McKenna Cup 2024

[Uladh]

Interests of tyrone football me arse.

Pints is right. as has been pointed out on another thread, harte has a panel of about 45 players at the minute and he absolutely has to see these 2 play in a meaningless mckenna cup match? he was even so clandesdine as to not name them in advance.

This is nothing short of the peacock showing his feathers. c**k being the operative word.

[ONeill]

Well done Mickey Harte. Found out a lot more about the fringe players on Saturday against a relatively strong and previously unbeaten Donegal team. I'd be much more confident now of throwing them into the likes of Cork in the league. Spot on again, leader.

[Will Hunting]

Surely if Tyrone were deducted points for playing certain players in a previous round of the competition, a similar punishment should be issued for this game i.e. the McKenna Cup stripped off them. Was Harte oblivious to the Ulster Council's stance a few weeks ago? Is he and Tyrone above the law? Does Harte get to do what he wants all the time?

[Uladh]

Interests of tyrone football me arse.

Pints is right. as has been pointed out on another thread, harte has a panel of about 45 players at the minute and he absolutely has to see these 2 play in a meaningless mckenna cup match? he was even so clandesdine as to not name them in advance.

This is nothing short of the peacock showing his feathers. c**k being the operative word.

[ONeill]

Surely if Tyrone were deducted points for playing certain players in a previous round of the competition, a similar punishment should be issued for this game i.e. the McKenna Cup stripped off them. Was Harte oblivious to the Ulster Council's stance a few weeks ago? Is he and Tyrone above the law? Does Harte get to do what he wants all the time?

The previous penalty seemed to be over choice. This time, there is no choice - the unis are out and they've not played for them in this competition so can't see any rule-breaking. I don't think anyone really cares anyway, (apart from the Orangemen!!).

[imtommygunn]

People do care, Mickey Harte has shown blatant disregard for rules again and the way he went about it was devious too.

The people who have suffered most in this whole thing too is those players. Where were the most of them come sigerson last week? Not where they should have been is the answer. I know one boy played but what about the rest?

The unis are out - yes they're out of the mckenna cup but that's not the point. There's a whole league to blood players. The whole think stinks in my opinion. Mickey Harte is a great tactically astute manage - possibly one of the best there's ever been. His attitude at times however stinks. This is one of those times.

He is cutting of his nose to spite his face too. All the uni players he picked would have played all games for their unis. Now they have played about one and a half each for Tyrone. Which would have benefited them more? All he had to do was send a scout to the games they played in - problem solved.

Next year the ulster council should have a penalty system. If players are picked for their uni then if a county also picks them they will be fined and the players not allowed to play in the competition.

Some of them boys might not play sigerson this year now and it looks like the Poly could win it. They may never get that chance again now. Shame.

[Will Hunting]

This time, there is no choice - the unis are out and they've not played for them in this competition so can't see any rule-breaking.

It shouldn't matter if the Unis are out - it is still the same competition!

The basic point in all this is that Mickey Harte wants to show that he can do whatever he wants - all the time. That's what this is about. Harte has to be right all the time. This was vindicated by his post-match interview on Saturday night. His main concern was going on about how Kevin Hughes shouldn't have received a second yellow card and it should be rescinded immediately. I hope the Ulster Council were watching and called an emergency meeting to sort this out for Mickey!! By the way, if you trip someone from behind with no eyes on the ball, what else could it have been other than a yellow card??

[ONeill]

The people who have suffered most in this whole thing too is those players. Where were the most of them come sigerson last week?

I'm sorry but that's crap. You should ask the players themselves what they'd rather play in and for. There were a few Tyrone county players playing last week in the Sigerson games.

Mickey Harte has shown blatant disregard for rules again

Ok, state the ruling that Mickey broke in the final

There's a whole league to blood players

With a panel the size of Mickey's and with the increased importance of the NFL this year, that's not the case. Throw in the plethora of injured established players he needs to get fit again, all competitive games were of high importance.

Now they have played about one and a half each for Tyrone

Wrong. Throw in the McKenna games and the early NFL games, they've seen plenty of football.

All he had to do was send a scout to the games they played in - problem solved.

Wrong. If that was the case you'd just pick players straight out of club football and throw them into the county side as they've been 'watched' . You need to see players playing your system, alongside the same county players and against opposition of a similar standard.

Some of them boys might not play sigerson this year now and it looks like the Poly could win it. They may never get that chance again now. Shame.

If I were you I'd keep your powder dry for now.

[ONeill]

This time, there is no choice - the unis are out and they've not played for them in this competition so can't see any rule-breaking.

It shouldn't matter if the Unis are out - it is still the same competition!

The basic point in all this is that Mickey Harte wants to show that he can do whatever he wants - all the time. That's what this is about. Harte has to be right all the time. This was vindicated by his post-match interview on Saturday night. His main concern was going on about how Kevin Hughes shouldn't have received a second yellow card and it should be rescinded immediately. I hope the Ulster Council were watching and called an emergency meeting to sort this out for Mickey!! By the way, if you trip someone from behind with no eyes on the ball, what else could it have been other than a yellow card??

No, Mickey was embarrassingly wrong there regarding Hughes. A Wenger moment.

As with most controversies, good will come from it. The Ulster council will tighten up its rulings for 2008....and maybe also they'll not force certain teams to play in the competition when they ask not to.

[imtommygunn]

What have the early NFL games got to do with the McKenna cup? Solely McKenna cup games they've got about a game and a half.

Who would they rather play for? I'd say they'd rather play for both. In a number of cases that was taken away from them.

Ok I don't know the written rules but surely it's something surrounding universities get precedence for county players.

The point is not who they'd rather play for. Everyone aspires to play for their county- that's the ultimate goal. Going through uni they would also be mad keen to play ball for their university. The players have had their hand forced as to who to play for.

When them boys play mckenna cup they're playing against county players so if they played for their uni they were still doing that. If they were scouted at club level ultimately all they were doing was playing against other club players. Play for uni against county players - you prove yourself against county players. Play for county against county players - you prove yourself against county players . Play club matches - you prove yourself against club players. There's a difference.

Stay off the powder for now... wise up. Mayeb I'm going a bit far saying they'll not get another chance to win sigerson. There is a possibility though. They've all their careers to play for tyrone. Two or three for university. Elaborate... Where was Colm Kavanagh last wednesday? Where would he have been had he played mckenna for tyrone...

[ONeill]

College kid Cathal reckons he made the right call

By Ronan Scott

Tyrone rookie Cathal McCarron has expressed his disappointment at the flood of negative press that surrounded his inclusion on Mickey Harte's McKenna Cup side against Derry.

McCarron was delighted at being offered a place in his county set up, a boyhood dream of his, but the whole situation was marred when the Red Hands came under fire for breaking competition rules.

"It was good to be part of the team but the whole situation was ruined by all the talk in the newspapers. Every day you picked up a paper there was something else being written about it," he said.

"Tyrone is the team you want to be playing for and everyone at my university knew that when I was offered a chance to play for Tyrone that is what I would be doing. In fact a lot of boys at Jordanstown told me they would do exactly the same thing if they were in my situation."

The vicious debate centred around the rules stating that universities were supposed to have first choice on their players. Mickey Harte railed against that interpretation of the rules while former Tyrone trainer Paddy Tally commented that any footballer choosing to play for their county would risk their place on his St Mary's side ahead of the Sigerson Cup competition.

St Mary's student McCarron, along with Jordanstown's Damian McCaul, Colm Cavanagh and Brendan Boggs all accepted the call from Harte to play for Tyrone and were duly selected. As a result the Tyrone county board is expected to be punished but the county will remain in the competition. Their game on Sunday against Cavan was under threat of being postponed but Tyrone took a step back and revealed that they would not field any students in that game.

All this was extremely disappointing for McCarron who only wanted to play football for the county he loves, and to add insult to injury he expressed disappointment that his name wasn't even included on last Sunday's programme.

"It was a big day for me and a lot of people were texting me before the game to wish me well. But to get there and my name was not on the programme was a big let down," he said.

That disappointment must have helped him though as he went on to score a goal and three points against Derry.

"I found that playing in the McKenna Cup was a real step up. I was very sore the day after. People say that the competition is not up to the pace but I don't agree with that. The players in the senior team are top professionals and playing alongside Owen Mulligan was a real honour," he said.

[thejohnharanexperi]

Tyrone were the better team with fairly good reward from scoring opportunities presented.We should have been outta sight at half time and by my reckoning had 13 missed chances in the first half alone.It's absolutely dire for county players to kick four shots weakly into the keeper's hands whilst 8 of the 9 wides were relatively staight forward point chances.Played very well defensively in the first fifteen minutes and 3 of the four Tyrone points in the opening half were via unforced errors by Donegal men.The confidence drain in front of goal was confirmed in the second half and the sending off as is so often the case benifited the 14 men of Tyrone.The last goal put a gloss on the scoreline with the last attacks by Donegal focussing solely on trying to raise a green flag.Mc Iver could have put Hegarty on much earlier as the supply to Devenney and Wappa dried up in the second half.I still think based on the first half display that we can beat the Dubs in the Park on Sunday provided we bring some shooting boots with us.Hopefully this defeat does'nt set the confidence back too far as two points on Sunday should see us safe for next year regardless of what happens in the rest of the league.Anyway 12 finals and counting...............................

Ciaran Sharkey 6.5 Kickouts were good but feel he should have been quicker out to close down Mc Cullagh and hopefully Michael Boyle will start on Sunday

Frank Mc Glynn 7.5 Really tightly marked the speedy corner forward and hopefully has'nt pulled the hamstring when subbed

Paddy Campbell 6.5 What himself and Barry Monaghan were doing so far out of position for their first goal beggars belief.Will be under pressure from Neil Mc Gee for the full back spot as the year progresses.

Eamon Mc Gee 6.0 Not a natural corner back with some very loose marking.The constant positional changes have caused his form to dip and is not the same player as last year.

Barry Dunnion 8.0 Our best player who constantly broke forward and took a fair few hits in the process.Absolute beast of an engine.

Barry Monaghan 6.5 Played well in first half but was lost as extra man and AWOL for goal.Talk of a midfield berth is wide of the mark as too one paced.Found himself in central position 40m out and opted to pass when simple point chance on offer.

Paddy Mc Conagely 7.0 Good opening and played well throughout but if his man broke the tackle could be caught for pace.Still has realistic chance of wing back position come the Summer.

Neil Gallagher 7.0 Some fine fetches in first half but still not fully up to match pace.Caught in possession and slow to release early ball in.

Kevin Cassidy 6.5 Not as effective in attacking sense mainly foraging around midfield and obviously not able to keep up with Cavanagh's forward runs

Christy Toye 6.0 Our half forward line this year are not getting enough scores and some time on the bench might get them to re-focus.Seems to have carried last years dull form into 2007.Toye's ability not showing up in games.

Ciaran Bonner 7.0 Never stopped but has been more effective starting in the corner and allowed to roam.

Brian Roper 6.5 Another foraging role and along with Bradley improved our breaking ball stat. but this meant that we really had only two out and out forwards in Dev and Wappa.

Kevin Mc Menamin 6.5 Once again with Dev received good ball in first half but unlike against Mayo it was out on the 40.Both he and Devenney require this ball within 30m of goal as they both can turn and make space for a shot only briefly before being closed down.No capacity to score from long range.

Brendan Devenney 7.0 Guilty of kicking two hurried left foot efforts that barely trundled intp Mc Connels hands.Far too hasty and no composure when kicking.Could see the teams confidence begin to drain with every failed effort on his part.However kept going till end and certainly has hunger back to do well.Less evidence of the trademark whinging as well.

Ryan Bradley 6.0 Given the job of scrapping for breaks and tracking back on Tyrone attacks so ability to do score limited.Should be given start on Sunday on the wing in best position.

Subs: Colm Mc Fadden 6.5 Took point well but contributed patchily in remaining minutes as game became scrappy.

Tommy Donoghue 7.0 Sound and should start ahead of Mc Gee at the moment

Michael Murphy and Michael Hegarty not on long enough to rate.

[nrico2006]

Great win and will be interesting to see the final panel.  Cavlan was brilliant and after his showing against monaghan on Tuesday it seems he is back to his best.  As for the criers on about college players, sry up.  The colleges are out of the competition and even so I still believe tyrone shouldnt have been docked 2 points after the derry game, but thats in the past.  At the end of the day all the players are from Tyrone, and those who are whinging should really concentrate their efforts on supporting their own county sides, a hint of jealousy at the talent coming though in Tyrone.  A great win in the McKenna cup final with a team that was missing a large number of its stars.  It bides well for the future!

[loughshore lad]

For all the euphoria at home at the plethora of talent, I'll still maintain that our best starting line-up is the 2005 team minus PTG. Up front we were rather toothless first half. Plenty of 'Penrose' type footballers.

Cavlan has it still.

I think this pretty much summarises it particularly well.
It wont be until the summer and the heat of the championship until we know if these new guys have the stomach for the battle as opposed to the core of players that we know do have what it takes.
In reality the match on Saturday night was quite a poor affair with the scoreline flattering Tyrone in my opinion. Donegal were the much more prominent team in the first half and should have been in the ascendancy at half time, they panicked when they realised they had dominated the game but not translated this on to the score board.

[realredhandfan]

absolutely lads but we have a fair idea who dosent have the belly for it after last year.  you cant use midsummer arguements to criticise lads who are doing everything for us at the moment.  I thought Mc Caul was our best defender at the back on Saturday, particularly when we were under pressure.