Meath vs Dublin 17th June

[Stagmeister]

I dunno Keith Barr can be a bit off the wall at times, i dont agree with him putting barry cahill corner back, Cahill is too big to be a corner man and would get skinned in there, they tried him at full back last year and that didnt work out for him so why keith barr reckons he would be a good corner man is beyond me.

I wouldnt play Cahill corner back either...dont think its that off the wall a statement though, the fact he didnt cut it at full back wouldnt have any bearing on how he might perform in the corner though as they are totally different positions. I'd agree with everything else Barr said in that article though and with most stuff he writes in general.

[Hardy]

I'm happy with that team!

It looks like a vote of misplaced confidence in an outfit that struggled in nearly every line last week. Are they happy that they've dealt with the capability of all of Geraghty, Sheridan and Farrell to win their own ball in front of the goals? Have they dealt with the hole on the middle of the defence? How are the two midfielders who couldn't cope with Mark Ward last week going to manage it this time? Has Connolly now been blooded and is he ready to deliver a performance on Sunday that justifies keeping B. Brogan, Vaughan and Bonner out of the team?

And above all else, the Dublin management have shown their lack of a clue in persisting without a reliable free-taker. Vaughan should be in the team for the one reason that he's the nearest thing to a reliable free-taker in the panel. Whatever happens on Sunday, no team can go all the way without a 90% reliable free-taker. Even if Quinn were to slot 10 out of 10 this week (and we know he won't – it'll be x out of x in the first half and 0 out of y when the fat is in the fire) he's not the man for the job, long term.

[Davitt Man]

I dunno Keith Barr can be a bit off the wall at times, i dont agree with him putting barry cahill corner back, Cahill is too big to be a corner man and would get skinned in there, they tried him at full back last year and that didnt work out for him so why keith barr reckons he would be a good corner man is beyond me.

I wouldnt play Cahill corner back either...dont think its that off the wall a statement though, the fact he didnt cut it at full back wouldnt have any bearing on how he might perform in the corner though as they are totally different positions. I'd agree with everything else Barr said in that article though and with most stuff he writes in general.

I didnt say that was an off the wall statement i meant in general he can be off the wall, the few times i have read his articles he takes the lazy option and just has a go at mangement and the players.

Totally different positions i agree but you need one thing in both positions and that is speed off the spot which i dont think Cahill has and the way modern day football is played full fowards and corner forwards are nearly the same apart from kerry so if Cahill was full back he would struggle against small nippy forwards at full forward (like he did last year) and corner forwards.

[Stagmeister]

Am not impressed with this team i thought  Moran was terrible last time ,  Connolly struggled and the half back where poor .
I can't belive their is no place for Vaughan , B Brogan or Shocko . Play crap and be 100% sure of your place some system

Totally agree with you...Not impressed either.
Would also like to see Vaughan, Brogan and shaughnessy given a run.
Both Vaughan and B Brogan have way more scoring potential than Moran, Dublins forward line is weak enough without playing defenders in it.
If keaney has an off day this wkend which he is prone to having now and again that puts a serious amt of pressure on A Brogan and Quinn to perform because I cant see where else the scores are coming from unless Connolly can improve considerably from last weeks display.

Sick of hearing about how good Vaughan and B Brogan are supposed to be and never seeing them get there chance.
Obviously no one knows if they are good enough for Senior inter county but there's only one way to find out, thought this wkend was a great opportunity to throw them both in.
Vaughan is 22 now and has been on the panel for 3 yrs...think he's only started 2 championship games in that time...

[lynchbhoy]

Barry Cahill does a good job at corner back - think it or even full back are his best positions for Dublin (maybe midfield too....but thats a diff argument).
Cannot believe Dublin named the same side. Am hoping they dont line out that way and its just a ploy by caffrey - but I doubt it

[Gnevin]

Am not impressed with this team i thought  Moran was terrible last time ,  Connolly struggled and the half back where poor .
I can't belive their is no place for Vaughan , B Brogan or Shocko . Play crap and be 100% sure of your place some system

Vaughan is 22 now and has been on the panel for 3 yrs...think he's only started 2 championship games in that time...

The management will do what they did last year and give him no games then unfairly through him on in a panic situation where we are desperate for scores and he's not match fit

[Davitt Man]

Am not impressed with this team i thought  Moran was terrible last time ,  Connolly struggled and the half back where poor .
I can't belive their is no place for Vaughan , B Brogan or Shocko . Play crap and be 100% sure of your place some system

Totally agree with you...Not impressed either.
Would also like to see Vaughan, Brogan and shaughnessy given a run.
Both Vaughan and B Brogan have way more scoring potential than Moran, Dublins forward line is weak enough without playing defenders in it.
If keaney has an off day this wkend which he is prone to having now and again that puts a serious amt of pressure on A Brogan and Quinn to perform because I cant see where else the scores are coming from unless Connolly can improve considerably from last weeks display.

Sick of hearing about how good Vaughan and B Brogan are supposed to be and never seeing them get there chance.
Obviously no one knows if they are good enough for Senior inter county but there's only one way to find out, thought this wkend was a great opportunity to throw them both in.
Vaughan is 22 now and has been on the panel for 3 yrs...think he's only started 2 championship games in that time...

biggest mistake this year, making Collie Moran captain so more than likely he is going to get his place everyday,Mayo made the same mistake making Chucky captain even though he isnt guaranteed a spot on the starting 15

Connolly looked too laid back the last day but that was his 1st c\ship start and so he should have learnt that the pace of c\ship football is alot different to league football so give him another chance and see how he does.

My biggest worry if i was a dub is the full back spot, trying to convert a midfielder into a full back isnt the awnser but RMC seems to be the only answer dublin have at the moment. Mayo tried to convert a midfielder into a full back (kilcullen) and in the league semi final he was hauled off after 20mins rather harshly and we havent seen him since. And now we are back at square 1 with another midfielder (Heaney) playing at 3.

The best way for Dublin to beat Meath is to do a meath on it and let every ball go long and fast into brogan and keaney, they had the meath full back line under serious pressure early on the last day.

[Gnevin]

The best way for Dublin to beat Meath is to do a meath on it and let every ball go long and fast into brogan and keaney, they had the meath full back line under serious pressure early on the last day.

Yeah when they where poxy playing at full forward then the musicial chairs begins and everyone moves out of position.

The players really must be tired of this "system" by now 

[Stagmeister]

biggest mistake this year, making Collie Moran captain so more than likely he is going to get his place everyday,Mayo made the same mistake making Chucky captain even though he isnt guaranteed a spot on the starting 15

Connolly looked too laid back the last day but that was his 1st c\ship start and so he should have learnt that the pace of c\ship football is alot different to league football so give him another chance and see how he does.

That seems to be Connollys biggest problem, too laid back and finds it hard to keep his concentration for the 70 mins...He didnt perform at all the last day so on form he prob deserved to be dropped but I think they are prob right to give him another go...there's no point giving a young fella his debut and dropping him after one game if he plays bad, its gonna take them a few games to get the feel of it so you just have to show a bit of faith in them for 2 to 3 games if at all possible.

Thats what they did to Vaughan last yr...dropped him after the longford game even though he didnt even play that badly...these sort of players need to be given a proper run in the team to see whether they are up to it or not.

[Davitt Man]

The best way for Dublin to beat Meath is to do a meath on it and let every ball go long and fast into brogan and keaney, they had the meath full back line under serious pressure early on the last day.

Yeah when they where poxy playing at full forward then the musicial chairs begins and everyone moves out of position.

The players really must be tired of this "system" by now 

Ya the musical chairs system is a joke, leave brogan keaney and mossie close to goal and let the half forwards play musical chairs, the dublin half forward line is very weak, no real scoring threat there at all, need to get jayo back fast where he can direct the play from the 40.

[darbyo]

I don't think that the Dublin team named will actually start. Unless the management have no faith in the subs to perform at this level then I can't see the reason for persisting with the same 15. Making Moran captain was a poor move alright, just can't see Dublin winning Sam with that half forward or half back line.

[Stagmeister]

I dont think they really rotated the forward line in the first game at all, not to the extent they were last year anyway...Brogan and Keaney seemed to be staying in close enough to the goal for the whole game...
They miss Jayo big time...he's the brains of the operation...always seems to pick the right pass out.

Hopefully they will give Connolly a go with the frees this wkend...I know its a lot for him to take on but anythings better than Mossie who'll miss at least one for each he scores

[magpie seanie]

If that Dublin team starts then Pillar is a bigger fool than I thought he was. Surely that's just a line they're feeding Meath.

[Hound]

I doubt he's even picked the team yet. May not do so until Sunday morning to give Sherlock and Bonner as much time as possible to get fit.  The team issued was purely for the purposes of having something in the programme. Caffrey has done the same regularly in his tenure. In saying that, if those lads dont make it, I wouldnt be shocked to see the same 15 line-out again. Disappointed, but not shocked. Its not actually a bad team - even though it looked like one for the final 50 minutes of the first game!

Plenty of big decisions for Caffrey to make.

Full back.
The McConnell experiment seemed to be abandoned in the second half last time, when Ross played more in the half back line than the full back line. Does he try it one more time? Does he just play 3 corner backs (which will work fine when a team plays 2 in the FF line as many do) and let Henry continue on Geraghty? Does he revert to Barry Cahill, who I believe was actually improving as a full back last year? Paddy Christie?

Bryan Cullen
Centre back or half forward? We saw how he was taken out of the game by following Kevin Reilly to the sideline for most of the match. Maybe he should be told to hold his position. Some people say Cullen is "too loose" for centre back, and IMO the only evidence for saying that was the time we played Mayo is Parnell Park and McDonald went roaming and Cullen held his position. I remember Cullen getting dogs abuse for that, despite it being a management decision and Cullen actually having a very good game, inlcuidng scoring a critical monster point late on. Its not an easy question to answer when the centre forward goes roaming. I suppose you could say that if its a McDonald someone needs to follow him, if its a Reilly its more important not to leave a hole in the middle. I think Cullen is too good a point scorer to keep him away from the forwards. I think if you swapped Cullen and Moran you'd improve the team. I can't remember Moran having a bad game for Dublin at half back. Its rare when he has a good one at half forward.

Midfield
I'd love to drop Darren Magee, on the basis that you can't play as badly as he did without suffering consequences. Maybe Pillar's given him a roasting these last two weeks and he'll come out all guns blazing to rectify matters, but I'd love to see McConnell get a chance in his proper position.

Free-taking
I don't know that Vaughan or Connolly would be any more reliable than Quinn. Mossy is a lovely footballer with ball in hand, and would probably improve further if the pressure of free-taking was taken off him. Although again it wouldnt be unfair to drop him based on his general performance last time. Its an awful pity that for various reasons Vaughan has never had a proper run of games in the league - so nobody has any clue still whether he's up to intercounty or not.

[The Hill is Blue]

I'm happy with that team!

It looks like a vote of misplaced confidence in an outfit that struggled in nearly every line last week. Are they happy that they've dealt with the capability of all of Geraghty, Sheridan and Farrell to win their own ball in front of the goals? Have they dealt with the hole on the middle of the defence? How are the two midfielders who couldn't cope with Mark Ward last week going to manage it this time? Has Connolly now been blooded and is he ready to deliver a performance on Sunday that justifies keeping B. Brogan, Vaughan and Bonner out of the team?

And above all else, the Dublin management have shown their lack of a clue in persisting without a reliable free-taker. Vaughan should be in the team for the one reason that he's the nearest thing to a reliable free-taker in the panel. Whatever happens on Sunday, no team can go all the way without a 90% reliable free-taker. Even if Quinn were to slot 10 out of 10 this week (and we know he won't – it'll be x out of x in the first half and 0 out of y when the fat is in the fire) he's not the man for the job, long term.

You've left a few hostages to fortune there, Hardy. It seems that all Meath will have to do is turn up.

Roll on Sunday.