After today display by Donegal against Dublin how far are we behind . Dublin hammered us in every way skill , fitness , strength and most of all confidence in their ability . Donegal came to croke park today and bullied them , they hit them every chance they got . They were stronger in the tackle just as fit and confident in their ability . Donegal played to a system they pushed up on every kick out and exposed Dublins full back line . I believe we are miles off what I saw in both semi finals this weekend . The first thing I would do is get a new strength and fitness coach on board we are miles off the top teams in this area . Donegal ,Kerry and Mayo prove that you can still compete at the highest level without the massive money that Dublin have . Meath should start looking at what the Donegal's and Mayo's are doing and copy it . We have as good of players in Meath let's get the finger out .

mmc (Meath) - Posts: 266 - 31/08/2014 20:50:56    1645574

What we saw in both semi finals was fitness,teamwork,and in particular fighting spirit..We are embarasingly short in all those areas at present. If we continue without radical surgery in all these management issues we can expect to return to Div 3 shortly ,and remain in the top 16 teams nationally....Excuses about lack of resources have now been proven to be total rubbish. Management skills are vital if we want to move on from here! Not saying current management have to go, but what they have done so far is certainly not good enough.

nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1221 - 31/08/2014 21:07:15    1645598

How far behind are we? Looking worse now than after the Armagh game, we possess none of the required ingredients for this level, fitness, hard graft, pride in the jersey, leadership and the list goes on. We are slipping further behind each year. Future looks bleak unless steps are taken to halt the slide. County Board please step up to the mark.

seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2141 - 31/08/2014 21:28:49    1645631

nobull is 100% correct,no point in talking about how good we are until we see those traits on a consistent basic..

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 31/08/2014 21:48:34    1645649

huge pressure on o dowd now that Dublin have been beaten .think the county board meet tomorrow nite and micko has to account for his deplorable championship.

royalpainter (Meath) - Posts: 874 - 31/08/2014 21:48:57    1645652

we drew with Donegal in league and should have won..... if you turn around and say that it doesn't mean nothing, then your argument is instantly void because as we all know any day any team can play brilliantly/or not show up

dubsout (Meath) - Posts: 220 - 01/09/2014 08:48:38    1645677

Dubs out , we didn't turn up for 1/2 our championship games

royalpainter (Meath) - Posts: 874 - 01/09/2014 08:59:38    1645681

ah come on, we could have and possibly should have beaten Armagh! and look how close they ran Donegal.

dubsout (Meath) - Posts: 220 - 01/09/2014 09:26:32    1645696

Its about belief. We don't have that. And that is the main problem.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 01/09/2014 09:33:07    1645702

Lads , one word that donegals jim mc Guinness spoke of in relation to his players, CHARACTER. Think back , those of you that remember the meath team of 80s&90s, we had these guys in abundance, Lyons, mcEntee , oRourke, Giles, McDermott, Fay, Gearaghty.Honestly lads I don't think we have players at our disposable currently , and I don't want to knock the players that are there presently they are trying hard and giving up their valuable time to represent our proud county.We haven't had a good year this year but let's have some of the hope & belief that donegal showed yesterday under Micko and his back room staff going forward.Onwards &Upwards for us!

cilles man (Meath) - Posts: 142 - 01/09/2014 09:49:34    1645728

To win you have to be consistant something that we are not. Donegal have won 4 Ulster championships and are a proven unit with most of them having All -Irelands medals in their back pocket. The odds against them yesterday was ridiculous and it just goes to show the type of hype being fed into the media. We do not yet have the attributes that Nobull speaks off and until we do we will win little. Dublin's weakness was the competition that they had up until now (and of course that was not their fault)

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 01/09/2014 10:28:45    1645778

Dublin hammered us because we let them and totally lost our belief, the one difference between Donegal yesterday and other teams that have played Dublin this year is that Donegal believed they could beat Dublin, and when things werent going their way in the first 20-25 mins thy still believed they could beat Dublin, that belief never wavered even when under pressure. Donegal didn't let the myth that Dublin were unbeatable get to them, they were mentally stronger than all other counties Dublin played this year and that won them the game. A lot of counties were beaten before they went into the field against Dublin as their mindset wasn't right, I don't think we left the dressing room with that mindset at the Leinster Final but it crept in during the first half with the disallowed goal and completely destroyed the team thereafter, teams have suffered big losses to Dublin due in equal part to their own mental frailties as much as Dublin's good play. Donegal's performance yesterday will have opened many peoples eyes, Donegal didn't do anything spectacular football wise, they just were mentally strong and had strong belief, that can carry you a long long way

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3734 - 01/09/2014 11:21:43    1645841

I can only echo what's been said already, I think talent wise we're not the worst, but what does sicken me and a lot of Meath fans who watched Meath throughout the 80s and 90s is the total lack of character and fight in Meath teams since 01 onwards really. This year against Dublin our lads looked totally lost from the throw in, it was incredible, it was as if they thought to themselves 'sure these Dubs can't be beaten', well they can and were!

We don't have a Jim McGuinness but then again neither does 30 other counties, but I expect to see every player who puts on a Meath jersey to fight like dogs for the county and that's something which sadly just isn't there at the minute. The commitment and fitness of all 4 teams this weekend is something we can only dream about, ok talent wise they are all ahead of us aswell but I honestly don't think we're hopelessly behind in that regard, but attitude and fitness must improve drastically.

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 01/09/2014 11:42:40    1645868

I agree with most of what has been stated here. The teams of the 80s and 90s were written up as "never say die" and how many times did other counties have substantial leads over them? Only to be reeled in and a flourish of scores would close the game out. No those teams were not genetically different from the teams that they played then or indeed were definitely not genetically different from Meath's present panel BUT they were simply fitter, much fitter than the teams they were playing and from this flowed the "never say die" attitude (you cannot keep going if the tank is empty) and of course the flurry of scores, mainly points, that killed off opposition or seen the team through in close finishes. There is a strong possibility that the present panel is as fit as their counterparts of the 80/90s but as sports science advances we have not adopted well enough and the constant chopping and changing has not helped either. We definitely need a more scientific approach and get more strength and conditioning as well as fitness experts on board. It is happening all over the place, like for example in Kilkenny and Tipperary as well, if you want proof just look at how out of condition the two Cork dual players appeared against Tipp in the hurling as well as against Kerry in the football.

MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 1062 - 01/09/2014 12:17:14    1645894

Miller x - you might be on to something regarding the sports science end , let's see what o dowd has to say

royalpainter (Meath) - Posts: 874 - 01/09/2014 13:00:03    1645942

I think the people who say Meath play in the late 80's or even the 90's,notice the traits beong lost more than perhaps the younger people..

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 01/09/2014 13:00:22    1645943

I think the people who say Meath play in the late 80's or even the 90's,notice the traits beong lost more than perhaps the younger people..

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 01/09/2014 13:01:03    1645945

Double message,oh and I meant "saw"..

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 01/09/2014 13:17:08    1645962

Belief and Pride means a lot. Belief that you WILL win and honest PRIDE in the gersey and County goes a long way. MacCauley from Dublin recently came out and said that heart, fitness and hard work outweigh Ability and skill and i think he is right. Look at Donegal, would you say they are the the most talented team in Ireland??? Far from it. But they play as a unit, are fit and believe in the system their manager has them playing. Pure Hard work and Team play is what has them in the All Ireland Final. Meath need some of that as well as fitness and conditioning and we will come back stronger

chriscart580 (Meath) - Posts: 376 - 01/09/2014 14:54:13    1646072

Kieran Donaghy was man of the match against Mayo, he was simply awesome.

As hes over 30 and lacks any pace, if he was from Meath he wouldnt be anywhere near the Meath setup under current management. One would have to admire Kerry management's flexiblity in this regards in keeping different options available to them. Donaghy has been kept out of the team all year but was ready when required. I think Meath could have had the likes of Ward, Queeney and Big Joe to make an impression given different opposition, for eg Armagh with their crowded defence.

Crinigan (Meath) - Posts: 1318 - 01/09/2014 15:24:36    1646114