we got from Dublin doesn't happen again, or we continue as is i.e. lurching along on the margins with the occasional good performance.
On a separate topic, there are multiple levels at IC level in football and if the championship structure is left as is, interest will fade away in most counties, if it hasn't already. If we're so far behind the likes of Dublin, how far back are the likes or Carlow and Leitrim?

moylagh (Meath) - Posts: 484 - 27/08/2014 17:10:57    1643125

The money excuse is somewhat true, but its not like Dublin are the only team we play. Did we lose to Armagh, Tyrone, Monaghan etc. because of Dublins massive resources?

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1643 - 28/08/2014 12:30:15    1643417

I wonder should we look at our fitness strategy and all associated with it ?

royalpainter (Meath) - Posts: 874 - 28/08/2014 12:59:05    1643443

Castlebravo

The Gaa give Dublin more money than any other county in Leinster which is a complete farce,considering their big sponsorship deals.Do the Gaa want Dublin to destroy everyone every year and thus make more money etc?
Having said that,it is not as if ONLY Dublin are better than us.We can still do better and be a top 5 team.

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 29/08/2014 11:09:59    1643941

The "Dubs get all the money" argument is wearing a bit thin. Donegal don't have the resources that Dublin have, and regardless of their last outing, Monaghan who have given us a couple of right hammerings lately don't either. Hard work and proper organisation will go a long way to getting Meath back competing again.

moylagh (Meath) - Posts: 484 - 29/08/2014 16:46:47    1644252

moylagh I hope it doesn't happen but if Donegal get hammered what will you say then?

The fact is yes we could be doing a lot better and be competing with and beating a lot more teams but the elephant in the room is the once great and prestigious leinster championship has now died a death. I guarantee you if all Leinster counties over the last 10 years received equal underage funding Dublin would not have won 9 out of the last 10 leinster. Probably 5 out of 10 but at least then other counties have something to play for.

Nobody seems to care what's happened to leinster and it will take Dublin dominance on a national scale to cause real change. Have county boards in Leinster been up in arms over their lack of funding compared to the dubs over the years? No they haven't so if they don't care what hope is there for change.

Jack_Goff (Meath) - Posts: 2920 - 29/08/2014 19:08:34    1644322

Jack while I take your point and its a very valid one. We have also lost humiliatingly 3 times to Monaghan in last 2 years. What was the lowest margin 10/12 points? Also armagh twice Cavan too. There counties with probably less income than ourselves.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 29/08/2014 20:20:45    1644358