Brilliant article on the whole Meath manager fiasco.
Says it all really.
Can be found on www.tribune.ie

BoynesideBlue (Meath) - Posts: 130 - 17/11/2008 19:03:39    143370

can't findd it can you put up the full link. NICE.

posh (Meath) - Posts: 633 - 18/11/2008 09:34:28    143700

Full link as follows:

http://www.tribune.ie/article/2008/nov/16/liam-hayes-football-analyst-board-silly-by-intrigu/?q=Meath%20manager

SouthMeath (Meath) - Posts: 13 - 18/11/2008 10:28:16    143740

An excellent piece... and true too...it became a talking point at a recent training session of ours.. and most agreed with what was written..sad but true!

maco (Meath) - Posts: 357 - 18/11/2008 10:57:47    143779

Mr Hayes has hit the nail full on the head.
I have had my views sensored in the past on this issue on these boards and in my opinion we will continue to fall down the pecking order until this current administration is ousted.

The Bullockman (None) - Posts: 55 - 18/11/2008 11:17:35    143793

Read this peice. Not written by anybody who has the interest of Meath football at heart. How does Hayes think he has a better pedigree than O' Brien. He managed, or indeed mismanaged a very poor Carlow side. O'Brien was with Boylan for two All Ireland successes and has won the Intermediate with Rathkenny. Possibly not the greatest CV but considerably better than Hayes. Luke Dempsey was treated badly but that does not give Hayes the right to bad mouth Meath just so that he can sell mpore papers.

The real Árd Rí (Meath) - Posts: 990 - 18/11/2008 12:03:48    143844

Id agree with Ard Ri on this, Initially Id have gone for Pete McGrath out of the selected few but its now done and dusted so we have to get behind our man, He states that O Brien has miraculously, on several occasions, saved Rathkenny from relegation from senior to intermediate grade!! im afraid to say Liam , that after Rathkenny won the Inter under O Briens leadership (3 years ago)he led them to a Senior Quarter final the year after and then this year they had a relegation play off after being in the toughest senior group.

Liam Hayes hasnt had anything positive to say about Meath football for a long time, indeed didnt he run a paper called Dublin daily a years back so we, and now he thinks everytime he puts pen to paper it has to be controversial to sell a few more copies, Ive had my fill of him in recent times, a great servant for Meath and Skyrne but will never be held in the same regard as the likes of MCEntee or McDermott

The Count (None) - Posts: 74 - 18/11/2008 12:42:00    143880

Hayes is only saying what most people are thinking, and fair enough he may not have a great Managerial career behind him, but as a Meath man with a medium to say what he thinks without it been silenced, and as a sports journalist he has every right to print what ever he wants.
I think hes damn right to say what he has said to highlight the shambolic process in selection by an equally shambolic county board. Silent opposition doesnt change things, naming and shaming does.........eventually.

The Bullockman (None) - Posts: 55 - 18/11/2008 12:43:01    143883

Fair ***** to him. FACT.

posh (Meath) - Posts: 633 - 18/11/2008 12:45:24    143886

Hayes has every right to slag off meath fotball if he wishes . the article itself is critical of the meath county board , what he's pointing out is that on basis of merit's that Luke Dempsey was by far the best man for the job that had beeen initially nominated, he's right in questioning EOB credentials , because he doesn't have a huge amount. He also right in pointing out that we have gone backwards since 2001 - i don't think anyone can dispute that, so you are right Ard Ri in saying that Hayes has nothing good to say about meath football - but he does speak the truth in that the number of years we have had nothing to celebrate, to EOB i wish him well and hope to see some pride restored in meath football

meath1987 (Meath) - Posts: 135 - 18/11/2008 15:24:48    144052

The Bullockman
Of course he has a right to say what he likes. That's called free speech and is guaranteed by the Constitution so long as it is not libellous which I presume this piece isn't. But so have the rest of us the same right and it doesn't change the fact that what he said in such a public medium is not in the interest of Meath football. He was a good footballer in his time for both Skryne and Meath but he never had the influence that O'Rourke, McDermot or Giles from Skryne had or McEntee, Cassells, Lyons, O'Connell or a great deal more had. He has, in my opinion always written rubbish.

He did not have the courage of his conviction in going for the Meath job as he knew well that he would not get it even against O'Brien whom he now wants to slag off. He has let down his former club by asking them to nominate him and then not proceeding with the interview, which he knew would be a requirement. Also he derides the efforts of Allen, Reilly and Flynn but while I don't know Flynn I can tell you that neither Allen or Reilly ever need to explain themselves to the likes of Hayes. These men have put much more into the GAA in Meath than Hayes ever did and got precious little thanks from him and a good many more who like him took everything and gave nothing back after they were finished playing. In any event what does Hayes know about Meath football. I never see him at a match. But I regularly see O'Brien and the other three afore mentioned persons at all level of games. To put it bluntly Hayes is not qualified to manage Meath either from his knowledge of Meath football or an attitude perspective.

The real Árd Rí (Meath) - Posts: 990 - 18/11/2008 15:36:13    144069

Ard Ri,

Our County Board is a mess, it has a democratic system when the higher Echelon get their way, when they dont, they Dictate.
They are self maintaining and will never leave until they deceide they want to go.

Hayes hasnt slagged off O Brein, he has merely underlined the sham that is the appointment of the Meath Football manager and the ineptatude of our "beloved servants" to install a man efficiently because as I have said before, there is a clique within most associations of our national sports to maintain the personal wants of a few people, this is a perfect example.

I Wish Eamonn O Brein all the best, dont get me wrong, but when it goes wrong, and it will sooner rather than later, the men who are responsable for his appointment will be keeping a very low profile and he will, undeservadly be left out to dry.

Mugabe did a lot of work for Zimbabwe, doesnt mean the majority dont want him out does it?

I suppose you want Boylan Back in, cos sure as hell they would have snapped his hand off if he offered to come back, but then again, birds of a feather and all that.

Until there is a fresh approach we will continue to decline.

As an avid Meath supporter, this whole process gauls me, I hope every thing I have predicted above does not happen for the team and Managers sake, but the county Board need to be held responsable for everything that will transpire.

The Bullockman (None) - Posts: 55 - 18/11/2008 16:33:54    144134

The Bullockman
I have no problem in you calling the County Board a mess, which it probably is. However in my opinion Hayes has undermined O' Brien with little justification. He has also denigrated personally the three gentlemen we spoke about. Sometimes even when there is a problem to be corrected it does no good to have it aired so completely in public. While we do have some problems in Meath we probably have no more than any other county. Look at Cork, Wexford and Donegal for example. Many more could also be included.

My point is that it is not for Hayes to go undermining the efforts of those who are attempting to put things right regardless how haphazard there efforts are. If he has a beef with the way things are done then why does he not become an active member of his club Skryne again and look for the delegate to the County Board job. Even run for chairman or other job in the county. No doubt he will stress work and family commitments. He should not forget that we all (more or less) have young families and that even in these recessionary times we also have to go to work. My view of his article is that it is first of all a diatribe of sour grapes based on the fact that he was never going to get the job. It was also an exercise aimed for when there might be a complete flop so that he could say I told you so.

To be honest Bullockman I think that O'Brien would have been better for his own sake to not precede with his candidure as it gives all the naysayers the chance to throw rubbish about being second best at him. However he has now been duly appointed to the job on the bases that he is the best candidate available. All genuine Meathmen will give him thire full support for the coming year. Rubbish column writers will seize every opportunity to try to bring him to his knees. They should be rejected. I stopped buying the Tribune some time ago and so long as they are prepared to have writers like Hayes on board I will not buy it. I urge all who despise this tabloid type journalism to do likewise.

For the record, I am a great admirer of Boylan who brought us more success in his twenty years or so that we achieved in the previous hundred. He is, as far as I know, one of only two managers to have beaten the Australians in three out of four games. The other being O'Rourke. I'm sure this will be corrected if wrong. However, no I do not and have said so before, want him back. I believe that we should move forward. Boylan would be a step backward. If O'Brien makes a dog's dinner out of it, which is of course always possible, then I think he should get the boot also. However we won't know what he is like until we are out of the championship next year. No one genuinely expects us to win the A.I. in 09 but if we turn the Dubs over there is a good chance that we could take Leinster. If not we might get a reasonable run in the backdoor series. He has my complete, undivided loyalty and support until we are no longer in the hunt. I can then decide to continue or withdraw my support for him. The man deserves that from all who call themselves Meath men or women.

The real Árd Rí (Meath) - Posts: 990 - 18/11/2008 17:50:32    144224

Agree fully with with Ard Ri. Its a long time since I read an article by Hayes and I don't think I will be doing so again in a hurry after that one. he should be showing his support to EOB rather than deriding him.

men_of_49 (Meath) - Posts: 2024 - 18/11/2008 20:55:01    144364

leaving the appointment of EOB aside... it really begs the question of democracy in the county board... does just one or two guys have a say.. and every one else excepts the situation?

maco (Meath) - Posts: 357 - 19/11/2008 07:28:22    144574

I feel that the Chairmans job on the County Board should be similar to that of a County Manager.I would see the delegates as being similar to Councillors with a healthy interaction between the two.
The situation at the moment is far too parochial.The Co.Board is an old boys school and it spends its time protecting its own position rather than pushing out the perameters for Meath.
In the county at present we have seen huge strides made at club level in terms of facilities and the packaging of Gaelic Games at local level.I`m thinking of Trim,Donaghmore,The Wood,St.Marys,Dunboyne,and Meathill to name but a few.There are obviously very dedicated,visionary,people involved in these clubs who would be more than capable at County level,but they are not willing to put themselves forward as all they can see at Board level is Killinascully CLG.
I thought Demspey might have been the man but he was chewed him up before he got a chance to bring about any meaningful change.
I agree with Ard Ri when he appeals to the likes of Hayes to engage in a positive sense rather than pegging stones at a glasshouse.
We live in hope

The Brickie (None) - Posts: 208 - 19/11/2008 11:13:09    144752

There is no point in wasting time arguing over the rights and wrongs of Hayes comments in his article. It does however bring into the main the inadequacies we face in the current county set up. The job was always EOB's, right from the get go, and no matter what had to be done, or how rediculous the county would look, the current chair was going to get EOB put in place. If not for the Cork hurlers and Donegal, the farce that is the race for the Meath Manager job would have been front page of every paper across the land. It's more of an indictment of the state ofMeath football and out standing on the national ladder that thesituation got little, if any national press.
But lets put the Hayes aticle to bed, and focus on the crux of the issue, the current county board. While there are one or two brilliant administrators there (who have been painted with the same brush as all the others involved in this affair), the county in my opionion IS been run ny the old school brigade, the administration that went untouched for 20 odd years, and got back into power last year. The face at the front might be different but the ideals are the same. Dempsey was the right chairman to bring us into the next decade but he was scuppered.
It's up to every member of a club to go to there AGM this year and mandate there club to oust the current regime, and look for a new board to bring us into the light. I hate to ay it, but unfortunately we are paying the price for so many clubs selling there souls to the devil for the promise of a vote, the votes that put the incumbent in place.

CommitteeeeMan (Meath) - Posts: 153 - 19/11/2008 12:00:59    144799

CommitteeeeMan

You make a few good points here. However the real problem does not rest with the County board or the delegates who vote for them. They are continuing to do what they believe to be in the best interest of Meath football and hurling even if it isn't. The real problem is that when you go to the club AGM there will only be a reluctant few who are willing to put themselves out to take any job including club delegate. Therefore when these go the County board AGM we have in general very little change from the delegates who were there the year before. Not only that but in many cases the club officer tend to be from a certain clique within a club who tend to run it from year to year. Even if there is a new face this person will already be contaminated with traditional club thinking or very shortly will be. Therefore when this is multiplied by all the clubs in the County you end up with very little movement in personal or more importantly, their thinking.

I would urge all. Particularly younger members in their twenties and thirties to get involved. In the past many club delegates were uneducated middle-aged people who did their best for the association. Now we have a new confident educated bunch of young people around and it is time to let them have their say. I'm not saying that all the old fogies, like myself, should be shown the door. However a sizeable number of new young faces would be a tonic for the clubs, the County Boards and the GAA in general. So Committeeman, I hope your handle is not just for the HS. Hope you will have some of your friends propose you for the delegate's job and maybe in a few years you will be in the chair. I know that my old friend NorthMeathman is already making his way up to Pairc Tailteann regularly and giving them a piece of his mind. However as he is nearly as old as myself he's hardly the one to make all the difference.

The real Árd Rí (Meath) - Posts: 990 - 19/11/2008 13:22:06    144910

The real Árd Rí : Like you, I agree with some of what you say. You see, I am relatively young, and hold an executive position in my club and keep up to date with what happens down in Navan, whether that be through my club or from sources in Navan. A throw back to the previous regime maybe but if you watched the pre-match before the County Final you will have seen how true it was to see that day. There is a distinct lack of leadership in the current adminstration and a lot of the problem is to do with those at the very top.
I think there is some fantastic energy and new ideas in some of the people getting involved in my club, and it makes me proud to be involved. Mixed with the experience of some of our more splendid older administrators, some really innovative and ground breaking policy is being proposed.
We have acticvely mandated out delegate to make decisions that are good for Meath football, but when you have people like the ones we are all talking about, without mentioning names, it sometimes feels like your urinating against the wind

CommitteeeeMan (Meath) - Posts: 153 - 20/11/2008 13:37:13    145841

Agree with Ard Ri re Liam Hayes terrible article, i always thought Liam was always very fond of himself, even though McEntee carried him on his back.
In my opinion the article is lazy and uninformed and worse unhelpfull and damaging. I'm surprised he has friends in Skyrne, what has he done for any team he managed, if he so concerned with the well being and future of Meath football, do a bit of coaching in the county at club/underage level.
Rubbish paper and most of his articles are lazy and only written to annoy people.
Look what he did with Ireland on Sunday for god sake!!

The one bit of the article I do agree with but so does everyone is the lack of leaders in the team, a team with leaders would have stood up and questioned the process and EOB taking up the role.
The real problem is the lack of leaders in this team and no change in manager/process will resolve this over night.

Northmeathman (Meath) - Posts: 284 - 20/11/2008 16:28:21    146047