Meath manager Andy McEntee aiming to bring Royals back to the top table
"If we can get to a level where we are performing to a consistently high standard within the league, those narrow one point defeats may start turning into one point victories."
Thursday 24 January 2019 18:16, UK
Meath football manager Andy McEntee looks ahead to the 2019 season, with the Royals preparing for their Division Two campaign.
With the different pre-season tournaments out of the way, focus turns to pondering the possible movers and shakers down through the National League divisions which gets underway this weekend.
Despite bowing out of the O'Byrne Cup at the semi-final stage against Dublin, Meath boss McEntee believes there could have been no better preparation for his new players ahead of the league opener next weekend at home to Tipperary.
"It's an exciting time of the year," he said. "I'd say if you spoke to the players at the moment, it's probably the most enjoyable time for them really because the league is such a good competition. You've got seven games in the space of nine weeks and ultimately that's exactly what players want.
"The schedule in itself brings its own pressures for players but really it's exactly what players want at this time of year.
"We had a good run in the O'Byrne Cup; I thought the game against Dublin was perfect preparation ahead of the start of the league campaign. There was a great crowd there, there was a bit of excitement and the fixture itself always brings its own personality to the game and in that sense I thought it was good for our guys in terms of the whole experience.
"There were a number of our lads who probably would never have even played in front of a crowd like that so in that regard it was ideal preparation. There were seven or eight guys who togged out who have yet to play a league or championship game for Meath. So to play in that type of environment in front of seven or eight thousand people; it can only help them going forward."
The Royal County begin what is expected to be a competitive Division Two campaign on Sunday when they welcome Tipp to Páirc Tailteann. McEntee is looking no further than that game at the moment and this week is all about fine-tuning his team to what he feels is the one best equipped to pick up an opening two points of the campaign.
The early season form of Mickey Newman in the O'Byrne Cup is one that will encourage the former Ballyboden St Enda's boss with the experienced attacker back in contention having taken a year out in 2018. The Kilmainham man has looked sharp in the early weeks of the season shooting 0-14 in three games including 0-5 against Dublin in Parnell Park.
"No more than any management team, a week out there's probably ten or eleven places that we are reasonably sure about," explained McEntee. "With the remaining positions, we have to take into account we have a couple of bumps and bruises after the recent games and from training and so will be waiting to see how the lads progress before finalising the last three or four this week.
"Mickey has a lot of experience behind him at this stage. He's a pretty cool customer and is a man who has a wise head in a lot of situations. He's fairly reliable when it comes to dead ball situations and it's very important to have somebody like that in our team."
Although Meath have become familiar with the surroundings of Division Two over the last number of years, McEntee echoed his positive comments of seasons past about the league and is relishing the busy schedule that he and his team will face over the coming months.
He said: "I do think it's a great competition. I think it's hugely important for us that we show that we can compete at this level and do enough over the course of the campaign to try and get into Division One. Every one of the teams within this division will appreciate it's a tough group but at the same time each of the teams will be saying, 'Why not us finishing in the top two and jumping up to Division One?'
"From our perspective and where we are in terms of development as a team, I think its hugely important for us to be playing big games and tough games like this as often as possible and becoming more experienced in the surroundings of games like this and even more importantly start to come out on top in these big games."
The two most recent championship seasons have seen Meath's interest ended by single point defeats to Donegal and eventual All-Ireland finalists Tyrone last year. On paper, those results looked promising but for McEntee they were still defeats no matter what way it looks.
A win in one of these tight games is the breakthrough that he feels is crucial in terms of taking the next step in this team's development.
"Losing by a point to Donegal in 2017 and losing by only a point to Tyrone after extra time is all very fine but if the team wants to take the next step in terms of progression from where we are at now, we need to be winning a game like that or a number of games like that," he said. "We need to get into the habit of winning tight games against decent teams at important junctures of the season and to date we've failed to do that so until we start doing that on a regular basis again, people are probably entitled to ask what is happening to Meath football."
Dublin may be the standard bearers both in Leinster and throughout the country right now and for every county player this is the standard that has to be aspired to at the end of the day. For the moment though and in terms of the current state of Meath football, McEntee insists that the most crucial next step for his team is playing games and constantly improving their own standards:
"I know from a team perspective and within our camp we are not at that stage yet to be worried about Dublin. We haven't at all earned the right to worry about Dublin. You have to get your own house in order before you start worrying about what others are building.
"For me, a successful season for Meath football would be achieving Division One status over the course of the next few months and to reach the Super 8s. Whether we agree with the system or not as a group, I think to reach that stage which would guarantee more games would really stand to this group of players."
