Messages

Ach come on man, yous gave the ball away under zero pressure a dozen times in the first half and kicked 3 or 4 good point chances into their  keepers hands.

The first thing good coaching does is establish the right mindset.

Ok. So tell me what mindset Andy McEntee and Colm O'Rourke have given our players? Are they telling them they can't win? Are they telling them it doesn't matter if we lose? Of course not. Don't be thick.

As I said these lad have been winners coming up through the minor ranks. Do you think Keoghan is still playing over a 100 games for the county for a bit of craic?

I bet the stuff the Meath lads are hearing in training in terms of mindset etc is no different than any other county. Why would it be any different?

And saying there's no pressure is nonsense. There's pressure on every ball and pass in that game because possession is key.

If you know any thing about it it's because the people in charge of Meath football don't know what they're doing. They put good things in place and then let it fall apart.

Dublin have a full time S&C professional overseeing that from U14 right to senior who was working with Leinster rugby previously. We've had 2 people in to do a similar job who stuck around for about 2 years each and then quit.

It's not the players mindsets, it's not Colm O'Rourke, it's the mindset perhaps of the county board and their small mindedness.

Performance Enhancing Drugs.

Tactically we did nothing wrong. There was a lot of positives but there seems to be a gap in terms of strength and conditioning.

Your players kept making unforced errors, continually hand-passing and kicking the ball to Dublin players when under zero pressure, absolutely nothing to do with S&C.

It was clear they did not believe they could beat Dublin. Until that mindset changes they [and the other leinster teams] will stay in the same place.

Disagree. Our players were running out of steam by the end they looked like they could play for another 20 minutes.

Mistakes were made as we got tired. Unless you're a mind reader you can't claim to know the mindset of players. I'm sick of bluffers spouting this shite like they were in the dressing room and all week at training.

It's not mindset. It's coaching. And we've been doing it wrong for about 10 years. These lads have beaten Dublin at Minor and U20's and have Siegerson medals.

Once we get to senior there's a drop off and our promising players development plateaus. It's 100% coaching and S&C.

Performance Enhancing Drugs.

Tactically we did nothing wrong. There was a lot of positives but there seems to be a gap in terms of strength and conditioning.

Is it ok with everyone else if we start taking PED.

Honestly, I don't know what we have to do.

21,000 at this game. Leinster Championship is alive and kicking.

Croker will be full for Leinster vs Northampton though. Nothing to worry about lads.

Cagey game but feels like If Dublin get their game together we're in trouble

Second half  15:30 mins

Meath    01:17 (20)
Longford  01:08 (11)

FT Meath 3-19 Longford  3-12

Conceding that much a concern for Meath before facing Dublin.

Yeah. Not great defensively but we were well able to score and Conlon did well on his return. Costello coming off at halftime was a surprise but his form has dipped in the last few games.

Second half   15:30 mins

Meath     01:17 (20)
Longford  01:08 (11)

Half time

Meath     01:13 (16)
Longford  01:06 (9)

Meath 0-10
Longford 0-03

After 24 mins

Meath 0-05
Longford 0-02

After 10 mins

Meath with a strong breeze behind them.

I know, my point is it soon won't exist.

Even out of pure selfishness and money making the GAA and Leinster council would benefit from a competitive competition. Meath and Kildare used to almost fill Croke Park.

Now you won't half fill it on a double header without the Dubs. But the top man in Leinster seems to think it's fine the way it is.

Something isn't right though and saying counties just need to shape up isn't enough. There needs to be a review across all of Leinster to understand what is needed to bring all counties up to a competitive level. Otherwise we're going to see decades slip by and we won't be any closer to solving the problem unless provincial competitions are done away with altogether. If provinces are to stay then this problem has to be solved by the GAA and the Leinster Council.

Leaving it up to the counties themselves isn't good enough and they aren't capable of saving themselves at this point.

(Playing devils advocate Here)

Other than the Cash Cow that is Dublin why should the GAA care about how any county does? When Meath were winning AI's and Leinsters for fun nearly a quarter of a Century ago, did ye care about how anyone else was getting on? It's basically tough sh*t if you cannot get your house in order. What do you want special treatment in Leinster?

No one was saying Leinster was a dead competition then. It's not like we won 13 in a row ever. It was competitive in the 80, 90 and 00. Granted more could have been done then to help weaker counties but with the rise of Westmeath, Laois, Offaly it looked to be happening for a while.

And I'm not asking for special treatment for Meath alone I'm asking for this for all counties in Leinster. Otherwise it's going the way of the Connacht hurling championship.

As for getting our house in order, fine, we're all up for that but what does that statement actually involve? No one seems to know. That's why  we need help as do so many other counties.

Something isn't right though and saying counties just need to shape up isn't enough. There needs to be a review across all of Leinster to understand what is needed to bring all counties up to a competitive level. Otherwise we're going to see decades slip by and we won't be any closer to solving the problem unless provincial competitions are done away with altogether. If provinces are to stay then this problem has to be solved by the GAA and the Leinster Council.

Leaving it up to the counties themselves isn't good enough and they aren't capable of saving themselves at this point.

Leinster GAA chief says provincial football and hurling championships are 'alive and kicking'

Maybe hurling but he must be living in a different world to the rest of us when it comes to football. Take Dublin out and you'd have a competitive championship.

Dublin probably won't be beaten in Leinster until another one of the teams becomes established Division one team and that doesn't look to be happening anytime soon.

It's a race for 2nd place at the moment which gives you a 2nd seed spot in the All Ireland championship group stage. Meath might see themselves as the 2nd best but have got the short straw getting Dublin.   Anyone of Kildare/Westmeath/Louth could reach the final making it interesting on that side of the draw.

Anyone who thinks Leinster football is alive is deluded.

The fact that the head man in Leinster is in denial about the problem is the most concerning fact. How long before they pull their heads out of the sand? Do stadiums have to be empty before they take some action on this.

The other counties in Leinster clearly need help and not just financial. There needs to be some sort of audit on it to see what the likes of Meath, Kildare, Laois etc are doing wrong and propose solutions. Otherwise a load of time, money and other resources will be wasted trying to keep up with Dublin.

I honestly think at this stage no one in Meath County Board has an answer to the problem. There was a lad appointed to over see S&C for all county teams but he walked away after 2 years. All of last years back room team with the senior team has left. You have to wonder why after winning the Tailteann Cup with a young team they would all leave.