Meath Forum

Meath 2024

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Replying To royaldunne:  "Totally agree. We were very shaky in the first half in back line. Fouling again rather than been confident in tackle. The build up to the goal was a worry . That been said when keoghan came on made a huge difference, also big shout for billy to be the keeper his kick outs and awareness to where the player was was top notch for me I'd like to see more of him in goals before league, to see if he is the no1. Hickey was wasted at midfield and really only got going in second half. That was a poor louth team and we ended up making them look that. We have to hit the ground running in league as we have the easier games early on. A win is a win and give's management a chance of another look at a few lads next Saturday. The more games we get before league the better."
We're we missing many last night, like Sigerson lads?

Selwyn (Meath) - Posts: 387 - 07/01/2024 11:06:17    2518779

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Strange position for jones

Jimsam12 (Donegal) - Posts: 19 - 07/01/2024 12:00:24    2518784

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Replying To Selwyn:  "We're we missing many last night, like Sigerson lads?"
No all the sigerson players played at least 30 mins. Only players missing were due to injuries. Morris and Ronan Ryan will be out for another month or 2.

Sheridan2010louth (Meath) - Posts: 184 - 07/01/2024 12:40:45    2518792

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Replying To Selwyn:  "We're we missing many last night, like Sigerson lads?"
Not that I could see. Think majority were involved

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 07/01/2024 13:22:38    2518794

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Replying To Jimsam12:  "Strange position for jones"
Didn't suit him at all.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 07/01/2024 13:24:54    2518796

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I work with one of the Louth players, he was saying they were missing a fair few. Particularly in the forwards. Obviously Mulroy being one of the standout ones.

Selwyn (Meath) - Posts: 387 - 07/01/2024 13:34:24    2518800

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Replying To Selwyn:  "I work with one of the Louth players, he was saying they were missing a fair few. Particularly in the forwards. Obviously Mulroy being one of the standout ones."
Yeh we were missing 7 or 8 who will def start when fit.
In saying that Meath were far stronger, fitter and more skillful all over the pitch. Was men against boys apart from a spell when you had the man off on the black card at end of first half.

Not overly worried as I'm told alot players missing are not injured and it was just giving lads a chance

DundalkGael (Louth) - Posts: 921 - 07/01/2024 13:59:59    2518802

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Replying To Selwyn:  "I work with one of the Louth players, he was saying they were missing a fair few. Particularly in the forwards. Obviously Mulroy being one of the standout ones."
They still had plenty of regulars playing, albeit missing three or four of last year's starting forwards. Louth will regress hugely now without Mickey Harte and Gavin Devlin. Meath were without Donal Keogan, Shane Walsh andConor Gray from the start and Jordan Morris and Ronan Ryan fully due to Injury. Also throw in James McEntee and Pádraig Harnan who started last year's Tailteann Cup final. 6/7 players mentioned there started the final last year. Meath also made 11 substitutions last night, with a huge amount playing Sigerson Cup during the week.

BigJoe14 (Meath) - Posts: 998 - 07/01/2024 14:11:49    2518807

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Replying To BigJoe14:  "They still had plenty of regulars playing, albeit missing three or four of last year's starting forwards. Louth will regress hugely now without Mickey Harte and Gavin Devlin. Meath were without Donal Keogan, Shane Walsh andConor Gray from the start and Jordan Morris and Ronan Ryan fully due to Injury. Also throw in James McEntee and Pádraig Harnan who started last year's Tailteann Cup final. 6/7 players mentioned there started the final last year. Meath also made 11 substitutions last night, with a huge amount playing Sigerson Cup during the week."
Louth had about 4-5 Starters playing with Meath close to full strength! Ref is new to intercounty and missed the Elbow - Funny how Cavan man didn't in last years League game!

MR2 (Louth) - Posts: 44 - 07/01/2024 18:30:22    2518868

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Replying To MR2:  "Louth had about 4-5 Starters playing with Meath close to full strength! Ref is new to intercounty and missed the Elbow - Funny how Cavan man didn't in last years League game!"
Meath were no where near full strength & made loads of changes at ht, yes they had a strong panel out

bogball_4_life (Meath) - Posts: 1 - 08/01/2024 00:13:57    2518932

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COR is a shrewd character! He knows this is his chance of a trophy and then he can always say he won 2 trophies in 2 years with Meath! :) And to be fair to him it is not a bad idea! Who knows what winning a trophy will do for the team and supporters going into the league!

But in my opinion, his first objective (especially if he wants to play strong teams from the start!) should be to build from the back! get his defense in shape and used to playing in a system. I believe a defensive system should be coached from very early on in a season!
But playing one of our strong defenders in MF and one of our midfielders CB is not the way to go.
I doubt they will be there for the league! For CB you need a natural defender who knows how to create a wall there and not leave holes in defense when going forward! Unless Jones has a lot of experience of playing there?

Surely if we are struggling at CB this is the time to blood someone new there? Do we really need Jones there?
I also agree with other posters - we don't have a defensive coach in place and if you look at what Jack O'Connor did with Kerry when he came back - he brought in Tally from Tyrone because he knew Kerry had to break a little from tradition in order to win an All Ireland and that's exactly what happened!

I do like the fact that he is going out with a strong team from the start as there is a lot to be said for cohesion, And league is in 3 weeks so these matches are better than challenges!
but I do think we will be in trouble against the better teams because it appears we have not done much about our defensive frailties from last year

JonnieG (Meath) - Posts: 246 - 08/01/2024 10:41:31    2518970

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Replying To JonnieG:  "COR is a shrewd character! He knows this is his chance of a trophy and then he can always say he won 2 trophies in 2 years with Meath! :) And to be fair to him it is not a bad idea! Who knows what winning a trophy will do for the team and supporters going into the league!

But in my opinion, his first objective (especially if he wants to play strong teams from the start!) should be to build from the back! get his defense in shape and used to playing in a system. I believe a defensive system should be coached from very early on in a season!
But playing one of our strong defenders in MF and one of our midfielders CB is not the way to go.
I doubt they will be there for the league! For CB you need a natural defender who knows how to create a wall there and not leave holes in defense when going forward! Unless Jones has a lot of experience of playing there?

Surely if we are struggling at CB this is the time to blood someone new there? Do we really need Jones there?
I also agree with other posters - we don't have a defensive coach in place and if you look at what Jack O'Connor did with Kerry when he came back - he brought in Tally from Tyrone because he knew Kerry had to break a little from tradition in order to win an All Ireland and that's exactly what happened!

I do like the fact that he is going out with a strong team from the start as there is a lot to be said for cohesion, And league is in 3 weeks so these matches are better than challenges!
but I do think we will be in trouble against the better teams because it appears we have not done much about our defensive frailties from last year"
I honestly don''t think COR cares about winning this because its a "Trophy" If he leaves after this year and we win it I doubt he'll be going around saying he won 2 trophys in 2 years TBH.

The O'Byrne cup is basically the charity shield or one of those pre season asia cups the premier league teams play.

Winning the O'Byrne cup will do nothing for team going into the league. It won't make a difference either way. Same as having a terrible O'Byrne cup campaign won't make any difference . It's a pre season comp to get minutes into lads. Nothing more nothing less.

Blackspot09 (Meath) - Posts: 1012 - 08/01/2024 11:41:36    2518988

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Replying To LeitrimRoyal99:  "Time will tell when we play divison 2 level teams. But did we improve defensively or did we just play worse teams. Our defensive was brutal in the league. Still conceded 2-14 against Antrim in the Tailteann semi. 0-14 against Down which would have been a lot more if they could shoot at all. I'd still be very fearful of our defense against top opposition. And yes the teams that are most expansive will succeed (i.e Dublin and Kerry). But success for us at the minute is becoming a division 1 team and in my opinion that means coming defensively solid first, like Monaghan, Derry, Galway, Armagh have all done. Hopefully I'm proven wrong. Good to get off to a winning start. Hopefully beat Longford and get a crack at the Dubs with a weakened team in the O'Byrne final"
Agree totally . I've been saying this since late last year. There is no way of judging if we improved as the year went on or were we just playing worse teams. For example only for 2 good point blank saves from Sean Brennan we'd have conceded 3-14 V Waterford who were the 2nd worst team in the country last year.

Hopefully it is the case that there was improvement but we won't be able to tell until probably 3 or 4 games in to this upcoming Div 2 campaign and anyone who claims they saw definite improvement in the TC last year is either delusional or telling porkies. It is impossible to say if we did improve or not.

Blackspot09 (Meath) - Posts: 1012 - 08/01/2024 12:08:10    2519000

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Replying To Blackspot09:  "I honestly don''t think COR cares about winning this because its a "Trophy" If he leaves after this year and we win it I doubt he'll be going around saying he won 2 trophys in 2 years TBH.

The O'Byrne cup is basically the charity shield or one of those pre season asia cups the premier league teams play.

Winning the O'Byrne cup will do nothing for team going into the league. It won't make a difference either way. Same as having a terrible O'Byrne cup campaign won't make any difference . It's a pre season comp to get minutes into lads. Nothing more nothing less."
The benefit to the O'Byrne Cup is that is provides new players with a chance to play in front of decent crowds before being thrown into league games which are a completely different animal to the intensity of O'Byrne Cup games, and gives more established players a chance to get sharp before the league. Winning it means absolutely zero other than it providing and extra competitive game in front of a crowd, which is better than a friendly match in front of nobody. The more games Meath get in it the better.

Division two is going to be seriously tough this year, even more than last. The top four in Division two at the minute look like Donegal, Armagh, Cork and Kildare. Meath's first game at home to Fermanagh is crucial and a must win. They need to be competitive away to Armagh and not have happen to them what happened against Derry last year, where the wheels came off completely.

BigJoe14 (Meath) - Posts: 998 - 08/01/2024 12:29:02    2519004

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Someone mentioned Cian O'Brian in a post earlier. It would be great to get him out for a run in the jersey in the O'Byrne Cup.

LoyalRoyal (None) - Posts: 464 - 08/01/2024 12:48:49    2519015

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Replying To BigJoe14:  "The benefit to the O'Byrne Cup is that is provides new players with a chance to play in front of decent crowds before being thrown into league games which are a completely different animal to the intensity of O'Byrne Cup games, and gives more established players a chance to get sharp before the league. Winning it means absolutely zero other than it providing and extra competitive game in front of a crowd, which is better than a friendly match in front of nobody. The more games Meath get in it the better.

Division two is going to be seriously tough this year, even more than last. The top four in Division two at the minute look like Donegal, Armagh, Cork and Kildare. Meath's first game at home to Fermanagh is crucial and a must win. They need to be competitive away to Armagh and not have happen to them what happened against Derry last year, where the wheels came off completely."
Agree on all of this. How we perform in the OB Cup good or bad will have zero bearing on our league campaign.

Blackspot09 (Meath) - Posts: 1012 - 08/01/2024 14:06:43    2519042

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Definitely feeling a little less optimistic now the glow of the TC was worn off. Would have loved to see a little outside expertise brought in on the coaching team. Can't see us finishing below Cavan or Fermanagh but could see relegation happening more easily than promotion. Still clinging to the hope generated by that TC final second half though! Would take Kildare's 2023 season for us this year: comfortable in Div 2, not embarrassed in Leinster and within a kick of a ball of the quarters.

MeathAbroad (Meath) - Posts: 101 - 08/01/2024 14:55:33    2519061

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Replying To BigJoe14:  "They still had plenty of regulars playing, albeit missing three or four of last year's starting forwards. Louth will regress hugely now without Mickey Harte and Gavin Devlin. Meath were without Donal Keogan, Shane Walsh andConor Gray from the start and Jordan Morris and Ronan Ryan fully due to Injury. Also throw in James McEntee and Pádraig Harnan who started last year's Tailteann Cup final. 6/7 players mentioned there started the final last year. Meath also made 11 substitutions last night, with a huge amount playing Sigerson Cup during the week."
Harry O' Higgins is injured too, not sure if its long term. Is Cian Mc Bride involved with the panel?

Thunderstruck (Meath) - Posts: 469 - 08/01/2024 16:24:59    2519078

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Replying To Blackspot09:  "Agree on all of this. How we perform in the OB Cup good or bad will have zero bearing on our league campaign."
At then end of the day, that's not how managers think! They all want to build up their reputations and winning silverware...
Realistically it is probably their only chance of silverware this year and more than likely our only chance of any success.

I see us competing for lower end of the Div2 table this year and we will probably get slaughtered in Leinster and more than likely the same in AI championship too depending on the draw.
It is sad to think that a year on and we are talking about the same things!
I always said it.... winning the TC was the worst thing to happen us because it is papering over the cracks. I would have rather seen us trying to fight tooth and nail to make the AI championship this year than be given a free entry.
I hope I am wrong but we seem to be going backwards and not even a competitive ball thrown in yet!!

JonnieG (Meath) - Posts: 246 - 08/01/2024 17:25:40    2519084

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Replying To Thunderstruck:  "Harry O' Higgins is injured too, not sure if its long term. Is Cian Mc Bride involved with the panel?"
McBride is involved but in my opinion he's behind Gray, Flynn, McGowan and Jones.

Sheridan2010louth (Meath) - Posts: 184 - 08/01/2024 18:16:45    2519098

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