We’ll silence the doubters, insists McEnaney

UNDER pressure Meath manager Seamus McEnaney believes his team will knock their doubters this year.

The Monaghan native, who became the Royals first outside manager last year, won just three competitive matches last season. He was enveloped in controversy when he called 38-year-old Graham Geraghty back into the pane, a decision which prompted Liam Harnan and Barry Callaghan to resign as selectors, but believes the former All Star will play an important role.

“I have no regrets about bringing GrahamGeraghty back,” he said. “My only regret was that he wasn’t fit to play against Kildare in Navan. He may be 38, but class is permanent and you saw that when he came on against Kildare in Croke Park and scored a goal — which should never have been disallowed — with his first touch.

“Graham is carrying an injury at the moment and if his rehabilitation goes well, there is no reason why he can’t play as well as selecting.”

He accepted the team’s performances in 2011 were not good enough but believes, with a turbulent first year behind him, they will improve next season.

“I didn’t feel any extra pressure because I was Meath’s first ‘outside’ manager.

“I’ve been involved in inter-county management for the past nine years with Monaghan and Meath and I’m well used to the stick that comes with the job.

“Managing Meath is no different to managing Monaghan as far as I’m concerned. At the end of the day, you’re working with a group of players who are loyal to you and you’re loyal to them, and you’re not worrying about what goes on or what’s said outside the group.

“But there’s no hiding the fact that it has been a difficult 12 months for me. To be fair to the Meath county board, and the executive in particular, they were very supportive of me when things weren’t going well.

“I’m not one for making excuses, but there were a few mitigating factors like Stephen Bray being unavailable for three months and Graham Reilly missing three-quarters of the National League through injury. Being the last inter-county manager in the country to be appointed last month meant I didn’t have an opportunity to work with the players before the winter training ban kicked in at the start of November. And when we came back in January, the snow held things up further. All of these factors meant we weren’t able to hit the ground running.

“I’m in a much stronger position now than I was this time last year when I didn’t know the players, and I’ve no doubt that we’ll see animprovement in the year ahead. I’m looking forward to getting back it.

“My focus is on the first round of the O’Byrne Cup and League, and there will be a lot of water under the bridge by time the Wicklow game comes around. As I said, I know the players better now and we’ll be ready to go in January.”