Tom Carr creases up at the notion of emulating Sean Boylan's longevity as an inter-county manager, a feat which would see him lead the Dubs until 2015.

"If this goes on much longer, I won't even be alive in 2015," he laughs.

The two men are relaxed together, sitting in the conference room in the Bank of Ireland centre, poised for yet another Leinster final between Dublin and Meath.

Boylan has been through so many of these weeks that occasionally blurred details would be forgivable but his recall is sharp and instantaneous, effortless.

He shuffles decades like a card dealer, bringing to life old acquaintances and well-told yarns in that easy conversational style of his. It is clear that he still enjoys it all, the pageantry, the build-up. But still, 19 years is a hell of a lot of twice-weekly training sessions.

"Well, in the beginning I wasn't married so I had a lot of free time and then when I got married and things happened - a lot of babies - I realised I needed to get out of the house," he laughs.

"No, you do it year by year. Some people play golf, some people go to symphony concerts and so forth. I love being involved with the players and I am fortunate to have some great people with me and it just sort of rolls on."

It is likely that Boylan's closest brush with a definitive ending to his now legendary association with Meath came in the wake of the 1995 Leinster final when the city team destroyed their neighbours in the home straight, finishing as 10-point winners. "Well, there was a lot of soul searching because it was a huge defeat and it could have killed us off. What I found extraordinary was the number of young players who were coming through then ringing me and saying 'you can't let it go like that, you can't let it go like that'. And it is incredible to think that within a year, we had turned it around and were Leinster champions again."

It is reasonable to contend that Boylan's reputation entered an even more distinguished phase in the era since that mid-decade implosion.

Controversial though the gripping 1996 All-Ireland win was, 1999 against Cork was pure Meath; pragmatic, economic and admirable. And despite the stunning loss to Offaly last summer, they have, in the past few weeks, moved seamlessly into contention for this year's prize.

"It's amazing," Boylan agrees. "Right through the league, we struggled, just didn't have it, and a number of the players had enjoyed some success so the question was, do they still want it. And, oh, we were blessed against Westmeath and then Kildare I don't think were fully ready for us. And funnily when they got their goal in that game, it actually seemed to lift us. So now, we are in a position going into this game of asking 'just where are we?'."

Tom Carr has no such geographical dilemmas. The proposition for his Dublin squad is absolute; land a Leinster title. That he has remained both approachable and honest despite the heat of increasing criticism over the past year and a half is testimony to his character. No one questions the passion and ethos he brings to the job but his decisions on the sideline have been scrutinised and evaluated by some in unfavourable terms. He is aware of the accusations and rejects them.

"I don't think they are valid because I think I know my players better than you know my players. When I pick a guy to do a job for me, I believe you have to give him the opportunity to do that job.

"I think it has been excessive. To take a case in point, Martin Cahill was castigated for his performance on Vinny Claffey. What did Vinny Claffey score? One point. I looked at a similar semi-final when forwards scored eight points on two full backs and I never heard a word about it.

"I think people are mad to criticise Dublin and will seize on anything. Sure, Ollie Murphy scored 1-3 or whatever off Peader Andrews - we are all conscious of that - but I think the changes are made reasonably quick and reasonably accurate."

Sean Boylan sits through this and then delves into the past. "It can just so happen as well that a player for whatever reason is on fire. So much of the game is about confidence.

"I remember we played in 1986 against Kerry. John Kennedy scored six points in the Munster final. He was off after 10 minutes against us. Now, Kerry won so that was seen as a fine decision by Micko (O'Dwyer). And it was but if we had won, the same people would be saying 'oh, dunno why he took off Kennedy'. It's as fine a line as that lads."