FROM a neutral perspective, Tyrone winning the Dr McKenna Cup last weekend may not seem the biggest surprise in the world, given that they had won the previous five.
What is strange is that Mickey Harte has entered 2017 in the final year of his management term without the security of knowing that he will be defending the title next year.
You get the impression from quarters in Tyrone that the county would benefit from a change. Yet Mickey Harte has secured his legacy, and that of Tyrone’s, in the annals of the GAA. He has nothing left to prove.
However, the manner in which the Tyrone County Board has handled the non-extension of his contract with the county senior team does not exactly instil confidence in him or in his backroom team.
In soccer terms, compare how a player or manager enters the final year of his contract and, more importantly, is allowed to do so by the club. It usually means that he will be allowed to leave or that his contract will not be renewed.
With Harte, it seems that the Tyrone County Board is willing to let the contract expire and perhaps seek to re-interview for the post. How likely, though, would it be that other candidates will allow their names to go forward?
The Tyrone U21 management team of Fergal Logan, Peter Canavan and Brian Dooher have a wealth of experience and would surely be on Tyrone’s dream ticket should Harte himself decide to go. However, is it realistic for these former lieutenants to go against Harte, should Mickey want to secure another term or two? They are fiercely loyal and it would leave a very sour taste if this were the case.
So I just cannot understand why Harte hasn’t secured another term as was his wish long before the 2017 season commenced. The Tyrone County Board may think that it is doing the county a disservice if it doesn’t follow ‘due process’, but dragging this out seems futile.
More importantly, respecting Harte and his achievements should be the primary concern here. The Glencull native is entering his 14th year as team manager and, having won three All-Ireland titles among an array of Anglo-Celt and National League titles, his hunger for the challenge remains undiminished.
I suspect that he wants to win the big one one last time. Win an All-Ireland for everything and everyone since their last success on that stage in 2008. The true greatness of any manager is being able to re-build and achieve title-winning teams, as was the case with both Kilkenny hurling boss Brian Cody and former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.
Mickey Harte wants to prove to himself he can build a title-winning team. Moreover, this internal drive is the type all managers need. It is the same drive that someone coming in to take his place will possess when starting his own term as manager.
The same players will be at a new manager’s disposal and the challenges of Dublin, Mayo or Kerry will not have changed very much. When you look around the province, no team other than Fermanagh in Ulster would possess Harte’s tactical astuteness, experience and guile.
Pete McGrath has comparable qualities to Harte and can boast of a similar level of success, having won two All-Irelands with Down in the 1990s. In addition, McGrath has re-invented himself and adapted to the modern game, with the foundations remaining true – he sends his teams out in the belief that they can win any game, beat any team.
Don’t forget that Down have had a couple of chances since 2002 – when Pete resigned – to welcome him back as manager and never did. What is it that they say about prophets?
Back to the football, though, and Tyrone look no less hungry than they have been in the last few years. Derry were simply outplayed all over the field. For Derry to get as far in the competition was an achievement, given that they have lost some many first team players.
I’m afraid that the same old names are cropping up when it comes to potential All-Ireland suitors. Kerry in Munster. Mayo in Connacht. Galway may give them a run, but unfortunately still remain a fair bit behind as All-Ireland contenders. Dublin firsts, seconds and thirds in Leinster. And Tyrone in Ulster.
Given that a third string Dublin outfit ran out easy winners against Louth in the O’Byrne Cup, is it time to break up the capital into two parts? This idea was mooted a few years ago and it wasn’t well received in the county at the time.
The idea of Dublin South playing Dublin North may sound a bridge too far; however, the domination of Sam Maguire over the next decade will not lie much further than either north or south Dublin.
The reality is that Dublin could easily submit two squads to the All-Ireland Championship. Without doubt it would dilute the quality of the current squad,
but it would also give talented players an opportunity to play for Dublin who are otherwise carried in a wider panel but never get game time, or those who have never been called onto the panel.
Such are the resources and finance available to Dublin they can also afford to register two teams. It would be a brave decision by the county to agree to it and the reality is that most, if not all, would be against the idea of splitting the county in two.
However, in a few years their domination of the football Championship will become boring, the outcome a matter of limited debate. Declining revenues and spectators starting to vote with their feet is being seen already. If this continues to slide, no matter how many changes we make to the format of the All-Ireland, Dublin will remain as the one dominant force.
An ‘all-Dublin’ final is a win-win and would re-invigorate a system which is already gasping from a sense of inevitability. No point in asking me who will win the All-Ireland in 2017.
It’s virtually nailed on.
