This is my team,although I question whether Gilsenan or O'Rourke will be back in time..

1.David Gallagher (would prefer O'Rourke,but not on the panel)
2.Gary O'Brien (Would prefer Dalton,but...)
3.Kevin Reilly
4.Caomhin King (Would prefer Keoghan,but...)
5.Michael Burke (by far his best position)
6.Bryan Menton
7.Ciaran Lenihan
8.Shane O'Rourke(If not fit Gillespie)
9.Tom Walsh
10.Peader Byrne
11Cian Ward
12.Graham Reilly
13.Stephen Bray
14.Joe Sheridan
15.Paddy Gilsenan(if not fit .Donncha Tobin,but use him as a 3rd midfielder)

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 25/04/2012 12:44:15    1159646

Lads I'm sure the team are hurting and as long as our workrate etc is ok,we won't have a problem with Wicklow and Carlow

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 25/04/2012 12:45:16    1159648

ThickandThin

Are serious Andrew Tormey?? No way ..

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 25/04/2012 12:46:58    1159649

ziggy your leaving out the captain of the team, he's going to be playing he's has a few bad games but for years he's been consistently one of our top players, how easy you forget

Thejoeshow (Meath) - Posts: 687 - 25/04/2012 12:56:35    1159657

Thejoeshow

that's a bit harsh,but you have to be ruthless,you cannot pick players based on past performances. I have watched Kenny closely,he is 32 and I'm certain his legs have gone.He has been a fantastic servant and no doubt he is influential in the dressing room,but times change. You cannot deny he has been poor in all his games this year.I still think he would be a great sub to bring on in the final 20mins. You say how quickly you forget? If that's the case why don't we all pick Geraghty in the team??

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 25/04/2012 13:07:40    1159669

Peader can do Kenny's job,and better now,has more legs,just don't let him shoot!

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 25/04/2012 13:10:58    1159675

What has happened to McGuinness?? To be fair I thought he was our number 6 for years,good vision,clever positioning,calm,so much I would not have him on the team,he always looks tired,lacklustre these days...

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 25/04/2012 13:17:36    1159681

Talking about short memories, Peadar was one of our best before Banty came along. I remember people raving about him during our good run through the qualifiers in 2009. He's still got his pace and if Kenny and G. Reilly are definitely starting, he could be an option in midfield...especially if Ward and O Rourke are out for the summer. Has been playing MF for his club this year and has all the attributes..

InTheLoop (Meath) - Posts: 147 - 25/04/2012 13:53:48    1159721

Yeah seems like McGuiness peaked in 2009.. has not been the same player since he took a break because of work commitments. However I have great faith in Menton at center half back. I always believed that McAnarney wasn't big enough to fill the hole in front of the full back line but Menton does this very well.

RoyalClass (Meath) - Posts: 790 - 25/04/2012 13:53:54    1159722

Ziggy
The one player that has impressed Banty more than any other this year is Donncha Tobin and thats straight from the man himself. So i would say barring injury Tobin will be a definite starter for Wicklow game and more than likely at either 7 or 12.

Greenwood (Meath) - Posts: 210 - 25/04/2012 13:55:53    1159727

Team barring injury for wicklow
1 gallaher (but he must vary kick outs)
2 burke. (Has improved this year)
3 reilly. (If he keeps sound )
4 o'connor (has had a poor season but perhaps this position may ignite him)
5 byrne ( great athlete but please don't shoot at goal)
6 mcanarny (think he has found his best position)
7 king. (Let's see)
8 walsh (may just grow into midfield)
9 o'rourke (hopefully fit enough)
10 tobin (banty will start him and this maybe his best position)
11 bray. (His deliveries and pace will be important)
12 reilly. (He has not gone bad but is a confidence player , let's hope he gets it back)
13 ward. (But must be free taker)
14 sherridan ( I think with square ball gone he will have a field day)
15. Gilsenan/ b sherridan ( paddy if fit if not brian)

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 25/04/2012 14:15:53    1159756

royaldunne
County: Meath
Posts: 744

Really..? No Menton..? McAnarney's best position at CHB..? In fairness as good as McAnarney is at charging up the field and taking the odd score, he CANNOT defend. You need a physical presence along your whole center from Full Back to Full Forward. What Menton offers is a big man who can fill a gap in this position and stop our full back line from being exposed by runners from the opposition's half forward line. If you remember the DCU game in the O'Byrne Cup you would have noticed that the DCU half forward line were constantly running at a gap in our half back line. If I remember correctly McAnarney was CHB for this game. Also, when he goes up the field, he leaves a massive gap in our defense thus meaning we're exposed on the break. If I were to have him on the team I'd leave him in around the half forward line as a 3rd midfielder or an extra defender but leave Menton at CHB.

RoyalClass (Meath) - Posts: 790 - 25/04/2012 14:32:52    1159781

Peadar Byrne is back in the squad and from what I heard he has been very good for Ballinlough at midfield this year and with our options getting thinner by the day with Ward and O'Rourke possibly out as well, how about Menton and Byrne for a mobile midfield combination? Scoring would not be Byrnes strong point but he is a good grafter with a great engine and would be dangerous running at defences from deep positions similar to Michael Donnellan for Galway a few years ago when he moved to midfield from the half forward line!! I think if anything was learned from the league campaign it is that we need a couple of midfielders who are good ball players and can get around the pitch.

Thunderstruck (Meath) - Posts: 476 - 25/04/2012 15:25:01    1159874

Royldunne

I REALLY hope we don't play with that back-line and those positions!!

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 25/04/2012 15:31:37    1159884

Greenwood

If we do play Tobin,I would play him as a 3rd midfielder,big lad,mobile and sharp

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 25/04/2012 15:32:47    1159886

Thunderstruck

It depends and I can see why people are looking at Byrne for midfield,but would still rather O'Rourke,Walsh,and then Gillespie at midfield,BUT if you had maybe Byrne and Tobin in the half-forward line,with a clear mandate of winning breaking ball,this in effect would give us a 4 man midfield,at kick-outs anyway,and then play 4 scoring forwards?
I would leave menton at 6

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 25/04/2012 15:35:28    1159887

Our best half-back line without a shadow of a doubt is Burke,Menton and Lenihan,Burke is wasted at corner back

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 25/04/2012 15:36:41    1159889

I know there is still a round of the club championship to play but barring more injuries, here is my 15.

1. David Gallagher (no other real options have been explored by management)
2. King (solid and honest if unspectacular)
3. Reilly (our best option here)
4. O'Brien (prefer him over juicy and burke)
5. Lenihan (good footballing brain)
6. Menton (Big and strong, ideal chb)
7. Burke (runs all day)
8. SOR (if not fit then Gillespie)
9. Tom Walsh (worth a shot)
10. Kenny (only just based on past seasons, Tobin/Byrne to replace him if no sign of improvement)
11. Bray
12. Reilly (based on potential to win games, if he doesn't perform then McAnarney)
13. Ward (must be on frees)
14. Joe
15. Gilsenan (one of a few positives from the league)

Royalroller (Meath) - Posts: 86 - 25/04/2012 16:04:24    1159927

What's this about a third midfielder? This is not 1980. I's 2012. Dublin played with about 8 midfielders last year. Upgrading from the traditional 2 midfielders to 3 will have little effect!

Also why are people picking 3 player FF lines? Dublin and Kerry play with a maximum of 2. Sometimes 1.

The safest option for Meath is the triangle formation in my opinion. Man on the forty (Bray). Two players behind him (Gilsenan and somebody else).

This would be my team:
Gallagher

King - Reilly - Menton (I agree with a poster above. Burke has had an excellent league but the idea of him or O'Connor/O'Brien being left to deal with a giant Kildare forward (O'Connor/Kavanagh/Kelly) or a Dublin one for that matter (Connolly/O'Gara) does not sit well with me.

Lenihan - McAnarney - Tobin (Burke might be better off out in the half-back line. If we must pick him, leave him here).

O'Rourke - Meade (Options thinning out here)

Carroll - Kenny - Reilly

Gilsenan - Bray - Collins

Gilsenan caused all sorts of problems for Kilare just by taking them on. If he didn't create a clear scoring chance, then he won a free. Why not pick Collins in here too in a similiar role? I know where he usually plays but I'm suggesting him here as his ability to solo at defenders creates problems. Just like Paddy Gilsenan. The obvious thing is that the lads aren't the tallest so to counteract they would need to be a bundle of energy for seventy minutes, i.e. making runs the whole time.

Carroll is a wildcard. He's impressed me any time I've seen him. Of course, I don't know if he's in good enough form to warrant a starting place but I think the idea here is that we pick a hard working and hungry number 10 to assist Kenny and Reilly. Needs to be comfortable/confident shooting too. Peader is a good enough alternative, but fails to tick the comfortable shooting tick box!

Lastly Stephen Bray. Somebody needs to tell him to get rid of the ball sooner. Don't care if it's a blind pass down the wing, just give the pass before the inside forwards are out on the sideline!

That's what I think anyway. Might not be good enough to win anything but certainly good enough to claim a big scalp.

Loyal2TheRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 4522 - 25/04/2012 19:52:33    1160088

Ziggy
I think at this stage Tobin could be one of your midfielders full stop as we are rapidly running out of options here. I believe he played at midfield for BHG at the weekend and was very impressive.

Greenwood (Meath) - Posts: 210 - 26/04/2012 10:18:02    1160231