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For me, the biggest disappointment was individually very few players improved on or even met the levels they were at last year. Who can say they were better? Spoofer (Meath) - Posts: 68 - 23/06/2026 14:18:22 2681489 Link 0 |
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The quality and depth is just not there and for people to think we should be contending to win an All Ireland - I feel that's way off. Robbie took us over and yes there was a good bounce, we won games, lost a leinster final and now into Division 1. That's all great. But do a deeper dive into things. Have we been really impressive in league and championship matches? We have been ripped wide open in so many games going back to the leinster final last year and the Donegal match. This year, even in the league, we were relying on some outrageous two pointers near the end of games. Ripped apart by Westmeath, ripped apart by Cork. Ripped apart by Mayo. How many times have we played Cork for example and the same forwards took us to the cleaners each time. Where were the learnings? Don't get me wrong, we have some lovely footballers but we don't have any dogs who can take a player out of a match. We still don't have the quality of the top teams and we are not near that top bracket of teams in the country. Who, from Meath, would be in the bracket to be spoken about as top players in the country?? Keoghan, Caulfield, Ruairi (potentially Conlon, but he only produced in maybe 4 games consistently so a lot more to do). Costello has moments, but doesn't do it consistently to be spoken about in that bracket. Rafferty - one swallow never made a summer. Coffey, nice footballer but not a 6. Midfielders - not up there with others in the country. This is only an opinion, and fair play to all the players for their time and effort, but i think as supporters we need to check ourselves a little. Tinchy1 (Meath) - Posts: 70 - 23/06/2026 14:54:06 2681502 Link 0 |
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Some interesting, measured responses to another championship exit. Something I haven't seen mentioned is our approach to league. We prioritised it this year, treated each match like championship and got our reward with promotion. But much like Donegal's early exit is being put down to coming out of the traps too fast this year, I wonder if the same happened to us? We'll have to do same again next year. But I wonder how you balance going flat out in Spring with still having high energy levels in June and, possibly, July. Or maybe if our priority is a Leinster title then a meek championship exit further down the line would be tolerated in the right circumstances. MeathAbroad (Meath) - Posts: 188 - 23/06/2026 15:02:37 2681504 Link 0 |
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It's definitely something I consider, not wanting to be too harsh on the players as there is every chance that some of them read these forums (although they probably shouldn't!). I'd like to think that people here are largely focussing on the team as a collective and decisions taken by management. I do think we should as supporters be allowed to critique those elements. O'Halloran was unlucky to pay the price for collective shortcomings in the Westmeath game. He still has a big future with Meath but it just seemed like an odd decision to throw him in when the tide was turning and to replace a guy who was playing quite well. Similar story with Charlie O'Connor - not the right time to be throwing a young lad into the fray. A double midfield substitution is just a bad move - you're giving the opposition a major fillup.
gwanyagudthing (Meath) - Posts: 203 - 23/06/2026 15:18:10 2681516 Link 0 |
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Well said. Too many lads with unrealistic expectations. Its a good young team that we need to stick by. I know momentum had shifted but if Jones stays on the field I feel we would have hung on. We do need to build a better panel tho, unfortunately sometimes it takes evenings like cork and mayo to build that. We need to keep this group together. Less of the low blows from the keyboard warriors.
southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 1094 - 23/06/2026 15:33:49 2681518 Link 0 |
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I personally think at this stage the evidence is there that we simply don't have enough depth in the current county panel, particularly in defence. I've played adult county football myself, and with the new rules in place, squad depth is more important than ever. Blaming players isn't the answer. The management team need to be getting out to as many senior and intermediate matches as possible. Every year during the club championships, the podcasts and discussions highlight the same names, Rian Early, Liam Brennan, Johnny Lynch, these lads are consistently performing week in, week out. Those players deserve an opportunity. This idea of only looking at the same pool of players or focusing almost exclusively on those who came through the U20 setup is very short-sighted. All the above played county at some stage. Plenty of players have slipped through the cracks over the years for one reason or another, yet they're now producing formidable performances every week for their clubs. Those three are absolutely county standard, are regularly mentioned on podcasts and in football discussions, yet have never received a call-up. If we don't start widening the search and rewarding current form, we'll continue to face the same issues year after year. County football should be about selecting the best players available and having a big selection to choose from. Holymoly#6 (Meath) - Posts: 57 - 23/06/2026 15:57:26 2681530 Link 0 |
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I think there were peaks and troughs of players form throughout the year but you probably have named those that have shone brightest. Costello was out for a long time so its understandable he didn't reach top form. Morris one is peculiar. He peaked for Kildare game in league but since then he has been quite flaky and was in and out of games. Keoghan and Menton finished very strong but struggled for spells too. Meath need to unearth more players that can threathen for starting place or actually become regular starter. Will be a very interesting year ahead to see where this team and management stands.
winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 1026 - 23/06/2026 17:44:00 2681560 Link 0 |
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Hold there now cabbagepatch you're walking a tightrope with those type of extreme views and over the top comments. I pointed this out 3 months ago and was nearly hounded off the forum. I actually said after Westmeath game that time would tell if Meath could sort out the glaring issues in defence and game management - it was obvious to anyone who has followed this team as to the problems yet it was construed as having a go at players/management/supporters. There is another gear in this team.But we need a management ticket that can amplify it. We have players in every line of the field who are now household names and these are lads who people I speak to say they would love to have on their county team. I think Robbie is the man to be at the helm. But needs to get proper coaches and tacticians around him if we are to go the next step. If we experience the same issues next season even the most ardent of supporters will have to see the wood from the trees. Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 853 - 23/06/2026 19:58:01 2681585 Link 1 |
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I think the level of criticism is crazy on this forum. This is a young team that has demonstrated its ability to compete with the top counties. Robbie Brennan is in his second year of inter-county management. You won't get it right all the time. You can't replicate these situation in training. They are now gaining valuable experience and will learn from them. Let's take Kerry for example. How long were Clifford and O'Shea on the scene before delivering AI? Now they look like winning AI every year. It takes time, it takes messing up, so they can learn. I'm not saying we will be like Kerry, but we will win Leinsters and hopefully AI, but IT TAKES TIME. Opinion2026 (Meath) - Posts: 2 - 23/06/2026 20:47:27 2681593 Link 0 |
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I agree, iv actually brought it up a lot. We've played a full first 15 for the entire year and we did pay the price with injuries and some fatigue(menton/keoghan were struggling the first two championship games in particular) but we have div 1 football to cut our teeth in because of it. I think he's no choice but to go full bore again. The subs is a big thing we need to look at . They're very random. Lynch, O'Neill, ohalloran, Ryan, hickey, curtis, duke, gray, C'Oconnor all have championship starts. I don't think it's good that you could name a guy to start but then not have faith in him as a strong option off the bench. These lads should be bankers off the bench. If we get consistent with if a switch is made to the 15 whoever was removed from the first 15, should be first man in,THEN we would have a decent squad.
royalcounty1 (Meath) - Posts: 108 - 23/06/2026 21:23:28 2681600 Link 0 |
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Jack Flynn, kinsella,caufield for sure looked to have really moved into decent form. I listen to a lot of gaa podcast and they routinely name drop flynn. Only for himself and kinsella against Westmeath we would have been bet out the gate.Coffey, keoghan, mcbride had decent individual performances at times. Agree with Costello and morris and you could add Rafferty too. Morris form just dropped something serious( looked dangerous against cork in fairness though ) costello I thought played very well against mayo. royalcounty1 (Meath) - Posts: 108 - 23/06/2026 21:32:10 2681602 Link 1 |
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Agree Flynn was very good in the league and excellant against Westmeath. He was very solid against Derry scoring 3 pts. Think he was taken off against Mayo because of yellow and the bench options Brennan had. In hindsight should have waited another 10 mins. Rafferty form improved for Derry and Mayo. He finished well but struggled earlier in year. Costello started well against Mayo but faded. Morris just didn't reach last years levels. winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 1026 - 24/06/2026 08:15:46 2681636 Link 0 |
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I would agree with most of the above, it seems that seems focus and intensity during the league eventually caught up with them, similar to Donegal in that regard. Meaths focus on getting to Div. 1 left very little scope for trying new players. I have to say I felt particularly sorry for Aaron Lynch over the last few weeks, his league for was exceptional and you could argue that over all the games he played in (league and championship) he was more consistent that Morris, but yet he barely featured in the last 3 games. The one elephant in the room is defensive coaching, a new defensive coach was brought in this year and we actually got worse at defending. If we are to get to the very top this has to change, the tallys that Meath conceded in league and championship this year meant we always had to shoot the lights out to win. We need to look at getting a different / better defensive coach in to provide structure and stability in our defense. Thunderstruck (Meath) - Posts: 485 - 24/06/2026 08:16:21 2681637 Link 1 |
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All in all a season with a lot of surprises....Sideline decisions and substitutions against Mayo looked like panic prematurely. I did not see any excuses being used by Robbie and thats healthy, Reflection and lessons learned may follow rather than dwell too long on excuses alone We know that as we go up the ladder we can expect to have need to reflect on mistakes and i am confident Robbie will do that . Key players loosing form from last year is more problematic, and the answers may be best provided by the players to begin with.supported by a mentor who can help them get into their own heads.As has been said here we are a few players short of the standard, and on that we live in hope new blood shows up somehow. I am sure every county will join in on the chorus there I t can be easy to forget where we were just 2 years ago, and the achievements of bringing back the buzz of expectation in meath football Great work despite the blunders recently and with an optimistic vibe that with lessons learned good times are not that far away.....Whats another year ? nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1316 - 24/06/2026 10:21:08 2681650 Link 1 |
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This one way obsession Louth people have with Meath is bizarre.
Meath10 (Meath) - Posts: 209 - 24/06/2026 13:23:29 2681689 Link 0 |
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Rather than share my thoughts, I agree here completely on all points of your analysis and reiterate them. The 2 substitutions are baffling, made worse by the fact that Jones had no game time. I don't blame him for the red, ridiculous decision by the Officials. However, we lost the game ourselves, regardless of the red. 2 of our forwards should of been changed. I dunno what management were thinking this time, usually they are solid but this one was really baffling. Tweety (Meath) - Posts: 34 - 24/06/2026 23:07:15 2681762 Link 0 |
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Having commented already on the mayo failings, as some have said here, we have improved immensely in 2 years. There's great potential and we are not far off with improvements to squad depth and our game management achievable. Tweety (Meath) - Posts: 34 - 24/06/2026 23:21:53 2681763 Link 1 |
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So anyway lowerhogan i took your advice and watched the meath mayo match back.you miss a lot when you are at the game and its good to look back at things.....so i looked at the killian smyth substition and the merits of his replacement o halloran.......i thought killian was doing fine myself.was travelling the pitch and flushing out his runs etcetc but you will be surprised to find that he had only 4 possessions of in which one he was fouled...nothing spectacular we will agree but a good hard woking display all the same in those 44 mins.....i am not too sure did he deserve to be subbed in fairness...i then looked at the other mans display gor the following 21 mins...he went into the full back line.keoghegan went to half line..o halloran had 7 possessions..two turnovers .won a great kick out over on the side line where he was fouled by ryan o donoghue.won a good breaking ball from a brillant lavin tackle on the same side line and linked play twice and was also fouled on another occasion......on the downside he bought a dummy from tommy conroy and was badly beaten for a point....as to body language i am no expert so will give no opinion on same...that was the only score he was directly at fault for and the only time he was turned.your comment was very harsh but in fairness you are entitled to your comment..but i am very glad to have watched the game back.......i also thought the taking off of both midfielders at the same time was premature but felt so bad for jones who did not deserve to see red..who knows he may have had a monster game.it was the changing of the game...of a bigger issue in the last 20 mins was the amount of ball we turned over or kicked away.we turned over or fouled the ball or man for frees or scores in the 47 48 52 53 54 55 63 64 and 64 mins again...we also conceded 3 two pointers.again i never realised this until i looked at the game again....being at the game can sometimes be too emotional.....i feel bad for all players and management who put their lives on hold for our county.best wishes for next year
Meathnut (Meath) - Posts: 11 - 25/06/2026 16:14:39 2681897 Link 0 |
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Watched it back too and despite the sending off, Meath still had a number of attacks and got very little off them. Caulfield goal chance, Brennan point from free missed after Hickey was fouled. Morris missed off two point attempts. JOC dispossessed when attacking from half forwardline. James Conlon handled on ground (perhaps it wasn't a free) when paased a ball in. Keoghan looked like he was fouled too. Hickey and McEntee actually showed well and carried good ball. Closing down the 2 pointers was also a problem. It was quite frantic and Meath didn't get rub of the green. In fairness to Jones, he looked up for it and was involved in a great turnover when he came on. Costello was then dispossessed and Mayo got a score. I've come to the conclusion that perhaps Meath can only play one way and that it go go go and attack and try and blitz teams. They can half do it and perhaps the only way to fully do it is to get even fitter and stronger. Since the league they have looked a little fatigued. The away draws also made life difficult. The most disappointing thing for Meath is that looking at remaining teams, they are every bit as good or better than most of them. With some fine tuning, further work and more smarts from players and management this team could get very close to something big. They will have to stick with it and push on again and not dwell too much on disappointment. Only one team remaining will win All Ireland so the rest will be back to square one soon too. winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 1026 - 25/06/2026 20:58:26 2681943 Link 0 |
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Mayo showed great character in defense, all Corks danger men were well marshalled. The very same players who destroyed Meath eg Sherlock. Smb2 (Clare) - Posts: 13 - 27/06/2026 17:56:39 2682226 Link 0 |