Meath Forum

Meath Vs Kildare

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Replying To Royal.1:  "100% agree. Seems this year COR completely forgot there was a senior championship. Definelty think those two you named should be given a go along with more from summer hill Ratoath, McGill obviously, and one or two of the na fianna defenders"
I don't think there are that many players in the Senior Championship that are really putting their hands up to play for Meath.
The players that have been named by other posters would be similar to what we have already.

A lot of posters saying that Meath should have better players than Louth.
Why should we? This is the kind of attitude that has got Meath where they are today.
At the moment I am not sure we do.
We certainly don't have a forward as good as Sam Mulroy and our defence is certainly not as good as they have.

Maestro (Meath) - Posts: 569 - 27/03/2023 11:53:17    2467015

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Replying To Diego:  "We have to have better players. Colm said this evening that Meath senior club football wasn't at the level of Dublin. While he is correct in some ways, he didn't look at senior club players properly. That regional championship was for intermediate and lower grades. Don't tell me The likes of Ben Wyre or Cathal Finnegan to name but a few wouldn't be better than some of players currently in the squad"
Both should definitely have been given a chance, would add John Smith into it as well. He would be an option as coverage at fullback or midfield.

Adam Flanagan, Saran Finnegan, Fionn Reilly, Adam Muldoon should have been looked at and that is only players off the top of my head.

UsernameInvalid (Meath) - Posts: 355 - 27/03/2023 12:11:31    2467024

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Replying To Ratoath Royal:  "Our full back line and our defence in general was embarrassingly bad yesterday (and throughout the league). Countless times, our defenders were turned with ease, would give a Kildare player a good yard or two of space to get a shot away or would simply be ball watching and allow their man to drift into space to easily receive a pass. That was a poor Kildare team whose best forwards only came on in the second half. And we made it all too easy for them. The lack of urgency and lack of basic skills was embarrassing at times. Even fans of Kildare around me, who by their own admission have been woeful at times, were amazed at how poor we were.

In all four divisions, only Limerick, Antrim and Longford have conceded more than us. And if you discount the goals that we've gotten, we've roughly averaged just 10 points per game. From a quick look, only London and Waterford have scored fewer points than us in all 4 divisions. That is abysmal whatever way you look at it. Right now, teams know that if they keep us from getting goals, they're almost certainly going to beat us because we're certainly not going to beat anyone on points alone.

Assuming we get Offaly in the Leinster quarter final, I honestly cannot see how we're winning that. And if we manage to drop into the All Ireland proper, we will be hockeyed in every single game we play. Even if we're in the Tailteann Cup, I can't see us making inroads."
Unfortunately I can't disagree with any of this.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 27/03/2023 12:21:21    2467030

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https://www.meathchronicle.ie/2023/03/26/flat-meath-stumble-to-another-defeat/
Pretty blunt assessment of the game in the chronicle.
Players need to ask themselves what can they do NOW to address this. And cb too.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 27/03/2023 12:22:58    2467031

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Replying To LeitrimRoyal99:  "For years on this page when Andy McEntee was getting slated I said that Meath supporters needed to be realistic about the talent level in the county and what it is currently capable of. I got told the players were there, well we've brought in a raft of new players and have finished with our lowest points total in division 2 since Banty's time. I was told Andy ignored players from North Meath and smaller clubs, our entire full back line is North Meath, two of them from non senior clubs and it's been exposed. I was told we weren't giving our forwards a chance with our running game. This league we played a kicking game and scored 107 total (averaged 12.8 in our last 5) Andy's team scored 103 in division 1 against way better teams and got abuse for it. I'm hopeful that now it is appreciated where we are really at. With the team playing well and going great we are somewhere between 8-12 in Ireland. When going badly we are 15-20. That is the reality and no manager would change it. On the one positive note people gave out about midfield, since Flynn came back it's definitely been our best line. In the last 2 games where the application and workrate has been lacking Jones and Flynn have worked their arses off, threw themselves into tackles and fought for balls like their lives depended on it, unlike their teammates. Maybe that might answer another myth that was thrown around under the previous manager that Dunboyne and Ratoath lads were soft and didn't show pride in the Meath jersey like guys from small clubs. Because they're the only ones I can see who could hold their hand up and say they're giving it their all."
Well one positive to come out of this shambles of a league campaign is that the myth of a Meath team needing some players from north meath in the team to be successful has been well and truly busted.

The Meath team needs the best players available to be any way successful. Where they are from in the county is and should be totally irrelevant .

Blackspot09 (Meath) - Posts: 870 - 27/03/2023 12:37:30    2467042

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Replying To UsernameInvalid:  "Both should definitely have been given a chance, would add John Smith into it as well. He would be an option as coverage at fullback or midfield.

Adam Flanagan, Saran Finnegan, Fionn Reilly, Adam Muldoon should have been looked at and that is only players off the top of my head."
I like Muldoon and Reilly but I think reilly is gone or will be going travelling. Finnegan is a big strong effective club forward who was in early last year but is not mobile enough. Adam Flanagan is nowhere the level of Flynn Jones and even McGowan.

Blackspot09 (Meath) - Posts: 870 - 27/03/2023 13:28:54    2467065

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Replying To UsernameInvalid:  "Both should definitely have been given a chance, would add John Smith into it as well. He would be an option as coverage at fullback or midfield.

Adam Flanagan, Saran Finnegan, Fionn Reilly, Adam Muldoon should have been looked at and that is only players off the top of my head."
And how do you know they weren't?

Irish_downunder (Meath) - Posts: 631 - 27/03/2023 13:33:54    2467067

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Replying To nobull456:  "Very poor overall performance to day. Only positive Ronan Jones continues to show promise. However , this team and management now qualify for intensive care unit by way of treatment Im sure Colm O Rourke as manager will without delay embark on a full review of everything and everyone and their performance so far including his own as manager/co-ordinator. He carries the can.full stop! His willingnes and ability to do this review fully should be the ONLY measurement of his performance as manager so far. Areas of coaching and teamwork are simply not at intercounty level so far.As in any management position in any capacity performance and results are measured at various stages . This has to be done NOW . That is absolutely vital ! Action plan to improve standards on and off the field have to be implemented . I assume Colm believes that could and will be seen to pay dividends within the 2 years he mentioned.
The effectiveness of Colm as manager cannot be decided WITHOUT the opportunity for him to display the requirements for him to have a no holes barred review and instigate an action plan for improvement. Backroom team need to wake up also. Anyway Colm will deal with that i assume as part of the review.
If this critical review is not facilited for the good of Meath football then that person/s should go without delay regardless of who that might be. Yes it is early to draw conclusions about the future .It is NOT too early to stop the lights at least and have a good hard look because after these few matches more of the same is simply not acceptable. I am NOT anti COR and never was but i want him to REALLY take stock in this critical review. I want him to continue because he deserves the chance to improve things in a job that was always going to be very tough anyway. SERIOUS REVIEW has to happen though"
You are rattling on about a review, he has the job for 2 years so what are you on about. He has no intention of reviewing anything this is his team and the dogs on the street can see it's a mess. What's Boylans role in it apart from signing autographs and taking photos with supporters. The great motivator looks like he has no imput at all. There has to be serious questions about the panel of people who came up with Colm as the only choice in the first place.

latouche25 (Meath) - Posts: 520 - 27/03/2023 13:36:03    2467069

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Replying To Royal.1:  "100% agree. Seems this year COR completely forgot there was a senior championship. Definelty think those two you named should be given a go along with more from summer hill Ratoath, McGill obviously, and one or two of the na fianna defenders"
Stop talking about mc Gill. He decided that he was not going to play county this year. His decision not Colm's .

latouche25 (Meath) - Posts: 520 - 27/03/2023 14:10:19    2467083

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Replying To Blackspot09:  "Well one positive to come out of this shambles of a league campaign is that the myth of a Meath team needing some players from north meath in the team to be successful has been well and truly busted.

The Meath team needs the best players available to be any way successful. Where they are from in the county is and should be totally irrelevant ."
I really couldn't give a rats behind if it was 15 rathoath or summerhill players that lined out for Meath. Where you are from has zero credibility when you play for Meath. For what it's worth there is at least 2 cilles players and one bracks player who would be better options on the team than what's there. Perhaps if both were still intermediate then Colm would have a look at them. I don't know. But I have a feeling the regional thing has been a disaster looking at it now.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 27/03/2023 14:26:05    2467087

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Andy McEntee was ran out of the county by fickle fans that had unrealistic expectations of a bad team.... even though he somehow managed to get them into division 1. All the blame on the manager and none on the players

Now that COR has come in, all the blame is on the players. We'll see if he's treated with the same vitriol as Andy was during his tenure.

caca3mhi (Meath) - Posts: 3 - 27/03/2023 14:46:18    2467094

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Replying To Maestro:  "Another very poor performance from Meath again today but I didn't have too much hope with how the recent games have been going. A disappointing league campaign where we finished with the same number of wins as last year while playing an extra game away from home.
It was clear to see last year that this team was on the decline under McEntee. A lot of our better players are finished up playing or have seen better days.
We had a very bad league and championship last year. A few goals against Wicklow papered over the cracks, we received a hammering against Dublin and then got knocked out of the championship by a very average Clare.
Some posters are coming on here saying we have gone way back which isn't really true from where we were last year.
The players that have come in are not yet at the required standard for inter county level and might never be.
O'Rourke does need to look at setting the team up better and will have time over the next few weeks to come up with a plan but this current team is not capable of achieving too much and we need to hope we can build for the future."
Our worst display of league, did not expect to win, however, very difficult to take any positive from game apart from midfield who worked very hard and led by example. The lack of basic skills, something that has dogged Meath teams for years now, is difficult to understand. I had hoped Bray añd BOC working with forwards would have brought improvement, but still same old story. One forward scored one point from play, first half reminded me of Leinster semi of 2020, where their forwards roasted our experienced full back line and scored at will, any hope of repeat of that second half was quickly dismissed, Kildare learned their lesson and did not give us a sniff of a goal chance. As you say, players are wày of the required standard and its going to take time, but many of current team need to grow a backbone, many valid points re s/c, experience and so on can be made, however no excuses can be made for lack of effort, a positive up to yesterday so hopefully a once off. I am sure COR does not have to be reminded of our failings and most will be laid at his door. Has he got what it takes to turn things around? I think so, many managers have been in this position, stuck to their programme and brought success. Not long ago Galway supporters wanted rid of PJ, after a year in the job many wanted rid of AF and his coaching group from Ireland rugby set up, same for our own SB. O Rourke has a much tougher job, all previous mentioned had plenty of talent to work with, even so he and his management need to find a way to get the best out of what we have. Four weeks to championship, a Leinster final is still in our own hands and I know another meeting with Dublin is not something to look forward to, but all concerned need to keep going and view it as another chance to prove themselves.

seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2151 - 27/03/2023 15:11:12    2467106

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Replying To Royal.1:  "100% agree. Seems this year COR completely forgot there was a senior championship. Definelty think those two you named should be given a go along with more from summer hill Ratoath, McGill obviously, and one or two of the na fianna defenders"
The Problem with COR is , the time warp he is in is dominated with a fixation On Dublin . This may be the very rock he perishes on, unless he starts to analyse (as another poster suggested) this mess very quickly & very honestly. Dublin should never have been the benchmark...Kildare, Clare , Cavan, ...any team who is not a perennial Division 1 Team is our benchmark and has been for 10 -15 . Its arguable that Andy also suffered a bit form the same allusion . And if you don't have a clear understanding of your starting position, how then do you build & plan and target, motivate etc...We are a middle tier two team, & county, that has to get EVERYTHING right just to get a chance to dine in the same Company as the lower tier 1 Counties.... Allusions of past granduer are killing us.....and ironically, (and wait till you see key boards hoping when lads mishear me now)..in many ways ,, underage success has been a contributing factor to this allusion of who we think we are, continuing for longer than it should
COR will prove to be the wrong guy at the wrong time...that is not his fault...to finish on a positive...it will not take much to Fix this....but the starting point is , a serious understanding of where we reside in the pecking order ...and from that comes the answer to the questions of why we reside there...PS...one thing i always hate is the BS of .."we don't have the players" ....that is a line thrown out by those to hide something ...most likely their won shortcomings ...for taht line to have any credability ...there has to be something added to it ...so...we dont have the players currently to Win an All Ireland....that is a reasonable statement ....but we don't have the players to compete with Kildare...i don't accept that ..

Thelongwoodslasher (Meath) - Posts: 385 - 27/03/2023 16:30:41    2467121

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Replying To caca3mhi:  "Andy McEntee was ran out of the county by fickle fans that had unrealistic expectations of a bad team.... even though he somehow managed to get them into division 1. All the blame on the manager and none on the players

Now that COR has come in, all the blame is on the players. We'll see if he's treated with the same vitriol as Andy was during his tenure."
Can't see them sending hate mail to Colm or his family. (Which I would utterly condemn). Look the interview he gave lmfm afterwards was a joke. He cared more about what sg said about him than the performance. I would hope that this week the players on the panel would get together and have a serious talk amongst themselves then have a talk with management.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 27/03/2023 16:54:21    2467122

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Replying To nobull456:  "Very poor overall performance to day. Only positive Ronan Jones continues to show promise. However , this team and management now qualify for intensive care unit by way of treatment Im sure Colm O Rourke as manager will without delay embark on a full review of everything and everyone and their performance so far including his own as manager/co-ordinator. He carries the can.full stop! His willingnes and ability to do this review fully should be the ONLY measurement of his performance as manager so far. Areas of coaching and teamwork are simply not at intercounty level so far.As in any management position in any capacity performance and results are measured at various stages . This has to be done NOW . That is absolutely vital ! Action plan to improve standards on and off the field have to be implemented . I assume Colm believes that could and will be seen to pay dividends within the 2 years he mentioned.
The effectiveness of Colm as manager cannot be decided WITHOUT the opportunity for him to display the requirements for him to have a no holes barred review and instigate an action plan for improvement. Backroom team need to wake up also. Anyway Colm will deal with that i assume as part of the review.
If this critical review is not facilited for the good of Meath football then that person/s should go without delay regardless of who that might be. Yes it is early to draw conclusions about the future .It is NOT too early to stop the lights at least and have a good hard look because after these few matches more of the same is simply not acceptable. I am NOT anti COR and never was but i want him to REALLY take stock in this critical review. I want him to continue because he deserves the chance to improve things in a job that was always going to be very tough anyway. SERIOUS REVIEW has to happen though"
Poor display no doubt, there will be an internal review among management and players now league is over. Buck stops with Colm and has to take on board the learnings from league and put the harsh lessons to good use. Nothing has changed, survival in Div 2 was achieved, albeit by the smallest of magins and Leinster final is still in our own hands. Yes there is more questions than answers and management have dig deep for solutions. What options do we have? Do a Donegal or Limerick ( one poster is attempting to sow the seed) blame manager for their shortcomings, only to rollover next game. CB review -or will chairman once again think one is not required - will rightly come at end of next season and if things do not improve, there will be no need to run Colm out of town. Can management find a fix in four weeks? Its a big ask, however, that is why they took on the job, if there is self doubt, players pick up on it and downward spiral will continue.

seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2151 - 27/03/2023 17:32:40    2467143

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Replying To Thelongwoodslasher:  "The Problem with COR is , the time warp he is in is dominated with a fixation On Dublin . This may be the very rock he perishes on, unless he starts to analyse (as another poster suggested) this mess very quickly & very honestly. Dublin should never have been the benchmark...Kildare, Clare , Cavan, ...any team who is not a perennial Division 1 Team is our benchmark and has been for 10 -15 . Its arguable that Andy also suffered a bit form the same allusion . And if you don't have a clear understanding of your starting position, how then do you build & plan and target, motivate etc...We are a middle tier two team, & county, that has to get EVERYTHING right just to get a chance to dine in the same Company as the lower tier 1 Counties.... Allusions of past granduer are killing us.....and ironically, (and wait till you see key boards hoping when lads mishear me now)..in many ways ,, underage success has been a contributing factor to this allusion of who we think we are, continuing for longer than it should
COR will prove to be the wrong guy at the wrong time...that is not his fault...to finish on a positive...it will not take much to Fix this....but the starting point is , a serious understanding of where we reside in the pecking order ...and from that comes the answer to the questions of why we reside there...PS...one thing i always hate is the BS of .."we don't have the players" ....that is a line thrown out by those to hide something ...most likely their won shortcomings ...for taht line to have any credability ...there has to be something added to it ...so...we dont have the players currently to Win an All Ireland....that is a reasonable statement ....but we don't have the players to compete with Kildare...i don't accept that .."
A very fair and honest assumption.
But can I ask how long do we persist with Colm ? Really I think cb should act IF (and I hope and pray we do improve) but IF WE DONT .? Do we waste another year with this current set up or do we go for a temporary measure until we get McCarthy and O'Bric in ?

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 27/03/2023 17:56:45    2467155

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We are on a road to nowhere unfortunately.

My noisy neighbours in Biffoland reckon they will be in the semis with Louth.

If we can just beat Offaly I will be content but it will be a 50/50 game.

thelutch (Meath) - Posts: 1049 - 27/03/2023 18:18:36    2467159

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Replying To royaldunne:  "I really couldn't give a rats behind if it was 15 rathoath or summerhill players that lined out for Meath. Where you are from has zero credibility when you play for Meath. For what it's worth there is at least 2 cilles players and one bracks player who would be better options on the team than what's there. Perhaps if both were still intermediate then Colm would have a look at them. I don't know. But I have a feeling the regional thing has been a disaster looking at it now."
Which players from Cilles you think should be in ? Also i think the whole regional competition is totally misunderstood by most people, this competition was planned three years ago so as to give Junior and Intermediate players a chance to play with best players from other clubs. This had nothing to do with COR or with finding players for new management

Analyst (Meath) - Posts: 1467 - 27/03/2023 18:28:00    2467163

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Replying To latouche25:  "You are rattling on about a review, he has the job for 2 years so what are you on about. He has no intention of reviewing anything this is his team and the dogs on the street can see it's a mess. What's Boylans role in it apart from signing autographs and taking photos with supporters. The great motivator looks like he has no imput at all. There has to be serious questions about the panel of people who came up with Colm as the only choice in the first place."
"SERIOUS QUESTIONS HAVE TO BE ASKED "as you said .Whats the difference in that and what i said we have to have a serious" REVIEW" ? I expect COR to initiate a FULL HONEST review now. Any Manager in anything will have a review at critical points when " things dont look right" and basic standards are still not being met. Not rocket science its a key part of management . Any manager who would not do this critical work is simply NOT managing. COR or anybody else will not be made to measure so he is wise and experience enough to see it as learning for himself and others. Colm will not be happy himself at this point even at this stage. Using the last few months as a learning exercise is quite acceptable to me.His first REAL test of his management skills starts with with this review. I believe he will do the business but yes it will take years from where we started. Some poster said the cb should be getting involved .I say certainly not at this point .Let him complete the full cycle of install.....review.........repair as required.......monitor.....review and report to cb i assume that will take the 2 years colm mentioned. ANY manager in the circumstances deserves the right and freedom to revise and implement as required plans to adjust and improve. I am 100% behind him . I believe it will take bottle to move things from here . O Rourke has plenty of that. I just have to keep reminding myself this will take time.

nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1227 - 27/03/2023 19:55:35    2467178

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Replying To Analyst:  "Which players from Cilles you think should be in ? Also i think the whole regional competition is totally misunderstood by most people, this competition was planned three years ago so as to give Junior and Intermediate players a chance to play with best players from other clubs. This had nothing to do with COR or with finding players for new management"
I think to really get value from the regional thing - it need to be blended into the senior championship - the top 2 regional teams should join the senior championship at quarter final stage - that would allow all to see what level they are at! Kinda like what is done in Kerry!

Royalblufill (Meath) - Posts: 480 - 27/03/2023 20:55:54    2467187

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