Player power key to saving McEnaney

IF SO-CALLED player power has so far centred on removing intercounty managers then Meath could be about to put the opposite to the test – and whether player power has any say in retaining football manager Séamus McEnaney.

What is certain is that the Meath County Board will convene in Navan this evening to decide who will lead them into the 2012 football championship, with a motion being tabled to terminate McEnaney’s time in charge, and appoint Seán Boylan instead.

By that they effectively mean: the Monaghan man who in his first year and a half in charge won just two championship matches, lost their last five league games in succession, and saw Meath relegated to Division Three – or the Meath man who previously took charge for 23 years, winning four All-Ireland titles, three National Leagues, and eight Leinster titles, before stepping down in 2005.

It might seem like a straightforward call, although not necessarily so.

The majority of the Meath football panel met at length on Monday evening to discuss what they felt was the best decision for their prospects this summer, having initially indicated they were fully behind McEnaney and his boldly determined stance to remain in charge despite being asked to step aside.

However, instead of making their feelings public in a statement, as was expected, it emerged yesterday their feelings weren’t actually unanimous, and while largely disappointed with the way McEnaney has been treated, certain players felt it might be better to replace McEnaney with someone else.

What was reportedly agreed instead was that players would contact their clubs individually and indicate to them what way they’d prefer the vote to go this evening – in other words either for, or against, McEnaney.

While that does thicken the plot, it’s still hard to see how the county board as a whole won’t row in behind the motion, as released by the Meath management committee last Friday: “It has been decided by Coiste Bainistí to recommend to the next meeting of Coiste na Mí CLG that Séamus McEnaney’s term as Meath senior football team manager be terminated. Coiste Bainistí is also recommending that Seán Boylan be appointed as Meath senior football team manager.”

This followed the unusual chain of events last week, starting with McEnaney being given 24 hours to decide on his future.

When declining to resign he was then met by county chairman Barney Allen and told to resign, and again he declined. With that the motion to remove him was tabled, although in the meantime McEnaney has been acting like it’s business as usual – attending a couple of Meath senior football championship matches over the weekend, along with his selectors Graham Geraghty and Tom Keague.

McEnaney also attended Wicklow’s final game in the Football League on Sunday, given Meath are set to play Wicklow in their Leinster championship opener on May 27th. His stubbornness could well work for or against him, but either way he’s certainly not helped by the status of the man in the opposite corner.

Boylan stepped down as Meath manager in 2005, but earlier this month surrendered his position as director of football in the county, apparently frustrated by the limitations of the role.

He suggested over the weekend he was prepared to step in if that was what the county board desired, although Boylan also indicated his disappointment at the way previous Meath managers have been treated, especially Eamonn O’Brien, who was voted out in 2010, just two months after guiding Meath to the Leinster title, albeit in controversial circumstances.

One man with no such lack of support is Terry Hyland, who as expected was confirmed as new Cavan football manager all the way through to 2016.

Hyland was given the unanimous backing of the county board to succeed Val Andrews, who stepped down last week after player power had slowly swung against him. Former Cavan star Anthony Forde will also work alongside Hyland as trainer of the team.

Hyland has just guided the Cavan under-21s to back-to-back Ulster titles, and thus his more immediate concern is Saturday’s All-Ireland semi-final against Roscommon, set for Pearse Park in Longford.

Forde was also part of the management team at under-21 level for two years, and also a key member of the Cavan Gaels management team which recaptured the county title last year.