McEntee eager for the next phase of Meath’s progress

With three years under his belt there is sense that Meath manager Andy McEntee is only just getting going in his bid to restore the Royal County reputation as one of Gaelic football's forces to be reckoned with.

McEntee took over from Mick O'Dowd after a 2016 that saw Meath scrap against relegation from NFL Div 2, lose by 10 points to Dublin in the Leinster SFC semi-final and knocked out by Derry in round two of the qualifiers.
O'Dowd had laid a lot of great foundations, McEntee was expected to come in to bring Meath to the next level.
What had frustrated O'Dowd quickly became McEntee's biggest problem with the Royals struggling to find any level of consistency. 
However, 2017 brought an improved Meath campaign as McEntee's side narrowly missed out on promotion, but championship woes continued with a nine-point drubbing by Kildare followed by a narrow loss to Donegal in round three of the qualifiers.
The following year Meath reverted to another struggle against relegation from Div 2 while in the championship the season lasted just two games following losses to Longford and Tyrone. Something had to change.
McEntee brought in a new coach, Colm Nally, and performances started to improve as that crucial level of consistency was finally achieved.

Promotion to Div 1 for the first time since 2006, a first Leinster SFC final spot in five years and a place in the Super 8s showed significant signs of improvement, but now the hard work starts.
Getting to the top table is one thing, staying there is a totally different challenge and it is one McEntee and his players are relishing.
"I think everybody is very much aware of the challenge that lies ahead," McEntee told the Meath Chronicle.
"The preparations have been good, they have been interrupted by the number of injures we have had, but that is out of our control and their is nothing we can do about that, we just have to get on with it.
"The lads have worked really, really well and they are genuinely excited at the prospect of Div 1 football.
"We would have liked to have had four games at home, but the important thing about home games is that we have to make sure we give our supporters something to be happy about.
"We have to perform every time. The truth is we have to perform in every game, home or away, otherwise you are leaving yourself very vulnerable.
"At home we want to make Navan a difficult place for teams to come.
"We have managed that pretty well over the last few years, particularly last year when our record was pretty decent there, but we want to make Navan a really tough place for teams to come and get away with something.
"Our three games at home are very important, but even if you got your wish list of getting three home wins that wouldn't guarantee you anything.
"The three games at home are going to be very difficult, but even if you picked three other opponents for our home games they would still be really difficult.
"It is what it is, we have to prepare ourselves properly and we have to make sure that we perform on a consistent basis.
"That was one of the big factors for us last year, we performed consistently, but we now have to do that against a higher class of opposition," said the Meath boss.
Playing in NFL Div 1 is where McEntee and his players have always aimed to be and achieving that ambition brings with it glamour games against Kerry in Killarney and Dublin in Croke Park.
However, McEntee is not looking beyond next Sunday's trip to Omagh to take on a Tyrone side that were All-Ireland finalists in 2018 and semi-finalists last summer.
The manager is hoping to get the Royal army behind his troops and give them that extra edge they will need to be competitive.
"No more so than going up to Omagh to play Tyrone in the first round, the games in Killarney and Croke Park are the glamour ties and everyone is relishing those tests," said McEntee.
"I know it's a cliche, but we are not really looking past next Sunday's game against Tyrone.
"Dublin in Croke Park, Kerry in Killarney, those are great games to look forward to.
"On the other side of it, for us and our supporters and our families and friends, bringing big teams to Navan is equally appetising.
"It is fair to say that Meath are at a different stage of their development compared to the rest of the teams in the division.
"Those teams have been there or thereabouts for the last number of years, so for them winning x amount of games in Div 1 mightn't be their priority, whereas it is important for us, we need to step up.
"We performed pretty well against the Div 1 teams in the Super 8s last year, but the bottom line is we didn't get a result.
"Last year our aim was to get promoted, this year it is a different test. It's about pitting our wits against the top teams and proving to ourselves and to others that we deserve to be there and we can perform on that level," he added.
So why did Meath not perform in the latter stages of games in the Super 8s and how can that be rectified?
"Everyone has an opinion about why we faded out towards the end of those Super 8s games," stated McEntee.

"The truth is it was probably a combination of factors.
"We hadn't been at that level before, it is possible there was a physical element to it, it is also possible there was a mental element - deep down were we satisfied with the year.
"The strength-in-depth was also an issue. The other teams that were there had more players that were exposed to that level of competition and they could call on players who had been there before, we couldn't afford to do that.
"I feel that the additions to the panel this year have all added something, so I'd like to think, certainly on that front, that we are in a better position than we were," he suggested.
The O'Byrne Cup gave McEntee the opportunity to blood new talent and the manager believes that those latest additions to the panel will be ready for the white heat of what will essentially be championship-like battles for Meath.
Exciting times indeed for Meath.
"They (new players) mightn't be ready for 70 minutes of that level, but they might be ready for 50 minutes or 20 minutes," stated the manager.
"I feel confident that some of the players will cope well at this level.
"We had five players who needed operations in the last couple of months, so new players are going to have to be thrown in and they are going to have to cope.
"The good thing about it is that when we come through this (injury crisis) and we get players back, then we will be in a far better position for having had to cope with these circumstances.
"It's fantastic for everyone. The players can really feel the buzz, everyone I talk to on a day-to-day situation is feeling it and that is all down to the level of performances from the lads in the last year or so.
"Everybody knows that the players are giving everything they have, if someone gives you everything they have it is very hard to ask for anything more.
"The supporters appreciate that. One of the best examples of that was the game against Kerry last year which was a dead rubber, but it was important that the lads put in a performance for the supporters and I think they did.
"We were too inconsistent over the previous years. Whether you are a supporter or a manager or a player you get great satisfaction on a Sunday when I know what I'm going to get.
"That is a minimum requirement, anyone who supported the team last year got value," concluded the Meath boss.