Meath defender Seán Rafferty has said the players were shocked by news coaches Joe McMahon and Martin Corey had quit the set-up.
The decision on Saturday by the duo to step away from the Meath backroom team stunned the county ahead of this Sunday’s Leinster SFC opener against Carlow at Páirc Tailteann, 3pm.
“To be honest there was no inkling that was coming, nothing at all, a shock to us all across the board,” explained Rafferty.
“But that’s just the way it is and our fixture doesn’t change, on Sunday we have to play that game against Carlow so that’s our full focus as players, we’re focused on that game and trying to put in a performance to get a win.
“We found out Saturday that the boys had decided to step away. Don’t know why they did that, not too sure, but we’re just focused on Carlow on Sunday and whatever else has to be dealt with, that’s going to be up to the powers that be to sort that out.”
Robbie Brennan must now try bolster his coaching ticket but with just days before Meath’s championship begins, the timing of McMahon and Corey’s departure has left the Royals in a difficult situation.
“No it’s not ideal, not ideal at all,” continued Rafferty. “Any team, no matter who they lose, players or management, a week before a championship is not ideal.
“But, look, we just have to get on with it, it’s not going to change anything. We have to play Carlow on Sunday regardless, so that’s just the focus.”
Meath aren’t the only ones with backroom problems, though. Carlow were forced to find a new manager after Shane Curran stepped down last week. It emerged on Monday night that former Éire Óg and Carlow player Joe Murphy, who managed Naas to three successive Kildare SFCs between 2022-24, had taken on the role with his native county on an interim basis for the championship.
In what was a rather messy break, some of the blame in relation to Curran’s departure appeared to be directed towards the players. However, the panel countered such conjecture by releasing a statement in which they insisted “player-related issues were not to blame for the departure of the management team.”
The statement added: “There were persistent concerns with the overall organisation and training environment throughout the league. Players had communicated their frustrations to both the management team and the county board for many weeks.”
And while they have now appointed Murphy, Carlow team captain Mikey Bambrick said the players had spent the last week trying to drive the standards at training.
“It just means all the players have that bit more added responsibility to get themselves right,” said Bambrick.
“At the end of the day, you’re still going out and training, you’re still going out and getting yourself right and ready for the championship.
“Not much has changed but it’s just a bit more added pressure and responsibility on a lot of players.
“There’s been some build-up of frustration, I suppose is the way of putting it over the last few weeks.
“When this happened, we’ve come more together as a group and we’ve had lads that have stepped away come back in.
“That’s always a good sign when you have more of the best players in your county playing. Trainings are better, upbeat, there’s good intensity at training. Just looking forward to the weeks and months going ahead for the season.”
Rarely has any match on the opening weekend of a provincial championship had so much focus on who will be standing on the sideline.
Either way, Bambrick hopes Carlow can let their football do the talking in Navan against the Royals.
“I’m looking forward to going back to playing football now, to be honest,” he added.
“You can only do so much talking, at the end of the day you’re a footballer and all you want to do is go out and train and try to improve.
“There’s never a good time for anything like this to happen. You could easily say if this happened in the middle of the league it would be bad timing for your league campaign as well.
“We got through our league campaign and we looked at that as a cut-off point, and I suppose in my eyes the timing is perfect for us. We’re going into summer football again and looking to hit the ground running now coming into the championship.”
