Meath Mightily Migrate from Mediocrity, Maybe.

[eviemonkey]

I'd be slow enough as a Cork man to draw too much on the subject of Meath's apparent demise as they have been our footballing masters on the pitch in the past and could well do so again in the future. Whatever about Banty and his management regime the one thing that sticks out for me is Meath seem to be falling behind now at underage level within the province, particularly at under-21 level with no provincial title, or even a final appearance since 2001. Cork have been doing well in these grades in more recent times but in my opinion it is more by accident than design that we have managed to do so. It is largely the result of a number of clubs themselves and a couple of key coaches excelling rather than any progressive blue-print initiative from the top table at County Board level.

From reading Liam Harnan's piece and the views of one or two Meath posters here, whatever about footballing blue-prints we know plenty about county board level incompetence in Cork. Some of our playing squads took the nuclear option in the recent past and the fall-out from it was divisive within the county and hugely unpopular outside it. The net outcome of these actions led to some incremental positive change but it is not a course of action that is going to lead to any long-term sustainable change that can only come from the clubs themselves.

More often than not though from my experience a lot of club delegates are concerned with their own clubs welfare first and foremost and the fortunes of the inter-county team may not figure too high on the agenda of priorities. If you replicate this mind-set across too many clubs though it can lead to a lazy period of stagnation where everyone assumes the county will be ok because they were so in the past and ultimately nobody steps forward to assume the responsibility to implement  the key changes that are needed to compete at the highest level.

For me Meath are kind of caught in no man's land at the minute. They are competitive enough to reach a couple of All Ireland Semi-Finals and Quarter-Finals during the last five years, which can satisfy some within the County Board that all is ok and they just need to keep things ticking over. But at the same time they were never really a realistic contender to win an All Ireland in any of those years, and that ultimately should be the aspiration for a county like Meath.

Where the key change comes from ultimately, I couldn't tell you. One or two fresh appointments in key positions in the footballing set-up within the county could make an appreciable difference if they were provided with the right support and goodwill. If such an outcome comes to pass, who knows I can easily see myself trudging out of Croke Park again after losing yet another All Ireland Final to the Royals. 

[thejuice]

What, Cork back in another All-Ireland final?

You're mad. 

[Hardy]

More often than not though from my experience a lot of club delegates are concerned with their own clubs welfare first and foremost and the fortunes of the inter-county team may not figure too high on the agenda of priorities. If you replicate this mind-set across too many clubs though it can lead to a lazy period of stagnation where everyone assumes the county will be ok because they were so in the past and ultimately nobody steps forward to assume the responsibility to implement  the key changes that are needed to compete at the highest level.

For me Meath are kind of caught in no man's land at the minute. They are competitive enough to reach a couple of All Ireland Semi-Finals and Quarter-Finals during the last five years, which can satisfy some within the County Board that all is ok and they just need to keep things ticking over. But at the same time they were never really a realistic contender to win an All Ireland in any of those years, and that ultimately should be the aspiration for a county like Meath.

Good post and I think these two points are spot on.

[Declan]

More often than not though from my experience a lot of club delegates are concerned with their own clubs welfare first and foremost and the fortunes of the inter-county team may not figure too high on the agenda of priorities

Agree 100% -

[Lántosach]

There were ructions tonight in Navan. Expect more fallout this week and next

[highorlow]

There were ructions tonight in Navan. Expect more fallout this week and next

Great news from Meath. Keep up the infighting. Couldn't be happening to a nicer bunch.

[thejuice]

I'm glad you're still bitter about 1996.

[Hardy]

Good  news. Any shakeup is better than no shakeup because the only possible direction from where we are now is up.

[Jinxy]

A complete purge is required.
The clubs need to step up now.

[mylestheslasher]

Agreed - a complete purge of meath people is required.

[Jinxy]

Would ye take Banty Myles?

[thejuice]

Rumour is that the County Board have told Banty where the door is but they aren't going to ask him to walk through it. He can leave of his own accord or stay.

[Ard-Rí]

Also rumoured that a former manager would step in as a temporary replacement - possibly Seán Boylan or Colm Coyle.

[thejuice]

Wouldn't mind Coyle coming back. Despite what happened against Limerick in 2008 I thought his departure was a bit pre-mature. Sean is always welcome back but it would almost seems wrong to ask him to drag us out of the mess we're in. I'd rather see him on the county board.

[mylestheslasher]

Would ye take Banty Myles?

Where would I take him?