Where have the best 1-7 in the country gone?

I never bought into the Westmeath hype last year but even I was surprised at their poor run in Division 1 this year. Their much vaunted defence gave up a whopping 138 points (11-105). That’s 28 points more than Dublin who had the 2nd most porous defence. How could things have gone so bad for them so quickly? They lack scoring threats of course (managing only 3-59 in their 7 league games) but a solid display from their back would at least have given them some confidence heading into the championship.
Did I hear correctly that Dessie Dolan is off the panel too? Will they make any impact on the championship this year at all?

Yes they will. Their defence will be: Connaughtan, Boyle, Gavin, Keane, Ennis, O'Donoughue, Harte. Three AllStars there probably including the best corner back and wing back in the country today. Injuries to Shaugho, Dessie, Flanagan, O'Donoughue and Wilson haven't helped. But, I do not believe they are more than just a one man team up front. Glennon is a class act but he has good players around him including Dessie (who last I heard was on the panel) and Niall Kilcoyne (son of Westmeath's greatest hurler and arguably one of the best dual stars around, brilliant for Ringtown in the hurling anyway but is concentrating solely on the football at intercounty).

I am not quite sure what has gone wrong but it is too bad to be true. They will bounce back. O'Flaratha is a very good manager, he basically done all the training when Paudi O'Se was there, so I can't fault him. Whatever happens, I can't see the winners of Meath/Dublin having it easy - presuming Westmeath overcome Longford.

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:Yes they will. Their defence will be: Connaughtan, Boyle, Gavin, Keane, Ennis, O'Donoughue, Harte. Three AllStars there probably including the best corner back and wing back in the country today. Injuries to Shaugho, Dessie, Flanagan, O'Donoughue and Wilson haven't helped. But, I do not believe they are more than just a one man team up front. Glennon is a class act but he has good players around him including Dessie (who last I heard was on the panel) and Niall Kilcoyne (son of Westmeath's greatest hurler and arguably one of the best dual stars around, brilliant for Ringtown in the hurling anyway but is concentrating solely on the football at intercounty).

I am not quite sure what has gone wrong but it is too bad to be true. They will bounce back. O'Flaratha is a very good manager, he basically done all the training when Paudi O'Se was there, so I can't fault him. Whatever happens, I can't see the winners of Meath/Dublin having it easy - presuming Westmeath overcome Longford.

I saw the rumour about Dessie on another message board. Might be nothing to it at all.
O'Flaratha seems to be coming to for some stick?

Yeah he probably would. The Westmeath "fans" are an awful bunch. Some of the abuse Glennon gets off them is unbelievable and him their best player by a mile. I'm not sure about the Dessie thing, maybe its true. But, both O'Flahartha and Dolan seem very down to earth. I could never see them falling out with anyone never mind each other.

I don't know what has gone wrong since last summer though. They were arguably unlucky not to beat Tyrone. In fact, a lot of the Westmeath people I've talked to say they should have won that day.

Loyal, how old is Dessie Dolan now?

He's about 30 or so. He was on the U-21 panel when they won with Westmeath in 1999.

Players like dolan and mcdonald can go on playing brillinat stuff for many years-Look at giggs and scoles in the premier league, and teddy sherringham was still in the premier league up until about 2 years ago and he was nearly 40. The skill will never go away-it's their pace that might be reduced and theyre more liable to injure themselves. But I hope these to players grace croke park again in the future!

Dolan is about 28 or 29. He was in St Mels in Longford at the same time as my brother. He has been around a long time so it seems like he's older.
Don't think Westmeath will have too much of a part to play this year, they are like Fermanagh - one decent enough year, one shocking year. O'Flaharta is in his 4th year which is a decent enough stint for a manager that hasn't won anything.
In general though, people have been saying for years how poor Leinster football is and this league campaign has done nothing to dispel that. However, a lot of teams might pick up a bit by the time the Championship comes around but I wouldn't be overly confident of Sam spending the winter of 2009 in leinster.

Oh dear, Miss Sinead.

What province is Meath in?

I rest my case Loyal.
You just called me Sinead there, my ma is the only person on earth that still calls me that!!

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:Oh dear, Miss Sinead.

What province is Meath in?

Leinster and are you serious?

Shinners wrote:I rest my case Loyal.
You just called me Sinead there, my ma is the only person on earth that still calls me that!!

OK, so sorry Shinners. My deepest apologies.

I'll call you Shinners from now on.

to be honest i never really rated westmeath anyway, i remember 2006 sligo vs westmeath to be honest they were pretty poor and we where too by the way i think we had 3 sent off that day anyway, have folled them closely and it was not the best 1-7 that built there little bit of success it was 1-13 who defended and dolan and glennon who sorted the scores by and large. not the basis for a world class team IMHO,

think dessie is injured by the way he pulled his hamstring a couple of weeks ago.

have to say , going to parnell last week, even though they havent won a match all league, i still taught maybe they could rob a point. how wrong was i . last year in lenster, the dubs were lucky to beat them , have to say wouldn't fear coming against them this year. in actual fact i remember having a debate with loyal last year of how westmeath would be dublins main compition for the lenster. after that league performance its the dubs or meaths. shame really

lino_de_legend wrote:have to say , going to parnell last week, even though they havent won a match all league, i still taught maybe they could rob a point. how wrong was i . last year in lenster, the dubs were lucky to beat them , have to say wouldn't fear coming against them this year. in actual fact i remember having a debate with loyal last year of how westmeath would be dublins main compition for the lenster. after that league performance its the dubs or meaths. shame really

Think it will take a while for them to forget that performance alright. I don't think they really cared about winning that match as is obvious from the scoreline but they should have known that a good last performance in the NFL would give them a motivational factor for the Championship.

Have to say I didn't really buy into that best 1-7 myself either. They've got a solid back-line, not disputing that, including one of the best keepers and corner-backs around at the minute. But their wing-forwards dropped back too most of the time, sometimes more players even, and it was an all-round team effort when they were defending with a large number back in their half. Fair play to them, it worked well and was effective, but god it's ugly to watch.

Although I always expected them to be relegated this year, I didn't think they'd be near as bad. I don't think that's a fair reflection on their ability but I don't think they'll be there in the latter stages of the championship this year either. They'll be sticky opposition for any county, and I'd imagine their defence will be alot tighter in a couple of months, but they just don't have it up front to challenge for serious honours.

ya never kknow, westmeath might shock everyone and do quite well this year. in 2007 they didnt do too bad, until they were anhilated by the dubs of course but they did get to the quarter final!!

I see that Glennon is no longer on the panel. There's something rotten in the state of Denmark methinks, although he did say it was nothing to do with the management team.

Oh, hold on, it's 2 minutes later and he's back on the panel. Give me my money!!!!