We lacked discipline against Kildare and it cost us several easy frees. Bet any money management tried to correct this and ended up with players totally standing off.
Several of our backs were not at the races at all against Kildare. Yet they started against Dublin.it was clear after 10 mins against the dubs these backs were still not up to it yet no changes made. Madness!"
Probably one way of describing the defending v Kildare but I think that lack of technique is another way of putting it. Modern day tackling involves properly executed shoulder to shoulder tackles but in Dublin's case it involves being up so tight to the man in possession that when he has to release the ball they are on to it in a flash and often two or three are involved but as those two or three move in for the turn over other players also move to cover any support players that the player in possession had in his vicinity. In other words there is a second ring of cover there.
So management we presume knew there was a problem against Kildare and went for a plan B of sorts. This I think turned out to be a case of the cure being worse than the disease.
Look we all knew in our heart of hearts that we were up against it we were opened up so easily that even yet it is so frustrating with very little I felt being done to correct it. Now I don't think that there are too many teams that would be opened up so easily directly through the centre as we were for the first goal. Soul destroying the whole episode. I am very much afraid that we are in a serious decline.
We lacked discipline against Kildare and it cost us several easy frees. Bet any money management tried to correct this and ended up with players totally standing off.
Several of our backs were not at the races at all against Kildare. Yet they started against Dublin.it was clear after 10 mins against the dubs these backs were still not up to it yet no changes made. Madness!"
Agreed. Our defending last year was much superior with little change in personnel. Hickey should definitely have started. McMahon is really not a suitable option at 11 especially with the mark playing a huge role now. We should be looking for a Joe Sheridan/Joe Cassells type figure who would be an option for kickouts. Cannot afford himself and O'Sullivan on same line. Perhaps Shane Walsh may be an option. Hard to know his best position. I believe Jones has potential to be a very good midfielder but needs to develop his skills.
There is a full root and branch review needed on both codes in the county, we have coaches in both codes at under age level who should not be there, particularly in hurling, most of the football coaches have some level of experience above the level they are dealing with at county level, hurling wise there are to many parents involved in teams just because they have to bring Johnny to Dunganny on a Saturday and that's not exactly the fault of C&G as i know the interest level is not there as much a the football. On a bigger issue IMO, the gym in Dunganny ( restricting player/panel development) is way to small, its not capable of handling a team for a gym session properly , its not stocked properly due to the space restriction, when Dunganny was built i understand there were a number of people consulted and other venues reviewed regarding our needs but none were taking into account, the upstairs part was an after thought and doesn't allow tall players to do anything overhead, example was Kevin Reilly in my time around there. To me its a token gesture to a gym and before any other project is undertaken in the county it should be extended in footprint by at least the same again. We are lacking hugely in the physical stakes at all levels in both codes and when you have most other development/underage squads in most other counties on a program from a young age it will impact our minor plus squads. All that said that is only one small part of the issues IMO. We need a coaching structure where there is continuity in how we do things from an early age in both codes, there was a time when the county had the Coughlan guy who was responsible for S&C in the county but i believe he spent most of his time with the senior footballers, he is since gone and has not been replaced, is his budget still available ? is one guy enough ? don't know the answer here but i know enough to understand that were not at the races when it comes to S&C against the big teams which these days appears to be most of our opposition. In summary I don't believe we have any structure in terms of our coaching and until we get the right people (not just within Meath) involved we are not going to develop that structure, with the right people a structure can be developed quickly and implemented just as soon as its on paper provided the right coaches and coaching resources are in place. Ploughing huge money into county teams without any structure to me is wasteful and just means that we will continue to do the same thing which is clearly not working.
Replying To winatallcost: "Agreed. Our defending last year was much superior with little change in personnel. Hickey should definitely have started. McMahon is really not a suitable option at 11 especially with the mark playing a huge role now. We should be looking for a Joe Sheridan/Joe Cassells type figure who would be an option for kickouts. Cannot afford himself and O'Sullivan on same line. Perhaps Shane Walsh may be an option. Hard to know his best position. I believe Jones has potential to be a very good midfielder but needs to develop his skills."