‘Those who aren’t patient and make noises we don’t understand, those we ignore’

Patience, positivity, building for the future. They are familiar themes now in a Colm O'Rourke post-match press briefings.

He has been long saying that Meath players should be shown "kindness and patience." That they are giving it everything in training and games. Everything. It just hasn't paid dividends yet but fans are like shareholders they want to see some progress now.

It seems like nothing is going to distract the Meath manager from the road he set out on when he started in the role - building for a better future, even if he and the players have to absorb many slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, to eventually get to where they want to be.

What's important, he insists, is that the foundations are being laid - for a better day sometime the future - when Meath will once more be able to offer a competitive challenge to a team like Kerry. A day when teams like Louth won't get away with inflicting a 10-point defeat. It's a laudable objective, sure, but right now that day seem a long way off. A very long way off.

Meath supporters are hungry, ravenous for some sign that things are getting better - and so far this summer they have not seen much to satiate or appease them. Building for the future is all very fine and dandy but supporters want to see tangible evidence of some progress. A cause to believe in. They look at Louth and see a team moving upwards and onwards while Meath appear stuck in neutral.

So patience might not be what a lot of Meath supporters have in their locker right now. Another hefty defeat on Sunday followed hard on the heels of that forgettable humiliation in Inniskeen. Those kind of days tend to trigger questions among fans about the direction the team is going.

Clearly O'Rourke has heard, or perhaps read online, some what he called "noises" of discontent. Not that he is going to take much notice of them. He has a plan, a vision, and he's sticking with that. No matter what.

"We have to develop the group that we have, we are going to have patience with these. Stick with the process and give them every encouragement we possibly can. Those who aren't patient and make noises we don't understand, those we ignore."

With two defeats from two games Meath's chances of progressing look precarious indeed but they could still do so if they defeat Monaghan in their last group game. Unbelievably Meath, who have now lost three championship games, could still win the All-Ireland, in theory of course.

Asked after Sunday's setbacks if he was happy with the direction the team is going, O'Rourke indicated that well, he was in some respects but that he was hoping the team would be in a better place at this stage.

"I would have preferred if it (progress) was quicker and the upward curve was steeper but we are where we are I suppose," he said. "The biggest disappointment of this year so far was the Louth game we would have hoped to be more competitive. I know there were various factors that didn't help in the build up to the game but I think the Monaghan game is now going to give us a fairer picture of where we at but I think we are improving, I think there is a big performance in us yet."

There were encouraging aspects of Sunday's display that he felt could be built on. He pointed out how his team had 14 shots on goals in the opening half, the same number as Kerry yet went in at the break 0-10 to 0-3 behind.

He talked of Kerry's much greater experience, their class. How they have played at the top level for a long time now while Meath's young guns haven't experienced many of the big days in high summer when the heat is at it's most intense.

He pointed to how, especially in the opening half, Meath were "competitive all over the field" and should have been a lot closer to the much-vaunted visitors at half-time than they were.

There was the spirited displays of newcomers that pleased him."Sean Ryan did well, Michael Murphy did well, Brian O'Halloran, they all have played only a couple of games for Meath, we are lacking a hard core, experienced group from 25 to 30 that make up the bones of top inter-county teams."

The physicality between the teams was certainly noticeable. It meant a high percentage of turnovers were executed by Kerry. Time and again promising home moves stitched together by the home side came to an abrupt end.

Again O'Rourke put it down partly to the Kingdom's experience - and his own team's lack of the same. "Kerry have had years together, the vast majority of those fellas are playing for four, five, six years together. They're very physically stronger than we were. When we brought the ball into contact a lot of our fellas were not strong enough to get out of the tackles. That's an issue but that comes with time, physique and age."

The manager has nothing but admiration for the commitment, dedication, willingness of the Meath players to serve and work. Yet there is something that puzzles him. It is that hard work done on the training ground is not translating into a higher percentage of chances converted during games. On Sunday Meath 11 wides.

"We spend hours and hours training, score-taking, everybody seems to be able to kick points at training. It seems to desert them in the game. Again we'll just stick at it, the lads are trying hard, there won't be any negative stuff, we’ll look at things we can improve on. There'll be no problem getting the lads motivated for the Monaghan game."

A victory over the Farney County would give Meath fans a real boost - and lift some of the gloom and depression surrounding the county team right now. It would also be an indication that the path Colm O'Rourke and his management team is so firmly set on is in fact the right path - and not the road to nowhere.