An Mhí vs Corcaigh - Sraith Náisiúnta Peile, Roinn II

Jinxy · February 01, 2009, 08:24:46 PM

I genuinely think a lot of it is to do with having a few driven, determined, ignorant b*stards on the team that set the tone for everyone else.
They lead, others follow.
Think the Ó Sé's etc. in Kerry, Gormley, McMenamin, Dooher etc. in Tyrone.
We used to have these type of players, we don't anymore.
They set the tone for everyone else because they never accept second best.
When you have that culture in a team it means everyone prepares right, everyone maintains their focus, fringe players break their necks to get a shot at the first team and nobody hides.
As has been said before, we seem to have quite a few players who are simply unwilling to make the changes they need to make to allow them to exploit their football talent.
You shouldn't be on the team just because you were last year.
You shouldn't be on the team just because you were a brilliant minor.
It's time for some of them to either stand up and be counted or move aside and stop holding the rest of the team back.

agorm · February 01, 2009, 08:37:16 PM

Dont forget guys that we have not had a manager for most of the time since the Limerick shambles. No sense of urgency at County Board to start recruiting until very late in the summer and then they make a mess of it. Desperate set of circumstances for the management to come in on. On top of that we have had the arrogance of certain county officials that said that they wouldnt have an outsider doing the job!!! Incredible.

In my opinion, only an opinion, the fact that Brendan Murphy and Graham Geraghty are not on the panel this year speaks volumes about what they saw in the squad - talent but more importantly committmenta and organisation. If they saw a bunch of players (that have a fair bit of talent) ready to give all to the cause within a proven management then I reckon both would have been back.

We are backward at the top in the county and it has essentially been the same guys running the show since the early eighties (bar the brief period Brendan Dempsey was in charge) - everythingseemed rosey when we are successful but we have paid the price at unbderage for several years and are seeing it at senior level in recent seasons.

Declan · February 01, 2009, 08:53:06 PM

Speaking to lads tonight they are very disconsalate. Nearly felt sorry for them

Seriously though in terms of preparation and technique it sertainly seems that the Royals are years behind but as Indiana says there are still a serioous amount of natural footballers out there but not in the decisive positions I think myself. The spine of the team still seems soft which is something any Meath team I've known have always had

Jinxy · February 01, 2009, 10:24:14 PM

I'm sick of seeing lads lunging in with clumsy tackles or just sticking a hand out to try and stop a fella running by them at full pace.
Every 2nd hand-pass is given half a yard behind the man and there is no fluidity to the way the ball is moved.
Maybe I'm being ultra critical for what was effectively the first real game of the year but I'm tired of watching this half-hearted, make it up as you go along nonsense.
We had a good season in 2007, where we seemed to have some sort of gameplan and a degree of intensity we haven't reproduced since.
So maybe our problem isn't that we need to find x amount of new players.
We just need to get the good players we already have on the shagging pitch TOGETHER for a few games and improve the work rate and attitude.
Our forward line should be peader, moyles, nestor, farrell, o'rourke and brayer (IMO).
Once they are all fit, get them in there.
I thought Ward and Meade had the makings of a good partnership last year but we need to be able to mix and match depending on the opposition. Moyles can lend a hand here too.
We need a centre back and unless Regan just had a very bad day today, he is not the answer.
Dunno if others will agree or disagree but if you look at that forward line, with the exception of Moyles they all pretty young.
Use the league to find defenders. We have good forwards, if we can just figure out how to get them the shagging ball.

Hardy · February 02, 2009, 12:58:59 AM

Woeful. 1970s revisited.

Jinxy · February 02, 2009, 04:41:21 PM

Where do we go from here Hardy?
What do you think is the way forward?

Hardy · February 02, 2009, 05:43:41 PM

It's hard to see a way forward at all, Jinxy. Everything said here, by yourself and others about the ten or so different reasons we're back to the bad old pre-Boylan days seems correct to me. We're on a different planet to the serious teams and it bears out what I've always believed - the success we had under Seán was all down to Seán (and, of course, some exceptional players – but remember they were there before Seán too). The point, though, is that the success was despite, rather than because of anything the county board contributed.

There's an awful air of lethargy about the whole setup. None of the freshness and enthusiasm you'd expect from a group setting out together on a new challenge. The team looks unfit and out of condition. If any of those lads have seen a gym since last June, it was on the telly. We have no leaders. We have no tough men. We have no team spirit. We have no determination. We have no game plan. And the manager doesn't seem to communicate with the players. A little indicator: a player coming off and being replaced walks past the manager – no exchange or even recognition passes between them. It's a small thing, but it's indicative.

I know it's ridiculously early to be criticising the new manager, but the whole show yesterday was unbelievable. Start with the selections. We ended up with three backs playing in the forwards and some of the best forwards in the country nowhere to be seen. I assumed when I saw the selection that the line-up would be different to the team numbers. No. King actually played at full forward! Moyles at corner back! And the new selections were completely anonymous.

Then there was the complete inaction and lack of any response at all from the sideline to the obvious problems we were having. For example - we score two points in the first half and look totally disorganised. What's done at half time? Nothing. What was the game plan? Did lads know what was expected of them? It didn't seem like it to me. The most glaring issue was at midfield, where Damien hardly won anything and wasted what he did get, while Meade did nothing. The response? Wait for Meade to be sent off to introduce Crawford (the only other midfielder in the squad!). Oh yes - and send on two backs to play in the forwards for the last ten minutes.

Sorry – that's ranting, not analysis, but I'm pissed off, to be honest.

Jinxy · February 02, 2009, 06:34:06 PM

I'm the same.
Getting a bit sick of it all.

Jinxy · February 02, 2009, 08:39:36 PM

O'Brien has to be brave I think and face up to the fact that some of the so-called big names are just not up to it.
He needs to start dropping lads and rattling a few cages.
That's one way to find out who wants it and who doesn't.
If a few lads walk away from the panel as a result, good luck to them.

thejuice · February 03, 2009, 12:00:05 PM

From what I gather, the lads are doing 10k and 5k runs in training. Dont know how true that is though. But it might explain the lethargy. Im not going to despair just yet though. But we still need to examine the way things are being done and how it compares to successful counties.

Jinxy · February 03, 2009, 12:07:16 PM

If that IS true, it is caveman stuff.