Tyrone County Football and Hurling

[An Watcher]

Well said and I agree that Harte deserves enormous credit but time to go now as next year there'll be another reason to keep him

[Lamh Dhearg Alba]

They won't be giving him anything, he'll be taking any extension he sees fit. He will decide when he steps away.

And rightly so he should take the extension.  Always baffles me the amount of people who want to get rid of the greatest manager in the history of Tyrone GAA    The man delivered 3 All Irelands, a league title, numerous Ulster's and basically a McKenna cup every year.

In fairness listing the McKenna Cup is hardly necessary.. A warm up tournament which has no relevance on the fiull season.

Sean Boylan was a great manager with Meath, but stayed on too long.  Brian Cody a bit similar to Mickey Harte, doesn't want to relenquish the power as manager. They reached the All Ireland final last year with a new team.,which was a good achievement m
There is still calls for a fresh look in Kilkenny.

Tyrone reached the All Ireland final in 2018 and some Semi final appearance which would have given Mickey Harte some leeway, though Tyrone are in a decent position, so if Harte at end of year, they aren't in a bad place. Meath were a sinking ship for a new manager when Boylan left.

The thing is, do Tyrone have the quality of players that should have been winning All Irelands or at least getting very close over the past 5 years?
We have won 2 Ulsters, reached 3 All-Ireland Semis & 1 All-Ireland Final in that time which apart from the 2000s must be considered Tyrone's best ever period (maybe 95/96 better achievement as straight KO?)
A few weeks ago, people on here were rubbishing Peter Harte's reputation as a big player. If you ask anyone reasonable in the country they would say that Peter Harte would be one of our top 3/4 players over the past 5 years.
Therefore if one of our best players is such a poor player then how do we expect to be winning All Irelands and can it be said that Mickey is not getting the best out of his available personnel?

I personally thought he should have went after the 2017 Semi but the run to the final in 2018 was a vindication of him staying on IMO. I would have liked to judge him based on this year but with Covid now I think it is likely he will get another year.

Tyrone certainly have had the quality of player to be involved in the latter stages of the Championship over the past few years. It hasn't been a vintage era in terms of depth. Dublin are excellent. Mayo have been very good. Kerry, while not at the level of their best teams, have been at a high level compared to the rest and are still improving. Beyond that there really isn't much. Given the pool of talent that Tyrone have and depth, added to the generally very high level of conditioning on the panel, and credit to Mickey and co for that, and really it's no surprise that Tyrone have been involved into the latter stages. In reality it would have been a failure were they not making quarters/super eights and occasional semi finals.

My issue with Mickey has been the way he has set up the team. He never got over those defeats by Jimmy McGuinness and became obsessed by trying to take that ultra defensive template to another level, even when the evidence suggested that such an extreme model would only work in the short term until others worked it out, even for the team that created it. Mickey spent a good while throwing everything into that, culminating in the 2017 semi where Tyrone conceded a goal after 5 minutes and didn't know how to come back.

You suggest 2018 was some kind of redemption. I don't agree. Tyrone were knocked out in the first round of Ulster by Monaghan. They were hugely fortunate to then survive against Meath. It was only when they started to play more of an attacking game that they began to make progress, and even then it was a hardly a vintage run to the final. On reaching the final there was a lot of talk of Mickey will have a plan. It turned out that his plan was to go all out attack from the start, something which went totally against the way he had been building his team for the previous three years. The idea that you could take on a team like Dublin by trying something entirely different to the minutely crafted defensive template you had spent years on was ludicrous. Sure enough, as soon as the Dubs got over the shock of seeing Tyrone attacking they put the game to bed before half-time. Tyrone are a team without an identity who don't really know how they are supposed to play. The manager showed a lack of faith in their ability by developing such a defensive strategy and since it was shown up badly has struggled to work out any other consistent approach of how he should use the talent he has available to him.

Now maybe you are happy enough with that. In the context of the history of Tyrone football the last few years are still very good. There was a long time when even the idea of a handy run to an AI Final would have been fantasy. But it is still fair game to question. Tyrone didn't get near Dublin in those games, despite Mayo and Kerry giving them massive tests in the Championship. Tyrone haven't managed to beat Kerry or Mayo either for that matter, they haven't in truth taken any truly notable scalps at all in the Championship. The talent was there to do better.

It's still there too. Mattie Donnelly and Peter Harte are top class players. McShane before the injury had emerged as a serious talent. McKenna coming home brings real excitement. Then thrown in Bradley, McCurry, Brennan etc. There is serious attacking threat there. Put some faith in them and go with a system which allows them to showcase their talent and stick with it. We might well still lose but at least it would be fun to watch and we'd know we lost having a real go, like Kerry and Mayo did.

And before the classic response of Tyrone running up massive scores is mentioned, grinding down inferior and physically weaker sides then putting 4-20 or whatever up against them doesn't mean you are an attacking team.

And I'll add too that Mickey has been a great leader and fantastic ambassador for Tyrone, and is also IMO a man of great dignity and integrity. All of which still doesn't mean that his record and methods shouldn't be scrutinised.

[inroundthesquare]

I actually agree with a loot of what you are saying. It's just when I see people here criticising as you say one of top players in Peter Harte and then criticising the manager for not getting the best out of the players - can't really have it both ways. Either the players are good enough or not.
The win over Donegal in 2018 was an impressive victory, a lot of talk was how our subs made a huge difference that day - we played a more attacking style of football from that point, should have been well up on Monaghan in the first half but then seemed to get nervy in the second half with the chance of a first All Ireland final in ten years at stake. We were 6/1 outsiders for the Final, realistically Dublin were just a better team, I do take the point that Mayo and Kerry seem to be able to run them close on the big days although not so much in the last 2 years (Mayo took a real hammering in the second half last year, Kerry ended up well beaten in the replay, same margin as 2018 final after playing most of the drawn game against 14 men). The current Dubs are a juggernaut.

Take the Kerry game last year as the most recent large piece of evidence. We were well in control at half time (4 points up). We played some terrific football using Mattie and McShane in the full forward line, using a direct style with arguably our best team on the field (one that played the 2nd half against Cork). Could argue the lack of link up with the half forward line but we were looking in control.
Nearly all the scores Kerry got in the first half were really poor Tyrone errors (from memory stupid free given away by Mattie, Morgan kicked ball directly to Geaney, Richie Donnelly intercepted crossfield pass)

Refereeing decisions and some bad individual errors cost us, let Kerry back into the game and once the Kerry forwards starting rolling they kicked some superb scores. I don't know if you could direct most of the blame to Mickey for that result to be honest. I thought at the time McCurry should have been brought in sooner.

[Angelo]

I actually agree with a loot of what you are saying. It's just when I see people here criticising as you say one of top players in Peter Harte and then criticising the manager for not getting the best out of the players - can't really have it both ways. Either the players are good enough or not.
The win over Donegal in 2018 was an impressive victory, a lot of talk was how our subs made a huge difference that day - we played a more attacking style of football from that point, should have been well up on Monaghan in the first half but then seemed to get nervy in the second half with the chance of a first All Ireland final in ten years at stake. We were 6/1 outsiders for the Final, realistically Dublin were just a better team, I do take the point that Mayo and Kerry seem to be able to run them close on the big days although not so much in the last 2 years (Mayo took a real hammering in the second half last year, Kerry ended up well beaten in the replay, same margin as 2018 final after playing most of the drawn game against 14 men). The current Dubs are a juggernaut.

Take the Kerry game last year as the most recent large piece of evidence. We were well in control at half time (4 points up). We played some terrific football using Mattie and McShane in the full forward line, using a direct style with arguably our best team on the field (one that played the 2nd half against Cork). Could argue the lack of link up with the half forward line but we were looking in control.
Nearly all the scores Kerry got in the first half were really poor Tyrone errors (from memory stupid free given away by Mattie, Morgan kicked ball directly to Geaney, Richie Donnelly intercepted crossfield pass)

Refereeing decisions and some bad individual errors cost us, let Kerry back into the game and once the Kerry forwards starting rolling they kicked some superb scores. I don't know if you could direct most of the blame to Mickey for that result to be honest. I thought at the time McCurry should have been brought in sooner.

I think this current Tyrone side lacks leaders. You look back at the big games and we have had purple patches in them where things looked good, we started the AI final in 2018 very well, the SF last year against Kerry we started very well and should have been much further ahead. But when the tide turned, we crumbled and we really needed our big men to step up and deliver. We've lost our most reliable player in terms of leadership now in Colm Cavanagh, a warrior who never hid.

Mattie has shown a lot of leadership in the past but he's also had a number of quiet games when we needed more from him. Peter Harte is someone we need more from him, I feel sorry for him with the bullshit he has to put up from the opposition which is largely ignored by match officials, he gets no protection at all but that shouldn't excuse some of his no shows, he needs to be a bit more cuter in how he looks after himself.

McShane emerged as a leader last year but we need more players to step up, guys like Hampsey, Burns, McGeary need to step up to the plate and push Tyrone on. Hopefully McKenna can give this team a shot in the arm. I'm genuinely excited at what the arrival of McKenna can do for Darren McCurry next year.

If the opposition have to worry about McKenna, McShane, Harte and Donnelly then it could free up McCurry to do some serious damage.

[greatpoint]

I'd be putting us as second favourites behind Dublin in 2021 and if we don't make an All Ireland final it would be a disappointment.

Not sure ye will be anywhere near an All-Ireland but Tyrone look like strong favourites for the McKenna Cup anyway.

[tyroneman]

Tyrone have failed to beat Kerry, Mayo and Dublin when it has counted for years now - until they achieve that = no all Ireland. No point saying they should have won v Kerry...they didn't.

If they are very, very lucky - they would only need to beat 1, most likely however they will need to beat 2.

[GetOverTheBar]

Ah lets be realistic lads. Without McShane, it's hard to make an argument they'll even beat Donegal in a months time let alone the All Ireland.

[Angelo]

Ah lets be realistic lads. Without McShane, it's hard to make an argument they'll even beat Donegal in a months time let alone the All Ireland.

This year will be a sham of a Championship.

2021 is all I'm looking forward to with regard to the intercounty season.

McKenna might get some game time to sharpen up and next year we will have McShane back with a bit of luck.

[Club boi]

I actually agree with a loot of what you are saying. It's just when I see people here criticising as you say one of top players in Peter Harte and then criticising the manager for not getting the best out of the players - can't really have it both ways. Either the players are good enough or not.
The win over Donegal in 2018 was an impressive victory, a lot of talk was how our subs made a huge difference that day - we played a more attacking style of football from that point, should have been well up on Monaghan in the first half but then seemed to get nervy in the second half with the chance of a first All Ireland final in ten years at stake. We were 6/1 outsiders for the Final, realistically Dublin were just a better team, I do take the point that Mayo and Kerry seem to be able to run them close on the big days although not so much in the last 2 years (Mayo took a real hammering in the second half last year, Kerry ended up well beaten in the replay, same margin as 2018 final after playing most of the drawn game against 14 men). The current Dubs are a juggernaut.

Take the Kerry game last year as the most recent large piece of evidence. We were well in control at half time (4 points up). We played some terrific football using Mattie and McShane in the full forward line, using a direct style with arguably our best team on the field (one that played the 2nd half against Cork). Could argue the lack of link up with the half forward line but we were looking in control.
Nearly all the scores Kerry got in the first half were really poor Tyrone errors (from memory stupid free given away by Mattie, Morgan kicked ball directly to Geaney, Richie Donnelly intercepted crossfield pass)

Refereeing decisions and some bad individual errors cost us, let Kerry back into the game and once the Kerry forwards starting rolling they kicked some superb scores. I don't know if you could direct most of the blame to Mickey for that result to be honest. I thought at the time McCurry should have been brought in sooner.

I think this current Tyrone side lacks leaders. You look back at the big games and we have had purple patches in them where things looked good, we started the AI final in 2018 very well, the SF last year against Kerry we started very well and should have been much further ahead. But when the tide turned, we crumbled and we really needed our big men to step up and deliver. We've lost our most reliable player in terms of leadership now in Colm Cavanagh, a warrior who never hid.

Mattie has shown a lot of leadership in the past but he's also had a number of quiet games when we needed more from him. Peter Harte is someone we need more from him, I feel sorry for him with the bullshit he has to put up from the opposition which is largely ignored by match officials, he gets no protection at all but that shouldn't excuse some of his no shows, he needs to be a bit more cuter in how he looks after himself.

McShane emerged as a leader last year but we need more players to step up, guys like Hampsey, Burns, McGeary need to step up to the plate and push Tyrone on. Hopefully McKenna can give this team a shot in the arm. I'm genuinely excited at what the arrival of McKenna can do for Darren McCurry next year.

If the opposition have to worry about McKenna, McShane, Harte and Donnelly then it could free up McCurry to do some serious damage.

If you need 4 opposition defenders to "take care" of the aboved named and then depending on Mc Curry to do "serious damage" Tyrone DONT stand a chance

How many other top counties are "hoping" their 5th/6th/7th best attacker does all the damage??

[Angelo]

I actually agree with a loot of what you are saying. It's just when I see people here criticising as you say one of top players in Peter Harte and then criticising the manager for not getting the best out of the players - can't really have it both ways. Either the players are good enough or not.
The win over Donegal in 2018 was an impressive victory, a lot of talk was how our subs made a huge difference that day - we played a more attacking style of football from that point, should have been well up on Monaghan in the first half but then seemed to get nervy in the second half with the chance of a first All Ireland final in ten years at stake. We were 6/1 outsiders for the Final, realistically Dublin were just a better team, I do take the point that Mayo and Kerry seem to be able to run them close on the big days although not so much in the last 2 years (Mayo took a real hammering in the second half last year, Kerry ended up well beaten in the replay, same margin as 2018 final after playing most of the drawn game against 14 men). The current Dubs are a juggernaut.

Take the Kerry game last year as the most recent large piece of evidence. We were well in control at half time (4 points up). We played some terrific football using Mattie and McShane in the full forward line, using a direct style with arguably our best team on the field (one that played the 2nd half against Cork). Could argue the lack of link up with the half forward line but we were looking in control.
Nearly all the scores Kerry got in the first half were really poor Tyrone errors (from memory stupid free given away by Mattie, Morgan kicked ball directly to Geaney, Richie Donnelly intercepted crossfield pass)

Refereeing decisions and some bad individual errors cost us, let Kerry back into the game and once the Kerry forwards starting rolling they kicked some superb scores. I don't know if you could direct most of the blame to Mickey for that result to be honest. I thought at the time McCurry should have been brought in sooner.

I think this current Tyrone side lacks leaders. You look back at the big games and we have had purple patches in them where things looked good, we started the AI final in 2018 very well, the SF last year against Kerry we started very well and should have been much further ahead. But when the tide turned, we crumbled and we really needed our big men to step up and deliver. We've lost our most reliable player in terms of leadership now in Colm Cavanagh, a warrior who never hid.

Mattie has shown a lot of leadership in the past but he's also had a number of quiet games when we needed more from him. Peter Harte is someone we need more from him, I feel sorry for him with the bullshit he has to put up from the opposition which is largely ignored by match officials, he gets no protection at all but that shouldn't excuse some of his no shows, he needs to be a bit more cuter in how he looks after himself.

McShane emerged as a leader last year but we need more players to step up, guys like Hampsey, Burns, McGeary need to step up to the plate and push Tyrone on. Hopefully McKenna can give this team a shot in the arm. I'm genuinely excited at what the arrival of McKenna can do for Darren McCurry next year.

If the opposition have to worry about McKenna, McShane, Harte and Donnelly then it could free up McCurry to do some serious damage.

If you need 4 opposition defenders to "take care" of the aboved named and then depending on Mc Curry to do "serious damage" Tyrone DONT stand a chance

How many other top counties are "hoping" their 5th/6th/7th best attacker does all the damage??

Who mentioned anything about him doing all the damage?

McCurry is the best finisher we have in the squad. Cillian O'Connor is the weakest player in the Mayo 15 and is the all time leading scorer in Championship history.

[Club boi]

I actually agree with a loot of what you are saying. It's just when I see people here criticising as you say one of top players in Peter Harte and then criticising the manager for not getting the best out of the players - can't really have it both ways. Either the players are good enough or not.
The win over Donegal in 2018 was an impressive victory, a lot of talk was how our subs made a huge difference that day - we played a more attacking style of football from that point, should have been well up on Monaghan in the first half but then seemed to get nervy in the second half with the chance of a first All Ireland final in ten years at stake. We were 6/1 outsiders for the Final, realistically Dublin were just a better team, I do take the point that Mayo and Kerry seem to be able to run them close on the big days although not so much in the last 2 years (Mayo took a real hammering in the second half last year, Kerry ended up well beaten in the replay, same margin as 2018 final after playing most of the drawn game against 14 men). The current Dubs are a juggernaut.

Take the Kerry game last year as the most recent large piece of evidence. We were well in control at half time (4 points up). We played some terrific football using Mattie and McShane in the full forward line, using a direct style with arguably our best team on the field (one that played the 2nd half against Cork). Could argue the lack of link up with the half forward line but we were looking in control.
Nearly all the scores Kerry got in the first half were really poor Tyrone errors (from memory stupid free given away by Mattie, Morgan kicked ball directly to Geaney, Richie Donnelly intercepted crossfield pass)

Refereeing decisions and some bad individual errors cost us, let Kerry back into the game and once the Kerry forwards starting rolling they kicked some superb scores. I don't know if you could direct most of the blame to Mickey for that result to be honest. I thought at the time McCurry should have been brought in sooner.

I think this current Tyrone side lacks leaders. You look back at the big games and we have had purple patches in them where things looked good, we started the AI final in 2018 very well, the SF last year against Kerry we started very well and should have been much further ahead. But when the tide turned, we crumbled and we really needed our big men to step up and deliver. We've lost our most reliable player in terms of leadership now in Colm Cavanagh, a warrior who never hid.

Mattie has shown a lot of leadership in the past but he's also had a number of quiet games when we needed more from him. Peter Harte is someone we need more from him, I feel sorry for him with the bullshit he has to put up from the opposition which is largely ignored by match officials, he gets no protection at all but that shouldn't excuse some of his no shows, he needs to be a bit more cuter in how he looks after himself.

McShane emerged as a leader last year but we need more players to step up, guys like Hampsey, Burns, McGeary need to step up to the plate and push Tyrone on. Hopefully McKenna can give this team a shot in the arm. I'm genuinely excited at what the arrival of McKenna can do for Darren McCurry next year.

If the opposition have to worry about McKenna, McShane, Harte and Donnelly then it could free up McCurry to do some serious damage.

If you need 4 opposition defenders to "take care" of the aboved named and then depending on Mc Curry to do "serious damage" Tyrone DONT stand a chance

How many other top counties are "hoping" their 5th/6th/7th best attacker does all the damage??

Who mentioned anything about him doing all the damage?

McCurry is the best finisher we have in the squad. Cillian O'Connor is the weakest player in the Mayo 15 and is the all time leading scorer in Championship history.

OMG !!!!! We may have just had the stupidest comment on here, O'Connor weakest player. WOW

Surely serious damage is most, if not all of the damage, same difference

[Angelo]

I actually agree with a loot of what you are saying. It's just when I see people here criticising as you say one of top players in Peter Harte and then criticising the manager for not getting the best out of the players - can't really have it both ways. Either the players are good enough or not.
The win over Donegal in 2018 was an impressive victory, a lot of talk was how our subs made a huge difference that day - we played a more attacking style of football from that point, should have been well up on Monaghan in the first half but then seemed to get nervy in the second half with the chance of a first All Ireland final in ten years at stake. We were 6/1 outsiders for the Final, realistically Dublin were just a better team, I do take the point that Mayo and Kerry seem to be able to run them close on the big days although not so much in the last 2 years (Mayo took a real hammering in the second half last year, Kerry ended up well beaten in the replay, same margin as 2018 final after playing most of the drawn game against 14 men). The current Dubs are a juggernaut.

Take the Kerry game last year as the most recent large piece of evidence. We were well in control at half time (4 points up). We played some terrific football using Mattie and McShane in the full forward line, using a direct style with arguably our best team on the field (one that played the 2nd half against Cork). Could argue the lack of link up with the half forward line but we were looking in control.
Nearly all the scores Kerry got in the first half were really poor Tyrone errors (from memory stupid free given away by Mattie, Morgan kicked ball directly to Geaney, Richie Donnelly intercepted crossfield pass)

Refereeing decisions and some bad individual errors cost us, let Kerry back into the game and once the Kerry forwards starting rolling they kicked some superb scores. I don't know if you could direct most of the blame to Mickey for that result to be honest. I thought at the time McCurry should have been brought in sooner.

I think this current Tyrone side lacks leaders. You look back at the big games and we have had purple patches in them where things looked good, we started the AI final in 2018 very well, the SF last year against Kerry we started very well and should have been much further ahead. But when the tide turned, we crumbled and we really needed our big men to step up and deliver. We've lost our most reliable player in terms of leadership now in Colm Cavanagh, a warrior who never hid.

Mattie has shown a lot of leadership in the past but he's also had a number of quiet games when we needed more from him. Peter Harte is someone we need more from him, I feel sorry for him with the bullshit he has to put up from the opposition which is largely ignored by match officials, he gets no protection at all but that shouldn't excuse some of his no shows, he needs to be a bit more cuter in how he looks after himself.

McShane emerged as a leader last year but we need more players to step up, guys like Hampsey, Burns, McGeary need to step up to the plate and push Tyrone on. Hopefully McKenna can give this team a shot in the arm. I'm genuinely excited at what the arrival of McKenna can do for Darren McCurry next year.

If the opposition have to worry about McKenna, McShane, Harte and Donnelly then it could free up McCurry to do some serious damage.

If you need 4 opposition defenders to "take care" of the aboved named and then depending on Mc Curry to do "serious damage" Tyrone DONT stand a chance

How many other top counties are "hoping" their 5th/6th/7th best attacker does all the damage??

Who mentioned anything about him doing all the damage?

McCurry is the best finisher we have in the squad. Cillian O'Connor is the weakest player in the Mayo 15 and is the all time leading scorer in Championship history.

OMG !!!!! We may have just had the stupidest comment on here, O'Connor weakest player. WOW

Surely serious damage is most, if not all of the damage, same difference

Did you sit your GCSEs yet.

Serious is not most, by virtue of playing with better players and having more freedom to operate McCurry would have more scope and space to maximise his ability.

O'Connor is Mayo's weakest forward but he's a finisher and he thrives on playing in a team with strong runners like Durcan, Boyle, Keegan, O'Shea and his brother who draw fouls and consistently break tackles creating overlaps where he is then on hand to convert. He also benefitted from playing inside along one of the cleverest forwards and best ball winners in the game in Andy Moran.

That is an entirely rational point but given I seem to be conversing with an idiot here, I'm sure you'll struggle to comprehend.

[Club boi]

I actually agree with a loot of what you are saying. It's just when I see people here criticising as you say one of top players in Peter Harte and then criticising the manager for not getting the best out of the players - can't really have it both ways. Either the players are good enough or not.
The win over Donegal in 2018 was an impressive victory, a lot of talk was how our subs made a huge difference that day - we played a more attacking style of football from that point, should have been well up on Monaghan in the first half but then seemed to get nervy in the second half with the chance of a first All Ireland final in ten years at stake. We were 6/1 outsiders for the Final, realistically Dublin were just a better team, I do take the point that Mayo and Kerry seem to be able to run them close on the big days although not so much in the last 2 years (Mayo took a real hammering in the second half last year, Kerry ended up well beaten in the replay, same margin as 2018 final after playing most of the drawn game against 14 men). The current Dubs are a juggernaut.

Take the Kerry game last year as the most recent large piece of evidence. We were well in control at half time (4 points up). We played some terrific football using Mattie and McShane in the full forward line, using a direct style with arguably our best team on the field (one that played the 2nd half against Cork). Could argue the lack of link up with the half forward line but we were looking in control.
Nearly all the scores Kerry got in the first half were really poor Tyrone errors (from memory stupid free given away by Mattie, Morgan kicked ball directly to Geaney, Richie Donnelly intercepted crossfield pass)

Refereeing decisions and some bad individual errors cost us, let Kerry back into the game and once the Kerry forwards starting rolling they kicked some superb scores. I don't know if you could direct most of the blame to Mickey for that result to be honest. I thought at the time McCurry should have been brought in sooner.

I think this current Tyrone side lacks leaders. You look back at the big games and we have had purple patches in them where things looked good, we started the AI final in 2018 very well, the SF last year against Kerry we started very well and should have been much further ahead. But when the tide turned, we crumbled and we really needed our big men to step up and deliver. We've lost our most reliable player in terms of leadership now in Colm Cavanagh, a warrior who never hid.

Mattie has shown a lot of leadership in the past but he's also had a number of quiet games when we needed more from him. Peter Harte is someone we need more from him, I feel sorry for him with the bullshit he has to put up from the opposition which is largely ignored by match officials, he gets no protection at all but that shouldn't excuse some of his no shows, he needs to be a bit more cuter in how he looks after himself.

McShane emerged as a leader last year but we need more players to step up, guys like Hampsey, Burns, McGeary need to step up to the plate and push Tyrone on. Hopefully McKenna can give this team a shot in the arm. I'm genuinely excited at what the arrival of McKenna can do for Darren McCurry next year.

If the opposition have to worry about McKenna, McShane, Harte and Donnelly then it could free up McCurry to do some serious damage.

If you need 4 opposition defenders to "take care" of the aboved named and then depending on Mc Curry to do "serious damage" Tyrone DONT stand a chance

How many other top counties are "hoping" their 5th/6th/7th best attacker does all the damage??

Who mentioned anything about him doing all the damage?

McCurry is the best finisher we have in the squad. Cillian O'Connor is the weakest player in the Mayo 15 and is the all time leading scorer in Championship history.

OMG !!!!! We may have just had the stupidest comment on here, O'Connor weakest player. WOW

Surely serious damage is most, if not all of the damage, same difference

Did you sit your GCSEs yet.

Serious is not most, by virtue of playing with better players and having more freedom to operate McCurry would have more scope and space to maximise his ability.

O'Connor is Mayo's weakest forward but he's a finisher and he thrives on playing in a team with strong runners like Durcan, Boyle, Keegan, O'Shea and his brother who draw fouls and consistently break tackles creating overlaps where he is then on hand to convert. He also benefitted from playing inside along one of the cleverest forwards and best ball winners in the game in Andy Moran.

That is an entirely rational point but given I seem to be conversing with an idiot here, I'm sure you'll struggle to comprehend.

Ok Mr Mc Curry, calm the t!ts. Your fwend Darren has had many opportunities with many good players surrounding him and never delivered when it mattered. Lee Brennan and Mark Bradley superior footballers and better finishers. Sure we'll count on him as Tyrones 7th best forward to do "serious damage" against Louth, Westmeath and Derry

Good to see when someone disagrees with your point you go all argumentative with defensive name calling, who are you really, Donald Trump??

P.S What are GCSE's

[Angelo]

I actually agree with a loot of what you are saying. It's just when I see people here criticising as you say one of top players in Peter Harte and then criticising the manager for not getting the best out of the players - can't really have it both ways. Either the players are good enough or not.
The win over Donegal in 2018 was an impressive victory, a lot of talk was how our subs made a huge difference that day - we played a more attacking style of football from that point, should have been well up on Monaghan in the first half but then seemed to get nervy in the second half with the chance of a first All Ireland final in ten years at stake. We were 6/1 outsiders for the Final, realistically Dublin were just a better team, I do take the point that Mayo and Kerry seem to be able to run them close on the big days although not so much in the last 2 years (Mayo took a real hammering in the second half last year, Kerry ended up well beaten in the replay, same margin as 2018 final after playing most of the drawn game against 14 men). The current Dubs are a juggernaut.

Take the Kerry game last year as the most recent large piece of evidence. We were well in control at half time (4 points up). We played some terrific football using Mattie and McShane in the full forward line, using a direct style with arguably our best team on the field (one that played the 2nd half against Cork). Could argue the lack of link up with the half forward line but we were looking in control.
Nearly all the scores Kerry got in the first half were really poor Tyrone errors (from memory stupid free given away by Mattie, Morgan kicked ball directly to Geaney, Richie Donnelly intercepted crossfield pass)

Refereeing decisions and some bad individual errors cost us, let Kerry back into the game and once the Kerry forwards starting rolling they kicked some superb scores. I don't know if you could direct most of the blame to Mickey for that result to be honest. I thought at the time McCurry should have been brought in sooner.

I think this current Tyrone side lacks leaders. You look back at the big games and we have had purple patches in them where things looked good, we started the AI final in 2018 very well, the SF last year against Kerry we started very well and should have been much further ahead. But when the tide turned, we crumbled and we really needed our big men to step up and deliver. We've lost our most reliable player in terms of leadership now in Colm Cavanagh, a warrior who never hid.

Mattie has shown a lot of leadership in the past but he's also had a number of quiet games when we needed more from him. Peter Harte is someone we need more from him, I feel sorry for him with the bullshit he has to put up from the opposition which is largely ignored by match officials, he gets no protection at all but that shouldn't excuse some of his no shows, he needs to be a bit more cuter in how he looks after himself.

McShane emerged as a leader last year but we need more players to step up, guys like Hampsey, Burns, McGeary need to step up to the plate and push Tyrone on. Hopefully McKenna can give this team a shot in the arm. I'm genuinely excited at what the arrival of McKenna can do for Darren McCurry next year.

If the opposition have to worry about McKenna, McShane, Harte and Donnelly then it could free up McCurry to do some serious damage.

If you need 4 opposition defenders to "take care" of the aboved named and then depending on Mc Curry to do "serious damage" Tyrone DONT stand a chance

How many other top counties are "hoping" their 5th/6th/7th best attacker does all the damage??

Who mentioned anything about him doing all the damage?

McCurry is the best finisher we have in the squad. Cillian O'Connor is the weakest player in the Mayo 15 and is the all time leading scorer in Championship history.

OMG !!!!! We may have just had the stupidest comment on here, O'Connor weakest player. WOW

Surely serious damage is most, if not all of the damage, same difference

Did you sit your GCSEs yet.

Serious is not most, by virtue of playing with better players and having more freedom to operate McCurry would have more scope and space to maximise his ability.

O'Connor is Mayo's weakest forward but he's a finisher and he thrives on playing in a team with strong runners like Durcan, Boyle, Keegan, O'Shea and his brother who draw fouls and consistently break tackles creating overlaps where he is then on hand to convert. He also benefitted from playing inside along one of the cleverest forwards and best ball winners in the game in Andy Moran.

That is an entirely rational point but given I seem to be conversing with an idiot here, I'm sure you'll struggle to comprehend.

Ok Mr Mc Curry, calm the t!ts. Your fwend Darren has had many opportunities with many good players surrounding him and never delivered when it mattered. Lee Brennan and Mark Bradley superior footballers and better finishers. Sure we'll count on him as Tyrones 7th best forward to do "serious damage" against Louth, Westmeath and Derry

Good to see when someone disagrees with your point you go all argumentative with defensive name calling, who are you really, Donald Trump??

P.S What are GCSE's

I've been a critic of McCurry in the past but I think he's brought his game to another level this year, he had been Tyrone's best player in the league this season before it was abandoned. He came into the side as an 18 year old and has had to deal with the scoring burden being rested on his shoulders in that time, anyone can see the talent he has but he's a confidence player. In a forward line with McShane, Donnelly, Harte and McKenna I think we could finally see McCurry have the freedom to really deliver. He's only 27 and there's probably only 3 or 4 players currently playing who have scored more than McCurry for Tyrone in Championship football.

McCurry, Bradley and Brennan are all very talented forwards. I'd probably rate Bradley as the best of them but I don't think he can score as heavily as McCurry at intercounty level. Brennan is talented but needs to adapt his game if he wants to succeed, I would say he is a bit off the level of McCurry and Bradley at present. Realistically you can only fit one of them in the team at present and that's why Brennan opted off, he was third in line between the three of them.

[Angelo]

7 new players added to the Tyrone u20 panel for the game against Dublin in 2 and a bit weeks.

Anybody know if Canavan has any chance of making it?