O"Brien aims to restore the glory

LESS than 30 minutes after he was ratified as the new manager of the Meath senior football team Eamonn O"Brien was already making plans to bring the glory days back to Meath football. After a long torturous journey that had as many twists and turns as a mountain road the news that everybody expected was finally announced at a Meath GAA Co Committee meeting on Monday night that O"Brien would be the next Meath manager. His appointment is for one year when the situation will be reviewed. Pat Coyle was also ratified as the minor football team manager for another year. It didn"t take long for O"Brien"s name to be proposed and ratified for the post. There were no dissenting voices towards his appointment among the delegates although some expressed their disquiet at the length the process took in finding a replacement for Colm Coyle. Talking to the Meath Chronicle on Monday night O"Brien said that he would 'immediately' set about putting a management and a backroom team together. He said all those details would be sorted by early next week. O"Brien said he was 'honoured' to be chosen to manage the county team and was relishing the challenge. He admitted that the protracted process meant that Meath would start their preparations for the 2009 league and championship campaigns behind other counties, but it was time to look ahead, not back. 'You have to deal with the situation you find yourself in and make the best of what you have. There"s no situation perfect and I"ll be starting to put things in place immediately,' he said. 'We have to look at this November, December situation, this ban on collective training so we"ll have to see what that means. If there is a ban on collective training we"ll have to get individuals working together in small groups.' The winner of five SFC medals with Walterstown in the late 1970s and early "80s O"Brien also garnered a Leinster MFC medal with Meath in 1972 and was a member of the Royal County side that claimed the NFL title under the managerial guidance of his brother Mick O"Brien. Eamonn O"Brien was involved as a selector in Meath"s All-Ireland triumphs in 1996 and "99 and also guided Rathkenny to the IFC title in 2006. The committee to find a new manager consisted of Co Committee chairman Barney Allen, Hurling Committeee chairman TJ Reilly and fixtures secretary Francis Flynn. They interviewed five other candidates which also included Damien Sheridan, Andy McEntee, Tommy Smyth, Eamonn Barry and Dudley Farrell. Flynn said that a decision was finally made by the selection committee last Saturday night. 'Anything that appeared in the papers before that was pure speculation or rubbish, call it what you like. They had their jobs to do and we had ours,' he said. Some club delegates expressed their disquiet that they weren"t given the time to discuss any nomination with their clubs. St Patrick"s delegate John Purfield added that the long-drawn out process in selecting the new man was far from what was required. 'We didn"t exactly cover ourselves in glory,' he said. The Co Committee chairman added that the u-21 and junior managerial positions would be filled 'within the forthnight.' The Co Committee also congratulated Sean Boylan, Kevin Reilly and David Gallagher for their part in helping Ireland defeat Australia in International Rules series.