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No Cavan have made great improvement this year under McGleenan who I hold my hands up and doubted especially after a poor preseason and poor year last year his first I know.
Playing a better style of football this year and with a bit of luck last Sunday ye could have beaten us. Best of luck at the weekend hopefully we will be meeting in croker in a few weeks. Regardless of this weekend i think ye have a great chance against Donegal

We are still weaker than we were in 2016 IMO. Mattie has done ok this year but our first serious test was Roscommon and we failed. Lose to Tipp on Sunday and we're proven to be a decent Div 2 side. Which is worse than where we were when he took over.

True although I'd say your assessment of Sunday might be a bit harsh. Sometimes when you lose it's doesn't necessarily have to be a failure but more a case of being beaten by the better team on the day. And you need a bit of luck too which we got in 2016. Worst case scenario I can live with being a decent Division 2 side with a young healthy panel, hopefully some experienced lads to rejoin and plenty of talented underage players to come through. It's a long cry from where we were before the previous man took over.

No Cavan have made great improvement this year under McGleenan who I hold my hands up and doubted especially after a poor preseason and poor year last year his first I know.
Playing a better style of football this year and with a bit of luck last Sunday ye could have beaten us. Best of luck at the weekend hopefully we will be meeting in croker in a few weeks. Regardless of this weekend i think ye have a great chance against Donegal

Thanks Oliver. Good luck to you at weekend too and I'd be surprised if you don't go up at this stage. If we do go up we more than likely will be playing ye in the final so that would certainly be a mouth watering prospect. I think new personnel wise, we certainly have the potential to improve on where we've been at, but until we actually take that step it's still only unrealized potential at this stage. Donegal is a big one for us. We have a great chance surely against them if our 15 click but despite their struggles their panel is much much stronger than ours and some of their starting forwards are all star material. So we'll need a lot to go right.

Disappointing result at weekend but it was a great battle all the same. A bit more cuteness and maybe leadership/experience we'll be winning those sort of games. Massive test now against Tipp. Really hope we respond well and we get a repeat of our last showdown with Galway. These are the sort of games can really bring lads on and we're not a million miles away.

Was very much on the fence with this trial before the lads testimony. It looked like a case of he said she said but their stories just don't add up. Also while I had been reading the newspaper reports I'll admit I hadn't been following religiously. But just read this today for the first time which is a transcript of texts between the girl and her mate the morning after. It's from the mirror and a month old. I also cannot find the transcript being carried anywhere else by another news site but it's very disturbing reading and ties in with a lot of the other evidence and texts and has certainly got me leaning towards believing the girl.

https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/rugby-union/rugby-rape-trial-paddy-jackson-12027425

This is an even more complete record of all the text messages that happened.

Both involving the complainant and the defendants.


https://www.joe.ie/life-style/anatomy-of-a-night-out-read-the-whatsapp-and-text-messages-sent-by-jackson-olding-mciiroy-harrison-and-others-as-heard-by-the-jury-618032

Thanks for the link. Hadn't read that.

One thing I'd take from that is that the lads certainly appeared hammered and their memory fuzzy but that girl did not leave the house in a low-key manner with the lads blissfully unaware in their room. The phone call to Harrison in the taxi looks like a check up on her. Was it something "hilarious" or demeaning or something more sinister? Harrison comes across as a real snake in the grass too. There looks to have been a concerted effort to manage the situation, muddy the waters and delete texts and I can see why police have him up for obstructing an investigation. Maybe at the start they were more worried about bad publicity more than actually having a criminal case to answer but once the seriousness of the situation became clear the truth should have been the priority. Innocent parties generally don't fear the truth. The defense painting Jackson as a lad that butter wouldn't melt in his mouth was a bit much too. You cannot but get the feeling that they are still withholding something. Some of the girl's story doesn't fully match up either but to me she comes across as much more believable. But is there enough there for a conviction? Maybe not.

Was very much on the fence with this trial before the lads testimony. It looked like a case of he said she said but their stories just don't add up. Also while I had been reading the newspaper reports I'll admit I hadn't been following religiously. But just read this today for the first time which is a transcript of texts between the girl and her mate the morning after. It's from the mirror and a month old. I also cannot find the transcript being carried anywhere else by another news site but it's very disturbing reading and ties in with a lot of the other evidence and texts and has certainly got me leaning towards believing the girl.

https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/rugby-union/rugby-rape-trial-paddy-jackson-12027425

There's just so much more to do in Meath compared to most other counties.
We have a vibrant visual and performing arts scene and there is a resurgence in the popularity of musical theatre, which had been banned until recently.
Kids have lots of choices nowadays.
Compare this with Mayo, where it's a choice between football and picking rocks out of a field to boil for your dinner; or Cavan, where it's a choice between football and arguing with disobedient farm animals.

And there's Bettystown. Don't forget Bettystown.

There's quite a bit of the green and red in that photo. Blowins?

Once a towns population rises over a certain figure set up a new club based on the new housing estates.
Youngsters will grow up with it being their club.
Established clubs run by oul bucks suspicious of blow ins aren't the most welcoming of places.

Huge capital investment would be needed in that scenario. Even if capital was available I don't think more clubs are needed. Improving what we have would be the way to go. Changing our approach and as you said changing attitudes.

It is hard to believe how bad Meath are. Big county with a big population and a growing population. To me it stinks of a total mismanagement by county board in terms of harnessing that population.Its almost sad to see it happening, almost

Leinster populations in general have snowballed over the last 20 years or so but apart from Dublin there has been little progress elsewhere football wise in Leinster counties. Has rugby or soccer badly effected GAA participation in those counties? I'm not going off any stats but I'd imagine rugby has become increasingly popular in Meath. Also for a county with many big towns their club scene is nothing to write home about. Rugby clubs tend to have a better organised playing schedule than GAA and a much more structured training regime which may appeal better to younger sports people. Maybe the GAA has dropped the ball a bit in Leinster and over invested in Dublin GAA?

I have friends in Meath who are big GAA fans
All of their kids play Rugby
of course this is just people I know but it gives you an idea

Out of interest are they still in the area they grew up in? Affiliation is a big thing in the GAA and club can be a big part of the family and community. With mass movement of people and a big influx of population into a certain area that affiliation can be gone. People new to the area might be apathetic to the GAA club and not particularly bothered on their kids joining. They would more likely just be glad to see their kids playing a sport (any sport) and leading healthy lives with a good network of friends. There could be more of a need for a proactive recruitment drive from GAA clubs in order to avail of these new numbers. But PR requires money and resources that may not be available. Maybe affiliation is so ingrained in the GAA it has made it lazy and complacent?   

There's just so much more to do in Meath compared to most other counties.
We have a vibrant visual and performing arts scene and there is a resurgence in the popularity of musical theatre, which had been banned until recently.
Kids have lots of choices nowadays.
Compare this with Mayo, where it's a choice between football and picking rocks out of a field to boil for your dinner; or Cavan, where it's a choice between football and arguing with disobedient farm animals.

And there's Bettystown. Don't forget Bettystown.

It is hard to believe how bad Meath are. Big county with a big population and a growing population. To me it stinks of a total mismanagement by county board in terms of harnessing that population.Its almost sad to see it happening, almost

Leinster populations in general have snowballed over the last 20 years or so but apart from Dublin there has been little progress elsewhere football wise in Leinster counties. Has rugby or soccer badly effected GAA participation in those counties? I'm not going off any stats but I'd imagine rugby has become increasingly popular in Meath. Also for a county with many big towns their club scene is nothing to write home about. Rugby clubs tend to have a better organised playing schedule than GAA and a much more structured training regime which may appeal better to younger sports people. Maybe the GAA has dropped the ball a bit in Leinster and over invested in Dublin GAA?

Only game that counts is the Roscommon match. This is the one I want us to get promotion from. If Roscommon lose it effectively blows their chance of promotion so they have to throw everything at us. We have something to prove to ourselves as well when it comes to the Rossies so if ever there was a league game to test our championship pulse then this is it.

You wrote my post for me. My feelings exactly, I'm sick to me shite of losing to Roscommon in big matches. No disrespect to an opponent that's evenly matched with us but why we capitulate against them time and again bewilders me, so it would be a nice feather in the hat - after a very positive year so far - to get that monkey off our backs as well and claim promotion in the process. It would leave us under no pressure on the final day also, but look - let's not get ahead of ourselves, it's only three months ago we were fearing relegation and talking in terms of meltdown behind the scenes.

It should be played at championship pitch too so it will be a great developer for the team and give us supporters a great insight into the team. We seem to say this every game, every weekend, but this time it's true; the next test will be the toughest so far, and then the one after that, with Tipp, even tougher again.

We've struggled against teams like Roscommon and in championship in general. The way I look at it is this. We have had a lack of pace in the team for a long time, especially up front. We've been very structured in our defending too with plenty of cover back in the danger zone. We've looked good in league on heavier pitches against teams that don't run at you in numbers. Defenders can get comfortable and when a team suddenly runs at you more than you're used to it leads to confusion and panic. When two defenders in proximity have a lad run at them they may leave the tackle to the other defender which gives the runner an advantage to get goal side. Tackling after this point you're over committing and if you do manage to stop him will result in a foul. I think our understanding and tackling in defense has improved. More pace has been introduced too especially in attack and we look more mobile. If we are coughing up more scores in defense hopefully we have now more artillery to go toe to toe with teams in a more open game. The game against Roscommon will tell a lot on our development. So too will the Championship when pitches are drier.

What's the predictions for the league finale lads??

To go 5 games unbeaten, 4 wins on the trot.. It would be a crying shame not to get promoted now. I think it will come down to a big game between ourselves and Tipp in Breffni to decide who goes up.

Only game that counts is the Roscommon match. This is the one I want us to get promotion from. If Roscommon lose it effectively blows their chance of promotion so they have to throw everything at us. We have something to prove to ourselves as well when it comes to the Rossies so if ever there was a league game to test our championship pulse then this is it.

Gerry Smith was a real disappointing non committed for me, he's potential to be every bit as good as mcveety. Rory Dunne, Givney, Keating another few who played year before last. Buchanan was playing midfield last year and Michael argue another along with retirement Thomas corr. Jack Brady non commital in forwards. Prob missed a good few too. No sign of Johnson yet but giving we are going well in forwards maybe it would be a good time for him to retire too.

Joe Dillon another lad with ability and experience who would have big claims for a start. There's lots of lads not on panel with potential and some experience but who have never fully proved themselves or gotten a prolonged run. Maybe this is why so many people were flipping out at start of year because of non availables. But like has been said already, we're really only about 4 short who you could say should definitely be starting. Having said all that we have a very unproven bench if injuries start to pile up.

Have the best players in Cavan committed to the panel this year or have some dropped out?

That's a good question. We have had retirements/injuries and we're definitely missing players that would improve us, no doubt. But these lads simply cannot commit rather than dropping out in protest as all the rumors of turmoil were implying at start of year. After that we're missing a good few with playing experience from last year but last year we weren't exactly a settled team. We were stronger IMO in 2016. We had a few decent results in league last year but we experimented a lot and were flat come championship with no player laying down a real marker for the key positions that we had trouble with. The new additions have done well this term and we look much more mobile and dangerous and settled albeit in a lower division. So jury is still out. Bigger tests await and expectation might be starting to build so we'll see how they react. It won't be a disaster if we don't get promoted although I would love to get back to Division 1. But I really hope to see us do something different in Championship this year. We've been average at best the last few years.

Who's going on like Dublin? I haven't seen anyone bigging us up. Lots of people pleasantly surprised to have achieved safety already, that's it. It's Division 2. Why shouldn't a team like Cavan be capable of winning a few games and why should it reflect so badly on the rest when they do? Smurfy less of the arrogance.