First job is to reappoint Banty
Such a move would instantly put an end to all the speculation surrounding their futures and can only be good for the game in the county.
The last thing Meath football needs is to get rid of another manager and spend six months finding a replacement who will be starting from a cold start and taking a long spell to get to know the players at his disposal.
The Board also needs to identify a progressive young manager to head up the U21 side. Such a figure could also be brought in as a selector under McEnaney and could possibly use the time as an apprenticeship for the senior job.
On Saturday night Meath were much more competitive than in the Leinster semi-final but ultimately lacked Kildare’s composure and creativity in attack down the straight.
Meath managed to subdue their opponents three most effective attacking weapons; John Doyle, Eamon Callaghan and Tomás O’Connor but with this Kildare team, invariably someone else pops up to hit the key scores.
On Saturday that someone else was wing-back Emmet Bolton with 1-2 in the second-half that edged his side over the line.
Meath had many opportunities prior to his late scoring burst to take the lead. But instead they took bad decisions in going for ambitious shots instead of developing the move or drawing the foul especially on a night where Cian Ward was in superb form from placed balls.
The loss of Seamus Kenny to a blood injury for the last 15 minutes was a big factor in Kildare winning midfield possession for the crucial scores.
Michael Foley was a rock again for Kildare at full-back. Every time I have seen him this year he has been outstanding in his own unspectacular way. Certainly he is in the reckoning for an All Star award should they progress in the Championship.
John Doyle had to deal with the very close attentions of Mark Ward and failed to score from play but continues to catch more than his share of ball at midfield and converted another important penalty. James Kavanagh’s movement and vision caused problems for the Meath defence when he was introduced in the first-half. I’m unsure why he has been used as a sub for much of this campaign but Kildare need him to become a regular starter. Kildare are getting a tougher draw in the qualifiers this year than previous years which will stand to them but ultimately their increasing injury list that includes Dermot Early, Peter Kelly and now Hugh Lynch will leave them short of the quality for an All-Ireland assault.
At present it is impossible to name Kildare’s full-forward line with any certainty and McGeeney needs to find some stability here. And once again their long range free-taking was not of the standard of the likes of Dublin, Cork or Kerry.
Meath emerged with full marks for effort and for the first time in seven championship games scored more than 12 points. With Meath’s recent poor second-half showings, captain Seamus Kenny’s decision to have the benefit of the breeze in the second-half was clever.
After a terrific duel with Padraic Joyce last week, Kevin Reilly was again outstanding apart from conceding the early penalty to O’Connor.
The main area that needs improvement is in the attack. Meath have plenty of forwards who are accurate and post big scores at club level. But when put on the same county team they regularly struggle to score more than 12 points in a game. Much of it comes down to habits developed over the years of being the best forward in their clubs where they don’t have to make too many runs to get the ball and are encouraged to take plenty of shots.
Instead of running straight out towards the ball some of the forwards need to start making unselfish diagonal runs which will create space for a team-mate. Players must become part of the move instead of being the end of the move.
This can involve making two or three runs during a move which takes a high level of fitness. Then you have to build up an understanding with each other so that the runs become coordinated. Otherwise you have a clogged-up attack. With some of the forwards in their mid-twenties it will be no easy task to change the habits of a lifetime.
Of far more pressing concern to Meath people should be the performance of our minors in last week’s Leinster final. They played as well as they could but were well beaten by Dublin in the scoring and physical stakes.
I served as a Meath U21 selector for two seasons and players were getting to that level with serious limitations in their game which casts doubts on the coaching in the clubs and development squads. For the modern game in Croke Park you need eight athletes on your team in the middle third, two really good man-markers and three finishers at either end and if you are lucky a Martin Clarke-type playmaker that is a good kicker and has vision. Producing enough of these types of characters is what is important. The key to achieving this is the placement of the correct structures, and people to oversee them.
