Colm Coyle has been around long enough to appreciate the extent of the challenge he has taken on as the new manager of the Meath senior football team, but the certainty is that he will tackle it head-on and with the sort of burning enthusiasm and commitment that typified his long and successful playing career. By Paul Clarke. Meath have slipped down the order of merit over more recent years, from a team that could reach an All-Ireland final in 2001 to one that seems to have disappeared off the radar when it comes to potential winners of the Sam Maguire Cup. When Meath head out on next summer's Leinster Championship adventure they will do so with their third different manager in as many years and, after the incredible longevity of Sean Boylan's reign in the hot seat, that's quite difficult to comprehend. We got used to seeing the Dunboyne man patrolling the sideline year after year since he reluctantly took on the position nearly a quarter of a century ago. After taking over a team seemingly going nowhere, what he achieved was remarkable and the annexation of four All-Irelands, eight Leinster titles and three National Leagues speak for themselves. But that success has also meant that expectation was always high, success became the norm rather than the exception and whoever followed Boylan would always be judged, to some extent at least, on the standards he helped to set. That man was Eamonn Barry last year when he finally achieved his great ambition to manage the county team. After a year when Meath were relegated in the National League, were eliminated from the Leinster Championship by Wexford and bowed out of the qualifiers against Laois, he was gone, but nobody can deny that the former Walterstown player put his heart and soul into it. However, it's now time to move on, time to let Colm Coyle and selectors Tommy Dowd and Dudley Farrell get on with the mammoth task that's before them as they attempt to bring the county back to where it should be - competing successfully with the top counties and challenging for the big prizes. Coyle possesses a wealth of experience, both as a player and in managerial roles. He played senior football with the county for approximately a decade and a half, has managed a number of club teams - including Nobber this year - was in charge of Monaghan for a couple of seasons and was a Meath selector under Boylan on two different occasions. To say the very least, the triple All-Ireland medal-winner has done it all and seen it all, yet this is a totally different challenge. Managing your native county represents a tremendous honour, but it also carries pressure and because he's a big name manager due to all the success he enjoyed down the years, Coyle will be expected to deliver. Exactly how far Meath have slipped over recent times is questionable and some people look back to the Leinster Championship match against Dublin last year and remember how close they ran a county that appears to have pushed clear of the rest in the province. Of course, there have also been depressing days since then, none greater than this year's championship loss to Wexford which was bitterly disappointing. "I know we lost to Dublin by only two points in 2005, but the reality is that we didn't play well that day and they could have won by more," the new Royal County manager said. "Games between Meath and Dublin have the local derby factor attached to them and there's rarely much between them. "We're playing catch-up at the moment, but if we got the chance to play Dublin I have to say I wouldn't have any fear of them. It would just be great to get the opportunity to play them in the championship." Five years ago Meath won the Leinster Championship, beating Dublin in the final, demolished Kerry in that amazing All-Ireland semi-final and seemed to be on top of the world. Unfortunately, they then lost the decider to Galway. Yet, since then they have clearly slipped back down the pecking order in a very big way. And, like most people, Coyle has struggled to come up with a clear explanation for that situation. "It's hard to put a finger on why Meath have slipped back," he added. "I suppose we are in a transition period and maybe lads lost the hunger and the appetite. Of course, it also goes in cycles, like between 1986 and 1991 when Meath were very prominent. It was the same between 1996 and 2001. Trends develop like that. "The problem is that recently we have been losing to teams that traditionally we would have beaten. In the past when you lost in the championship you were out. There was no second chance like now. But the back door just doesn't seem to appeal to Meath." To achieve anything, the bottom line is that you have to have quality players capable of playing at the intensity that is part and parcel of championship football. Without enough quality players life is a big struggle and making any sort of breakthrough is virtually impossible. But Coyle believes that Meath don't have problems on that score. "I believe the talent is in the county, I honestly do," he said. "There are a lot of very good young players and our job as a management team is to work with them and try to improve them. We are not up there with the Tyrones, Armaghs and Kerrys at the moment, but I believe that we have the potential to be." Coyle described Meath's positioning in Div. 2A of the next National League as "a disaster" and nobody in the county will argue with him there. After all, the better the opposition you are playing against in the league, the better chance you have to develop your team and find out who is and who isn't likely to be up to the mark when it comes to the far greater demands of championship football when everything seems to happen at 100 miles per hour. "It's a disaster," he commented as he contemplated life in the lower reaches of the league. "Even if we were to win that we would be in Div. 2 the following year. That's not where you want to be. By my reckoning, it would be 2009 before we could win the actual National League." From the time Darren Fay burst onto the intercounty scene under Sean Boylan's management in 1996 he had all the appearances of an exceptional talent, a player for whom the challenges of championship football held no fear and a man with the sheer physical strength and presence on the field to handle himself against any opposition. The brilliant Trim player hasn't lined out for his county in competitive football since the All-Ireland qualifier defeat to Cavan last year and news that he had decided to make himself available to the new manager has been greeted with tremendous satisfaction throughout Meath. And why wouldn't it. "Having Darren back with us is fantastic," Coyle said. "He is very hungry and is mad keen. The bottom line is that he wouldn't be back under any other circumstances. Darren is still a young man. He took a year out of intercounty football and is as keen as he ever was. "He possesses a wealth of experience and his return adds strength to our defence. It's just fantastic to have him back." Trevor Giles has been another of the truly great modern day Royal County players and while Coyle would unquestionably have loved to see the gifted Skryne man following in Fay's footsteps and returning to the Meath set-up, he fully respects his decision to bring the curtain down on a wonderful intercounty career that brought a phenomenal amount of success. "Trevor has retired," Coyle added. "He has been an unbelievable servant to Meath football and has to be ranked right up there with the very best. He certainly owes nobody anything. Things in life change and it was honest of Trevor to say he wasn't coming back. I say the best of luck to him." Talking to Colm Coyle it's easy to detect the determination he possesses as he embarks on the early stages of his job as Meath manager - the same type of determination that typified his years on the field of play when you were always assured of total commitment. He undoubtedly fully appreciates the extent of the challenge he has taken on - the task of hauling the Royal County footballers back up to where they should be. Coyle, Tommy Dowd and Dudley Farrell has the appearance of a very solid looking management team that will get the very best out of the players at their disposal. And if Coyle is correct in his assertion that the necessary playing talent is in the county, it will be a surprise if the trio don't achieve some worthwhile success relatively soon. Tweet

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