Mickey Harte time to go?

An honest question. Does anyone else think that Mickey Harte has taken Tyrone as far as he can and its time for a new breath of life into the Tyrone setup.

He has been there for a while, brought a lot of success. I think things may gone a bit stale.

Peter Solan the Great wrote:An honest question.
Does anyone else think that Mickey Harte has taken Tyrone as far as he can

When you say 'as far as he can', are you talking about his 6 all-irelands, 3 at senior level?

Thomas Clarke wrote:

Peter Solan the Great wrote:An honest question.
Does anyone else think that Mickey Harte has taken Tyrone as far as he can

When you say 'as far as he can', are you talking about his 6 all-irelands, 3 at senior level?

Yes, whats the point in remaining on. It will just end in tears which in turn will damage his legacy

I think he should've left ages ago. Anytime pre-2003 would've been fine by me.

Peter Solan the Great wrote:

Thomas Clarke wrote:

Peter Solan the Great wrote:An honest question.
Does anyone else think that Mickey Harte has taken Tyrone as far as he can

When you say 'as far as he can', are you talking about his 6 all-irelands, 3 at senior level?

Yes, whats the point in remaining on. It will just end in tears which in turn will damage his legacy

perhaps in your wisdom Peter you could let me know who the successor would be which is probably a more important question. No point replacing someone if the replacement is not as good as the person currently doing the job.

bocerty wrote:

Peter Solan the Great wrote:

Thomas Clarke wrote:

Peter Solan the Great wrote:An honest question.
Does anyone else think that Mickey Harte has taken Tyrone as far as he can

When you say 'as far as he can', are you talking about his 6 all-irelands, 3 at senior level?

Yes, whats the point in remaining on. It will just end in tears which in turn will damage his legacy

perhaps in your wisdom Peter you could let me know who the successor would be which is probably a more important question. No point replacing someone if the replacement is not as good as the person currently doing the job.

Raymond Monroe for one he had good success with the Minors these last 5 or 6 years. isnt that how Mickey got started? with the minors working with them through the ranks up to Senior.

I can assure you that Munroe won't be as media friendly as Harte is. That's one thing for sure

Peter Solan the Great wrote:

bocerty wrote:

Peter Solan the Great wrote:

Thomas Clarke wrote:

Peter Solan the Great wrote:An honest question.
Does anyone else think that Mickey Harte has taken Tyrone as far as he can

When you say 'as far as he can', are you talking about his 6 all-irelands, 3 at senior level?

Yes, whats the point in remaining on. It will just end in tears which in turn will damage his legacy

perhaps in your wisdom Peter you could let me know who the successor would be which is probably a more important question. No point replacing someone if the replacement is not as good as the person currently doing the job.

Raymond Monroe for one he had good success with the Minors these last 5 or 6 years. isnt that how Mickey got started? with the minors working with them through the ranks up to Senior.

big difference in managing minors and seniors Peter - Liam Donnelly and Martin Coyle also managed some very successful minor teams and then stepped up to manage the U21s - the same levels of success did not materialise however.

Danny Ball also managed the U21 team that included Canavan Lawn Cush and the likes to 2 All Ireland titles he then took on the senior job and got nowhere.

In all fairness how long is Mickey Harte in charge of Tyrone now? He was/is a very succesful mananger but there comes a time when the set up needs to be shook up, fresh ideas brought on. I understand the emotional attachment that Tyrone people have to Mickey Harte he was the first man to bring sustained success to Tyrone at Senior level. I believe that these last two years Tyrone have underperformed. With the players at their disposal and the abundance of talent at underage level they really should be doing better. You have to ask the reason why. That reason in my opinion is a staleness of ideas at top level. A change of manager might be the best idea.

Peter Solan the Great wrote:In all fairness how long is Mickey Harte in charge of Tyrone now? He was/is a very succesful mananger but there comes a time when the set up needs to be shook up, fresh ideas brought on. I understand the emotional attachment that Tyrone people have to Mickey Harte he was the first man to bring sustained success to Tyrone at Senior level. I believe that these last two years Tyrone have underperformed. With the players at their disposal and the abundance of talent at underage level they really should be doing better. You have to ask the reason why. That reason in my opinion is a staleness of ideas at top level. A change of manager might be the best idea.

Last 2 years have been a major disappointment Peter there is no doubting that - this year even more so.

Still cant put my finger on it and it is perhaps frustrating to read that Mickey is of the opinion that all is fine and dandy in terms of the personnel in the squad and yet we have come short 2 years in a row with virtually those same players.

The only changes to the squad appear to be those who will retire and so far i think Dooher is the only who would perhaps be thinking along those lines. I do think we need a bit of rebuilding but i would be of the opinion that Mickey is still the right man for the job.

Mickey Harte, tactical genius and innovator.

However, at the risk of being unpopular (sic) could I list some of his legacy.

1: Paul Galvin......unearthed by Kerry to combat the Tyrone "style" this copy cat model enjoyed great success in helping Kerry win 4 titles and appear in 6 consecutive finals. A controversial figure, but like the original model, a success.

2: Teams playing with a sweeper, successfully copied by Dublin last week end.

3: Teams lining out with 7 defenders and 5 forwards, but everyone is expected to tackle back like poor premiership teams. Again successfully copied by the Dubs last Saturday.

4: Short kick outs and the elimination of one of the great eye catching skills of GAA, high fielding. For 120 years Gaelic football centred around the mid field partnership and Harte, successfully, did away with it. That is truly amazing as no one would even have imagined it could be done.

5: Delaying tactics for a "time out" taken to a new level.

Please note that in many of these Harte learnt a lot of lessons from 1995/96. In 1995 the second half of the final had 8 minutes of actual playing time after Charlie went.

6: A really good team in 2005 with some outstanding individual players, good enough to come from behind to defeat an excellent Armagh team when it looked all over for them. A truly great game that semi, and a more than decent final.

7: The adoption of rugby union/basketball terms to GAA such as "turn overs".


So Harte's Tyrone were highly successful and truly revolutionised Gaelic football (no mid field!!!!) However personally I preferred the Down and Galway revolution of the 1960s, even though Down adopted a "spoiling mid field" tactic, and certainly the Dubs/ Kerry revolution of the 1970s.

One thing however always remains constant. Kerry adopt, eventually.

Patrique - the tactics on Saturday were a bit iffy would you not agree.

[quote="[color=red][u]bocerty[/u][/color]"]Patrique - the tactics on Saturday were a bit iffy would you not agree.




Here is the thing. The Dubs aped them right down to Alan Brogan starting a bit of nonsense and McConnell and Ricey losing it. Usually Tyrone wind up the others, like they successfully did with say Freeman in Ulster.

However starting Cavanagh at 14 was wrong I thought and a few others, but hey given Harte's success I am not going to say he should have done this or done that.

Between the 55th and 64th minute the game was there for the winning but the confidence was not and Cavanagh was poor, and Dooher no longer has the legs. Maybe in Ulster, but not from the quarters in.

The Dubs hustled well and maintained discipline. I know we had a few frees in the first half when Tyrone got back into the game but all the commentators agreed the first one (penrose) was "soft" and a bit of panic did creep in. But at half time Gilroy got them back on track.

When the Brogans got three in a row to put the Dubs back in front we all knew the Dubs were not going to lie down, and I sensed they would win. Tyrone certainly had the chance after that, but as Carney said both teams appeared to be so defensive that no one was prepared to seize the game by the throat.

In the last decade Tyrone had Canavan, an all time great and I do not like to overuse that word, and some excellent talents in O'Neill when fit, Dooher who I always defended, Mugsy on his day and Cavlan.

In what I call the Tyrone system, Ricey, Jordan, McGuigan and Gormley are outstanding, and the rest all fitted in.

Alas with other less talented teams using the "system" I feel the game has suffered. In soccer it was all right using one striker and 5 supporting mid fielders if that striker was the real Ronaldo or Shevchenko, but not when it was Defoe if you follow my drift.

As I said in another thread, Antrim had Kildare on the rack for a while in Newbridge, with a gale at their back, but kept the 7 defender system. That is ok if your half backs can score as well as overlap, but not if they cannot. And being Antrim, it doesn't help if your forwards can't score so you need 6 of them. In short we had O'Neill on as a sweeper and CJ, who can score, sitting on the bench.

So the system suited Tyrone because they had talent as well, but pale imitations are ruining the game.

In my humble opinion.

I know we had a few frees in the first half

Whats this WE business !!!!

bocerty wrote: I know we had a few frees in the first half

Whats this WE business !!!!

Jaysus, did I say"we" ye bowsie!!!!!!!!!


That obviously is the "Royal" we meaning the populace at large, the TV audience.

I told ye, I was sitting as a neutral, in a Dublin top............

patrique wrote:

bocerty wrote: I know we had a few frees in the first half

Whats this WE business !!!!

Jaysus, did I say"we" ye bowsie!!!!!!!!!


That obviously is the "Royal" we meaning the populace at large, the TV audience.

I told ye, I was sitting as a neutral, in a Dublin top............

i dont recall the ref giving the TV audience a free or any delay while a member of the TV audience travelled to Croker to hit the free!!!!

Although I would like to see him go he shouldn't. In Tyrone GAA is a massive figurehead, kids at the age of 14-15 look upto him and would relish the chance to play on his team, it goes for all ranks and they want to be part of something big.

its worth noting Mickey is a stubborn man he'll go when he wants to go and i dont think it will be any time soon.

bocerty wrote:its worth noting Mickey is a stubborn man he'll go when he wants to go and i dont think it will be any time soon.

The last time people were on about this in early 2008 I said Mickey Harte had earned the right to go when he chose.

Nothing has changed

patrique wrote:

bocerty wrote:its worth noting Mickey is a stubborn man he'll go when he wants to go and i dont think it will be any time soon.

The last time people were on about this in early 2008 I said Mickey Harte had earned the right to go when he chose.

Nothing has changed

totally agree Pat he has a job for life if he wants it

He is a very wise man and reminds me of Sean Boylan in terms of 'job for life - longevity' etc.

I think he will have a long hard look at the last two seasons and see there are a lot of hard decisions to make. Bye bye Brian D? Davey? The McGuigans? Where do you play Sean? Are there any midfielders in the county?

Tyrone have had great underage success but we haven't seen a lot of these guys - not even in the League. MH will have to be less loyal I think if he wants to get Tyrone back on track. I believe the personnel may be there - therefore it puts it up to Mickey.

I think Mickey deserves to resign for one and not be pushed and i know the tyrone people would never push the greatest coach to ever come from the red hand county.

I dont think the time is right for him to resign, coming into the antrim game this year all i was hearing was "tyrone are too old" "tyrone are over the hill" etc etc, funny when i looked at the programme and only two fellas over 30 i had to wonder what the hell people are sniffing or drinking these days.

Tyrone are good and on there day probably the best, I believe they dont need an injection of New blood however, and after watching their minors over the last few years this shouldnt be a problem, they have young peter harte, kyle coney and more however they will need to be given game time and the told to stand up and be a leader on the feild, but they cant be allowed to be big headed or arrogant as can sometimes happen to young tyrone players such as mugsy sitting on the bench a couple of years back, there is no other reason for a fella like that to be on the bench other than his attitude towards training and what he puts in on the pitch, Mugsy has now matured into a good forward however.

The team has went a bit stale over the last two years and maybe the hunger isnt as high in some of the players as it was but competition from young players who are getting a chance will change that, anyone who thinks tyrone are finished do so at your own risk, im sure if you asked the Dubs all ireland semi finalists do they think there finished, after slogging out 70 minutes of intense football at high speed to get a win, they will say far from it.

There is no way harte should go. The man is a genius, (personally cant warm to him, but as far as football goes he knows his stuff).

if things have gone a bit stale then there is no better man to turn it around than harte. Tyrone won 3 all ireland playing a totally different style of game each time. a reason i feel that tyrones all-irelands have been spread out with non in a row is because they seem to reinvent themselves after each all-ireland success and i think that sometimes it takes a year or two for the players and management to perfect the system. There is no better man to rejuvinate the tyrone set-up. Stick with him lads (and for feck sake no abusive phone calls to the man at 3am)