What can we do to change our fortunes?
Mod has done his best, hell of a nice guy, but surely he has proven he cant get us any further.
Is there any players not on panel that should be? I would put forde and Curran onto it, anyone else?

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 18/07/2015 21:06:57    1755448

RD

Not to sure about Curran to be honest,Alan Forde without question.To be fair to MOD,he pretty much has the best players on the panel,his problems obviously are in other areas as we all know too well.

It will be interesting to see who enters the race for the job in the coming months..

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 18/07/2015 21:40:42    1755481

The CB have a massively important role now to construct a platform where they select ,help develop,and support a man to meet the demands of the modern day manager.That indeed would be a new start worth aiming for..

nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1224 - 18/07/2015 22:02:26    1755498

I agree that cb must help and give every support to the next management team, that means dieticians , fitness coach , proper training and availability of facilities etc, these people do not necessarily have to come from county, i would go with 3 selectors / assistants , so we can have them viewing games at every level, start off with panel of large selection, have a clear ideal as what type of game you want to play, systems etc and see who best fits into those systems, lets become a team that no one likes playing.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 19/07/2015 09:25:34    1755520

O coillean from o mahony must b brought in as well as forde. Don't think they will tho with o dowd at helm. The physique of our players must b adressed. Cannot persist with small nice footballers. ....It just doesn't work.look at any other top team. All close t six foot and built proportionally

royalperro (Meath) - Posts: 21 - 19/07/2015 12:47:57    1755643

No matter what happens or who is in charge next year, first I feel it's vital that we get our underage in proper order and get as many youth coaches in as possible, now I know this may take time but we have to work towards it. As for the seniors well we can only get the best out of what we have and to be fair I think we are better than we showed this year, AI quarter finals shouldn't be alien territory for us but we would need more to get any further.

Fitness is the first thing I want to see cleared up, there's no excuse for having unfit players and the way we faded out of many games this year was infuriating, top of the list is to sort that out. Second of all I'd like to see us playing a more balanced style of football with most players starting in their natural positions, all out attack like we saw in the first half against Westmeath is great to watch but becomes redundant against teams who know how to defend (they don't even have to be good teams) and if we play too defensive we won't score enough to win the bloody game! (like against Tyrone).

So balanced is the key but again that comes back to fitness, we need lads who are able to track back and then break forward for 70mins, not for 50mins, that's completely useless to us. Also the players need to stand up and be counted and if they have trouble doing it then maybe we should try a sports psychologist or something to that effect, watching Meath teams give up is the ultimate hard pill to swallow, where has all the fight gone? the lads need to show some f'in pride in the jersey or stand aside and allow someone else in who will.

As for MOD, well at this point I'd say his future is very much 50/50 but for me sadly I think his time has run it's course, I know he was unlucky with injured players but we have gone back under him and after 3 years that's not acceptable.

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 19/07/2015 12:56:28    1755646

Htaem

Funny thing is,Alan Forde is a modern type half forward.He tracks back,works very hard,has pace and is quite strong too.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 19/07/2015 13:34:45    1755668

The following players are all worth consideration/inclusion by new management (to improve the team &/or squad). Theyve all been around for over a year showing up in adult club games but havent yet joined their county's cause with the exception of A.Forde up to his injury.

Alan Forde NOM - as above, proven strong speedster & Keegan Cup winner 2014.
Ruairi O Coileain NOM- as above, Cv includes him as Captain, All-Ireland Colleges A finalists 2013 & Keegan Cup winner 2014.
Daire Rowe SYDDAN-good finisher, fire in the belly, accurate freetaker-consistently high scoring for his intermediate club for past 2 years.
Robbie Burlingham SIMONSTOWN- good big shotstopper with long intelligent kickout strategy.
Thomas OReilly WOLFETONES-big,quality,young (but hopefully ready for step up),capable scoring forward,accurate free taker,
Dan Queeney NAFIANNA- young,consistent, hard working, strong performer, high workrate, regular scorer at senior that could step up.

Thats 5 more decent club players/forwards that could/should have been added to this years squad to help offset the impact of our much publicised longterm injury situation.
& 1 more proficient GK to increase options available this year

meath1967 (Meath) - Posts: 56 - 19/07/2015 14:03:51    1755679

Is Alan Forde the new Cormac McGill? For 2/3 years when Eamon O'Brien was manager there were huge calls for him to be brought in, and how his absence was the was the only thing between Meath and an All Ireland. Every problem would be rectified if he were called in.

Needless to say, he was brought in and didn't exactly set the world alight, no offence to him.

Its amazing how much better some lads become when they arent playing. The best thing you can do to increase your reputation is not to play.

Take Wexford hurlers for example. With Jack Guiney on board they did middling in the league, losing all their tough matches and winning against the weak teams. Then they were unconvincing vs. Westmeath in the championship. Then the week before the KK match they dropped Guiney. Against Kilkenny they got trounced, which didnt surprise us really. What was surprising was how many people seemed to think it would all have been different had Guiney been playing, as though he'd have made up a 25 point deficeit.

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1644 - 19/07/2015 14:27:12    1755690

Castlebravo

He has a good attitude and works very hard,a very good starting point,he will be back when MOD is gone..

Look the main problem is the attitude.The players care for sure,but don't care enough to have that determination to succeed.I have seen this before with many teams(including Donegal),the right management has to come in and sort that out,something similar happened with Dublin too.Look at todays game between Mon and Donegal.Are people seriously saying we have not the players to compete with those teams? At present players want to win,but if they don't,they are happy enough to enjoy their holidays etc.They work hard,but not hard enough to succeed.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 19/07/2015 14:42:27    1755702

Someone has to come in,first training session and tell the players,what they have done in the last few years has not been good enough.Ask them what do they REALLY want from their county careers.If they are not on board,they can walk out the door.If a new manager comes in,there needs to be a watershed moment..

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 19/07/2015 14:46:37    1755703

What's the story with Alan Ford though, why isn't he on the panel?

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 19/07/2015 14:47:26    1755704

HTAEM

Doesn't want to join while MOD is there..

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 19/07/2015 15:22:18    1755721

WELL DONE monaghan [POPULAION 60K] Demontrated the value of fitness ,a game plan and determination

nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1224 - 19/07/2015 15:57:28    1755741

The different paths that Monaghan and Meath have had is some stark contrast, both of us were relegated 3 years , look how Monaghan coped with that since, we are applauding the man that has been in charge of us since that fateful day, Monaghan haven't had huge underage success, they compete in a lot tougher province than us.
How anyone can put hand on heart and say mod must stay another year looking at Monaghan is beyond me .
Time to move on.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 19/07/2015 17:12:30    1755797

I don't know about other people but I feel like this years championship exit has been the hardest to take in a good few years, not just because we are out so early but because I feel that we could've and should've won both games against Westmeath and Tyrone. I think if we hadn't panicked in the second half of the Westmeath game and won it, we would've given Dublin a good rattle especially playing the defensive system we did against Tyrone. We could've been talking a lot differently on here if that had happened, we had heard that meath had a plan for Dublin and that was obviously the plan to come out with a defensive system that they wouldn't have been expecting, and we would've been praising mod.
we don't know exactly what's going on in the camp but when the captain comes out saying the players want mod to stay on then that's good enough for me. in fairness he had the forwards playing some of the best football I've seen in a good while in that first half against Westmeath and then to turn around in two weeks and tighten up the defence so much was impressive. Hopefully the disappointment of being knocked out so early will drive the players on and they can use it as motivation for next year, we need to get promoted from division 2 and get to the quarter final of the all Ireland.

meathalltheway (Meath) - Posts: 789 - 19/07/2015 17:18:38    1755804

Meathalltheway. Its not good enough for me. Mod has been a disaster. We can if but and maybe anything, if me aunt had you know what's she would be my uncle. Also Donal i am afraid didn't cover himself in glory by saying he didn't know we had never lost to Westmeath.
Donal is one of the best corner backs in country, if i was him i would be more concerned about been played at 6 where very average players have got the better of him, than who should manage us. If we are to be happy with regression, watching teams with less talented players get further and be happy with moral victories over the likes of Westmeath or the worst Tyrone team in 2 decades then mod should remain.
At this stage he has to go.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 19/07/2015 17:45:45    1755825

meathalltheway

Maybe the players are saying they want MOD to stay on because they have it a bit too cosey..

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 19/07/2015 19:31:01    1755918

Have just spoken to a player (who will remain nameless) and by what I can gather Donal wasn't speaking for everyone!

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 19/07/2015 20:03:18    1755956

RD

Of course not......

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 19/07/2015 20:32:50    1755983