Callaghan ready to answer the call for Meath

Barry Callaghan was surprised when he got the invitation last week to join Seamus McEnaney's Meath senior football management team. Callaghan wasn't sure where the recommendation came from and was planning instead to concentrate on helping his club Dunderry continue in their quest to win the IFC next year. Then the phone rang. When asked if he was interested Callaghan didn't have to think too long. He wanted to be on board. Now, along with manager McEnaney and assistant Liam Harnan, he will be working to help the Meath football team return to the heights reached during his own playing days. His impression on meeting McEnaney is that he is enthusiastic and “very professional†in his approach. That can rub off on players and have a very positive effect, Callaghan suggested. The Dunderry man likes the vibes around the new set-up and is happy to join the McEnaney camp as a selector, pending his ratification at the next Co Committee meeting, which should only be a formality. Callaghan is already very familiar with the sort of qualities required if Meath are to become serious contenders for the Sam Maguire Cup in 2011. The Dunderry man was on Meath teams that won the All-Ireland SFC titles in 1996 and '99. He started both the drawn game and the replay against Mayo in the '96 All-Ireland showdown and came on late in the victory over Cork three years later, the only piece of action he got in that year's championship. Callaghan was one of the youngest members of the Meath team in 1996 and he could have been expected to play many more games in the green and gold than he subsequently did. A series of injuries were to seriously restrict his opportunities and eventually after coming on as a substitute against Fermanagh at Breffni Park in an All-Ireland qualifier in the early years of the new millennium he called a halt to his inter-county career. Now he's back at that level charged with the task of trying to unearth new talent and help to feed more information to McEnaney about which local footballers might have the right stuff. The invitation to become a selector was right out of the blue and bookended an eventful few months for Callaghan. He managed Dunderry to the semi-final of the IFC in the autumn and just a month ago he married Gillian Harford, who trains horses for point-to-point racing and has just recently acquired a licence for the track. A busy businessman, Callaghan is involved in the family timber sash window enterprise. He also has interests in the licensing trade and in Capranny Stables where Gordon Elliot trains. Callaghan knows he has taken on a job that will eat even further into his already hectic schedule. He is not sure how everything will pan out just yet and despite all the commitments he would hope to stay involved with Dunderry in some capacity. But he will be putting a big emphasis on his job as Meath selector. “I'll be talking more with Seamus (McEnaney) over the next few weeks and basically I'll be involved in covering all areas, attending games. He has two good men Paul Grimley and Martin McElkennon to look after the training with Liam Harnan as an assistant. It will be just as a selector I will be involved rather than any training duties,†he explained. Callaghan feels that Eamonn O'Brien was “harshly dealt with†and certainly didn't deserve to be ousted after making good progress. He says Meath's first objective this year is to consolidate their place as Leinster champions and move on from there. There is room to believe further progress can be made. “We're not that far away from taking it to another step,†he remarked. “But it takes a lot of work to take that last step,†added Callaghan. He asserts that in the new year everyone will start off from scratch. Everyone will have a clean slate. All the players called in will be given an opportunity to show what they can do. The aim, weather permitting, is that over the coming weeks a series of trials will be held with players who are called up presented with the opportunity to show what they can do. According to Callaghan there is only so much to be gained from looking back. By all means learn from past mistakes, he believes, but don't dwell on it. Now is the time to look ahead. “I think we really need to look forward, Seamus will apply his training programme and hopefully deal with the problems that have occurred over the past couple of years, but Meath have done reasonably well over the last couple of years. It's our job to consolidate that and build on that.†During two different spells as manager of Dunderry Callaghan's most significant achievement was getting them to the semi-finals of the IFC – and along the way he learned some valuable lessons in the art of man-management. In his playing days Callaghan was a forward whose intelligent use of the ball and ability to rack up scores caused problems for some of the best defences in the country. He had what it took to persuade Sean Boylan to throw him into big inter-county games while he was still only a teenager. Callaghan has a few players in mind who, he feels, might possess the raw material at least to get a foothold at inter-county level. He has reason to err on the side of caution when predicting if a player will make the grade or not. While a player can have all the skill in the world if it's not accompanied by the temperament and mentality to withstand the rigours of top flight football, then the cause is lost. “You never know how a player is going to react until they come into that situation. I've seen players down through the years who might not have greatly impressed at club level yet did well when the came into the county team. “And then you could get some players who are good at club level, but just can't take that extra step up to county level. So really, until you put a player into that environment to see how he deals with it, it's very hard to play, but definitely players will get chances over the next couple of months.†Having played through some of the glory years of Meath football Callaghan knows what it's like to play on a team where a certain level of achievement is expected. There will be expectations on McEnaney to produce in his new environment. Callaghan feels this doesn't have to be a bad thing. “We are Leinster champions at the moment and we should be able to take those expectations. “I would be disappointed if there weren't expectations in Meath. I like when the expectation is there because that shows where you are as regards your football. “If there was no pressure or expectations, then you're an underdog and you're not really considered. I would rather be one of the people that there's pressure on and expected to do well because that says a lot about you and your team,†he concluded. While he was surprised to get the call to join McEnaney on his new adventure, the Dunderry clubman was delighted to accept. There's a positive aspect to the managerial set-up. A feeling Meath could be verge of something significant. Callaghan has no problem in answering his county's call.