Yes, we've to get over the first game in Leinster, but preparations must surely be to topple Dublin however unrealistic the task may seem. If we're not confident about winning what's the point in showing up?

If MOD isn't focusing all his energies on this he should be. Devising a strategy and executing it to beat possibly the greatest Gaelic football team in history would equal winning an All-Ireland any day in my opinion! MOD might even gain some respect back.

How does Meath accomplish it? By Replicating what Dublin do but somehow better...

Game Plan - we need a 21st century game plan/strategy. Look at Monaghan who were the only team to come close to Dublin this year. They don't have many skilful players but do have excellent game plan and are well organised on the pitch. They've somehow maximised the limited resources they have with great success. Even if it goes against everything Meath football stands for, we need a drastic change and it should have been done a long long time ago.

Discipline - the single reason why Kerry lost the league final today. We should have a zero tolerance when it comes to discipline. Black and red cards are still a common sight and the mgt. team need to address this urgently. Poor discipline played a big role in our failed League campaign this year.

Patience - We need to be patient in attack. We need to recycle the ball more often if a scoring opportunity or pass isn't on. Sick of hearing "Get rid of it" and "Kick it long" from the stands...complete nonsense. Having the ball is much better than not having it.

Conditioning - We're simply not fit enough...

Data Science - Last but not least, we need to number crunch every little detail on the opposition (and ourselves for improvement). This is standard in the modern game, and I'm fairly confident looking at Meath games we don't do this properly if at all.

If all the above is done, the first game will be a stroll in the park.... but it's not guaranteed under the current regime.

DeJaMo (Meath) - Posts: 5 - 24/04/2016 20:41:54    1848831

Well Dublin have just beaten Donegal by 10 points and Kerry by 11..

Not sure we will beat Louth(I expect them to beat Carlow),but if we do,then to avoid a rigth hammering from Dublin we must be as fit as them and work as hard as them.You need legs in the team and you cannot afford to have even one passenger..

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 24/04/2016 21:43:38    1848866

You are 100% correct when you talk about patience. Some players can here the moans from the stands,and how mnay times do we kick it long in panic just to do something rather than recycle.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 24/04/2016 21:45:51    1848867

DejaMo
I'm not looking past the first round. Simple as that.
We can all talk about how to beat the dubs etc and systems and strategies but if we don't focus on beating Louth/ Carlow we'll be in for a rude awakening.

All the stuff you talk about whilst total correct is the minimum requirements for modern football and have been routinely ignored. If this was our managers first year in charge you'd say well he's allowed a bit of leeway but he's in his fourth year and the obvious flaws are still there.
A team devoid of the required levels of fitness, game plans, leaders and consistent selections.

Now I appreciate the sacrifice that the players and management have to make in the modern game and they are to be commended for that but they need to be a lot smarter in how they train and develop.

brian (Meath) - Posts: 1981 - 25/04/2016 08:13:34    1848874

I have it from one of the players on Meath team last year that they practiced they blanket defense for dubs, the great idea was to play all out attack v Wicklow and Westmeath to lure dubs into a trap, and we all know what happened v Westmeath. They then went on to try this v Tyrone and failed . I have no doubt micko is planning for dubs but I also can see his arrogance cost us again v Louth.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 25/04/2016 09:10:42    1848887

DeJaMo - Your post match many that have been put on many treads here. You could have all the attributes that you have listed and still get beaten by 10 plus points. You will not beat Dublin unless you obviously have a plan and decent footballers but if you do not have players who can play at pace then your going nowhere. Kerry have at least two defenders who do not have the pace for top inter county football. I do think that their are a lot inter county teams are over training all over the country and interestingly enough the top teams play intensive games among themselves and the team is picked on how the player performs in training- not on what he did last year!! (Dublin, Kilkenny, Kerry and Tyrone)

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 25/04/2016 09:14:06    1848888

Interesting that Shane McAnarney suggested the team should be a bit more developed by now.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 25/04/2016 10:25:38    1848938

I was in Croke Park yesterday and sitting quite close to the subs bench. The physical condition the Tyrone, Dublin and to a slightly lesser extent Kerry and Cavan players are in was probably the stand out difference I can see between the so called top teams and teams operating below them such as Meath.

They are mobile, fit, can move with real pace and above all are strong enough to break tackles with ball. It seems to me there is something amiss between what these counties are doing versus what Meath are doing on the conditioning side of things. There's no doubt that we have talent in our squad to compete, but the big difference I can see is in the physicality required to compete. The emphasis on and need for conditioning in order to compete happened in the transition in Rubgy from amateur to professional and it's happening now in football. How long will Meath wait before realising that conditioning is now as important as having the right players in the right positions?

RoyoftheRoyals (Meath) - Posts: 36 - 25/04/2016 11:01:46    1848983

Louth game is 50/50 no better. Dublin are actually improving (at best we are stagnant at worst have fallen back) and if we get a chance will be a tougher opponent than what we face before. What we have witnessed so far from Meath this year suggests we will be entering playoffs at an early stage. Hopefully we can be competitive, but our skill and fitness shows little signs of improvement.

seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2214 - 25/04/2016 11:15:02    1848995

Ah now with the greatest respect in the world.... you have absolutely no chance of beating this Dublin side. We are just absolutely miles ahead of you. Even our second team would make light work of you. Thats a realistic outlook. Even if you do all the things and prepare like the OP says, It wouldnt be good enough.

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13654 - 25/04/2016 11:18:43    1848999

If Meath can somehow cut off Jim Gavin's supply of chewing gum we would be in with a good shout of beating Dublin.

bert09 (Meath) - Posts: 1820 - 25/04/2016 12:25:44    1849068

Ah now with the greatest respect in the world.... you have absolutely no chance of beating this Dublin side. We are just absolutely miles ahead of you. Even our second team would make light work of you. Thats a realistic outlook. Even if you do all the things and prepare like the OP says, It wouldnt be good enough.

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts:11017 - 25/04/2016 11:18:43 1848999

Nothing is impossible Wayne!!!!! And despite our recent troubles it amazes me how Dubs like you still have to cast your eye across our page and forum to see what's happening and stick your tuppence worth in, your arrogance is matched by the performances of Connolly and McMahon yesterday whose "acting the maggot" as Bernard Flynn described it was rightly rewarded with a seat on the bench, that is the type of crap that will be your undoing and despite all the raving I though Dublin were far from perfect yesterday and indeed at times were sloppy and lacked concentration, ye are human after all......

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3747 - 25/04/2016 12:26:38    1849069

On a side note the cheering of every pass by Dubs' fans as the game faded out yesterday was eerily similar to our own antics the day Meath destroyed Kerry in 2001. We all know what happened after that.........

Maybe Dublin will beat themselves?

RoyoftheRoyals (Meath) - Posts: 36 - 25/04/2016 12:44:47    1849087

Nothing is impossible Wayne!!!!! And despite our recent troubles it amazes me how Dubs like you still have to cast your eye across our page and forum to see what's happening and stick your tuppence worth in, your arrogance is matched by the performances of Connolly and McMahon yesterday whose "acting the maggot" as Bernard Flynn described it was rightly rewarded with a seat on the bench, that is the type of crap that will be your undoing and despite all the raving I though Dublin were far from perfect yesterday and indeed at times were sloppy and lacked concentration, ye are human after all......

Richieq (Meath) - Posts:2421 - 25/04/2016 12:26:38 1

Of course they can be beaten and yes arrogance is not what you want to see. But it wasn't tolerated and both were hauled off which is what you want to see from a management team. Conversely you have Paddy O' Rourke's antics being tolerated by MOD and co for the last number of years and I wouldn't bet against him starting come the championship which really says it all about the meath set up.

Adamski (Dublin) - Posts: 339 - 25/04/2016 12:51:58    1849091

i dont know how Meath lads are getting annoyed here. Waynol is 100% correct, Dublin are so far ahead they are out of sight and fair play to them. You put the effort in you get the rewards. As posters have pointed out 4 years and not fit or no improvement in conditioning betters belief. Like not having a team fit is just a joke at this stage. Anyway things wont change

pretender (Meath) - Posts: 358 - 25/04/2016 13:00:17    1849101

agree with the poster talking about the physical condition of our team.Not sure why we are up to that standard of physical shape.I mean Cavan have a very young team so no excuses on that.Micko is there 4 years,he comes up against these teams.Surely he knows that Meath have to be on par with teams in terms of Strength and Conditioning.?

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 25/04/2016 13:06:48    1849109

You have to be as good and as prepared as you can be,thats waht worries me about the possiblity of playing Dublin.Yes they are the better side with the better players,but we are not even close to their level of preparation etc.If we were as prepared as Cavan etc,we would be better than them imo.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 25/04/2016 13:16:58    1849123

just hope the dublin camp is struck down with a virus and that they have to play a 3rd or 4th choice team,meath have no choice of beating dublin this year along with the other 31 counties,this dublin team could win 5 in a row easily,meath are roughly about the 10th best team in ireland and that's been kind.tyrone,donegal,cavan,monaghan,dublin,kerry,cork,mayo,galway & roscommon all ahead of us and you could argue down,fermanagh,kildare etc etc are too.I am 41 years old and this is the worst meath set up in my memory.Going nowhere and IMO have gone backways since banty was voted out.We are depending on one club to make up 40% of our county team and that is not good considering this club was junior 4 years ago and that's no disrespect to Ratoath,they are a fantastic CLUB team but as i seen in limerick they were torn to shreds in all ireland semi final INTERMEDIATE GRADE and we are depending on 6-7 of their players to make our SENIOR COUNTY TEAM strong.Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm !!!!!

thelutch (Meath) - Posts: 1093 - 25/04/2016 14:28:44    1849194

thelutch

We would have to play our maximum and Dublin would have to play in 1st gear for us to get within 10 points.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 25/04/2016 15:17:58    1849257

just hope the dublin camp is struck down with a virus and that they have to play a 3rd or 4th choice team,meath have no choice of beating dublin this year along with the other 31 counties,this dublin team could win 5 in a row easily,meath are roughly about the 10th best team in ireland and that's been kind.tyrone,donegal,cavan,monaghan,dublin,kerry,cork,mayo,galway & roscommon all ahead of us and you could argue down,fermanagh,kildare etc etc are too.I am 41 years old and this is the worst meath set up in my memory.Going nowhere and IMO have gone backways since banty was voted out.We are depending on one club to make up 40% of our county team and that is not good considering this club was junior 4 years ago and that's no disrespect to Ratoath,they are a fantastic CLUB team but as i seen in limerick they were torn to shreds in all ireland semi final INTERMEDIATE GRADE and we are depending on 6-7 of their players to make our SENIOR COUNTY TEAM strong.Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm !!!!!

Jesus change the bloody record, ratoath ratoath ratoath how many more times do you want to reference this, perhaps ask what the other senior clubs are doing that they haven't more players in the county squad, does McGill deserve to be dropped off the squad? does Cian O'Brien deserve to be dropped? does Eamonn Wallace deserve to be dropped? or young Power? McMahon and the younger Wallace are no longer on the panel right now. How many junior and intermediate players were on the '87 and '88 teams?? If your good enough for the county squad your can come from any grade the sad truth is many of the supposed big clubs are not producing players like they used to, maybe look into the reasons for that instead of referencing ratoaths players the whole time

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3747 - 25/04/2016 15:36:39    1849270