Who & why?

bert09 (Meath) - Posts: 1790 - 05/12/2014 19:36:50    1676985

Was only thinking the same earlier today . For me and Im sure to the annoyance of many I would try Jamie Queeny during the league as I still believe he has plenty to offer . The night before we were destroyed by Dublin last year he scored 2-6 from Midfield in a league match against the Pats . Different standard i know but who else is capable of doing same in Meath at present .Assuming Gillespie is fit he seems an obvious partner but failing that possibly Graham Reilly to add some pace and mobility . And Im talking about a motivated Graham Reilly who wants to finally deliver on all the promise .

royalpad (Meath) - Posts: 46 - 05/12/2014 20:37:24    1676999

Queeney and Reilly midfield??

Good god :D

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 06/12/2014 18:51:27    1677105

Reilly had a great year from midfield
Two years ago. But it was more of a 3rd midfielder role running directly down middle. There is no doubt he has the ability to be one of the best players in the country, but fitness levels and indeed a little attitude adjustment on his part, marry that with a management who are not constantly changing his role, then we could have a serious year.
But to answer your question id go with queeny , as Flanagan is just not ready yet , this is the most vital year in 20 years of Meath football, management must get it right, its no longer about the future its about the here and now

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 07/12/2014 08:25:25    1677153

Queeney just doesn't deliver and doesn't have the engine for mid field. Flanagans the man and I think he is ready. He has the engine we need and he is class in the air. Im sure he'll have built up physically also from last season.

royalezy (Meath) - Posts: 9 - 07/12/2014 15:03:25    1677208

2 mid fielders wear 8 & 9 but we all know most counties play 4 or 5 players in the area.The day of the old style mid fielder is long gone,all about a engine in the area now and i dont think we have them,we will make another leinster final but will be well beaten again,dubs for sam in 2015.

thelutch (Meath) - Posts: 1047 - 07/12/2014 15:35:10    1677215

Lutch I'd agree about the 4/5 in that department and with that in mind you'd have to have tormey Gillespie biggy quenney and maybe Flanagan if as some say he is ready.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 07/12/2014 16:59:04    1677229

The only one of those four who would be up to the standard this year is Gillespie, maybe Flanagan in a year or two The other two do not have anywhere near the work rate required. There is no point in running forward when you are not able to get back and track your opponent You also require a completely new HB line and that means adding to the panel (and I don't mean 20 year olds). I would start with Keoghan at CB.

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 07/12/2014 17:46:30    1677239

Royaldunne-why is this the most important year? why is it time to deliver now?

Players are still the players from last year (bar queeney). wrong attitude completely given our recent performances. regardless of management, why are you building the team up for a fall? We wont win the All Ireland next year, and its very unlikely we will win a leinster. Div2 promotion and q final appearance are realistic objectives

dubsout (Meath) - Posts: 220 - 08/12/2014 11:30:29    1677331

We need to build a solid defence first with the half back line needing major work. We will need a new full back this year as more than likely Kevin Reilly is going to be out for the majority of the year. My full back line would be: 2. Donal Keogan(We cant rob peter to pay paul so this is why Keogan must be corner back) 3. Conor McGill(He was outstanding at full back in the Leinster U21 final against Dublin against a Dublin forward line that contained Cormac Costello and Paul Mannion. He is a out and out full back and this what we need as a quick fix by putting Menton in there is not the solution) 4. Donnacha Tobin(Our second best man marker behind Keogan and I believe he could be a great corner back).
Our half back line is what needs major work this year. We have not had a settled half back line since 2007 when we had 5. Seamus Kenny 6. Anthony Moyles and 7. Caomhin King. For us to be in with a chance of promotion in the league,which I think is very very achieveable if we are fully focused and have everyone fit,we need to find a pernament centre back i the mould of Dublins Ger Brennan. He isnt flashy but goes about his job quietly and it was no surprise that Dublins defence was cut open as bad as it was against Donegal without him at centre back. Our two best options to fill the centre back role next year in my opinion are Brian Power and Shane Melia, who are both on the panel at the moment. They and both out and out centre backs for there club and have played there before for the county U21's and minor teams. Our wing backs are more tricky to pin down as we have few options that could play there like Damien Carroll, Padraig Harnan, Davy Dalton. If Alan Forde is back with Meath then I think he would be a viable option as a wing back as his running from deep could hurt teams especially is Croke Park. For what its worth though this is the 15 I would go with come championship:

1. Paddy O'Rourke
2. Donal Keogan
3. Conor McGill
4. Donnacha Tobin
5. Padraig Harnan
6. Shane Melia/Brian Power
7. Davy Dalton
8. Conor Gillespie
9. Bryan Menton
10. James McEntee
11. Andrew Tormey
12. Graham Reilly (Give him a free role to run from deep)
13. Eamon Wallace
14. Michael Newman
15. Stephen Bray

BigJoe14 (Meath) - Posts: 932 - 08/12/2014 11:32:47    1677336

I think it's too early to be naming teams for the Championship. Who knows what sort of condition players are in after the year gone by? Some unknown talents that we may never have heard of might emerge. I do however like the idea of McGill at full back (outstanding in U21 final) and Melia/ Power at center back. They are very young and inexperienced though but I'd imagine they'll get some game time in the O'Byrne Cup and League, presuming they are all involved with the initial panel. Expect to see plenty of new faces trialed in the next couple of months.

MarkMyWords (Meath) - Posts: 498 - 08/12/2014 12:31:59    1677355

Cillian o'Sullivan was named on the subs bench for Kiltale under 21s yesterday. Does anyone know if this is an indicator that he is on the way back? If so he will be a major contender for a starting place.

I agree with the comments above about our half back line. We need a physically strong, talented and fast half back line to deal with the way the Dubs attack in waves. We also need them to be the starting point for attacks but also get back quickly when the ball is lost. I would like to see Alan Douglas from Trim tried in there. Very fast, strong and brave. If the footballers dont get him the hurlers will.

trim1 (Meath) - Posts: 162 - 08/12/2014 16:47:43    1677434

Ahh dubsout are you serious?
90% of that team have plenty of experience behind them, no more of the bs about building for the future . Its time to poop or get off the pot.
This coming year is the defining year for majority of this panel and in particular management.
The least that should be achievable is promotion, reaching Leinster final, and if not winning it coming damn close and getting to maybe a semi final but certainly quarters if all that is not achieved then next year will have been failure.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 08/12/2014 17:15:16    1677445

BIGJOE

You have the right idea to be fair

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 08/12/2014 19:03:56    1677472

fair play BigJoe,

Thats a bloody good post re your team and its hard to pick any points. I suggested Power at CB earlier in the year and got laughed out of it but he's a very viable option. Would it be an option to put Power FB and Melia CB or is McGill the better choice at CB.
I do agree with your options in the corner and agree whole heartedly on our new captain. He has to be at #2. Tobin in the corner or as an auxilary back/sweeper could work very well. The half back line needs to be nailed down. I've said it all year, MOD needs to build a settled team without chopping and changing from one week to the next. get a settled half back line and use that as your base to launch everything off. i like a big man at CB like a liam Harnan (oh how a player like him would fit into the team) or a good ball player. For the Wing backs i've no idea at all. I'm writing off Dalton, he's promised for the last 4/5 years but just can't stay fit (i'd love for him to be fit but it doesn't seem likely) and Padraic Harnan just seems a bit lightweight for me.. Carroll seemed to do well there earlier in the year and maybe him and forde going forward would be interesting. Or an even bolder move how about Eamonn Wallace or Graham Reilly at WB??
Midfield is anyone's guess. I'd assume its Gillespie plus one but who the one is would be anyone's guess.
Half forward line is anohter minefield?? youd assume Tormey at 12 but 10 and 11 are wide open. Cillian O'Sullivan seems an obvious choice at 10 if Graham reilly is else where in the team. I'd not pick McMahon at 11 again, seems far too lightweight and didn't really impress in any off the games. Carol has played well as an 11 but could be elsewhere in the team so we need to have someone here. He could be a very useful impact sub. The FF line has a lot of options and Newman will be in here for sure. The other 2 spots are open but assuming brayer is still available he'd take a spot and then you've one slot open.

For me there's 7-10 spot up for grabs at the moment and its up to lads to perform and grab the jersey. As of right now if i was picking the team to play v Wicklow in Navan this summer i could only hazard a guess with the following certainties.
1 Paddy
2 Donal 3 ......... 4 ........
5 ..... 6 ......... 7 ........
8 Gillespie 9 ..........
10 ....... 11 ....... 12 Tormey
13 Bray 14 ........ 15 Newman

brian (Meath) - Posts: 1954 - 09/12/2014 08:55:24    1677518

Fully agree that we seem to use Menton as a stop gap in other positions,as a result he had a poor year last year.Still think he could be a good option in midfield and could compliment the style of Gillespie

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 09/12/2014 12:11:38    1677559

Bigjoe- that lineout is away off the mark.-You pick players for positions- players who were taken off their club teams in a senior county final! Some posters pick a team with 3 to 5 players from a club who are not good enough to make their way out of the intermediate grade (None of those CB's are close to what is expected if you are going to progress (and none of our u21 players are near good enough yet for CB) -are we losing the run of ourselves? Are we going to get a different result from trying the same tricks that has failed us over the past two years. As I said before I would play Keoghan at CB and built my defence from there and try 'new' players to those other positions. Someone said you do not 'rob Peter' to 'pay Paul'- you can play whoever you like in a full back line and they will get
roasted as long as you continue with players in the HB line who cannot defend and the same goes for playing players in a HF line who will not track back (Clones as an example). Finally playing someone as a back who never plays as a defender with their club seldom works out.

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 09/12/2014 12:15:59    1677561

Careful now Browncow, Ratoath lads here are very sensitive!

Crinigan (Meath) - Posts: 1316 - 09/12/2014 13:03:12    1677572

jaysus browncows, who rattled your cage

brian (Meath) - Posts: 1954 - 09/12/2014 13:53:14    1677588

Cillian O'Sullivan named but was only doing water for Kiltale.

tuppy23 (Meath) - Posts: 154 - 09/12/2014 17:14:36    1677662