Pat Spillane thinks Meath could regret not sticking with Colm O’Rourke.

The Royal County legend stepped down last week after two years at the football helm, saying he needed more time to complete additions to his backroom team. However, Spillane – who worked alongside O’Rourke on The Sunday Game for 30 years – believes a growing obsession with younger managers in the GAA counted against him.

“I don’t think we ever socialised outside the studio,” Spillane clarified in his Sunday World column.

“But I can say he is a very shrewd man who has an excellent football brain and is a very good reader of the game. It baffles me why Meath weren’t willing to wait a little while until he finalised his new management team.

“Unfortunately, he was a victim of the ageism which is so prevalent in management and coaching at inter-county level.

"We have heard all the arguments: he was too old, his coaching methods were out of date and his old-fashioned approach was destined to fail.

“A blunt word of warning to the Meath County Board. Be careful what you wish for. The golden days of Meath football are in the dim and very distant past.”

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