The fallout from Westmeath's humiliating defeat to Dublin last weekend continues with former county player Michael 'Spike' Fagan calling into question Tomas O Flatharta's "ability to manage and lead". The former Compromise Rules star, who was Westmeath's top player throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s, believes the Lake County's 27-point mauling was the result of poor preparation and judgement on the management's part. "A half hour had elapsed before the first move was made to introduce a substitute, but by then, the Dublin storm was a raging inferno and completely out of control," Fagan wrote in his local newspaper column. "If it was not evident to the manager where the main problems were after five or 10 minutes, then his ability to manage and lead, not to mention his judgement, has to be called into question. "I honestly did feel sorry for some of the players, who have made their own personal sacrifice of putting in the training sessions, only to be thoroughly humiliated on one of the darkest days in Westmeath football's history. One really has to question the team's preparation, not to mention the team's disorganised pre-match routine which did nothing to inspire confidence for the men in maroon. "From start to finish, it was self-evident from a Westmeath perspective that there was no game-plan, no effective preparation and no positive counteraction of any description, in what can only be summed up as an absolutely disgraceful performance." Meanwhile, Westmeath chairman Tom Farrell has backed the team and management to redeem themselves in the All-Ireland qualifiers. "Dublin were the far superior team and no matter what you say or do, you weren't going to stop them on the day," he said. "I don't think things are as bad as that, but we have got to regroup now and prepare for the qualifiers." Tweet

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