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Meath GAA; How Do We Win?

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Ive noticed a stagnation on our forum lately, and on the national forum as well. My question is a simple one, amidst the chaos and upheaval of 2020, county football finally looks to be back on the cards for July; how does Meath, our great traditional county push on and win? How do we go from where we are at present and push on where no Meath team has gone since 1999? Can this panel be the ones to break the deadlock and prove the old anecdote of generations past "You can never write a Meath team off"? Young_gael (Meath) - Posts: 596 - 21/06/2020 17:31:47 2281462 Link
i would like to see Andy bring in some enforcer type players. who have we got that we can bring in to do a job on a marquee player or just get in tems faces , two or three of these players would be what we need, players well built 6-4 type , hit lads and every thing that moves then you can take them off ten minutes intoo second half, we want lads to hit players and knock the stuffing out of them early on in games. we really need this when playing bigger teams. dickie10 (UK) - Posts: 767 - 21/06/2020 22:32:46 2281486 Link
Replying To dickie10: "i would like to see Andy bring in some enforcer type players. who have we got that we can bring in to do a job on a marquee player or just get in tems faces , two or three of these players would be what we need, players well built 6-4 type , hit lads and every thing that moves then you can take them off ten minutes intoo second half, we want lads to hit players and knock the stuffing out of them early on in games. we really need this when playing bigger teams." You can say all you want about the talent that Meath teams produced down through the years, no doubt some very, very good players, but the calling card of Meath GAA was always that physical element. They dont have to be literal giants per sé, but men who are only beaten by the final whistle. Men who'll attack every ball like cheetahs and as you say, get in people's faces. That's the hallmark of Meath and its why we're so hated across the country, because we're not "nice". If you ask me, there is a market for that type of Meath team to return. Personally, im tired of being nice. Its what separated us from the rest. Young_gael (Meath) - Posts: 596 - 22/06/2020 16:22:43 2281543 Link
Jaysus lads that element of football is well gone at inter county level now and even at senior level in most club championships. SodanAbu (Meath) - Posts: 5 - 22/06/2020 16:46:03 2281545 Link
Replying To Young_gael: "Ive noticed a stagnation on our forum lately, and on the national forum as well. My question is a simple one, amidst the chaos and upheaval of 2020, county football finally looks to be back on the cards for July; how does Meath, our great traditional county push on and win? How do we go from where we are at present and push on where no Meath team has gone since 1999? Can this panel be the ones to break the deadlock and prove the old anecdote of generations past "You can never write a Meath team off"?" Question my be simple however answer is anything but, suggestion that we bring in big men to rough up opposition is a non-runner, all the top teams are more than capable of looking after themselves, that day is well and truly gone. The big men we had in the past were big men in every sense of the word, Boylan picked men who could do a job for the team, not to do a job on opponent. The evidence since last years Leinster Final suggests we are no nearer a return to the glory days, a shakey win over Clare followed by eight losses on the trot makes it very difficult to argue otherwise. On the bright side the long injury list ( questions have to be asked why so many were injuried at same time, was it just bad luck or does the fault lie with training methods?) should have cleared up, players will not have option to travel so hopefully we have a full squad to pick from, then again some players might decide the risk is too great to commit this year. Management needs to up its game also, too many poor decisions over the last year. It looks like we will have two league games against top class opposition to get ready for championship, nothing at stake for us but another chance to address the many issues that seemed to be ignored for too long. Still think with everyone available there is a decent team in the making. seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2195 - 22/06/2020 19:01:45 2281560 Link
of course there room for this type of player they need to be decent footballers too though. someone to meet the like of micheal murphy, damien comer or ciaran kilkenny coming in with a ball and get planted early on in a game. dont tell me in meath, a county dominated by football with 200,000 people we dont have the wherewithal to breed this type of player. andy and his men need to see what their lacking and go after it. look at the antics of galway this year, those galway lads are an average team same as mayo and should have been black and blue leaviing navan with thier tail between thier legs , instead they snuck wins they never should have. we need three or four of these guys, and two good marquee forwards, to score 3-4 points per game from play. that would make an unbeliveable difeerence and make the present men there look like all stars. a rising tide would lift some of them as their a few real good players there already. dickie10 (UK) - Posts: 767 - 22/06/2020 21:33:55 2281572 Link
Stone Age thinking here. Michael Murphy has been playing for 14 years with Donegal. If all it took to stop him was getting a big lad to plant him early in the game it would have been done many many times by now. Yet apparently that's all it takes to get us to the top. CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1664 - 23/06/2020 09:39:21 2281590 Link
yes but it has been done by Dublin and tyrone, get at murphy and he begins to lose it, this happens nearly every time a team beat donegal. it would definitly be a start. dickie10 (UK) - Posts: 767 - 23/06/2020 16:13:00 2281638 Link
Replying To dickie10: "i would like to see Andy bring in some enforcer type players. who have we got that we can bring in to do a job on a marquee player or just get in tems faces , two or three of these players would be what we need, players well built 6-4 type , hit lads and every thing that moves then you can take them off ten minutes intoo second half, we want lads to hit players and knock the stuffing out of them early on in games. we really need this when playing bigger teams." You need to concentrate on the football to win football matches-no science in that. The only hits that count are the ones when you hit the net and score a goal (outside netting does not count)!!! If you concentrated on hits the ref would have you watching from the stand early in the first half browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 23/06/2020 19:40:46 2281661 Link
Although I agree with a lot of you on the fact that picking a bunch of physical players isn't the secret to success, I think a lot of you are forgetting who we are and who we were. There is a lot to be said of the Meath teams of the past being decidedly more aggressive and abrasive in how they went about their work on the pitch. I see some of that sprit in Mc Entee and I'm sure he is trying to bring it out in his team, and I seen it in a few performances in 2019; albeit against division two teams. We have the makings of a good team here, no doubt about it, but if we are to remain in the realm of the All-Ireland quarter finals and beyond we need to re-invent our wheel a little, continually blood new talent and experiment with our forward line with a view to bringing them in line with the best in the country. Our half backs and full backs are working triple shifts in defense and pushing forward to take scores as things stand and this is unsustainable. Target-men in the middle of the field should be very high on the agenda as well. We currently don't have traditional ball winners here. I also have no issue whatsoever with what dickie was referring to. If we can root out a sledger or two that can play at this level but be there primarily as an agent of chaos, all the better. Watching Meath being beaten by Michael Murphy on his own 4 times in 2/3 years and no one sorting him out was very un-Meath like. We all know what I'm referring to here. There's many ways to skin a cat and we don't have these men anymore on the county panel. We used to breed them in abundance. Young_gael (Meath) - Posts: 596 - 25/06/2020 17:32:25 2281834 Link
yes you have my point exactly. Tyrone took a leaf out of our book after 1996 now its time we looked at them for similar. were inclined to make life to easy for teams. like Paidi O Se said to westmeath we need to bring a bit of the divil into our play. dickie10 (UK) - Posts: 767 - 25/06/2020 22:52:52 2281849 Link
Replying To seadog54: "Question my be simple however answer is anything but, suggestion that we bring in big men to rough up opposition is a non-runner, all the top teams are more than capable of looking after themselves, that day is well and truly gone. The big men we had in the past were big men in every sense of the word, Boylan picked men who could do a job for the team, not to do a job on opponent. The evidence since last years Leinster Final suggests we are no nearer a return to the glory days, a shakey win over Clare followed by eight losses on the trot makes it very difficult to argue otherwise. On the bright side the long injury list ( questions have to be asked why so many were injuried at same time, was it just bad luck or does the fault lie with training methods?) should have cleared up, players will not have option to travel so hopefully we have a full squad to pick from, then again some players might decide the risk is too great to commit this year. Management needs to up its game also, too many poor decisions over the last year. It looks like we will have two league games against top class opposition to get ready for championship, nothing at stake for us but another chance to address the many issues that seemed to be ignored for too long. Still think with everyone available there is a decent team in the making." Enforcer types some are imagining are a thing of the past. What you could get away with in the 1980's/ 1990's in terms of breaking up players is not allowed now by referees, if you tried to play that way you would have a lot of men sent off. It's a different type of cynical players you need in the modern game. Players who are smart enough to realise what they can get away with in terms of niggling opposition players to put them off their game. Players who are smart enough to know how to slow down the game by fouling in the right way at the times when the opposition have the run on you. We could do with more of that type of cynical play from Meath at the moment. But at the moment that alone would not be enough, we also have a serious lack of scoring forwards. bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1400 - 27/06/2020 11:34:24 2281992 Link
I agree. We need big men. They don't have to be mobile. They just have to be able to lay down a marker. Let the corner forwards play the football. Big men around the middle can do the hitting. We are too soft. We need more north meath men. Men that breathe meath football LoyalRoyal66 (Meath) - Posts: 85 - 03/07/2020 13:37:02 2282885 Link
Replying To LoyalRoyal66: "I agree. We need big men. They don't have to be mobile. They just have to be able to lay down a marker. Let the corner forwards play the football. Big men around the middle can do the hitting. We are too soft. We need more north meath men. Men that breathe meath football" Any of these big North meath men have a name? Dublin are built on speed and skill they are the most talented team hence them winning. Only better quality footballers will enhance our chance Not a bunch of hatchet men. CMAN1570 (Meath) - Posts: 56 - 03/07/2020 14:29:27 2282901 Link
Replying To LoyalRoyal66: "I agree. We need big men. They don't have to be mobile. They just have to be able to lay down a marker. Let the corner forwards play the football. Big men around the middle can do the hitting. We are too soft. We need more north meath men. Men that breathe meath football" You're right. We need big thick men with hands like shovels and who eat silage sandwiches for lunch. Up the Royals. Selwyn (Meath) - Posts: 383 - 03/07/2020 14:42:47 2282905 Link
Replying To bdbuddah: "Enforcer types some are imagining are a thing of the past. What you could get away with in the 1980's/ 1990's in terms of breaking up players is not allowed now by referees, if you tried to play that way you would have a lot of men sent off. It's a different type of cynical players you need in the modern game. Players who are smart enough to realise what they can get away with in terms of niggling opposition players to put them off their game. Players who are smart enough to know how to slow down the game by fouling in the right way at the times when the opposition have the run on you. We could do with more of that type of cynical play from Meath at the moment. But at the moment that alone would not be enough, we also have a serious lack of scoring forwards." The old hard ways would result in cards of every hue being thrown out but there is definitely a requirement for bigger players particularly in our forwards. Size alone wont cut it though and you need to source players that are footballers first with all the skills that are needed and then develop them physically afterwards. Con O Callaghan is a case in point. The Kerry forwards, for example, are different in style and size from one another but every one can bring something different to the game which gives the coach great variety when introducing them and causes opposition difficulties. Meath have a number of forwards that while very good in their own right are very similar in size and style. I agree with the need for a bit of cuteness and craft in our general play, The cynical play that Galway used in the league game was a case in point and we didn't react well to it which cost us on the day. That and a bit of individual brilliance by Galways Shane Walsh. ABK67 (Meath) - Posts: 62 - 03/07/2020 14:47:17 2282906 Link
Replying To LoyalRoyal66: "I agree. We need big men. They don't have to be mobile. They just have to be able to lay down a marker. Let the corner forwards play the football. Big men around the middle can do the hitting. We are too soft. We need more north meath men. Men that breathe meath football" Ya, down the years too many south Meath softies playing like the Quinn brothers, Bertie Cunningham, the Lyons brothers, Fay & Mark O'Reilly. bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1400 - 03/07/2020 18:30:41 2282946 Link
Replying To bdbuddah: "Ya, down the years too many south Meath softies playing like the Quinn brothers, Bertie Cunningham, the Lyons brothers, Fay & Mark O'Reilly." ...don't forget softies like John McDermot and Enda McManus ;) Selwyn (Meath) - Posts: 383 - 03/07/2020 22:04:25 2282968 Link
Replying To Selwyn: "...don't forget softies like John McDermot and Enda McManus ;)" I forgot softies like Liam Harnan and Kevin Foley also. bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1400 - 04/07/2020 02:34:37 2282981 Link
Replying To Young_gael: "Ive noticed a stagnation on our forum lately, and on the national forum as well. My question is a simple one, amidst the chaos and upheaval of 2020, county football finally looks to be back on the cards for July; how does Meath, our great traditional county push on and win? How do we go from where we are at present and push on where no Meath team has gone since 1999? Can this panel be the ones to break the deadlock and prove the old anecdote of generations past "You can never write a Meath team off"?" https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/the-2020-simulated-all-ireland-championship-new-data-tool-analyses-who-would-have-won-original-competitions-39342710.html The biggest shock across both championships sees Division 4 Wexford beat Division 1 Meath in Leinster. "The computer says no" and wrote this Meath team off. Its only a bit of fun, but makes for dire reading for Meath fans. Only consolation, we beat Cavan in R2 of qualifiers. seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2195 - 06/07/2020 19:23:38 2283252 Link