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Meath Forum

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Replying To Proudroyal: "Conlon wasnt treated fairly by Andy Mac.Yes he got some games but never got a proper run.He scores the winner in the league v Clare to basically keep us safe and then doesnt start in the last game v Derry?He starts the game Galway and takes him off even though we were playing against a gale force wind and the ball didnt get up to any of the forwards.Plays him inside v Dublin and we hoof high ball in with at least 2 lads around him?I'Ive played football under a couple of manager's who put you on but just waiting for you to make a mistake and whip you off.He was always either first or 2nd sub off no matter how he was playing.Its very hard to play football if you know you will be taken off even if doing ok.Just to clarify I'm not saying he should be on this team, I think his height,size goes against him but think it a bit unfair the criticism about him on here.I think he is as good as some lads on the squad but we obviously need better lads to improve us.Anytime I've seen Barry dardis he makes a difference to Summerhill..Should he have been asked in this year?.I dont know what age (maybe that ship sailed)he is or if he is intersted and I know he was in under Andy but was in goals what that was all about I dont know?" Fair assesment & fair post. Would possibly same something similar happening with Lenihan this year, seems to have to put in an exceptional performance to hold his place, but at the slightest dip he is the first one gone. On Sunday he kick 3 first half wides and was taken off. But at least he was taking them on, & winning ball. There were other forwards there who werent even winning ball into them or getting blocked down very easily & still came out after half time. Jinxie (Meath) - Posts: 6344 - 27/04/2023 13:22:08 2474235 Link
Replying To Tinchy1: "James Conlon again? It's been mentioned numerous times. A very good club footballer doesn't mean you should be on the Meath senior team. He is not good enough to make an impact at inter county. We have so many others of the same calibre. Joey Wallace is better and he has struggled to make an impact. James had played games and just isn't up to that level" Agreed, If James Conlon is the only answer Meath have, then we're in serious serious serious trouble. The fact is those type of players, Conlon, the Wallace's, Brian McMahon etc.. Brilliant club players, but not good enough at intercounty level. They've had their chances, and have all been involved for a number of years, they're not big enough or not physical enough and we can't carry a forward line with 4/5 players being under 5 foot 8 and weighing 65kg. Our forward line is a huge issue. The last proper intercounty forward we produced was Mickey Newman, and he's still arguably the best forward in the county. Shane Walsh is a good prospect but can't stay fit, I don't think anybody know Matt Costello's best position - so we've serious problems. Yes it's up the management to get the best out of what we have, but when you see Lenihan and Morris kick wide after wide, it's just frustrating. And then you watch a team like Dublin, and how they do it with so much ease. I still think something needs to be done at club level to try and improve the standard. Our senior clubs are miles off their counterparts in Leinster. I'm a massive fan of the Kerry system, allow the regional teams to take part in the senior championship exposing the best players in the county to a higher standard. Look at David Clifford, came up with a junior club, now he's a once in a lifetime talent, but the point is he was exposed to a higher standard in Kerry by playing senior football with East Kerry. hyperache (Meath) - Posts: 208 - 27/04/2023 13:30:14 2474240 Link
Replying To Blackspot09: "Good God!!!!!" I hear Ollie Murphy still doing it at premier reserve level. Sure worth a shot too! No training and pints after every Tailteann cup game could be a good incentive!! winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 511 - 27/04/2023 14:11:45 2474254 Link
Replying To royaldunne: "The point though is the others are on the panel. He is not the answer to our problems. I'm not saying that. I'm not even saying he is a starter. But not been on panel is what I'm asking of" Yes they are and so was he at one point, did he leave or was he dropped? I don't want to be critical of him at all as he's a very good footballer at club level. The problem is that the standard of club football is so low in Meath. In my view none of them would get near the panel of the 80s-90's latouche25 (Meath) - Posts: 520 - 27/04/2023 14:18:33 2474256 Link
Replying To royaldunne: "I'd agree wit all of this." So you're now agreeing with the fact James Conlon was treated unfairly by McEntee… but you told us all ad nauseum McEntee was fair with everyone, or is it revisionist history as Conlon is from your home club…. Make up your mind man…. You told us for 6 years the players loved playing for Andy Or are you now saying like many of us did McEntee was unfair with a lot of players? Forgive me If my memory is hazy here didn't you also tell us when Conlon dropped himself off there was no issues with the player and manager… pretty clear now there was… Btw Every manager is unfair with certain players by their very nature, you never please 100% of people all of the time. brian (Meath) - Posts: 1954 - 27/04/2023 14:24:19 2474260 Link
https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2023/04/24/meath-have-many-problems-but-may-find-that-clarity-begins-at-home/ Thought this article sums up the problems pretty well. Irish_downunder (Meath) - Posts: 631 - 27/04/2023 16:02:49 2474275 Link
Replying To Thelongwoodslasher: "Guys....will you listen to yourself....A Total Mindset Change at CB....are we serious...do you really believe that the CB have that ability?...come on...they are already "blaming" O Rourke, the System, The Players , The Weath4er, The Referre , The Venue...you name it ...there is just no way they have the intelligence to look in the Mirror and realise their Role in this debacle" Yes........its a tall order no doubt but whats the alternative?? More of the same....no thanks! nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1227 - 27/04/2023 16:45:44 2474280 Link
One thing that we have not spoken about is the very first step and that is juvenile games. I took a cursory look at results on Meath website which shows that so many games are mis-matches. This should be sounding warning sirens both in terms of quality and retention seasiderblues (Meath) - Posts: 344 - 28/04/2023 06:59:45 2474308 Link
I'd rather persist with the likes of lynch and moriarty at this stage. Harsh on any forward at the moment to be judged with the poor quality service and overall low confidence of the team. Not really sure why lenihan was brought back, didn't cut it when he was 4 years younger, thought he might be brought in to take frees but he hasn't really been on them much. Walsh a guaranteed starter but his average day's massively outnumber his great so he's still a work in progress. Morris has fallen off the edge of a cliff and his body language on the field would suggest he's not that pushed to be there, maybe should cut him loose. Not a big fan of Conlon, but actually he would probably score heavily in Tailteann with the dry ground and weaker opposition, we seen it with him before against div 3 and 4 teams. All being said, the options in ff line wouldn't give you too much hope, our weakest line I'd say..... easy to see why Mcentee decided from Day 1 we were going to play a running game that ended up with most of our scores coming from numbers 5 to 12 southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 891 - 28/04/2023 07:21:33 2474310 Link
Replying To southmeathgael: "I'd rather persist with the likes of lynch and moriarty at this stage. Harsh on any forward at the moment to be judged with the poor quality service and overall low confidence of the team. Not really sure why lenihan was brought back, didn't cut it when he was 4 years younger, thought he might be brought in to take frees but he hasn't really been on them much. Walsh a guaranteed starter but his average day's massively outnumber his great so he's still a work in progress. Morris has fallen off the edge of a cliff and his body language on the field would suggest he's not that pushed to be there, maybe should cut him loose. Not a big fan of Conlon, but actually he would probably score heavily in Tailteann with the dry ground and weaker opposition, we seen it with him before against div 3 and 4 teams. All being said, the options in ff line wouldn't give you too much hope, our weakest line I'd say..... easy to see why Mcentee decided from Day 1 we were going to play a running game that ended up with most of our scores coming from numbers 5 to 12" I agree I was surprised Lenihan was brought back but at the same time he was our top scorer in the league with limited enough game time. What does that say for the rest of our forwards. Blackspot09 (Meath) - Posts: 870 - 28/04/2023 10:28:28 2474329 Link
Replying To brian: "So you're now agreeing with the fact James Conlon was treated unfairly by McEntee… but you told us all ad nauseum McEntee was fair with everyone, or is it revisionist history as Conlon is from your home club…. Make up your mind man…. You told us for 6 years the players loved playing for Andy Or are you now saying like many of us did McEntee was unfair with a lot of players? Forgive me If my memory is hazy here didn't you also tell us when Conlon dropped himself off there was no issues with the player and manager… pretty clear now there was… Btw Every manager is unfair with certain players by their very nature, you never please 100% of people all of the time." I made it clear last year that Andy had treated banty very badly and that it was a pity Shane wasn't around during Derry game. Vast majority of players adored Andy. And James wasn't given a fair shot. Both can be true at same time. I don't see any contradiction in that. I think I answered you last year that Andy made a huge mistake in not playing him v Derry. And he was totally wrong in that. Colm should have brought him back onto panel which was also wrong. royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 28/04/2023 12:44:26 2474366 Link
Replying To Irish_downunder: "https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2023/04/24/meath-have-many-problems-but-may-find-that-clarity-begins-at-home/ Thought this article sums up the problems pretty well." No there was an issue. I said that it was a pity Shane had left with the army as it wouldn't have gone that way. Shane was very much (rightly or wrongly) the middleman and from I heard always took the side of the players, and no way can blame cillian. I can pull up the post I'm sure somewhere, you actually gave out to me for giving out about Andy and said I didn't have same issues with other players. Total breakdown between player and manager was what happened royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 28/04/2023 12:47:47 2474368 Link
Folks, I listened to an OTB podcast with David Clifford last night and he said a few something that I thought was interesting and just was wondering if this applies to Meath! David was chatting with paddy Andrews and he said that when he came into the Senior Squad first that he was apprehensive about his position, nervous that he wouldn't be picked and that this impacted his performance. But, his manager at the time (Keane??) committed to him and to the 3 other lads who had just come through the Minor ranks. He said because there was a consistency in how the team was picked and players were treated that the nervousness and apprehension fell away. He made the point that for a young lad, there is nothing worse than not knowing 1. whether you were going to be picked or not and 2. being picked but playing with the fear of being substituted. Once the lads knew and trusted that they were going to get a fair crack at it, they were able to settle in and play their best! he said that there was a fair bit of consistency across the league teams that he started with and that this helped! Now I know Clifford and O'Shea etc are class acts but it strikes me that the Meath team selections in the league are not so consistent - especially up front. Perhaps this leads to some of our forwards not playing at their best! Do they know the role they are playing, do they know the position they are playing and are they playing with the fear of being taken off or dropped for one bad performance! I know it sounds very simple but I think we would all agree that layers like Joey Wallace, James Conlon, Aaron Lynch, Jordan Morris etc etc all look brilliant when they play for their clubs, but have not transferred this to County level. And it can't be because the backs that are marking them at county are that much better as that would suggest our backs are also not good! Maybe it would be better to just say - right you are going to be our starting 6 players for the championship, you are number 7 and 8 of the forwards - now get to it!! What do you think! ASaminthehand (Meath) - Posts: 422 - 28/04/2023 13:37:10 2474379 Link
Replying To Irish_downunder: "https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2023/04/24/meath-have-many-problems-but-may-find-that-clarity-begins-at-home/ Thought this article sums up the problems pretty well." It's a interesting read , everyone has there own takes on the problem ! When mean we're competing for Leinster and all Ireland regular a very popular journalist from Meath written that the Meath players looked very ordinary at club level , but when they put on the Meath jersey they were a completely different player , it meant that Sean Boylan was getting the very best out of what he had , and improving the players ability at a very high standard . The question is and the bottom line , is our current management team getting the best out of his players ? WhyTheLongFace (Meath) - Posts: 876 - 28/04/2023 14:36:50 2474397 Link
Replying To WhyTheLongFace: "It's a interesting read , everyone has there own takes on the problem ! When mean we're competing for Leinster and all Ireland regular a very popular journalist from Meath written that the Meath players looked very ordinary at club level , but when they put on the Meath jersey they were a completely different player , it meant that Sean Boylan was getting the very best out of what he had , and improving the players ability at a very high standard . The question is and the bottom line , is our current management team getting the best out of his players ?" Sean had players with lots of experience and talent when he started out, players knew this and called on a man they thought could put the pieces together and form a good team. In 96 he brought in a lot of new blood, however, there was still plenty there with experience. COR a low level of experienced players and what he has are coming close to career end. seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2151 - 28/04/2023 14:47:16 2474402 Link
Replying To WhyTheLongFace: "It's a interesting read , everyone has there own takes on the problem ! When mean we're competing for Leinster and all Ireland regular a very popular journalist from Meath written that the Meath players looked very ordinary at club level , but when they put on the Meath jersey they were a completely different player , it meant that Sean Boylan was getting the very best out of what he had , and improving the players ability at a very high standard . The question is and the bottom line , is our current management team getting the best out of his players ?" ''The question is and the bottom line , is our current management team getting the best out of his players ?" The answer to this currently is an emphatic no. No matter what people have said about this Meath team and Meath GAA in general this week, if we were getting the best out of our players in the county we would have finished third in Division 2 and beaten Offaly last weekend. What we currently have at our disposal in the county should have been achieving this. Our neighbours Louth do not have a better playing pool available to them than Meath currently do, but they are squeezing the absolute maximum out of their players and they have a top class manager and coach in charge, who have put a structure and workrate in place that every player is buying into. Louth look far more conditioned than Meath as well which is also a major worry. Serious questions need to asked after the Tailteann Cup has finished. BigJoe14 (Meath) - Posts: 935 - 28/04/2023 14:49:10 2474404 Link
Replying To BigJoe14: "''The question is and the bottom line , is our current management team getting the best out of his players ?" The answer to this currently is an emphatic no. No matter what people have said about this Meath team and Meath GAA in general this week, if we were getting the best out of our players in the county we would have finished third in Division 2 and beaten Offaly last weekend. What we currently have at our disposal in the county should have been achieving this. Our neighbours Louth do not have a better playing pool available to them than Meath currently do, but they are squeezing the absolute maximum out of their players and they have a top class manager and coach in charge, who have put a structure and workrate in place that every player is buying into. Louth look far more conditioned than Meath as well which is also a major worry. Serious questions need to asked after the Tailteann Cup has finished." Again agree with this. I think with getting the best out of players we around 12th in country. That would push us to top half of division 2 and pushing for promotion but ultimately missing out due to lack of quality players (particularly forwards) I'll be honest I'm annoyed with Colm's synopsis of where we are. This amount of debuts this amount of championship starts etc. who chose to play them ? There is zero acceptance that he has also made mistakes and he must share the blame. If he came out and stated this I'd give him a pass for this year and let him learn going into next. But there seems to be an arrogance that I can't understand. The drop off in fitness levels is astounding. And needs to be addressed. Colm has a chance of some redemption but he must first own his mistakes and admit He and the players must do better royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 28/04/2023 15:22:39 2474408 Link
Replying To seadog54: "Sean had players with lots of experience and talent when he started out, players knew this and called on a man they thought could put the pieces together and form a good team. In 96 he brought in a lot of new blood, however, there was still plenty there with experience. COR a low level of experienced players and what he has are coming close to career end." I get it seadog , I mean we could constantly give different view points all day every day and I respect that and I always take on board what everyone's view point is . But for me the current management team have shown nothing that I can say given more time we will see improvements and that is unfortunate because I want everyone to do well , I have no agenda , no north or south Meath divide , I just want the county team to be the best they can be . WhyTheLongFace (Meath) - Posts: 876 - 28/04/2023 15:36:58 2474416 Link
Anyone hear anything from the camp? New players in? Any more left? Any challenge games coming up? Pitch openings? stillaroyal (Meath) - Posts: 224 - 28/04/2023 16:18:40 2474423 Link
Replying To ASaminthehand: "Folks, I listened to an OTB podcast with David Clifford last night and he said a few something that I thought was interesting and just was wondering if this applies to Meath! David was chatting with paddy Andrews and he said that when he came into the Senior Squad first that he was apprehensive about his position, nervous that he wouldn't be picked and that this impacted his performance. But, his manager at the time (Keane??) committed to him and to the 3 other lads who had just come through the Minor ranks. He said because there was a consistency in how the team was picked and players were treated that the nervousness and apprehension fell away. He made the point that for a young lad, there is nothing worse than not knowing 1. whether you were going to be picked or not and 2. being picked but playing with the fear of being substituted. Once the lads knew and trusted that they were going to get a fair crack at it, they were able to settle in and play their best! he said that there was a fair bit of consistency across the league teams that he started with and that this helped! Now I know Clifford and O'Shea etc are class acts but it strikes me that the Meath team selections in the league are not so consistent - especially up front. Perhaps this leads to some of our forwards not playing at their best! Do they know the role they are playing, do they know the position they are playing and are they playing with the fear of being taken off or dropped for one bad performance! I know it sounds very simple but I think we would all agree that layers like Joey Wallace, James Conlon, Aaron Lynch, Jordan Morris etc etc all look brilliant when they play for their clubs, but have not transferred this to County level. And it can't be because the backs that are marking them at county are that much better as that would suggest our backs are also not good! Maybe it would be better to just say - right you are going to be our starting 6 players for the championship, you are number 7 and 8 of the forwards - now get to it!! What do you think!" Clifford once n a generation player and even so giving young lads assurances like that is a non runner. Why would rest of panel turn up for training if effort and talent would not be rewarded? As in all walks of life they have to fight their corner and realise little comes easy. I think majority of players accept the system they play in, as long as its seen go be fair. Sadly evidence suggests that quality is low, Louth have a much smaller pool to pick from, however they have at least 5/6 very good players, along with the experience the MH management team bring, they are able bring the team together. Coaching can only get us so far, players can go off scrip very quickly, especially an inexperienced team, that is where we need the on field leaders to step up and get things back on track. We look a bit rudderless at the moment seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2151 - 28/04/2023 19:10:28 2474440 Link