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Counties Missed Opportunities.... - 22 Like(s)

Replying To TheHermit:  "I'm always amazed at this place: Step 1: A Troll (invariably from Dublin though often trying to disguise that fact by using a bogus account) is let post whatever crap they want to try and stir the pot. Step 2: Someone like myself posts a reply telling them to get back in the box Step 3: The replier is the one who gets attacked and jumped on!! Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, this forum is overrun with the we hate Kerry brigade. So my friend it is no surprise to me that you and others on here have "no time for us lot". Its par for the course. And if highlighting the GAA's blatant favoritism of Dublin every now and then is "boring as F", as you so eloquently put it, then jog on. I often think there's a serious element of Stockholm syndrome combined with the climate change denier disease going on with fellas like you. For the record, I couldn't care less what Meath have or have not won what relevance has that to anything?"
Awwwwwwweeeee some one is a bit delicate cos they can't handle the current state of football. Just to respond to you, the point of the thread is about missed opportunities. In the last 9 years Kerry haven't been close to Dublin to have had missed opportunities. On your own points 1) Who's trolling and stirring the pot. Kerry posters have a penchant of turning every thread into a how Kerry have been mistreated and Dublin get everything. Do you forget that there's huge money going into Kerry football by Kerry Group every year!!! Compared to any other county in the land you've the biggest sponsorship deals outside of Dublin and Glanbia (Kilkenny in Hurling) Its your own fault you can't capitalise on that huge pot of gold you have. 2) You're replies are monotenous and always the same poor mouth, us Kerry folks are not getting enough blah blah. What right have you to tell anyone to get back in their box other than the usual Kerry thing of looking down their nose at everyone. 3) You got jumped on cos you deserve it. Your points are always the same boring BS. Don't address me as your friend. If i'd friends like you i wouldn't need enemies. You highlight the GAA's blatant favouritism of the Dubs every day and your vinyl record is scratched to the back of beyonds. Change your tune. Why should i jog on? If any counties have a right to cry foul about the Dubs its the 10 other football playing counties in Leinster but we're made of tougher stuff up here and just get on with things. We deal with our own house first rather than complaining about the emperor's new clothes. Stockholm syndrome ;) yep that made me LOL. And the deafult kerry response from you and other posters is to slag off other counties and say what have you won. I beat you to the punch it by saying we've nothing to be talking about. Anything else you'd like to whinge and moan about??? I'm here all day.

brian (National) - 20/07/2020 16:17:52

Meath Senior Football Team 2021 - 20 Like(s)
I would argue to turning point happened in 2010 when the St Pats club requested a motion of no confidence in Eamonn O'Brien a man who in two years had gotten Meath to a semi final and Leinster title victory. The motion was carried 31-29 and O'Brien was shown the door. Nothing but chaos has reigned since then. A generation of talented players who got to an all ireland minor final in 2002 were allowed to waste their prime years under Seamus McEnaney and Mick O'Dowd and the whole identity of Meath football was fundamentally destroyed. As Dublin got immeasurably stronger Meath were accelerting at the same rate in the opposite direction. We appointed an outside manager who had good idea's and then supplanted him with a man with no genuine experience who single handedly destroyed the whole psyche of Meath football. He should never have got the job and set about playing athletes rather than footballers. He jettisoned years of experience and tradition and left us in a position we are still trying to recover from. We lost to teams we'd never lost to under his stewardship and suffered embarrassment on embarrassment under him. If you ask people around the country what a meath footballer looks or plays like they mention hard. tough, physical players who never take a step back. He played pussy cats who were afraid of their lives. Dublin mauled them repeatedly and others likewise. In that time the county board abdicated all responsibility for what was happening at that level and sat on their hands in the same way the did in the later half of Sean Boylan's reign where they expected the good times to just role on. Where as most county boards around the country have become professional in their approach we've shuffled the deck chairs for the old boys brigade and are a total shambles, Look at the following things 1) Dunganny took years to develop and was subsidised heavily by levys imposed on the clubs around the county 2) The floodlights fiasco 3) the lack of any development of Pairc Tailteann 4) the absolute botch job they made of house draws whereby the raised next to nothing whilst several counties around us did similar and raised hundreds of thousands. 5) Failure to implement any of the "three wise men" strategy 6) ignoring the proposals by Colm O'rourke in the early 00's 7) lack of investment in underage training, strength and conditioning and games development 8) no investment in development panels and bridging underage to senior teams Whilst i applaud them for not bankrupting the counties finances they've done very little to nothing in terms of swell the coffers. McEntee for his faults took over a poisoned chalice with nothing to build from and will fall because of that. Ultimately he'll lay the foundations for the manager after the man who replaces him, only if they continue to build on what's currently in place. There seems to be some traction at underage and I applaud those involved. Some level of future planning is taking place at underage with Flynn and John McCarthy, but will that continue after they've finished. We're trying to sprint to catch up when we're barely able to walk. If you look at fitness as a key barometer in 2106 we were one of the unfittest and weakest teams in the country, we've been trying to build that strength and conditioning for years. You can't build that in a year and Niall Ronan seems to be working on improving that with every player he can but it has to start from underage all the way up. You could argue that last Sunday superior fitness got us over the line as it did v Wicklow and Kildare in last years championship. We still have some ways to go to catch Dublin, Kerry, Donegal, Mayo and Tyrone who we faded badly against in league games due to that lack of fitness, but all of those counties are 10 to 15 years more advanced in their thinking than we are, Ultimately its going to take a lot longer to get back to a consistent top 6 team (which Meath should be) unless they start building on whats now in place. There needs to be a clear line in the sand drawn and an identity redeveloped of who Meath are as a footballing team, what a Meath footballer looks and plays like, Andy is doing everything he can to get the identity back but it takes 10-15 years to do and unfortunately he won't get that. Hopefully with succession planning that can be developed from Andy to a Bernard Flynn or John MCCarthy manged senior Meath team.

brian (Meath) - 21/05/2021 16:28:45

Ballymun Vs Kilmacud - 19 Like(s)

Replying To KingdomBoy1:  "Who's slinging mud Brian? Explain that? Did a certain player from said club not eye gouge a player from my own county not too long ago?"
And so the typical make it all about Kerry posts begin. You said and i quote "There seems to be a culture of eye gouging at ballymun" So are you saying they're all told to go out and do it. You're claiming theirs a culture of it in Ballymun. How many thousands of players in the ballymun clubs are there? One player in a Dublin jersey appeared to do it. Never conclusively proven he did, same with the case at the weekend. Two incidents about 5 years removed from each other but there's a culture of it.... But as usual the Kerry lads have to get in the digs at Dubs. Jeez ye really do yourselves no favours at all lads. The bitterness is clear to Stevie Wonder.

brian (National) - 15/09/2020 13:30:23

Four Teams Representing Dublin Geographic Area! - 19 Like(s)
Jeez some people on here create an awful lot of noise but as an old lecturer used to say to me empty cans make the most noise.. i know some who that applies to for sure

brian (National) - 12/02/2021 13:53:58

New Meath Manager - 19 Like(s)

Replying To royaldunne:  "Wow. The fact you are condoning the abuse of a man and his family says a lot more about you than me. As for stopping? No NEVER, the day good people like me bow down to keyboard warriors who'd **** their trousers if they thought Andy or Shane knew who they were like you is day never."
Agh here, where was he condoning anything, now you're making stuff up to suit your own argument. The lad stated , as I have on many occasions that this happens, and happens to the best of managers but that it's in the minority. Look at what Andy himself spoke about on OTB AM last week, said he'd rather focus on the man from Collon who sent him letters about games, or the lady from Tullamore. The only person i see on here on here throwing out abuse is yourself with your constant reference to Keyboard warriors and calling anyone who picks you up on things a nameless faceless bully that you will stand up too. I'd say 95% of the lads and ladies on here are critical of what they saw on the pitch and lack of preparation from Andy and his management team and they hope these things are fixed. And rightly so, people are paying hard earned money to travel and support the team and time's are tough, so i think they're entitled to talk about it on a forum which is there to allow people to do so. It seems anyone who's critical is a keyboard warrior or condoning them in your eyes. Yet when the hard questions are asked of you you clam up and don't respond. I seem to remember you hammering the players last week claiming they're just not good enough despite blowing them up 6 weeks ago before they faced Dublin, and that history might reflect well on Andy (and i see the point you're making). You were well able to hammer 30+ lads who are giving of their time, energy and efforts but when i asked you if that wasn't abuse there wasn't a dickie bird from you in response as you knew you'd no leg to stand on. For the last god knows how long you've hammered Mick O'Dowd relentlessly, long after he was no longer involved you still blamed him for faults with the team, again a man who gave of his time in the same manner as Andy and yes he wasn't good enough for the job and committed just as many mistakes as Andy but yet I don't think one person said you were abusing him, until you started on about how everyone was abusing Andy and that it was a poison chalice. As I've said to you many times before, maybe think before you speak and stop being so confrontational, everyone here is entitled to an opinion what ever that is. Try and understand their point of view, as they do with you and that no one is on here abusing anyone, merely discussing something they're just as passionate about as you are.

brian (Meath) - 20/06/2022 10:15:14

Ballymun Vs Kilmacud - 19 Like(s)

Replying To KingdomBoy1:  "Oooh I'm trembling Brian, you nutter :-)"
Resorting to insults. Think that says it all.

brian (National) - 16/09/2020 11:57:12

Counties Missed Opportunities.... - 17 Like(s)

Replying To TheHermit:  "So Mayo pushed you all the way but Kerry didn't in those games, er right ok. Another armchair WUM so. P.S FYI before 2011 when you obviously started to watch them, Dublin couldn't lay a glove on Kerry for 34 years. The GAA had to get out the old cheque book to sort that issue out for ye."
Jesus but you are really boring as F**K Kerry and their old arrogance can't handle the Dubs being better than them. No wonder people have no time for your lot as a county.. Queue a line of well what have Meath won recently... Nothing but then have Kerry done that much better

brian (National) - 17/07/2020 10:00:28

Meath Senior Football Team 2021 - 17 Like(s)

Replying To thelutch:  "Apologies Was totally misreading the leagues, wasn't aware of new format so that will benefit us. I would love to have your enthusiasm however I cant see any progress this year from this group of players. We can only go to war with what we have and I will always support them through thick and thin but we have to be realistic , we are not in the top ten teams in the country and if we are going to move to a two or three tier all Ireland championship this team would struggle to win the second tier. Dublin Kerry Mayo Galway Tyrone Donegal Cork Cavan Monaghan In my opinion the above teams are better than us Armagh Roscommon Tipp Kildare Westmeath Down Laois Above are teams on par with us and you could make a case for others. Still a few years away from breaking into top ten but Andy Mac has steadied the ship and made us a solid division 2 team which is as far as he can go too, cant see him hanging around after this year"
Hey Lutch understandable re the new format people got caught out by that. I'd have to disagree with you on way you've graded the current Meath team and the tiers you'd have. 2020 was a poor year in terms pf what we did but lets not forget we were without several key players for parts or all of the year. Padraic Harnan and Shane Gallagher (who I've been critical off previously) missed the whole season. Andy Colgan never got a chance again during the whole year after doing and ACL. James Mcentee missed the Championship and Michael Newman retired. Graham Reilly played little to no part at all. That was 6 starters missing from a team that got us promoted and to a Leinster Final and super 8's in 2019. In there place we had Brennan (who was a disaster), David Toner (first year as a starter), Matthew Costello (19, first year on the panel), Ronan Jones (first year back after 2 years out of football) Shane Walsh and Jordan Morris (19/20 year olds in their first full year as panelists). You can make up for the lack of experience we lost with the first group of players, all of whom were key players in the first 15. I'd also add that Seamus Lavin and Conor McGill two of our best players in 2019 were both dealing with injuries all year and weren't close to 100% fit at any stage. I think we have a deflated sense of the Meath team based on the Dublin match. We are easily the second best team in Leinster. We've beaten everyone we've had to in 2019 and 2020. Yes Kildare were pathetic in the second half but the team still went out and tore them assunder and put a stake through them when it mattered. Laois and Westmeath are nothing to write home about. I'd would say this Meath team are somewhere between the 6th and 12th best team in the country. Dublin, Tyrone, Donegal, Kerry and Mayo are ahead of them. They're in a group of teams with Galway, Monaghan, Armagh, Roscommon that could all beat each other. Galway are nothing special, Monaghan are fading and Armagh and Roscommon are yoyo teams that go up and down the divisions. Until they are more consistent we can't claim they are better than Meath. Cork, Tipp and Cavan are all mythized due to one performance last year by each of them. I think this current team would beat all three teams with 3-4 points to spare. Meath over the last two years have beaten the teams they should beat and are closing the gap to the teams ahead of them. To bridge that gap and I agree with your assessment Andy is unlikely to stay after 21 we need to build on the work Andy has done. The bones of a good team are there and they need a manager and collectiveness to drive themselves forward. Andy has his blind spots which the whole country knows and he doesn't see or refuses to address. A new manager coming into this team will have identified 1) goalkeeper - a dependable keeper who commands his area, is a good shot stopper (TBF Colgan isn't bad here) and organises his defence. You rarely see Colgan and definitely not brennan giving the lads in front of them guidance on what they as a keeper are seeing. Its there responsibility to organise that. 2) Kick Out startegy - or lack there off. For all Nally's talk of how to use a kick out srategy and where we should or shouldn't kick a ball, we seem inept at gaining parity or above in kickouts which all of the top teams do. We easily cough up 4 scores a game or more with it and until that is sorted out we're starting the game at a disadvantage. 3) Free kicks - we don't have a proper natural free taker or even someone involved who is looking after this. Brian Stafford (the greatest free taker i saw) wasn't a natural free taker but Sean got Brian chatting to the great Ollie Campbell, and Staff developed his style and composure over the years to the extent where it was almost automatic from within the 45 that he'd score. In 2020 we'd no designated free taker and in games we'd several players taking free's and 45's. Was it the Wicklow game where we'd 6 or 7 45's and about 5 players had a go?? I remember Costello taking two and one of them he looked like he had no technique other than to kick it as hard as he could. I think Morris, Menton and Thomas O'reilly also had a go and none were close. This failure invites teams to foul us as we're giving up another 4/5 scores from dropping balls short or wide. Every top team is over 90% conversion rate from free's and we're barley 60%, that number has to improve. Know that's a long post so hopefully raise a few more points for people to chat about but i don't think it's the doom and gloom many are saying it is and one bad game is stuck in peoples minds. Lets not forget Cavan lost by 15 in an all ireland semi final, Tipp lost by 13 points and no one is telling you they are bad teams.

brian (Meath) - 05/04/2021 13:02:50

Four Teams Representing Dublin Geographic Area! - 17 Like(s)
Great to see the multiple accounts were in full effect over the weekend with nothing to add to the discussion. H yeah with so much time and nothing to do with it ;)

brian (National) - 15/02/2021 10:51:39

Ballymun Vs Kilmacud - 17 Like(s)

Replying To KingdomBoy1:  "Well Brian the incident of eye gouging in 2015 happened against a kerryman, am I right? So of course I'll bring that up. The man in question was suspended for a match so I take it the CCCC found him guilty of the offence. By the way this is an open forum to all just because I'm from kerry doesn't mean I can't join in does it? Or are we segregating on hoganstand now? Also where were you last week when dub lads started a thread on David Cliffords red card? Or are you only policing 1 side on the main forum?"
I didn't see the Clifford incident so have no take on it. Why would i talk about something i didn't see. And no I'm not policing anything but I've lost track of the number of threads on here where someone from Kerry comes on and tries making it all about Kerry and how they've been wronged. This thread and the Sean Boylan/ Tommy Conlon thread were both derailed by Kerry point scoring. I don't often see Dub's starting off with that kind of nonsense. If they did I'd call them out on it too. And you labelled one club with a tag of "There seems to be a culture of eye gouging at ballymun" I'd respond to that if it was any club or group of people. Sweeping generalisations are something we shouldn't tolerate on any level, yet you trotted that out without thought. Now you're trying to defend it by asking me where i was and a comment on something i didn't see. Ok if that's how you want to see it ;)

brian (National) - 15/09/2020 14:46:13

Your Best GAA Related Memory From 2020 - 17 Like(s)

Replying To cavanman47:  "Are you certain it will never be equalled? All it would take is for the GAA and the Irish Government to pick their favourite county, pump millions upon millions into that county at all levels for 2 decades, let them play all their games at home, and make all counties and the taxpayer pay for the development, running and maintenance of that home stadium while telling us all what a one-off special group of players this is. Sounds impossible, and very very unfair, but you never know."
you don't sound sour at all. Are you mayhaps KingdomBoy dressed up as a Cavan supporter. Best moments arguably looking back was getting to a league game and thinking roll on the summer. Hurling As a life long Waterford supporter and the son of a Waterford mother seeing them coming all the way back to beat Kilkenny in the all ireland semi final. Arguably the best half of hurling from any team this year with Jack Fagan, a giant of a Meath man, being a huge part of that turnaround. These group of payers have an all ireland in them if they can stay together, find a marquee forward and retain the services of Liam Cahill. They're about 4 players short but they're building a strong panel and Shane Bennett being back can only benefit them as he's a lethal goal getter which they lack. Football Without doubt Cavan winning the Ulster title and the sheer joy on my wifes face. Its been a long 23 years for them since 1997 but great to see them having their day in the sun. She'd nearly be more of a Meath supporter now (not that she'd admit it) but the unbridled joy on her face at the final whistle... you can't buy those kinds of memories

brian (National) - 10/02/2021 18:14:14

New Players For 2021 - 17 Like(s)

Replying To Foley91:  "We obviously haven't a good footballing keeper. Why not try and transform an outfield player who is accurate with their feet. A keeper in the modern game will have about 4 shots to save whereas he will have about 15-20 knockouts. And its the kickouts that are killing us."
We don't have an accurate free taker from beyond the 45 so i think that's out the window. Andy has tried Barry Dardis on multiple occassions but that hasn't worked either. And given how Barry has been treated i doubt he'd want to bring himself back in for more of the same.

brian (Meath) - 10/12/2020 09:45:47

Meath Vs Mayo - 17 Like(s)

Replying To royaldunne:  "We ran Kerry mayo and even dubs pretty close in last year's league. We can't really talk about last weeks game. As that was more akin to a televised challenge match. (Which may I add I didn't agree with all the changes) I think we should have gone all out. But that's a personal viewpoint"
How many of those 4 games did we win? Talking about last weekend as a glorified challenge match but then saying we ran Dublin close in the league when it was played under the same conditions. Dublin had half a team out and played with the hand brake on. They absolutely demolished us in 20 minutes in the Leinster final. RD seriously take off the blinkers some of the times. Its ok to be critical and constructive at the same time

brian (Meath) - 08/06/2021 09:11:54

Meath V Dublin - 17 Like(s)

Replying To Crinigan:  "Clann na Gael isn't north Meath. North Meath is north of Navan... places like Syddan, Drumbarragh, Oldcastle, Castletown and Mordor itself, Cortown. The kind of places where it's always lashing rain and you can barely stay upright since the pitch is invariably a sloppy quagmire ... perfect conditions for late shoulders and sneakey fists and elbows and since no visiting fans can make it up there and the weather so bad, there are no witnesses. They say that Cortown always leave one opponent without a concussion, so he can remember what happened and spread the message back home..."yer in North Meath now so ye arrrr" :)"
Cut the rubbish out. They're all Meath, doesn't matter if its the Monaghan border around Drumconrath/ Meath Hill or the Offaly border in ballinabrackey. They're all Meath men and women. No better or worse.

brian (Meath) - 19/11/2020 09:56:27

Meath Senior Football Team 2021 - 17 Like(s)
Just saw the final squad list with Donal Keoghan now included for 2021. Assume this was before Ronan Jones went down with a broken arm. I think as Leitrim Royal mentioned no Shane Gallagher is a surprise. Is he still injured or taking time out. Other thing that baffles me is there are 7 players from Dunboyne. Ratoath then with 5 and no other club with more than 2. Is there something i'm not seeing in that representation from Dunboyne??? I'm not trying to stir a debate on nepotism as I don't see anyone bar Lavin and Jones being a starter calibre players and somehow Shane Mcentee will be in the starting 15 but are the other 4 players that much better than other players within the county? To have almost 20% of a panel from one club and that club not to be the dominant team in the county is strange to me. I look at the dubs and they've a lot of Ballymun Kickhams players on their panel ( and individually they've all more than proved their worth) and Ballymun are always there or thereabouts in Dublin championships. I just don't see Dunboyne as being of that ilk in Meath football right now. They're quite flaky as a team and when its put to them they tend to crumble.

brian (Meath) - 12/05/2021 14:26:00

Meath Senior Football Team 2021 - 17 Like(s)

Replying To royaldunne:  "While I get ur point and indeed his if that is the case, it's a pity. That been said I suppose it is hard to see him dislodge any of the potential starters ahead of him barring injury, when Newman and walsh return he probably will be pushed down further. I mean who would you drop for him if we had Newman, walsh Morris, O'Sullivan campion Devine McMahon and Conlon all fit ? Throw in the two wallace's (Eamonn had his best outing in a Meath shirt in years when he came on ). So I can see his point even if it's disappointing for all concerned"
I'd disagree with this entirely. Lenihan is one of the best inside forwards in the county and a goal threat. Last Sunday we didn't have one. He's a consistent free taker, something we sorely lacked on Sunday. He can win his own ball and create something from nothing. None of our starting inside forward line did that at any stage. He's something different to what we have but must've gotten sick of busting his ass for no chances. And tbf to Donal he seems to have no issue with calling things as he sees them. Think it was the Sligo game in 2018 and Andy was lambasting him from the sideline and he'd no trouble telling Andy where to go. He was coming out to the 45 trying to get on ball and Andy kept screaming for him to get back in and Donal responded along the lines of how can i get ball when you don't let players kick it into me. Fair play to him for being ballsy enough to call it like that. We're very quick to anoint a new star in Jordan Morris (Which we did the summer before with Shane Walsh) and disregard those slightly older and solid players. Morris whilst he'd a good 4-5 game stretch late last year was poor on Sunday and still has a bit to go and has to prove he can do it consistently year on year. Not to say he won't do it but lets ease of in the expectations on him. For me personally, Lenihan is only behind O'Sullivan and Newman in terms of best forwards in the county. He's a proven talent year on year for Dunboyne and there's not many close to the same standard as him. Walsh and McMahon would be right there with him too. He's a far better player than Campion, Devine, both Wallaces and Banty. I'd not count Costello as a forward yet as there's no reason that he might not slip back into the half back line if everyone was available.

brian (Meath) - 18/05/2021 14:23:12

Counties Missed Opportunities.... - 17 Like(s)

Replying To TheHermit:  "Yes there is one last thing, you obviously know nothing about Kerry GAA as evidenced by your ignorant comments on Kerry hurling. But then again your ignorance is hardly surprising given the nature of your ranting. There's defo a massive Kerry shaped object stuck up a certain part of your anatomy. This is one "easily outmatched" poster signing off..."
Another insult. Guess when you Kerry fella's are so easily defeated its all you can resort too. You'd no answer to any of the points I raised where I knocked back everyone of your points so resort to the gutter. Fair play to you. There's nothing stuck in my anatomy never mind something Kerry shaped, ut if it gives you comfort thinking that then more power to you. And its good of you to admit you're outmatched.

brian (National) - 21/07/2020 14:00:06

Best Club Players Not To Play For Meath - 17 Like(s)
Has anyone mentioned the Kells team and players form there yet. Surely several of them deserved a go???

brian (Meath) - 22/01/2021 16:44:42

Ballymun Vs Kilmacud - 17 Like(s)

Replying To KingdomBoy1:  "There seems to be a culture of eye gouging at ballymun"
There seems to be a culture of mud slinging in Kerry. See how that works...... Paint everyone with the same brush and you sully the good names of those that do good work.

brian (National) - 15/09/2020 11:30:33

Meath Senior Football Team 2021 - 17 Like(s)
Really good post Young_gael Another thing that bothered me yesterday was bar Fionn Reilly, no one new was given a chance. Now granted that the game was in the melting pot so calmer and more seasoned heads were needed but there seems to be a huge reluctance by Andy and his management team to try anything different. Its the same guys who've been there before doing the same things repeatedly. On Fionn Reilly, fair play to him for taking his chance but I'd not be in a rush to get him starting next week, I suppose I'm being contradictory in what i'm saying there but he seemed have a bit of something about him that you'd want to bring on steadily. For me the likes of Thomas o'Reilly, Ethan Devine, Daragh Campion, Shane McEntee, Ronan Ryan all are honest footballers but have been tried repeatedly and they don't stand out as anything special. Shane obviously is not going anywhere but the others are looking at bench spots if we had a full deck.

brian (Meath) - 17/05/2021 18:32:40