Conor Gormley.. . Hero or Villian.

The latter days of 2014 has heralded the end of Conor Gormley's distinguished career in a Tyrone jersey.
Feel free to post your opinions of him as a player/servant/sportsman here.

Lest I be later referred to as a "Keyboard Warrior", I've seen Conor as one of the keystones to Tyrone's continuance at the top level, albeit with a tinge of doubt. Gormley was the most effective component in Tyrone's arsenal of weaponry, tremendous man marker, up and at 'em attitude, the odd inspirational 40 yd. point and an absolute leader on the field. 10/10.

He wasn't the greatest sportsman of all time though, "occasionaly" allowing his (insert limb) to rest forcibly upon vulnerable parts of foes.

Discuss:

Boxtyeater wrote:
He wasn't the greatest sportsman of all time though, "occasionaly" allowing his (insert limb) to rest forcibly upon vulnerable parts of foes.

Are you referring to the Ryan McMenamin incident on John McEntee in the 2005 Ulster final? Poor Gormley gets the blame for everything!

More seriously, Conor was an outstanding defender and much under-rated footballer. he has been the best club footballer in Tyrone for a decade, dominating games from midfield, and regularly weighing in with scores. Corner, Full, Centre or wing back, he was equally good in any position, and could mark, sweep or do whatever else you needed him to do. I'd rate him as perhaps Tyrone's best all-around defender during their glory years, and he would have improved any side.

It's also interesting to note that so many of the eulogies directed his way focused on the famous block in the 2003 AI final. Aside from Darby's goal or even Mugsy's goal, I can think of few other players that are so intrinsically linked to 1 moment.

Hero or Villain????????

depends who you are talking to Boxty - in Tyrone he is certainly a hero (when he is playing for Tyrone - playing for his club is another story) Oustide of the Red Hand County there are any amount of adjectives that have been used to describe him. Though i cant help but think of the anger directed towards him was down to how good he was.

Of the field Gormley is a different animal - like most successful sports stars are i suppose. A very very quiet individual, modest and humble as well. An electrician by trade he is now employed by Tyrone County Board as a football coach in the schools around the county.

On the field of play Conor was a born winner - i've lost count of the number of times he took games by the scruff of the neck and dragged his club over the line almost single handedly. When the chips were down he was the one man you know would rally the troops and if you were ever tp pick one man to take to battle he would be the man every time.

There is a 'nasty' streak in him though but again only when on the field of play. He hated losing and would try different tactics to try and gain an advantage. In this years county final he targeted young Grugan of Omagh who was a county colleague - Grugan had had an operation on his hand leading up to the final and on several occasions Gormley was seen by everyone who wanted to trying to cause more harm to this particular hand during the course of the game. That was the kind of warrior he was, his will to win knew no bounds.

Alas we are now blessed with defenders who are possibly more skilful that Conor but are nowhere near as committed as he was and just dont have the same will to win. If we could have bottled his (and others of his generation like Jordan, Dooher, O'Neill Ricey etc) mental strength, physical strength and will to win we would have less problems in Tyrone

bocerty wrote:
There is a 'nasty' streak in him though but again only when on the field of play.  He hated losing and would try different tactics to try and gain an advantage.  In this years county final he targeted young Grugan of Omagh who was a county colleague - Grugan had had an operation on his hand leading up to the final and on several occasions Gormley was seen by everyone who wanted to trying to cause more harm to this particular hand during the course of the game.  

An extension of that story, told to me by someone very close to Grugan, is that right at the start, Gormley suqeezed the hand, and Grugan let out a mock yelp.  Unbeknownst to Gormley, he had grabbed the wrong hand, and continued to do so throughout the game. The injured hand was never touched!

On the subject of Grugan, Boc, can you shed any light on why he has opted out of the county set-up this year?

Thomas Clarke wrote:

bocerty wrote:
There is a 'nasty' streak in him though but again only when on the field of play.  He hated losing and would try different tactics to try and gain an advantage.  In this years county final he targeted young Grugan of Omagh who was a county colleague - Grugan had had an operation on his hand leading up to the final and on several occasions Gormley was seen by everyone who wanted to trying to cause more harm to this particular hand during the course of the game.  

An extension of that story, told to me by someone very close to Grugan, is that right at the start, Gormley suqeezed the hand, and Grugan let out a mock yelp.  Unbeknownst to Gormley, he had grabbed the wrong hand, and continued to do so throughout the game. The injured hand was never touched!

On the subject of Grugan, Boc, can you shed any light on why he has opted out of the county set-up this year?

that story is absolutely correct TC in fact i think Grugan even had a bandage on the wrong hand as he knew exactly what Gormley would be at.

As for his decision to opt out of the county setup i haven't a clue TC what the story is there - i asked someone close to the setup and the response i got was "he knows (thats Grugan himself) he isnt good enough" find that hard to believe.

bocerty wrote:
On the subject of Grugan, Boc, can you shed any light on why he has opted out of the county set-up this year?

As for his decision to opt out of the county setup i haven't a clue TC what the story is there - i asked someone close to the setup and the response i got was "he knows (thats Grugan himself) he isnt good enough"  find that hard to believe.[/quote]

Thanks, Boc. I'd share your scepticism that doubting his own ability is the reason. He is 22/23, and had just had seen a reasonable anount of action last spring. I'd be surprised if he suddenly felt that he wasn't up to the required level, especially as we barely have any midfielders in the squad.

To be fair, I was very disappointed with him in the Ulster Club final. He made no impact for Omagh, and I wouldn't have had huge hopes for him making an impact for the red Hands in 2015. Still, he's too young to be lost for no good reason. Hopefully we see him back later in the year.