Meath Vs Kildare - 5/6/2011, Páirc an Chrócaigh

[lynchbhoy]

thanks DH - yep  Doyle will most likely be allowed the freedom to roam wherever he wants.
Seems to suit him too - he can do that or play as a ball winning hf or as a ball wnning lethal scoring FF/cf

as for Flan - well that description sounds like mcgeeney's ball playing ability also - maybe thats why mcgeeney likes him so much !!

[lynchbhoy]

Yea maybe those wannabe Meath feckers around Johnstown Bridge/Clogherinkoe are talking us up but us pure breeds down in South Kildare know our place in the footballing landscape....

The balance is good, not sure if it will line out like that. Plenty of groundhogs there as well to win breaking ball.

The much maligned Flanagan got plenty of praise 2 years ago but last year I thought he was too bulked up and not as quick as a result. His form wasn't as good but has improved this year I would still question his distribution though.

...the same 'pure breeds' that when 'first' went to croker in 1991 were chanting 'socer style' in the cusack stand their own makey up Cil Dara version of soccer chants !
(they were from south Kildare, and in actual fact if the old memory is not completely gone - from Kildare town itself!!)
Most of the reall football regulars were taken about by these 'newcomers' !

anyhow, wannabe Meath is way better than wannabe carlow or laois !!!


Flanagan does a chb properly. Not many of them kind of boys around these days! He's still no Peter Farrell though ! 

[Lily4life]

Happy with that team named for us. Glad Leper and Kavanagh are back in the forwards. I'd imagine Doyle will start in the middle with Tomas O Connor playing in a 2 man full forward line with Smith. Then Leper, Kavanagh and Eoghan Flats in the half forwards with Morgan dropping back. It's a strong team anyway from 1-15. Can't wait for the match now!

[regal]

To Meath supporters - is the meath keeper (paddy o'rourke) likely to get a run out in the forwards at some stage? Would he have been close to starting the match?

[Jinxy]

I'd say Farrell, then Geraghty would be the first men on if we are struggling up front.
Paddy might see action as a back-up midfielder.

[thejuice]

Paddy has played outfield in a few leagues games I think and certainly has in challenge games. I wouldn't at all be surprised if he comes on as a forward on Sunday.

[DB_An_Mhi]

I wouldn't completely rule out the possibility of him starting, despite the team named yesterday. More shock and awe from the outset (in my book) than impact sub later on. But Banty has Meath supporters guessing every bit as much as he has Geezer.

[rrhf]

I like bantys style here.  I think he will be proven right and geraghty will prove his worth. Ultimately though as a tyrone man   I just want to get the chance to see tyrone beat a geraghty included meath team in croke park.  Time will tell if banty has given us a wondrous opportunity.   

[Jinxy]

Sure keep plugging away and you'll beat us eventually.
It's good to have goals. 

[ross matt]

Excellent article on McGeeney and his relationship/training methods with Kildare players and media in todays Indo. In fairness I knew about the collective responsibility he instilled in them re fundraising etc but hadnt realised some of them physically did the work involved for gym fit out etc. Reflects well on their sacrifice and dedication and on McGeeneys ability to get that level of committment out of them.

[Donnellys Hollow]

Excellent article on McGeeney and his relationship/training methods with Kildare players and media in todays Indo. In fairness I knew about the collective responsibility he instilled in them re fundraising etc but hadnt realised some of them physically did the work involved for gym fit out etc. Reflects well on their sacrifice and dedication and on McGeeneys ability to get that level of committment out of them.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/mcgeeneys-circle-of-trust-2665233.html

McGeeney's circle of trust
Kildare boss may have alienated some locals with his 'win-at-all-costs' attitude, but his players seem 100 per cent behind him, writes Christy O'Connor

By Christy O'Connor
Friday June 03 2011

Nine days before last month's championship match against Wicklow, Kildare played Armagh in a challenge game at the Kildare training centre in Hawkfield.

The match was played behind closed doors, but the security cordon at the gate was so tight that it was jokingly referred to as being like Checkpoint Charlie on the old Berlin Wall.

A section of the local media, the fathers of two players and about 25 supporters felt the chill winds of the policy. One die-hard fan, who was already parked inside, was asked to leave because he had waited in Newbridge and followed the Armagh bus directly through the gates as his means of camouflage. For a finish, the group traversed a field at the back of the ground to sneak in behind one of the goals to catch some snapshots of the action.

Reporting on the events in their next edition, the 'Kildare Nationalist' described the treatment of some of the "county's most loyal supporters" as "disgraceful." The fact that the group included Club

Kildare members was held up as

"another example of how this squad of players is being detached from the rest of the county."

In conclusion, the episode was deemed to have "marked a low point in relations between the county team and those who back them."

Kieran McGeeney and his management team, though, had a different take on events. They claimed that it was Armagh who requested the game to be played behind closed doors, even though it was obvious that Kildare were trying out Johnny Doyle at midfield, word of which subsequently leaked out.

They also privately claimed that they only 'close' about five sessions a year, in an attempt to try out different systems and formations, especially coming up to the championship -- and that that is their right and nobody else's business, including Club Kildare members.

DEFENCE

In a further defence on that point, management say that they and the players have always enjoyed a healthy relationship with key members of the supporters club, Pat Mangan and June Kelly.

There's no doubt though, that McGeeney has been fighting a PR battle in the county recently. After being blamed in March for the resignation of former Kildare county board chairman Padraig Ashe -- over an issue related to club fixtures -- McGeeney colourfully claimed that he gets blamed for everything from "the Famine to Fianna Fáil."

Although this Kildare team have now generated a huge support base, the Kildare Nationalist surmised that their "detachment" from the players is based on two beliefs: that the players don't engage with the supporters as much as they'd like, especially through the local media, and that the clubs have been seriously relegated in importance behind the county team.

In response to those accusations, McGeeney's thinking would be very clear. As a player, he never engaged with the media and public on the same level as other high profile figures. Although a manager has different responsibilities, McGeeney's form has remained consistent with that character, while his persona has been reflected through his players in their dealings with the media.

Although a county manager must have a duty towards the clubs, McGeeney's attitude as a player was always geared towards ensuring that nothing got in the way of winning an All-Ireland. Rightly or wrongly, that is still his mentality now as a manager.

Under the current training regime, it's nearly impossible for the clubs to have any claims on their players, especially when management made the decision after last year's championship to increase the intensity and amount of training sessions.

In effect, the players more or less train seven days a week now -- four football sessions and three other days split between gym work, speed work and core sessions. Whatever it takes. There have often been weeks when the squad have done eight collective sessions. For example, there was an optional forwards coaching session between 8.0 and 9.0 on a Friday morning, with 'optional' being a loose title.

Of course, that lends itself to antagonism with the clubs. It also breeds rumours. When the squad trained for five successive days in Johnstown House in Enfield, there was talk afterwards that players were not allowed to use their phones during their time there. It was untrue, but was just another by-product of the image McGeeney has always cultivated.

Because of his obsessive nature as a player, McGeeney often propagated that image as an austere, serious, dour individual. He never brought much levity to the Armagh dressing-room, but his captaincy was always hands-on and interventionist.

Creating an unbreakable bond within the Kildare squad has been one of McGeeney's greatest achievements, but it has also underlined his maturity as a manager and as a person.

In his first year in charge in 2008, McGeeney had kept his distance from the players, but he was advised to change his approach after the first round defeat by Wicklow.

Ever since, he has adopted the role he had performed so well as Armagh captain by engaging with players one-on-one. His immense value has really been felt outside the training ground.

Alan Smith, who was involved in an alleged assault in 2009, and who had a court case pending during last year's championship, described McGeeney last summer as being "like a second father."

The development of so many players is a testament to the quality of coaching, but McGeeney is always looking for that extra edge, never sitting still. On the day after Kildare lost the 2009 All-Ireland quarter-final to Tyrone, McGeeney rang the sports psychologist, Hugh Campbell, with a view to recruiting him for the 2010 season. Campbell is still on board.

Having such a professional set-up and intensive training schedule requires serious money, but the fundraising initiatives that the players regularly pursue have often been about more than just funding.

In McGeeney's first two seasons, the squad organised a charity white-collar boxing tournament, which built team-spirit and confidence and imbued the players with a sense of responsibility that had never previously existed.

Then in September 2009, McGeeney told the players that he wanted each of them to raise €3,000. The money was for a players' fund, a holiday to America and a new gym, but it was mostly about them taking more responsibility and developing their own personalities.

The players raised over €160,000, spent roughly €20,000 on new weights and equipment and turned the old press conference centre in the K Club into their own gym. The players laid the floor, did all the wiring and plumbing and fitted the entire place out themselves.

Over the last two seasons, they have taken jiu-jitsu -- a mix between martial arts and wrestling -- and kickboxing classes. Last November, McGeeney himself received his Blue Belt in jiu-jitsu in the presence of all his players.

McGeeney has hardened up their bodies and minds, but the transformation of Kildare's attack over the last four years has been the most vivid example of their progress. The team don't have the marquee forwards of other sides, but when they landed 18 points in the 2009 Leinster final, it was the joint-highest number of scores ever recorded from play in a provincial decider. In last year's championship, they averaged 1-16.

Kildare have still to win something significant under McGeeney (they did capture this year's O'Byrne Cup), but irrespective of whether this team ever win an All-Ireland, he has brought them to another level. And whether some within the county agree or disagree with his methods, McGeeney will feel justified by how far he has taken them.

- Christy O'Connor

[Donnellys Hollow]

If this Kildare team do fail, it certainly won't be through lack of effort. I've criticised McGeeney on a few occasions for some of his decisions/methods but in fairness to him, he's called it spot on most of the time. He resisted the calls to bring back Kevin O'Neill and was proved correct. When he has got it wrong he's been the first to hold his hands up and admit his mistakes - team selection and tactics v Wicklow in '08, taking off Paudie O'Neill v Louth last year.

He's developed a good panel in the last three and a bit years and the players would got through a brick wall for him. Kildare will be going in on Sunday without three of their key players - Dermot Earley (two time All Star), Daryl Flynn (their best player last year) & Peter Kelly (an All Star in his first season). It's four key players if you include Mikey Conway who hasn't played for Kildare in two years but may make an appearance at some stage against Meath. If we had been going into a match under Crofton or Nolan with that kind of injury list we wouldn't have a prayer. Sunday will be the acid test of how strong a panel McGeeney has actually developed since 2008.

[Donnellys Hollow]

Eoghan O'Flaherty is now an injury doubt for Sunday 

[Jinxy]

There's something seriously wrong here.
It can't just be the recession because the combined population of the 4 counties involved is huge.
When Dublin play Meath or Kildare (no offence Laois folk) in the semi I'd expect a crowd of over 60,000 at least.
So why is the attendance going to be so low tomorrow? 
http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/croke-park-doublebill-may-not-break-even-2666252.html

[DB_An_Mhi]

Is it not usually the case that Dublin only start to attract really big crowds after their first match in the championship. When the season has begun in earnest and the hype starts to build up in the media and therefore attendance figures. Granted Dublin v Meath is the exception, but often where replays are concerned (in the past) the second game (replay) is a sellout, the first anything but.

The current economic situation doesn't help but if we are honest, Meath have a very poor support over more recent years considering our proximity to HQ. It is a case of quality (supporters) rather than quantity.