Replying To royaldunne:  "What I have heard is that Andy will announce his departure immediately after we out of championship, he will thank the players for their dedication but explain that 6 years is a long time with the pressures and commitment of ic management. So depending on when that happens we have a little bit of time to get someone in new. Preferably before our club games get underway in Ernest. Another a little side note a high profile player is also planning on announcing his retirement from ic within a couple of weeks of Meath exiting. Everyone in the Meath cb and panel knows who this is, he only played this year due to what he saw as a total lack of respect shown to management re the disaster in November and his close personal friendship with Shane who talked him into continuing. For the love of god we need level headed people to talk to this player. So hopefully that will happen too."

Replying To seadog54:  "I have little doubt that majority, if not all players will commit for another season, if we get the right coaching group in. Some posters might lmply they have inside track on what goes on inside the camp yet cannot tell us results of challange games or other mundane news."

Replying To Madog:  "Tony McEntee..."

Replying To nobull456:  "I can understand the high levels of frustration and disappointment amongst players.. I would ignore the rumours and speculation about futures of individuals. .The real focus from here has to be on getting the right "type" of person as Manager. The availability factor is just one thing. I go for Colm O Rourke to begin with. its rumoured he may not be available ,But he turns 65 retirement age this year. Will he then have more time ? Ask him? He may not be too easy to handle as a manager no more than he was as a player. Assertiveness and challenging may not be welcome now ,but very necessary. I would have him involved even as an advisor/assistant if not available for Manager
I would think who the new manager is will have a big influence on what players may stay. They would want to believe things will improve. May not be wise to rush the appointment anyway .I think all the stakeholders need to agree on the "type" of person needed ,and then find the person to fill the need."

Replying To Furlong1949:  "Thanks for the comments Royaldunne, Jinxie, Brian I appreciate them.

The comments regards Cavan Down Donegal could take O Rourke before us is worrying. If Donegal come for him, he will pick Donegal. One of the best teams in the country. But I feeling Rochford could take over from Bonner, they did give Jimmy McGuinnes job to his assistant Rory Gallagher. But if Bonner 's leaves, Donegal can get O Rourke. I would guess the Down job has being available twice since he left Monaghan. And Down more than likely have approached him especially last year where they couldn't appoint a manager for months. I have a feeling he would keep away from Down as their seems to be a war going on in background where kilcloo players wouldn't play for Down. He could go to Cavan, but there is a real strong chance Graham will be given extension, he is the best manager Cavan have had since McHugh in 90s. But yes Donegal or a Cavan obtaining O Rourkes services before us is a huge concern. We have to act quick and fast. Even now behind the scenes contacts should be made and discussions held.

Two O Rourkes Colm and Malachy seem the best choice. With Malachy O Rourke thw outstanding choice to best next Meath manager. He is one of the best managers in the country. Its a no brainer. To appoint him it would be sign of ambition and good planning and shown football intelligence. If we got O Rourke we would have best Ulster manager working in the game today. We would have a better manager than allot of div 1 team. O Rourke is better manager than Banty, Joyce, Cunningham and McGeeney. He is a different level of manager to McGeeney. McGeeney took 5 years to win championship match in Ulster and had Armagh in div 3 for 5 years. Armagh were at there lowest since late 60s. It has improved but that seemed to occur with Donaghy came in as coach. And McGeeney has allot of talent to work. And again this year Armagh fails to win game in Ulster. Imagine if Malachy O Rourke was in charge of Armagh. If we had O Rourke we would have best manager in div 2 next year. He's better manager than Glen Ryan. And yes Dessie Fareell, Farrell has had so much resources and best team in the country but last year Dublin have looked ordinary. Yes Harte has greater achievement in history of the game. Will go down as greater manager than O Rourke. But since 2010 O Rourke has being a better manager than Harte. Only Jimmy McGuinnes has been a better Ulster manager than O Rourke since 2010.

Our biggest problem is playing Ulster teams, our record for 20 years has been dreadful v Ulster teams. Their tactics, their style we fail to handle well. So to appoint the best Ulster manager in the country would be a win win. Surely he would be placed to set up us to play Tryone Monaghan Derry Donegal Armagh.

O Rourke is soft spoken Fermanagh man. He goes about his business quietly but very effectively. He would be modern manager. He builds a sense of family in the team. He is more likely to put arm around the player and encourage than read them riot act. But by all accounts he is stern also. In many ways he is more Sean Boylan style. Andy who has done good especially up yo 2020. Is very good one to one. But he more old school, very intense. O Rourke is Less intense and it would be a different management style. More modern foe want of better word. Andy has put in good foundations. But O Rourke is the guy to try get us breakthrough top 6 or 7 permanent div 1 side. Than in 4 or 5 or 6 years time Cathal O Bric or Kevin Reilly will take the All Ireland winning minors to push for Sam. That's the pathway I see.
2017 - 2022 Andy McEntee >>> Malachy O Rourke 2023 - 2027 >>>>>> O Bric / Reilly 2027 - ?????.
Of course if O Rourke is huge succes he stays as long as success continues.

Buy fingers crossed that Malachy O Rourke is the next manager. If we get anyone else they will have worse CV and more than likely be a worse manager. Get the best class that's Malachy O Rourke, that would a sign county Board are trying to do right thing.

Regards County Board. There is huge issues, carry on before Christmas trying to remove Andy was amateurish at best. And pretty much made sure Andy was finished at the end of this year. Two decisions in last 12 months have impressed. The appointment of full time General manager over all our Underage teams is innovative and excellent team. I could be wrong. But I think we are only county with this role. The general manager comes from Australian rugby Union background again great to get outside aspect. And the involvement of Bective studs with underage teams is forward thinking at its best. The owner of Bective studs says he wants Meath to win Sam Maguire in 5 years, Cathal O Bric says he wants U20s to U20 All Ireland in next 2 years. To hear people involved in Meath football having lofting and huge expectations and ambitions and these people are at coalface trying to improve yhing should be welcomes. People might fund it to ambitious. But in last ten years our ambition has being to limited.

The county board could still do so more. Limerick hurling is a county we should be trying to copy. We don't have McManus in the background but they county similar to us, have a huge tradition,,sleeping gaint with rural and suburban areas.
Anyway our few thoughts I would recommend. They might be workable or some of them good but we need to change further.

1 Something has to be done with our lack of U20 success. If we don't win Leinster U20 title in next 2 years Something ie seriously wrong. This year again while a young team we shouldn't be hammered by Dublin team, solid Dublin team. Mccarthy and O Bric managere in next 2 years and U19 development panel are good ideas. But we should ask Last few under 20/21 managers Sean Barry, Davy Dalton, Barry Callaghan, Brian Farrell,,Ger Robinson, Sean Kelly. What went wrong and what they think needs to change. Interview question the managers try and do a report and give it Mccarthy and O Bric. Talk to successful U20 managers like Davy Burke, last years Offaly manager, this years Tyrone manager find out what these counties did right. We are not doing right thing at U20. We need to change and find right approach. I believe we can win both U20 leinster titles and push for U20 All Ireland with minors in 2024. We won 5 U21 Leinster and All Ireland U21 in 90s. We have only reached 1 leinster U20 final in last 21 years. If that doesn't change , next managers hands will be tied

2 A academy similar to Limerick hurling academy should be looked at. It's success rate is outstanding. In Limerick elite young players were housed in University Limerick, Saturdays were cleared of club games and established as Academy days in Limerick. There was one central body over all all juvenile fixtures. This led to more games. An academy similar to limericks is something we should be looking. People need to contact Limerick and see what they did.

3 Strenght and Conditioning has improved massively under Andy, but there is still gap with Dublins. We need one person who is qualified to take over our young players from U16 to U20 their S & C. Show the player the right weight techniques. So many players are doing wrong weight lifting techniques.

4 Young players need education on nutrition and diet from young age. Hydration and mental preparation starting at young age. U15 U16 onwards.

5 We need secure gym time for young player. Dublin have DIT, Limerick have UL. We don't have third level in our county but there are 3 right on border. Could we link up with Dundalk IT or Maynooth University or Blanchardtown IT. Maybe If try to link up with Dundalk or Maynooth you step on Kildare or louth toes. But what about then together. Kildare and Meath together go to Maynooth University invest money in gym time, link up with University like Limerick with UL. There is cross the border activity with East leinster project. Working with neighbours might be unusual but if leads to our players getting more gym time, we should look at every option. Limerick have ten year deal with third level institution we need to do the same.

6 Get all our coach's to talk to elite performance coach's and professor talk to the best, find out what the elite think and try to enact on that information.

7 We should decide what type of player we want. For years we seems to have allot of small pacey players. Limerick looked and decided 6ft 4 hurlers were the future. Fins out what suits us best try decide what type of player we should be bringing through. Many players could be dismissed because they don't fit a certain type the county is looking for. We need decide what is best type of player for us. And be flexible also.

8 A culture where ego or me me Mindset is stamped out. Its all about the team. We are one team.

9 We need to develop key modules and tutorials to develop the players. All the managers and coach's are singing from same hymn sheet

10 Junior academies should be set all over the county.

11limerick hurling have worker with Munster rugby. Could we work in some way with leinster rugby. Maybe even two or three counties in leinster come together and work in partnership with Leinster rugby.

12 There are huge world famous some biggest multinational on our doorstep. They are not going to sponsor Meath. But if Meath kildare louth Wicklow all went together let's say Intel. We will place Intel on all hurling and football Jeremy's in all 4 counties. It would be unusual but clubs in sovee have had same sponsors. Celtic and Rangers have had the same sponsor in the past. The multinational would be sponsoring 4team with total population of 7000000- 8000000. We could get huge deal which could increase our current sponsorship deal.

These are some ideas might work are being worked at currently. The main point is we need action forward thinking and innovation."

Replying To royaldunne:  "Colm orurke ? Ahh please."

Replying To bdbuddah:  "One thing I would imagine is Colm O'Rourke would command huge respect from players/ County board/ supporters automatically. For any Meath person over a certain age he is remembered as an absolutely legendary player who overcame a terrible injury to be a huge leader on our greatest team. For me he is probably the greatest Meath player I ever remember
His work with teams in St. Pats in Navan will mean he will be well known by a certain number of players on the panel.
I think his appointment would create a feel-good factor if he took over."

Replying To Furlong1949:  "Thanks for the comments Royaldunne, Jinxie, Brian I appreciate them.

The comments regards Cavan Down Donegal could take O Rourke before us is worrying. If Donegal come for him, he will pick Donegal. One of the best teams in the country. But I feeling Rochford could take over from Bonner, they did give Jimmy McGuinnes job to his assistant Rory Gallagher. But if Bonner 's leaves, Donegal can get O Rourke. I would guess the Down job has being available twice since he left Monaghan. And Down more than likely have approached him especially last year where they couldn't appoint a manager for months. I have a feeling he would keep away from Down as their seems to be a war going on in background where kilcloo players wouldn't play for Down. He could go to Cavan, but there is a real strong chance Graham will be given extension, he is the best manager Cavan have had since McHugh in 90s. But yes Donegal or a Cavan obtaining O Rourkes services before us is a huge concern. We have to act quick and fast. Even now behind the scenes contacts should be made and discussions held.

Two O Rourkes Colm and Malachy seem the best choice. With Malachy O Rourke thw outstanding choice to best next Meath manager. He is one of the best managers in the country. Its a no brainer. To appoint him it would be sign of ambition and good planning and shown football intelligence. If we got O Rourke we would have best Ulster manager working in the game today. We would have a better manager than allot of div 1 team. O Rourke is better manager than Banty, Joyce, Cunningham and McGeeney. He is a different level of manager to McGeeney. McGeeney took 5 years to win championship match in Ulster and had Armagh in div 3 for 5 years. Armagh were at there lowest since late 60s. It has improved but that seemed to occur with Donaghy came in as coach. And McGeeney has allot of talent to work. And again this year Armagh fails to win game in Ulster. Imagine if Malachy O Rourke was in charge of Armagh. If we had O Rourke we would have best manager in div 2 next year. He's better manager than Glen Ryan. And yes Dessie Fareell, Farrell has had so much resources and best team in the country but last year Dublin have looked ordinary. Yes Harte has greater achievement in history of the game. Will go down as greater manager than O Rourke. But since 2010 O Rourke has being a better manager than Harte. Only Jimmy McGuinnes has been a better Ulster manager than O Rourke since 2010.

Our biggest problem is playing Ulster teams, our record for 20 years has been dreadful v Ulster teams. Their tactics, their style we fail to handle well. So to appoint the best Ulster manager in the country would be a win win. Surely he would be placed to set up us to play Tryone Monaghan Derry Donegal Armagh.

O Rourke is soft spoken Fermanagh man. He goes about his business quietly but very effectively. He would be modern manager. He builds a sense of family in the team. He is more likely to put arm around the player and encourage than read them riot act. But by all accounts he is stern also. In many ways he is more Sean Boylan style. Andy who has done good especially up yo 2020. Is very good one to one. But he more old school, very intense. O Rourke is Less intense and it would be a different management style. More modern foe want of better word. Andy has put in good foundations. But O Rourke is the guy to try get us breakthrough top 6 or 7 permanent div 1 side. Than in 4 or 5 or 6 years time Cathal O Bric or Kevin Reilly will take the All Ireland winning minors to push for Sam. That's the pathway I see.
2017 - 2022 Andy McEntee >>> Malachy O Rourke 2023 - 2027 >>>>>> O Bric / Reilly 2027 - ?????.
Of course if O Rourke is huge succes he stays as long as success continues.

Buy fingers crossed that Malachy O Rourke is the next manager. If we get anyone else they will have worse CV and more than likely be a worse manager. Get the best class that's Malachy O Rourke, that would a sign county Board are trying to do right thing.

Regards County Board. There is huge issues, carry on before Christmas trying to remove Andy was amateurish at best. And pretty much made sure Andy was finished at the end of this year. Two decisions in last 12 months have impressed. The appointment of full time General manager over all our Underage teams is innovative and excellent team. I could be wrong. But I think we are only county with this role. The general manager comes from Australian rugby Union background again great to get outside aspect. And the involvement of Bective studs with underage teams is forward thinking at its best. The owner of Bective studs says he wants Meath to win Sam Maguire in 5 years, Cathal O Bric says he wants U20s to U20 All Ireland in next 2 years. To hear people involved in Meath football having lofting and huge expectations and ambitions and these people are at coalface trying to improve yhing should be welcomes. People might fund it to ambitious. But in last ten years our ambition has being to limited.

The county board could still do so more. Limerick hurling is a county we should be trying to copy. We don't have McManus in the background but they county similar to us, have a huge tradition,,sleeping gaint with rural and suburban areas.
Anyway our few thoughts I would recommend. They might be workable or some of them good but we need to change further.

1 Something has to be done with our lack of U20 success. If we don't win Leinster U20 title in next 2 years Something ie seriously wrong. This year again while a young team we shouldn't be hammered by Dublin team, solid Dublin team. Mccarthy and O Bric managere in next 2 years and U19 development panel are good ideas. But we should ask Last few under 20/21 managers Sean Barry, Davy Dalton, Barry Callaghan, Brian Farrell,,Ger Robinson, Sean Kelly. What went wrong and what they think needs to change. Interview question the managers try and do a report and give it Mccarthy and O Bric. Talk to successful U20 managers like Davy Burke, last years Offaly manager, this years Tyrone manager find out what these counties did right. We are not doing right thing at U20. We need to change and find right approach. I believe we can win both U20 leinster titles and push for U20 All Ireland with minors in 2024. We won 5 U21 Leinster and All Ireland U21 in 90s. We have only reached 1 leinster U20 final in last 21 years. If that doesn't change , next managers hands will be tied

2 A academy similar to Limerick hurling academy should be looked at. It's success rate is outstanding. In Limerick elite young players were housed in University Limerick, Saturdays were cleared of club games and established as Academy days in Limerick. There was one central body over all all juvenile fixtures. This led to more games. An academy similar to limericks is something we should be looking. People need to contact Limerick and see what they did.

3 Strenght and Conditioning has improved massively under Andy, but there is still gap with Dublins. We need one person who is qualified to take over our young players from U16 to U20 their S & C. Show the player the right weight techniques. So many players are doing wrong weight lifting techniques.

4 Young players need education on nutrition and diet from young age. Hydration and mental preparation starting at young age. U15 U16 onwards.

5 We need secure gym time for young player. Dublin have DIT, Limerick have UL. We don't have third level in our county but there are 3 right on border. Could we link up with Dundalk IT or Maynooth University or Blanchardtown IT. Maybe If try to link up with Dundalk or Maynooth you step on Kildare or louth toes. But what about then together. Kildare and Meath together go to Maynooth University invest money in gym time, link up with University like Limerick with UL. There is cross the border activity with East leinster project. Working with neighbours might be unusual but if leads to our players getting more gym time, we should look at every option. Limerick have ten year deal with third level institution we need to do the same.

6 Get all our coach's to talk to elite performance coach's and professor talk to the best, find out what the elite think and try to enact on that information.

7 We should decide what type of player we want. For years we seems to have allot of small pacey players. Limerick looked and decided 6ft 4 hurlers were the future. Fins out what suits us best try decide what type of player we should be bringing through. Many players could be dismissed because they don't fit a certain type the county is looking for. We need decide what is best type of player for us. And be flexible also.

8 A culture where ego or me me Mindset is stamped out. Its all about the team. We are one team.

9 We need to develop key modules and tutorials to develop the players. All the managers and coach's are singing from same hymn sheet

10 Junior academies should be set all over the county.

11limerick hurling have worker with Munster rugby. Could we work in some way with leinster rugby. Maybe even two or three counties in leinster come together and work in partnership with Leinster rugby.

12 There are huge world famous some biggest multinational on our doorstep. They are not going to sponsor Meath. But if Meath kildare louth Wicklow all went together let's say Intel. We will place Intel on all hurling and football Jeremy's in all 4 counties. It would be unusual but clubs in sovee have had same sponsors. Celtic and Rangers have had the same sponsor in the past. The multinational would be sponsoring 4team with total population of 7000000- 8000000. We could get huge deal which could increase our current sponsorship deal.

These are some ideas might work are being worked at currently. The main point is we need action forward thinking and innovation."

Replying To Thelongwoodslasher:  "ladies & gents, could i suggest we are looking at this through the eyes of 40/50/60 & maybe even 70 year olds....and while we all believe that Respect SHOULD be there, i personally believe the first thing that has to happen is the new Management Team has to understand that it is not there .There has to be an acceptance that there needs to be a whole re educating needed in what it means to be a Meath County Footballer & Hurler,.....this is a whole different generation, and what we think naturally should be there as there as the natural characteristics are not there in many of the squad, and im not blaming them for that...but we do have to start of there educating them on what is expected at a very basic level , way before the football issues"

Replying To Furlong1949:  "First point the big issue that is hurting us for years is forwards. We have good forwards. But no marque All star forward. Andy McEntee is the only Meath manager who has never had all star forward to work with. Sean had Footballer of the year forwards like Colm O Rourke, Brian Stafford, Trevor Giles, 4 time All star winners like Tommy Dowd and other top class forwards like Geraghty, Murphy, Flynn. Coyler, Barry, Banty had Geraghty, Bray all stars. You look at the forwards Eamon O Brien had; Stephen Bray, Joe Sheridan, Graham Reilly, Brian Farrell, Cian Ward, David Bray, Shane O'Rourke, Peadar Byrne. You could make strong case after Tyrone, kerry we had best forwards in the country 07 to 10. We had much better forwards than Dubs. That's why one of key reasons in those years we beat Dublin, Tyrone, Mayo, Galway in the championship, reached 2 semis and won leinster. Andy has never had Stephen Bray or Graham Geraghty. Even players like Cian Ward or Joe Sheridan would be great addition. We always had better forwards than Dubs from 1930s up to 2010s. The last Meath forward to be nominated for all star was Michael Newman 9 years ago. Newman was the best Meath forward of his generation. But had years of injury problems. The only 2 years he was fully injury free was 2013 and 2019. Our two best seasons in last 10 years. The only years we got promoted in last ten years and did well in championship. Look at div 1 teams like Dublin have Callaghan, Costello, Kilkenny. Kerry have Clifford, Geaney, O Shea. Monaghan have McManus McCarron. Galway have Walsh, Comer. Donegal have Murphy, McBreaty. Tyrone have McCurry, McShane. Mayo have O Connor, O Donoghue. Derry have McGuigan, Roscommon have Cox, Smith. Kildare have Flynn, Hyland, Kirwan. Even louth have McIlroy. We don't have any forwards at that level. Look at some key matchs were we lost to top teams it was top forwards who were the difference. McBreaty scoring winner in 2017 v us. Galways Shane Walsh scoring winner v us in 2020. Until we find a few marque forwards, it's an issue. There is hope. Morris, Walsh, Costello, O Connor are 21 22. Ollie Murphy, Bernard Flynn, Stephen Bray are Meaths three best inside forwards of last 50 years and took a couple seasons before they went up a level. Time is on their side. Eoghan Frayne, Diarmaid Moriarty, Christian Finley and other young forwards have potential. If we could unearth two or three top class forwards it would be transformational.

Andy will be leaving in coming weeks. If he could end with run in backdoor it would end this year positively. Andy has put in good foundations and in his first 4 years made real progress. Clearly year 5 and especially 6 things have gone stale. A change is needed. It will happen. We want to become one of the best teams in the country. So we do have to get one of the best managers in the country. That rules out everyone in Meath. We have to go outside. And there is one outstanding candidate for the Meath Job. He the best candidate by a mile. And everything has to be done to get him involved.

Firstly let's look at some candidate people are mentioning. The fact is the credible candidates to replace in and outside county you could count them on one hand. It feels people like people trying to pad out list of names just give false impression there is huge list. There is very few top class manager at div 1 standard available. We have to find div 1 manager. What is a div 1 manager. Well here are all div 1 managers this year and next year.

Kerry Jack O Connor Before he took the kerry job he managed kerry to 3 senior All Irelands, managed kerry to U21 and minor All Irelands. And managed kerry school to schools All Ireland. He also managed kildare seniors to div 1 and leinster final.
Mayo James Horan. Before he took current Mayo job he had managed Mayo seniors to 4 Connacht senior title's & 2 All Ireland finals.
Dublin Dessie Farrell. Before he took current Dublin Job he managed Dublin Minors & U21s to All Ireland titles.
Donegal Delcan Bonner. Before he took Donegal job currently he managed Donegal seniors to Ulster finals & managed Donegal minors to All Ireland final. His assistant S Rochford managed Corofin to All Ireland club senior title & he managed Mayo to 2 All Ireland senior finals.
Monaghan Banty Before he took Monaghan job currently. He managed Monaghan seniors before to league titles and q final. He managed Meath seniors to a leinster final and managed Monaghan minors to Ulster title. He also managed Monaghan ladies team.
Armagh kieran McGeeney. Before he took Armagh job, he manged kildare seniors to leinster final & couple of q finals.
Roscommon Anthony Cunningham. Before he took Galway job, he manage Galway U21 hurlers to All Ireland U21 title. He managed Galway senior hurlers to 2 All Ireland senior finals and managed Garycastle to All Ireland senior club final.
Kildare Glen Ryan. Before he took kildare job currently he managed kildare to U21 Leinster title & U21 All Ireland final. He managed Longford seniors.
Galway Padraig Joyce. Before he took Galway job he managed Galway U21 to Connacht U21 title.
Tyrone Lohan/Dooher. Before they took Tyrone job they managed together Tyrone U21s to All Ireland U21 title.
Derry ( not div 1 team but will be soon). Rory Gallagher. Before he took Derry job he was assistant manager to Jimmy McGuinnes when Donegal won senior All Ireland. He also managed Donegal seniors and Fermanagh seniors.

Let's even look at some of our neighbours
Louth Mickey Harte. Before he took louth job currently he managed Tyrone to 3 All Ireland senior titles, and Tyrone to Minor and U21 All Ireland titles.
Offaly John Maughan. Before he took Offaly job currently he managed Mayo seniors to 3 All Ireland senior finals. He managed Clare seniors to Munster senior title and managed Roscommon and Fermanagh seniors also.
Cavan Mickey Graham. Before he took Cavan job currently he managed small Longford club to leinster senior club title and to All Ireland senior club final.

So what is the criteria to be div 1 inter county manager. A div 1 manager a top manager before he takes a inter County team must have

EITHER
MANAGED INTER COUNTY AT SENIOR LEVEL SUCCESSFULLY AT DIV 1 LEVEL
OR
MANAGED A CLUB TEAM TO ALL IRELAND SENIOR TITLE OR EVEN FINAL
OR
MANAGED U21/U20 INTER COUNTY TEAM TO U20/U21 ALL IRELAND TITLE OR EVEN FINAL.

That's what every team in div 1 look for in manager. So basically that rules everyone currently out inside Meath. We have to go for an outside manager. And there is one top class manager that is currently available that tops the list.

There is one candidate Meath that could be option. But it's highly unlikely he will be option. That's Colm O Rourke. O Rourke would have questions marks in that he has never managed inter County team before or club or U21/ 20 to All Ireland final or title. He has managed international rules teams successfully and Simontown to 2 county titles. He is the most successful underage manager in Meath football ever with 3 All Ireland schools titles. There would be question marks over him but he is the only credible candidate in county. But at 63, and after turning down chances in 00s, and with Sunday Game and Sunday Independent workload it's very very unlikely he is an option. So we have to rule him out as an option.

There is 3 managers that could be potential Meath managers in 4 or 5 years time. But don't have CV currently. They are Brian Farrell, Kevin Reilly and Cathal O Bric. Brian Farrell didn't do well with U21s but managed Rataoth to senior club Meath title. If he could manager Meath club to All Ireland senior club title or final or U20 Meath team to U20 All Ireland final or title in coming years, he will be future option. But not now. Kevin Reilly has really impressed taking Trim to Leinster intermediate title and leinster intermediate All Ireland final. If he could lead Trim to All Ireland senior club title or final in coming years he will be option in future. But not now. Cathal O Bric has really impressed me. He gives me the John kiely Limerick manger Vibes. He managed Meath minors to leinster and All Ireland minor titles. But no way should he being taking away from U19 and U20 Meath job's. He has to be given chance to win U20 All Ireland with All Ireland minors. If he was to be taken from the post we would be sabatoging our best chance of winning u20/21 All Ireland title in 30 years. If he wins U20 All Ireland final or gets team to a final he will be future Meath manager. And when these talented minors come through to the seniors in 3 or 4 years time of, if O Bric is successful at U20 level than he would be perfect candidate to bring them on to senior in 3 or 4 years time, but not now.

Others mentioned in county. McDermott has good club CV, but again would kerry, Dublin, Tyrone, Mayo, Galway, Monaghan even Roscommon or kildare make him manager. I dont think so. He has never managed top inter County team at div 1 level successfully or managed teams to All Ireland senior club or All Ireland U20/21 title or even a final. Garrigan also doesn't have the CV mange Meath . Regards Eamon Murray, Eamon who is originally from Cavan, has no interest in managing Meath mens team . He is being manager for ladies teams in Meath for 20 years. He has said he has he has no interest in managing any men teams he doesn't like the aggression or cynicism or even cursing in the mens game. He is becoming one of the best ladies GAA managers ever. I can see him becoming the Sean Boylan of Meath ladies football. And also Eamon is not tactics manager, he is brillant man manager. But as I said he is not interested so not an option.

Regards outside the county managers like Jimmy McGuinnes are not option. There is a bigger chance of Roy keane becoming next Meath manager as Jimmy McGuinnes. Jimmy McGuinnes has stated his future is with soccer. He will stay involved in soccer for next few years. And if he does come back to the GAA in a few years time it will be with Donegal or top div 1 team. Rochford will be next Donegal or Galway or Mayo manager again. He will have options on his doorstep to manage best teams in the country. He is not coming to Meath. Other candidates people have mentioned don't have the CV. Paul Galvin managed Wexfords seniors for couple of months. They lost most of their games, players walked from the panel, and he left the job himself as manager weeks before championship. Paul Galvin is not an option. Others have mentioned Dublin figures like Paul Curran. He again doesn't have the CV to manage Meath. Would kildare consider managers like the above no. Why should we.

Some have mentioned Robbie Brennan. And I do get feeling he is the running and could already be the chosen option. Huge question marks over him. He has huge Meath connections. He has CV worth looking at, but there are red warning signs. He managed Crokes to All ireland club final. So that would be meeting the criteria. But getting super club like Crokes to All ireland final, how big achievement is that really. Mickey Moran leading small Down club to the All Ireland title is greater achievement. ( Its pity Moran was younger he has great CV, coaching Derry to All Ireland senior title, managing Derry snrs to league div 1 title, managing Mayo seniors to All Ireland final and managing to win 5 of last 6 Ulster senior club title with 2 different teams & leading Derry club to senior All Ireland club final. He would have being great option if he was younger).

Brennan Crokes also played a slow ponderous hand passing game. He also was Meath selector recently to Meath minor and U21 teams. Both teams lost all their match and played poorly. You cannot blame him in that he was selector. But still not great sign. And also he is duo manager. He won Dublin club title with Crokes years ago & leinster club senior title last year but he was co manager with Johnny Magee. If he comes in he needs to bring Mageee also. How good a manager is he on his own. We don't know. He also lost a leinster club senior final with Crokes to tiny Longford club. There is just allot of question marks.

So leaving Colm O Rourke to one side. There are only two credible managers with one being the outstanding choice.

The second option who know one has mentioned. That is Davy Burke. Who is one of the best young managers in the country. And best young manager in Leinster. He turned down option to manage inter County teams in leinster this year he is in demand. He has the CV. He managed kildare U20s to U20 All Ireland title, kildare only All Ireland they have won at any grade in last 50 years. And only kildares 2nd All Ireland at any grade in last 90 years. He also managed Wicklow senior to div 4 title. He is young, and hasn't managed top div 1 team. But he is hugely promising young manager. Could he be our John O Mahony. O Mahony was let go by Mayo and went to neighbours Galway and was hugely. Burke went for kildare job and they went for Glen Ryan Earley Doyle Rainbow instead. He definitely has a CV worth looking at. I am shocked no one has mentioned him.

But the outstanding choice for to be next Meath manager, the best choice, top choice and has to be chosen if the county want to give us best chance is one of the best managers in the country and that is Malachy O Rourke. The 5 best manager to manage since 2010 are Jimmy McGuinnes James Horan Jim Galvin Eamon Fitzmaurice and Malachy O Rourke. He is best Ulster manager of his generation after McGuinnes. Everywhere he has gone he has been huge sucess. You would think he jump at the chance to manage Meath. Take over sleeping gaint with lots of underage talent. Malachy O Rourke has to be next Meath manager. He has to be number 1 on the list. We want to become a top div 1 team. Who has achieved that in recent years. Malachy O Rourke with Monaghan. We want to achieve what Monaghan have done. Why not get their manager. He is currently successfully managing Derry club. If Meath came and asked him he would say yes.

Malachy O Rourke CV

2001 He managed Monaghan club Tyholland to their first Monaghan senior title.
2003 He managed Derry club Loop to their first senior club title in 68 years. He also led loop to Ulster senior club title.
2006 He managed Errigal Ciaran to Tyrone senior club title
2007 He managed Cavan Gaels to Cavan senior club title.
2008 He managed Fermanagh snrs to Ulster final in 2008 beating Derry and Monaghan. And was one kick away from winning Fermanaghs first ever Ulster title ever v Armagh in the 2008 Ulster Final. He brought a very good Armagh team to replay. But he was so close to winning on the first day.
2011 He was part of latton management team who won Tyrone senior club title
2013 He managed Monaghan snrs to Div 3 league title. He also managed Monaghan snrs to their first Ulster title in 25 years.
2014 He managed Monaghan snrs to Div 2 league title. He led Monaghan to Ulster final and q finals.
2015 He managed Monaghan snrs to another Ulster snr title and q finals.
2017 He led Monaghan to q finals.
2018 He managed Monaghan to q finals.
2019 He managed Monaghan snrs to their first All Ireland semi final in 30 years losing by 1 pt to Tyrond. He managed Monaghan to wins over kildare & Galway & draw with kerry all in Super 8.
2021 He managed Derry club Glen to their first ever senior club title

In his tenure he led Monaghan to victories over the best teams in the country. He turned Monaghsn into permanent top 6 team, from div 3 to div 1. His teams are very well coached and are always tactically aware. He is brillant man manger. Players love him. He always brings in two excellent coach in McBride and Porter wherever he is manager. Porter coached Tyrone club Domore to 3 Tyrone county titles.

Malachy O Rourke is the outstanding choice to be the next Meath manager ."

Replying To UsernameInvalid:  "Malachy O Rourke would be the dream.
His success with clubs has been very impressive, only one better I think is McDermott who brought Kilmurray to a all Ireland club final but it's his success with Fermanagh and Monaghan who were both average when he took over and brought them to new levels is what makes him the best candidate.

How do we go about getting him, well the answer is simple, once Andy is gone he needs to be sussed out straight away and see if there is interest. Look at what Louth did with Mickey Harte, they picked their man and acted quickly.

Top 3 incoming managers to replace Andy would be 1. Malachy, 2. Colm O Rourke, 3. Mcdermott"

Replying To seadog54:  "Firstly, welcome back, we rarely agree but that what forum is all about. Think you are making too many excuses for Andy. How can we judge current forwards when playing in failed system, you rightly say past managers had vg forwatds to work with, however we played to their strengths, would Murphy, Stafford, Flynn, Ward, Sheridan to name a few, have flourshed within present system. MacEntee and Nally introduced this hard running game and attempted to force in on players it did not suit. No attempt to mix it up, management have failed to get the best out of panel. Defence still a shambles, think back to Tyrone in Navan a few years back, we had ten+ behind ball but never laid a hand on them, roll forward last Sunday and same failings
Exactly what foundations is Andy leaving in place? I remember you saying Meath would win Leinster by 2021/22, we have never been as far from Leinster than at present. Little point in naming young lads that may come through, history suggests otherwise, how many minors came good from the team of 92?
Last time we interacted you were not feeling so good, hope things are on the up."

Replying To Furlong1949:  "Thanks for the welcome back. Thanks for wishing me well. Its very good of you. We disagree on football matters, but thanks for your comments, I appreciate them, your a gentleman. I Still have issues in health department. Hopefully this will be the year I will be back to full health.

I have written so much about Andys tenure, but I stopped I was only repeating myself. I think u know where I stand and my reasons. So this will be short for me. I think Andy did good job up to the end 2020. Promotion to div 1, reaching q final and leinster finals and being competitive v top teams and big wins over teams outside div 1 eg Beating Wicklow by 28 pts, Longford by 22 pts, Clare by 18 pts Carlow by 14 pts, Laois by 11 pts, Fermanagh by 10 pts, kildare by 9 pts, Cork and Armagh by 6 pts. He improved strenght and Conditioning and fitness. And there was a good feel factor up to end of 2020. The defeat to Dublin in 2020 leinster is the turning point, and not in a good way. The same way 2014 defeat to Dublin was a turning point in Mick o Dowds tenure. Neither managere teams recovered from those Dublin maulings. Than the loss to kildare in 2021 league semi final play off eally begins the end of Andys tenure. And when county board tried to take him out so publicly last year, well it was over, there was no coming back from that.

My opinion is that reason we went for running game is we didn't have the forwards to kick long. Maybe they would have continued the running game if we had forwards of 00s now. If we have 07 - 11 forwards of Joe Sheridan Brian Farrell Cian Ward Graham Geraghty Stephen Bray David Bray Shane O Rourke Graham Reilly Peader Byrne Jamie Queeney, we would have been more direct, thats my belief. Why I believe that when Andy came he tried a more direct game. In his first few games in Byrne Cup and league v Kildare Clare Derry Down in 2017 we were playing a kicking game more direct. We had Brian Sheridan as full forward target man. The loss to kildare and than Down after that were we had Brian Sheridan upfront as target man everything changed,. Atter the Down game and losss Andy said he got the tactics wrong. I saw that as he felt direct game wouldn't work. Brian Sheridan never played for Meath again and we changed to a hard running team especially when Nally came in.

The big problem area has being the full forward line. We have chopped & changed goalkeeper and midfielders but we sorted out goalie with Hogan and midfield with Jones. Other than Morris we have never settled on front 3. Other than Morris no one has nailed down the other two inside forward position. Take 2019 in the full forward line beside Mickey Newman at the start of the league we had Dara Campion, than Thomas Reilly, and than at end of the league Barry Dardis. Than in leinster Barry was dropped and we had James Conlon than by end of the championship we had Shane Walsh. That's a good example how Andy has chopped and changed full forward line and failed to have a consistent full forward line. Glen Ryan in kildare can pick from Jimmy Hyland Daniel Flynn kirwan Niell Flynn Ben McCormack Paddy Woodgate, all can start on the inside line. Other than Morris we haven't sorted out that line. I do believe players like Shane Walsh, Diarmaid Moriarty Eoghan Frayne and others have real potential. But yes we don't know if they will develop. But with a county with such incredible tradition of producing top class forwards, you would like to think, another gem like Stephen Bray, Tommy Dowd, Bernard Flynn,ken Rennicks will come on to the scene in the coming decade. All we need is one top class forward even. Look at Monaghan with one top class forward with McManus and the huge positive impact their one top class forward had on their development.

I do think Andy has put in foundations, young players seen us Meath in div 1 for the first time in a generation. Yes it's ending badly but most managerial careers even greats like Sean Boylan dont end great. A quality manager comes in could turnaround things quickly than people think. Look at Mickey Harte at louth the impact he has made. When Andy took over there was little quality talent coming through especially upfront. Meath managers in the 2020s will have the most talented Meath footballer to come through in a generation, since the 1990s.

Regard my prediction of leinster title in 2021 2022, I made these predictions 5 or 6 years ago in 2017 2018. I was wrong hands up I got that wrong. I cannot read the future. I felt confident but again I was completely wrong. What do I know. My reasoning for my prediction was I expected Dublin to decline after 2017 & 2018. When I made the predictions I thought Dublin would go into decline like every other team in the history of gaa when there greats Brogans Flynn Connolly and co retire. I thought I would never see team win 3 in a row, a 4 in a row would be miracle, 5 in a row was impossible and 6 in a row was fantasy. In 2017 2018 we didn't think Dublin would win 6 in a row and they would replace All time great Brogan and Connolly with more All time greats Fenton Callaghan. My believe was Dublin would return to the pack 2019 2020 and than 2021 2022 the Dubs would be in transition and not All Ireland contenders in decline similar to where they were in early 80s when their great 70s teams broke up and average laois team beat them in 1981 and Offaly hammered them in 1982. I believe history repeating itself. And if Dubs did decline after 2018 2019 we would have been in pole position to take advantage which we were in 2019 2020 when we were Dublins main challenger. I also think no backdoor in last 2 years and shortened one this year was a real pity. I think this team could have done some serious damage in the back door in 2020 and 2021. McEntee never had one real chance of old traditional run through back door. We in my view were equipped to do allot of damage in backdoor. In 2017 2018 we had nightmare draws v Tyrone & Donegal. 2020 2021 there was no backdoor. This years a shortened qualifiers. In the past our record in backdoor is poor. Beaten by Fermanagh Cavan laois Derry Armagh in the backdoor. I think this hard running team on hard ground could have done damage in backdoor and reach q finals in 2020 2021. Off the Ball have said Meath were unlucky there was no backdoor in 2020 2021. Halted Meaths development. After last years defeat v Dubs our spirited 2nd half performance meant we would have went in good positive mental state to attack qualifiers. If we avoided a nightmare draw eg Kerry in killarney Tyrone in Omagh in early stages we could have went on run. But we will never know. I am certain u will disagree. But that's what I think.

Anyway Andys tenure has divided people there is people who think he did good job with resources he had and the others believe he didn't do a good job with the resources he had. What we can say is we all want the best for Meath, we all care passionately about Meath, we all want so much for Meath to succeed. We just disagree what is the best approach. That so many care about Meath football makes me believe in Meath and I think we can come back quicker than some people. I have feeling that kildare and Meath will continue to produce good underage teams. Both Meath and kildare are the two counties in Ireland with youngest population. Meath and kildare have highest number of people under age 24 in the country. In next 5 or 6 years the highest number of students in the history of the state will be attending secondary schools. In the area with biggest growth in student numbers will be West Dublin North & kildare & South Meath. While certain areas of the western seaboard in kerry to Mayo see underage teams numbers decrease. With East leinster project, we now have 20 plus full time coach's in comparsion of 3 for years. We have seen Meath win 4 U17 minor Leinster titles in 5 years and 1 All Ireland minor title. One of the best minor teams to come out of leinster in 20 years. They were only the third leinster team to win All Ireland minor title in the last 22 years since 2000. I believe we will make breakthrough at U20 and we will see more sucess at underage continue. I don't expect to be 10 years without leinster minor title like we had between 2008 and 2017 2018. We need to start winning U20. Thats the key. The Dubs have won 9 of the last 12 Under 20 leinster titles and 6 leinster U20 titles in 7 years in 2010s. We need to be winning 3 or 4 leinster U20 titles in next 10 years and U20 and fingers crossed All Ireland U20 maybe by the All Ireland minor champions of 2021. That would be a game changer. The ladies and minors both All Ireland champions show their us life in the old county of Meath yet. The ladies and minor All Ireland champions are a new Meath with many of the charactistic of old Meath. Emma Troy and Conor Ennis are Robbie O Malley. Liam Kelly and Mary Kate Lynch are Darren Fay, Orla lally and Jack kinlough are John McDermotts and Vicki Wall Emma Duggan and Hughie Corcoran Christian Finley are Giles and O Rourkes of those teams. I am not saying they are similar style or as good but they have many of the traits of former Meath greats. The Same temperament and they are winners in Meath jerseys standing on the shoulders of the gaint. They have shown Meath can be winners in 2020s as much as they were in 90s 80s. The have old confidence Meath use to play with. Many of our players in 2010s played with their heads down lacked confidence. But the ladies and minor champions play with their heads up with no fear and play with attitude we belong here. Up with their with Dubs kerrys Tyrones. You can see it in players like Emma Duggan Eoghan Frayne. Confidence and talent add hard work. Meath football sucess was built on those principles.

Nothing is guaranteed we need to keep modernising the county board need to improve and improve. But there are green shoots. But the first thing is get the next appointment right. We have seen how right manager appointed at the right time can transform a counties fortunes. For example look at Mickey Harte at louth, James Moran at Mayo, Pat Gilroy at Dublin, Jimmy McGuinnes at Donegal. That's why we need to go for the best availabile. And it's simple, the three best option for the Meath Job are 1 Malachy O Rourke 2 Malachy O Rourke 3 Malachy O Rourke. I am sure you know by now I would be delighted if get Malachy gets the job. But we need plan A plan B plan C in case Malachy O Rourke is not interested. Hopefully the county board make the decision fast like Louth did with Harte and the right decision. Hopefully wea are entering a new positive era in Meath football and last years ladies and minor All Ireland winners usher's in a new era, the next great chapter in Meath football. That 2021 is the beginning year in Meaths fight back. Time will tell."

Replying To Furlong1949:  "Thanks for the welcome back. Thanks for wishing me well. Its very good of you. We disagree on football matters, but thanks for your comments, I appreciate them, your a gentleman. I Still have issues in health department. Hopefully this will be the year I will be back to full health.

I have written so much about Andys tenure, but I stopped I was only repeating myself. I think u know where I stand and my reasons. So this will be short for me. I think Andy did good job up to the end 2020. Promotion to div 1, reaching q final and leinster finals and being competitive v top teams and big wins over teams outside div 1 eg Beating Wicklow by 28 pts, Longford by 22 pts, Clare by 18 pts Carlow by 14 pts, Laois by 11 pts, Fermanagh by 10 pts, kildare by 9 pts, Cork and Armagh by 6 pts. He improved strenght and Conditioning and fitness. And there was a good feel factor up to end of 2020. The defeat to Dublin in 2020 leinster is the turning point, and not in a good way. The same way 2014 defeat to Dublin was a turning point in Mick o Dowds tenure. Neither managere teams recovered from those Dublin maulings. Than the loss to kildare in 2021 league semi final play off eally begins the end of Andys tenure. And when county board tried to take him out so publicly last year, well it was over, there was no coming back from that.

My opinion is that reason we went for running game is we didn't have the forwards to kick long. Maybe they would have continued the running game if we had forwards of 00s now. If we have 07 - 11 forwards of Joe Sheridan Brian Farrell Cian Ward Graham Geraghty Stephen Bray David Bray Shane O Rourke Graham Reilly Peader Byrne Jamie Queeney, we would have been more direct, thats my belief. Why I believe that when Andy came he tried a more direct game. In his first few games in Byrne Cup and league v Kildare Clare Derry Down in 2017 we were playing a kicking game more direct. We had Brian Sheridan as full forward target man. The loss to kildare and than Down after that were we had Brian Sheridan upfront as target man everything changed,. Atter the Down game and losss Andy said he got the tactics wrong. I saw that as he felt direct game wouldn't work. Brian Sheridan never played for Meath again and we changed to a hard running team especially when Nally came in.

The big problem area has being the full forward line. We have chopped & changed goalkeeper and midfielders but we sorted out goalie with Hogan and midfield with Jones. Other than Morris we have never settled on front 3. Other than Morris no one has nailed down the other two inside forward position. Take 2019 in the full forward line beside Mickey Newman at the start of the league we had Dara Campion, than Thomas Reilly, and than at end of the league Barry Dardis. Than in leinster Barry was dropped and we had James Conlon than by end of the championship we had Shane Walsh. That's a good example how Andy has chopped and changed full forward line and failed to have a consistent full forward line. Glen Ryan in kildare can pick from Jimmy Hyland Daniel Flynn kirwan Niell Flynn Ben McCormack Paddy Woodgate, all can start on the inside line. Other than Morris we haven't sorted out that line. I do believe players like Shane Walsh, Diarmaid Moriarty Eoghan Frayne and others have real potential. But yes we don't know if they will develop. But with a county with such incredible tradition of producing top class forwards, you would like to think, another gem like Stephen Bray, Tommy Dowd, Bernard Flynn,ken Rennicks will come on to the scene in the coming decade. All we need is one top class forward even. Look at Monaghan with one top class forward with McManus and the huge positive impact their one top class forward had on their development.

I do think Andy has put in foundations, young players seen us Meath in div 1 for the first time in a generation. Yes it's ending badly but most managerial careers even greats like Sean Boylan dont end great. A quality manager comes in could turnaround things quickly than people think. Look at Mickey Harte at louth the impact he has made. When Andy took over there was little quality talent coming through especially upfront. Meath managers in the 2020s will have the most talented Meath footballer to come through in a generation, since the 1990s.

Regard my prediction of leinster title in 2021 2022, I made these predictions 5 or 6 years ago in 2017 2018. I was wrong hands up I got that wrong. I cannot read the future. I felt confident but again I was completely wrong. What do I know. My reasoning for my prediction was I expected Dublin to decline after 2017 & 2018. When I made the predictions I thought Dublin would go into decline like every other team in the history of gaa when there greats Brogans Flynn Connolly and co retire. I thought I would never see team win 3 in a row, a 4 in a row would be miracle, 5 in a row was impossible and 6 in a row was fantasy. In 2017 2018 we didn't think Dublin would win 6 in a row and they would replace All time great Brogan and Connolly with more All time greats Fenton Callaghan. My believe was Dublin would return to the pack 2019 2020 and than 2021 2022 the Dubs would be in transition and not All Ireland contenders in decline similar to where they were in early 80s when their great 70s teams broke up and average laois team beat them in 1981 and Offaly hammered them in 1982. I believe history repeating itself. And if Dubs did decline after 2018 2019 we would have been in pole position to take advantage which we were in 2019 2020 when we were Dublins main challenger. I also think no backdoor in last 2 years and shortened one this year was a real pity. I think this team could have done some serious damage in the back door in 2020 and 2021. McEntee never had one real chance of old traditional run through back door. We in my view were equipped to do allot of damage in backdoor. In 2017 2018 we had nightmare draws v Tyrone & Donegal. 2020 2021 there was no backdoor. This years a shortened qualifiers. In the past our record in backdoor is poor. Beaten by Fermanagh Cavan laois Derry Armagh in the backdoor. I think this hard running team on hard ground could have done damage in backdoor and reach q finals in 2020 2021. Off the Ball have said Meath were unlucky there was no backdoor in 2020 2021. Halted Meaths development. After last years defeat v Dubs our spirited 2nd half performance meant we would have went in good positive mental state to attack qualifiers. If we avoided a nightmare draw eg Kerry in killarney Tyrone in Omagh in early stages we could have went on run. But we will never know. I am certain u will disagree. But that's what I think.

Anyway Andys tenure has divided people there is people who think he did good job with resources he had and the others believe he didn't do a good job with the resources he had. What we can say is we all want the best for Meath, we all care passionately about Meath, we all want so much for Meath to succeed. We just disagree what is the best approach. That so many care about Meath football makes me believe in Meath and I think we can come back quicker than some people. I have feeling that kildare and Meath will continue to produce good underage teams. Both Meath and kildare are the two counties in Ireland with youngest population. Meath and kildare have highest number of people under age 24 in the country. In next 5 or 6 years the highest number of students in the history of the state will be attending secondary schools. In the area with biggest growth in student numbers will be West Dublin North & kildare & South Meath. While certain areas of the western seaboard in kerry to Mayo see underage teams numbers decrease. With East leinster project, we now have 20 plus full time coach's in comparsion of 3 for years. We have seen Meath win 4 U17 minor Leinster titles in 5 years and 1 All Ireland minor title. One of the best minor teams to come out of leinster in 20 years. They were only the third leinster team to win All Ireland minor title in the last 22 years since 2000. I believe we will make breakthrough at U20 and we will see more sucess at underage continue. I don't expect to be 10 years without leinster minor title like we had between 2008 and 2017 2018. We need to start winning U20. Thats the key. The Dubs have won 9 of the last 12 Under 20 leinster titles and 6 leinster U20 titles in 7 years in 2010s. We need to be winning 3 or 4 leinster U20 titles in next 10 years and U20 and fingers crossed All Ireland U20 maybe by the All Ireland minor champions of 2021. That would be a game changer. The ladies and minors both All Ireland champions show their us life in the old county of Meath yet. The ladies and minor All Ireland champions are a new Meath with many of the charactistic of old Meath. Emma Troy and Conor Ennis are Robbie O Malley. Liam Kelly and Mary Kate Lynch are Darren Fay, Orla lally and Jack kinlough are John McDermotts and Vicki Wall Emma Duggan and Hughie Corcoran Christian Finley are Giles and O Rourkes of those teams. I am not saying they are similar style or as good but they have many of the traits of former Meath greats. The Same temperament and they are winners in Meath jerseys standing on the shoulders of the gaint. They have shown Meath can be winners in 2020s as much as they were in 90s 80s. The have old confidence Meath use to play with. Many of our players in 2010s played with their heads down lacked confidence. But the ladies and minor champions play with their heads up with no fear and play with attitude we belong here. Up with their with Dubs kerrys Tyrones. You can see it in players like Emma Duggan Eoghan Frayne. Confidence and talent add hard work. Meath football sucess was built on those principles.

Nothing is guaranteed we need to keep modernising the county board need to improve and improve. But there are green shoots. But the first thing is get the next appointment right. We have seen how right manager appointed at the right time can transform a counties fortunes. For example look at Mickey Harte at louth, James Moran at Mayo, Pat Gilroy at Dublin, Jimmy McGuinnes at Donegal. That's why we need to go for the best availabile. And it's simple, the three best option for the Meath Job are 1 Malachy O Rourke 2 Malachy O Rourke 3 Malachy O Rourke. I am sure you know by now I would be delighted if get Malachy gets the job. But we need plan A plan B plan C in case Malachy O Rourke is not interested. Hopefully the county board make the decision fast like Louth did with Harte and the right decision. Hopefully wea are entering a new positive era in Meath football and last years ladies and minor All Ireland winners usher's in a new era, the next great chapter in Meath football. That 2021 is the beginning year in Meaths fight back. Time will tell."