Meath Forum

New Meath Manager

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Replying To Blackspot09:  "I agree re players dropping off panels and and I'm denying it happened during Andys reign but my main point is that I believe there was way too much made of it for the simple reason that the players in question would not have improved the team at all. At best were the same level as what was already there.

There is no Paul Mannion types out there not making themselves available or if you look at the situation up in Down with Kilcoo where probably 6 or 7 of those lads would go in and automatically improve the down team. That isn't the case in Meath and I just hope Meath supporters aren't expecting some magical turnaround driven by all these players who wouldn't play under Andy who will now come in under the legend that is COR .

The successful underage teams we've produced over the last 4 or 5 years is where our focus needs to be and forget about lads pushing 30 who turned down the opportunity to play for their county over the last 5/6 years for whatever reason."
Yep agree with everything you say there Blackspot, Those minor teams are where we need to be concentrating, and bringing them through gradually and not en masse, and i think COR being appointed will help as the senior players are likely to stick around a little longer now. my concerns that Menton, keoghan and the class of 2012 might retire altogether has eased, and that will allow a dripping in of the 20 and 21 teams as they finish up at U20 level. I think Colm was always one for joined up thinking and will allow the lads to stay at age grade unless they're going to be starting at senior.

I think a few tweaks and improvements in fitness, S&C, game plans and strategies will benefit the team. I think TBF to Andy he was almost paralysed by fear last year and was trying not to lose rather than going for the throat to win. Colm shouldn't be in that situation and if he could maybe get 8-10% more from this group we might be better next year. The league needs to be our main aim, We've Dublin, Kildare, Derry as the main three looking for promotion and then Cork, Clare, Limerick and Louth who we need to be beating if we have any realistic aims for 2023. Depending on our fixtures you'd hope to have 4 home games and plow on from there to be in the mix for promotion. Staying in divison two means no tailteann cup. Getting into the last of 8 of the all ireland series would be bonus territory for 2023 and a shot to nothing.

If we could maybe get a few lads back from travel, injuries etc like Lavin, Kane, Campion and Gallagher, have a few lads rediscover their ability to play in Walsh and a few others, supplement them with some younger players like Caulfield, Harford, Lynch, Mitchell and Frayne, and hopefully a few more lads put their hands up during club championships, it would benefit the panel at least.

I'd say its still too early for the Conor Gray's, Liam Kelly's, John O'Regan, Mossy Corbett and Sean Emmanuel's as yet, and plenty others too. But if we can add them into a team on the rise heading into 2025 or later and not be relying on them to make an instant impact and carry the team it would be a great help.

God the last 24 hours really has me revved up again and almost angry the season is over, but that's something Colm and the panel can be building towards in January. Maybe we might even get a great club championship this year as lads will be going all out to impress. It's not a knock on Andy if anyone is thinking that

brian (Meath) - Posts: 1954 - 26/07/2022 14:25:44    2434585

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Replying To Jinxie:  "Would be thinking same. He's a big man, possibly the closest of the under age lads to the physical requirements of Senior Intercounty football and the experience could bring him on even further."
Boylan always brought in lads, give them a taste of it geraghty and fay spoke about being involved as 18 year olds. no harm in seeing if a lad has the attitude to go in and mix it up. Frayne is well able at club level so give him the chance.

And also give him access to a kicking coach. Lord knows we need to resolve the free taking issue. No slight on harry Hogan but several free takers putting in time with a dedicated coach would help. And that the players themselves work on it away from the training field. If harry is still the best then so be it.

Brian Stafford, Trevor Giles, Can Ward, Brian Clarke... any of those lads could be a great help to a young fella

brian (Meath) - Posts: 1954 - 26/07/2022 14:29:51    2434587

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Replying To Jinxie:  "Would be thinking same. He's a big man, possibly the closest of the under age lads to the physical requirements of Senior Intercounty football and the experience could bring him on even further."
He is definitely the closest physically and there is just something about the way he can drift into space and his decision making that separates him for me. He doesn't get phased and also his wonderful vision and ability to pick a pass.

Thejoeshow (Meath) - Posts: 687 - 26/07/2022 15:05:36    2434604

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Replying To GlasgowRoyal:  "Obviously wish Colm all the best but he'll be under a fair amount of pressure and scrutiny from the get go given how much he had to say about previous managers and Meath sides. No hiding place now!"
Immense pressure. Needs to get promotion this year or the usual suspects will be out for him. And with Dublin it won't be easy.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 26/07/2022 15:18:55    2434608

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Replying To Blackspot09:  "Any supporter who abandoned the team over the last few years can stay at home IMO.

I am also interested to see how all these players who apparently wouldn't play under the previous manager get on. I suspect that will be another myth busted by this time next year. There may have been some but at the very most they were only as good as what was already in the squad and no better than certainly the first 20 odd. Also that myth has been been thrown around from pretty much day 1 of Andys reign which was nearly 7 years ago so even if true a lot of them would in their 30s now and drafting in lads 30 or over is not the way to go for Meath."
Exactly the can f### right off. They aren't wanted or needed

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 26/07/2022 15:20:41    2434609

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Replying To kingofclubs:  "I agree with you Blackspot. The players who left the panel during Andys reign would not have significantly improved the team. Padraig McKeever, for example, was one of the best forwards in club football but he never hit those heights in a Meath jersey. Donal Lenihan likewise. Both of these lads are now 31/32 so unlikely they will be brought back into a team that is rebuilding. Also, regardless of who the manager is, certain players may not wish to make the considerable sacrifice that is needed for inter county football. The most important appointment for this management team is the coach, to get the most out of the current panel and develop the young players coming through."
Donal lenihane has stated he will not play for county. And if he was to he'd have happily done so under Andy. Jesus Christ could ask him and he'd still say no

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 26/07/2022 15:24:34    2434615

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Replying To royaldunne:  "Immense pressure. Needs to get promotion this year or the usual suspects will be out for him. And with Dublin it won't be easy."
tell ya people...we supporters need a reality check.....There should be no "pressure" on this Management Team, unless there is a collapse & a relegation to Div 3...and even if that were to happen , But it was clear what COR was trying to do...id argue then still there should be no pressure....we are hovering around 3rd/4th Team in Leinster ...Apart from the obvious Team sitting as Top dog , id say that we have fallen behind Kildare , and could argue that Westmeath too . COR has a 5 to 7 year job,to put us back in the top 6 in Ireland, on a consistent basis . Ive said it here many times...there is no point going up to Div 1 if you cant have a SQUAD to maintain it for a prolonged period of time. That means...a quality 1`5, 6 decent subs, and another 5-6 guys who are comfortable at Senior Inter County level...get real guys...COR needs at LEAST 3 years to achieve that

Thelongwoodslasher (Meath) - Posts: 385 - 26/07/2022 16:13:22    2434636

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Replying To royaldunne:  "Immense pressure. Needs to get promotion this year or the usual suspects will be out for him. And with Dublin it won't be easy."
Give him a chance to at least get a panel together, dont think he will be under any great pressure to get promotion in first year. Yes we need to finish in top half of Div 2 to insure we are in championship. For now its more about building panel and getting us competitive on a consistant basis, improving our basic skills and instilling confidence into the panel. Get these right and hopefully promotion will follow.

seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2150 - 26/07/2022 16:37:47    2434641

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Well said longwood and seadog, COR isn't even in the job and someone is setting targets. No one in the county is trying to suggest promotion and will allow Colm 2023 to assess and evaluate where he's at. If they get in the mix for promotion that would be great. Being in a relegation dogfight is something we don't want. As you've said we're 3rd at best in leinster and could as easily be overtaken by others (westmeath and Offaly) in the next few years. 2023 will be about Colm, building a panel, a style of play and as long as we show progress throughout the year everyone will be happy. Everyone is realistic enough to have seen the slide since 2019 and where things have fallen down, and if Colm can address some of those in 2023 we'll all be happy.

brian (Meath) - Posts: 1954 - 26/07/2022 17:22:37    2434666

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Replying To Thelongwoodslasher:  "tell ya people...we supporters need a reality check.....There should be no "pressure" on this Management Team, unless there is a collapse & a relegation to Div 3...and even if that were to happen , But it was clear what COR was trying to do...id argue then still there should be no pressure....we are hovering around 3rd/4th Team in Leinster ...Apart from the obvious Team sitting as Top dog , id say that we have fallen behind Kildare , and could argue that Westmeath too . COR has a 5 to 7 year job,to put us back in the top 6 in Ireland, on a consistent basis . Ive said it here many times...there is no point going up to Div 1 if you cant have a SQUAD to maintain it for a prolonged period of time. That means...a quality 1`5, 6 decent subs, and another 5-6 guys who are comfortable at Senior Inter County level...get real guys...COR needs at LEAST 3 years to achieve that"
Well said, this is our chance to get things right, no quick fix, steady progress, its about building a team, no mad rush to get to Div One only to realise we are not yet able to compete at that level. COR has been through this before when SB built his team in the 80s.

seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2150 - 26/07/2022 17:30:33    2434668

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Replying To seadog54:  "Give him a chance to at least get a panel together, dont think he will be under any great pressure to get promotion in first year. Yes we need to finish in top half of Div 2 to insure we are in championship. For now its more about building panel and getting us competitive on a consistant basis, improving our basic skills and instilling confidence into the panel. Get these right and hopefully promotion will follow."
Couldn't agree more, in some respects if we finished an unlucky third and had a strong championship with promotion in year 2 it may be as well for the group. Get his panel together, make it clear how he wants to play and go from there, if the management team is as rumoured there will be pressure but I'd be surprised if knives were sharpened after year one.

Thejoeshow (Meath) - Posts: 687 - 26/07/2022 17:38:38    2434669

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Replying To Thelongwoodslasher:  "tell ya people...we supporters need a reality check.....There should be no "pressure" on this Management Team, unless there is a collapse & a relegation to Div 3...and even if that were to happen , But it was clear what COR was trying to do...id argue then still there should be no pressure....we are hovering around 3rd/4th Team in Leinster ...Apart from the obvious Team sitting as Top dog , id say that we have fallen behind Kildare , and could argue that Westmeath too . COR has a 5 to 7 year job,to put us back in the top 6 in Ireland, on a consistent basis . Ive said it here many times...there is no point going up to Div 1 if you cant have a SQUAD to maintain it for a prolonged period of time. That means...a quality 1`5, 6 decent subs, and another 5-6 guys who are comfortable at Senior Inter County level...get real guys...COR needs at LEAST 3 years to achieve that"
You need to be in division one to progress. That is a fact of modern football. Galway go up and came down went back up this year and reached all ire final. I'm sorry if the goal this year and last was promotion then that HAS to be goal next year. To say otherwise is nonsense imo

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 26/07/2022 19:11:42    2434689

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Replying To seadog54:  "Give him a chance to at least get a panel together, dont think he will be under any great pressure to get promotion in first year. Yes we need to finish in top half of Div 2 to insure we are in championship. For now its more about building panel and getting us competitive on a consistant basis, improving our basic skills and instilling confidence into the panel. Get these right and hopefully promotion will follow."
Should promotion not always be the goal ?

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 26/07/2022 19:17:21    2434693

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Replying To Thelongwoodslasher:  "tell ya people...we supporters need a reality check.....There should be no "pressure" on this Management Team, unless there is a collapse & a relegation to Div 3...and even if that were to happen , But it was clear what COR was trying to do...id argue then still there should be no pressure....we are hovering around 3rd/4th Team in Leinster ...Apart from the obvious Team sitting as Top dog , id say that we have fallen behind Kildare , and could argue that Westmeath too . COR has a 5 to 7 year job,to put us back in the top 6 in Ireland, on a consistent basis . Ive said it here many times...there is no point going up to Div 1 if you cant have a SQUAD to maintain it for a prolonged period of time. That means...a quality 1`5, 6 decent subs, and another 5-6 guys who are comfortable at Senior Inter County level...get real guys...COR needs at LEAST 3 years to achieve that"
Ok so we give him a pass for year one. But how long ? By ur sentiments it would seem getting beat in tailteann cup and languishing in div 3 would be ok. I do not concur

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 26/07/2022 19:27:43    2434696

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Replying To royaldunne:  "Ok so we give him a pass for year one. But how long ? By ur sentiments it would seem getting beat in tailteann cup and languishing in div 3 would be ok. I do not concur"
Think there's a lot of people willing to cut Colm the slack that they never gave Andy tbh. Mick's team started well and played some nice stuff in the first half of games and then totally collapsed. That was clearly a fitness issue that Andy addressed to a great extent. Also secured promotion to Div 1 and was competitive throughout. The loss of the likes of Lavin last year was really damaging, I felt he was one of out best players. Maybe Colm will avoid that but if not he'll likely face similar issues as Andy did.

GlasgowRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 293 - 27/07/2022 08:02:21    2434735

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Very disappointed that BF felt the need to go public with that tweet last night to bring negative attention to the county at a time of positivity. He was aware he didn't get it. His first tweet that he deleted was worse and I would seriously question his motives, nothing to with Meath gaa and all to do with himself, a shame.

Thejoeshow (Meath) - Posts: 687 - 27/07/2022 09:19:10    2434745

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Replying To Thejoeshow:  "Very disappointed that BF felt the need to go public with that tweet last night to bring negative attention to the county at a time of positivity. He was aware he didn't get it. His first tweet that he deleted was worse and I would seriously question his motives, nothing to with Meath gaa and all to do with himself, a shame."
I agree. I have been one of his biggest critics on here since the u20 debacle last year. I questioned his motives time and time again. Tweets like that one last night particularly the first one confirm my opinions on him and his motives and why I was totally against him getting the senior job from day 1.

Blackspot09 (Meath) - Posts: 870 - 27/07/2022 09:42:39    2434750

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Replying To royaldunne:  "You need to be in division one to progress. That is a fact of modern football. Galway go up and came down went back up this year and reached all ire final. I'm sorry if the goal this year and last was promotion then that HAS to be goal next year. To say otherwise is nonsense imo"
Well Royaldunne,looking at your posts on the Meath forum and national forum,it seems chalk and cheese.On the national forum you claim Meath supporters are inpatient lot and say Colm o Rourke must be given time.Hopefully a leinster in 3 years and Sam within 5 years.On the Meath forum you say promotion is key in his first year and the pressure should be on from the start.I am not having a pop at you at all as you seem like a genuine Meath supporter but they are fairly contrasting.I get what you're saying promotion should be the objective every year (sure Colm is the same)but we have to look at where we are.We could have easily been relegated last year last minute goal v Offaly and v Down they hit the upright with the last play of the game.We then beat Wicklow in the championship and then v Dublin the game was over after 10 mins.Then we go to Clare a fellow division 2 team and let's be honest we could have lost that by 10 or more points and couldn't complain.Its a massive job Colm and his team have ahead of them.it will take time for players to understand his gameplan,strategy and all that goes with it.I think sam within 5 years is asking alot (not to say we couldn't do it)a leinster within three maybe more realistic(again maybe) but again while Dublin have comeback a bit they were only a kick of a ball away from this years final.COR is under enough pressure from outside the county,he has been critical of systems,playing styles etc over the years so people will say can he back up his talk without us heaping more pressure on him.Of course we want Meath back at the top but it's not going to happen overnight,CoR doesn't have magic dust and suddenly we are world beaters.I think we as supporters have to be really patient and as long as we see some progress we should stick by him.My big worry is the county board going back on what Colm wants in 6 months,year and he walks then we will be in the ****.I would agree the main thing is promotion to division 1 but staying there is the key.If after 4,5 years if we are established division 1 team,won a leinster it would be a big success.While no doubt Colm will want to land Sam,leinsters, I think nurturing the young lads will be just as important to him as he has been doing that all his life with his job.This is a big crossroads in Meath football and hopefully Colm is thinking longterm like he was with his Plans years ago when county board said they didnt have the money.If he gets the structure s right hopefully we will see the benefit for years to come.On another point another poster and yourself made about people deserting the team maybe coming back and not been welcomed, it happens to every county just look at Galway this year.We had it back in the 80s and 90s as well.If people(who haven't been in a years or at all) want to go to games and bring their kids with them I'd say why not ?maybe the kids get hooked and will want to play for Meath when older,again that is my opinion on it and you are certainly entitled to yours which I can understand as well.

Proudroyal (Meath) - Posts: 257 - 27/07/2022 09:49:41    2434753

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Replying To Thejoeshow:  "Very disappointed that BF felt the need to go public with that tweet last night to bring negative attention to the county at a time of positivity. He was aware he didn't get it. His first tweet that he deleted was worse and I would seriously question his motives, nothing to with Meath gaa and all to do with himself, a shame."
It was a classless thing from someone who I'd have held in high regard. People don't get jobs every day of the week and never hear why they don't get them and in a lot of cases aren't even told they've been unsuccessful after an interview. No need to jump on Twitter about it.

brian (Meath) - Posts: 1954 - 27/07/2022 10:00:54    2434758

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Notice someone is talking about usual suspects and then setting a goal of promotion in year one already. His hero, Andy McEntee himself said we didn't have the panel to compete in division one and that losing is just as easy a habit to pick up as winning. Whats the point of being in division when a team sin't ready for it.

2023 will be about Colm building his panel, rebuilding their fitness and S&C to higher level than they're currently are, figuring out where the pieces fit in, what their game plans (and they'll need multiple of them) are, his team's style of play, systems and players who fit within that are all about. Year 2, 2024 will be where you'd hope to see a marked improvement and jump in standards and as is in his terms, there'll be a review carried out after year 2. By 2025 he should have a lot of the 2020 and 2021 minors available to him as Keoghan, Menton and the class of 2012 roll off, hopefully we should be in a good place by then and can grow from that. 2025 might see a dip as those minors come online and so long as there's not huge drop off you'd hope there might be a second term.

brian (Meath) - Posts: 1954 - 27/07/2022 10:27:22    2434770

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