I always had a grudging admiration for Harte as he took on the establishment to win consistently with an ugly team and seemingly held to certain principles in both football and approach.
Nowadays, unfortunately, he seems to have been exposed as a money-grabbing dinosaur who’ll prostitute himself to any well-paid cause. He’d be better off on the lucrative club circuit but I fear his ego won’t allow it.
Unusual that he doesn’t have Gavin Devlin with him this time alright.
John Hegarty is a Wexford man managing his own county, same with Brian Flanagan in Kildare. I’d say Dessie is better looked after financially than both of those.
It’s funny how the Kerry PR machine works so well that you’d remember them as an ugly team when in reality they played Kerrys 2nd best team ever off the park in two finals.
Spot on. Kerry couldn’t handle their intensity in 2003. Kerry’s return of 0-6 was the puke football there. Tyrone played some really slick stuff in 2005 and 2008. The Peter Canavan goal being the epitome of that. Magic Mulligan against the Dubs springs to mind too.
Mickey taking the Louth or Offaly job isn’t greatly different to Micko spreading the gospel in Laois or Wicklow. Micko never took on a job with a coming Cork team mind you….But wasn’t he linked with Dublin at one stage?
On the whole, Kerry are probably the worst kickers of the ball among the top teams now.
Offaly obviously felt they lacked the ruthless bastard factor.
Until the Dublin-Mayo games of the mid-2010s Tyrone v Kerry 2005 and 2008 (and Tyrone v Armagh 2005) was the pinnacle of all round quality in Gaelic football history.
Harte’s Tyrone at their best were unstoppable. It was probably the gaps between their All-Irelands that enabled them to reach such heights when they were on it.
2005 was the team’s glory. 2008 was nearly more Harte’s glory because Canavan, O’Neill, Mulligan and McGuigan were either gone or faded forces, and yet the whole package was as at least as good, maybe better.
Christ on a bike.
Harte’s Tyrone team would’ve had one off of Dublin. That Mayo team were all-time greats but were short a forward or two and maybe another in the fullback line, so the likes of poor Aidan O’Shea had to be shifted around to compensate.
Kerry celebrated something special when they beat Tyrone in Killarney in 2010 or 2011.
It was a real sign of weakness imo.
Duignan needs to grow a set and sack Kelly
2012 round 3 qualifier. Tyrone were a fading force by that stage though.
They were completely finished.
Completely forgot about hughes. He played soccer at one point didn’t he?
Philip Jordan, Conor gormley and Davy Harte was some half back line.
Cavanagh kicked a few lovely ones this day too and dooher as well.
Harte’s Tyrone of 2005 or 2008 would have put it up to 2017 Dublin in a major way.
The 2005 line up had a forward six of Dooher-McGuigan-Mellon-Canavan-O’Neill-Mulligan. Five all time greats in there and the “weak link” Mellon hit Tyrone’s first two points of the final. It’s a contender for the best front six in history.
This was incredible moment. We will never get anything like this ever again.
Even Marty didn’t manage to ruin it.
I’d love to see him over Errigal again.
He has unfinished business after losing to Nemo in the 2003 All Ireland Club Semi Final.
His son Mark managed them in recent years and Enda McGinley is the man in situ this year but if he doesnt deliver it would be great for Mickey to have another go at it with the young Canavan’s.
Hughes was Man of The Match in one of the All-Ireland finals. 2003 I think.
The way Harte patched up Tyrone in 2008 and managed to extract a run of Rolls Royce performances out of a motley crew was remarkable. They were lucky to struggle over Westmeath in the qualifiers at Omagh. They looked finished.
Cavanagh going to full forward changed everything and gave them a focal point. Enda McGinley in midfield was a contender for Footballer Of The Year. Dooher too. Colm McCullagh played sublime football but he had to go off injured in the first half in the final. The way everybody stepped up. Tommy McGuigan, Martin Penrose, Davy Harte, Brian McGuigan wasn’t the same player but used his football smarts to key effect in the last 15/20 minutes of the final, even clapped out versions of Kevin Hughes and Stephen O’Neill and a baby Colm Cavanagh contributed.
The Louth lads felt Devlin was the key to their improvement moreso than Harte.
The head coach is the most important member of the back room team. He is the one that designs the game plan and trains the team to implement this.
Obviously picking the team is important but at inter county level with it being a 20 man game it’s not as integral.
I’d worry if Mickey is going down to Offaly without a guru like Devlin. Jody Gormley might be an option after having recent success with Trillick.