Tyrone County Football and Hurling

[take_yer_points]

Gavin Devlin biting back at Sean Cavanagh in the Irish News today

"We've been very, very close in recent years and we didn't get over the line to win an All-Ireland. Maybe that's what was missing, that calibre of captaincy"

[GetOverTheBar]

Gavin Devlin biting back at Sean Cavanagh in the Irish News today

"We've been very, very close in recent years and we didn't get over the line to win an All-Ireland. Maybe that's what was missing, that calibre of captaincy"

Oh dear.

Washing dirty linen in public. Tyrone are a shambles - I often wonder do other counties have as much internal strife as Tyrone.

[Christmas Lights]

Gavin Devlin biting back at Sean Cavanagh in the Irish News today

"We've been very, very close in recent years and we didn't get over the line to win an All-Ireland. Maybe that's what was missing, that calibre of captaincy"

Oh dear.

Washing dirty linen in public. Tyrone are a shambles - I often wonder do other counties have as much internal strife as Tyrone.

Check out this snowflake.  FFS its just people disagreeing with each other on the topic of football, its hardly world war 3 now is it?  Makes great reading and nice to see some real thoughts of people on the matter.  Least its something interesting to read.

[Thebigdog]

Gavin Devlin biting back at Sean Cavanagh in the Irish News today

"We've been very, very close in recent years and we didn't get over the line to win an All-Ireland. Maybe that's what was missing, that calibre of captaincy"

Unbelievable, does gulder mouth Devlin really think people will buy this shit. Maybe since Tony Donnelly left, the calibre of assistant manager hasn't been there!

[southtyronegael]

Gavin Devlin biting back at Sean Cavanagh in the Irish News today

"We've been very, very close in recent years and we didn't get over the line to win an All-Ireland. Maybe that's what was missing, that calibre of captaincy"

incredible. We have not been ,.'very very close' in recent years and the reason we've been anywhere near it IS Sean Cavanagh. Harte, Devlin, the whole lot should be chased to f**k.

[trailer]

This isn't pretty. Poor form from all involved.

[Thebigdog]

Gavin Devlin biting back at Sean Cavanagh in the Irish News today

"We've been very, very close in recent years and we didn't get over the line to win an All-Ireland. Maybe that's what was missing, that calibre of captaincy"

incredible. We have not been ,.'very very close' in recent years and the reason we've been anywhere near it IS Sean Cavanagh. Harte, Devlin, the whole lot should be chased to f**k.

Could this be described as a substantial amount of horseshit? I think it is.

[TabClear]

This isn't pretty. Poor form from all involved.

Absolutely. While I do not agree with the way Mickey goes about things outside football, if hes the manager  you play his way whether you agree with it or not. I thought it was poor form the way Cavanagh went about things after he retired. I'm all for ex players trying to get into the lucrative punditry market but the problem is they all seem to follow the Brolly/Dunphy methodology i.e. I ll just talk shite but I ll shout louder than everyone else and be controversial because thats what gets me airtime.

However, the comment from Devlin is pathetic. If he had said nothing it would have died a death. As an aside, you cant imagine Colm is too happy about this comment about his brother?

[longballin]

I agree with much of what Sean says but Horse is right; he had the opportunity to speak out when he was on the panel.


Gaelic Weekly
33 mins ·
Gavin 'Horse' Devlin has hit back at Sean Cavanagh's criticisms of Mickey Harte's style of management and selection policy and said the Moy man had ample opportunities to voice his concerns while captaining Tyrone.

Cavanagh, claimed that Harte was "autocratic" and some players's county careers suffered as a result of the manager's perceived defensive strategy.

Cavanagh said: "Ronan O'Neill, Darren McCurry, Kyle Coney who came through way back in 2009, 2010, Niall McKenna, there's been a flood of guys who probably have suffered because we haven't played with six attackers...

Devlin expressed his surprise at his former team-mate's analysis of Tyrone.

"We talk about what we do," said Devlin, who is assistant manager to Harte.
"I know Sean was the captain of our team for a number of years. I didn't see myself as a great player but I played in a number of successful teams. Any team that I was ever involved in always had great captains and anyone of those captains - whether it be Brian Dooher, Peter Canavan or Cormac McAnallen - they would have said something if they felt something wasn't right.
"They would come to Mickey and say: 'I think we can add value to what we're doing.'"
The 2003 All-Ireland winner said he never had any problem discussing team matters with Harte during his playing days with Tyrone.

"If I had been captain, I have no doubt that I could have met Mickey and said: 'Mickey, I think this is what we should do,' or 'What about trying this?'
"I wouldn't sit and keep my mouth shut. I've had a number of conversations with Sean and he never mentioned anything about styles of play or what we should and shouldn't do. If he thought something wasn't right, as captain, why didn't he come and have a conversation with us rather than saying it in an RTE studio?
"That's my opinion on it... The captains we've had in the past, I've no doubt would have come to Mickey and had their say.
"We've been very, very close in recent years and we didn't get over the line to win an All-Ireland. Maybe that's what was missing, that calibre of captaincy."

Former footballer of the year Stevie O'Neill was also recruited at the start of the season to work primarily with the Tyrone forwards.

Devlin added: "For the likes of Stevie O'Neill and those boys they've all come back and put their shoulder to the wheel. There are no big, brown envelopes in Tyrone.

"Stevie is in it for the love of the game and we're delighted to have him. We're more than comfortable the way the game is being played. Of course, you evolve and you add value to what you do – you're never the finished article.
"But I'm very comfortable with the way the game is being played and I know the set of players that we have and what they have to offer."

Cavanagh's no-holds-barred assessment of Tyrone also drew derision from his club-mate and former county star Philip Jordan.
"Myself and Sean are neighbours," wrote Jordan in his RTE GAA column.
"We played together for years and I'd have no problem telling him that I disagree 100 per cent with his comments.
"Sean is obviously thinking about his media career and he's learning from Joe Brolly and Pat Spillane about making the headlines."

[BennyHarp]

I suppose without putting Devlins comments into context makes it look bad and to be fair it doesn't look good. But Devlins point was that every previous captain would come and chat and contribute to team tactics, this is part of the process. They had many meetings with Sean regarding tactics and not once did he suggest he had any problems with the style of play or contribute to the team tactics. As soon as he leaves, he goes on a rant to RTE. I think that's a fair enough comment for Devlin to make. Canavan, Cormac and Dooher and did contribute in their role as captain - why didn't Sean if he felt so strongly about things? I don't like dirty linen being laundered in public but the media story can't all be one way traffic.

[longballin]

I suppose without putting Devlins comments into context makes it look bad and to be fair it doesn't look good. But Devlins point was that every previous captain would come and chat and contribute to team tactics, this is part of the process. They had many meetings with Sean regarding tactics and not once did he suggest he had any problems with the style of play or contribute to the team tactics. As soon as he leaves, he goes on a rant to RTE. I think that's a fair enough comment for Devlin to make. Canavan, Cormac and Dooher and did contribute in their role as captain - why didn't Sean if he felt so strongly about things? I don't like dirty linen being laundered in public but the media story can't all be one way traffic.

Sean seems to have a lot of anger at Mickey which I'd say goes back to the book and Cork 2009 game. Mickey hung him out to dry in that book and def was a lot of anger at time that he did that. I suppose he's bided his time to pay back.

[Thebigdog]

I agree with much of what Sean says but Horse is right; he had the opportunity to speak out when he was on the panel.


Gaelic Weekly
33 mins ·
Gavin 'Horse' Devlin has hit back at Sean Cavanagh's criticisms of Mickey Harte's style of management and selection policy and said the Moy man had ample opportunities to voice his concerns while captaining Tyrone.

Cavanagh, claimed that Harte was "autocratic" and some players's county careers suffered as a result of the manager's perceived defensive strategy.

Cavanagh said: "Ronan O'Neill, Darren McCurry, Kyle Coney who came through way back in 2009, 2010, Niall McKenna, there's been a flood of guys who probably have suffered because we haven't played with six attackers...

Devlin expressed his surprise at his former team-mate's analysis of Tyrone.

"We talk about what we do," said Devlin, who is assistant manager to Harte.
"I know Sean was the captain of our team for a number of years. I didn't see myself as a great player but I played in a number of successful teams. Any team that I was ever involved in always had great captains and anyone of those captains - whether it be Brian Dooher, Peter Canavan or Cormac McAnallen - they would have said something if they felt something wasn't right.
"They would come to Mickey and say: 'I think we can add value to what we're doing.'"
The 2003 All-Ireland winner said he never had any problem discussing team matters with Harte during his playing days with Tyrone.

"If I had been captain, I have no doubt that I could have met Mickey and said: 'Mickey, I think this is what we should do,' or 'What about trying this?'
"I wouldn't sit and keep my mouth shut. I've had a number of conversations with Sean and he never mentioned anything about styles of play or what we should and shouldn't do. If he thought something wasn't right, as captain, why didn't he come and have a conversation with us rather than saying it in an RTE studio?
"That's my opinion on it... The captains we've had in the past, I've no doubt would have come to Mickey and had their say.
"We've been very, very close in recent years and we didn't get over the line to win an All-Ireland. Maybe that's what was missing, that calibre of captaincy."

Former footballer of the year Stevie O'Neill was also recruited at the start of the season to work primarily with the Tyrone forwards.

Devlin added: "For the likes of Stevie O'Neill and those boys they've all come back and put their shoulder to the wheel. There are no big, brown envelopes in Tyrone.

"Stevie is in it for the love of the game and we're delighted to have him. We're more than comfortable the way the game is being played. Of course, you evolve and you add value to what you do – you're never the finished article.
"But I'm very comfortable with the way the game is being played and I know the set of players that we have and what they have to offer."

Cavanagh's no-holds-barred assessment of Tyrone also drew derision from his club-mate and former county star Philip Jordan.
"Myself and Sean are neighbours," wrote Jordan in his RTE GAA column.
"We played together for years and I'd have no problem telling him that I disagree 100 per cent with his comments.
"Sean is obviously thinking about his media career and he's learning from Joe Brolly and Pat Spillane about making the headlines."

"There are no big brown envelopes in Tyrone"...wow... fake news right their. Mickey Harte must be on the dole since he retired from teaching.

[WT4E]

Gavin Devlin biting back at Sean Cavanagh in the Irish News today

"We've been very, very close in recent years and we didn't get over the line to win an All-Ireland. Maybe that's what was missing, that calibre of captaincy"

Oh dear.

Washing dirty linen in public. Tyrone are a shambles - I often wonder do other counties have as much internal strife as Tyrone.

Check out this snowflake.  FFS its just people disagreeing with each other on the topic of football, its hardly world war 3 now is it?  Makes great reading and nice to see some real thoughts of people on the matter.  Least its something interesting to read.

Exactly nice to hear some real comments as opposed to the usual jim gavin/ Harte boring cliches.

Interestingly did anyone hear wooly parkinsons podcast when he played his interview with Harte after the Monaghan game - he asked him about Cavanaghs comments and Harte said everyones entitled to their opinion and thats all I'll say on that - when it went back to Parkinson in the studio he said he didn't push the question as he got the Mickey Harte death stare which he's experienced before and thought better of it! 

[bigpackiechestout]

Gavin Devlin biting back at Sean Cavanagh in the Irish News today

"We've been very, very close in recent years and we didn't get over the line to win an All-Ireland. Maybe that's what was missing, that calibre of captaincy"

Oh dear.

Washing dirty linen in public. Tyrone are a shambles - I often wonder do other counties have as much internal strife as Tyrone.

Check out this snowflake.  FFS its just people disagreeing with each other on the topic of football, its hardly world war 3 now is it?  Makes great reading and nice to see some real thoughts of people on the matter.  Least its something interesting to read.

Exactly nice to hear some real comments as opposed to the usual jim gavin/ Harte boring cliches.

Interestingly did anyone hear wooly parkinsons podcast when he played his interview with Harte after the Monaghan game - he asked him about Cavanaghs comments and Harte said everyones entitled to their opinion and thats all I'll say on that - when it went back to Parkinson in the studio he said he didn't push the question as he got the Mickey Harte death stare which he's experienced before and thought better of it! 

It's all very well being an interesting pundit but I don't understand why Sean feels the need to target his own county. If you look at all of the other GAA pundits on TV I can't think of any others who go out of their way to do this. I'm thinking of the likes of Tomas O'Se, Ciaran Whelan, Spillane etc who all promote their own county or would even be accused of bias in favour of their own county. This doesn't stop O'Se and Whelan in particular from being insightful pundits.

They also talk about the cute Kerry 'hoorism' whereby their various pundits and columnists will, before a big game, either pile pressure on Kerry's opponents or attempt to take pressure off Kerry in some way, or in the event of some controversy they will always come out in defence of the Kerry man. I think we can all agree that Tyrone don't get the easiest time from the RTE pundits in general and I just think it would have been good for Sean to use some of his influence in this way or to put a positive spin on the team and highlight some of the quality players.

I also think it is possible to offer reasoned and constructive analysis of your own counties performance and where they could improve without resorting to the kind of digs that Cavanagh is getting in. With regards to people saying this is all down to a long standing grievance against Harte, this probably is the case but Sean's words are harming the team as a whole and his brother is obviously included in this.

[longballin]

Is Horse suggesting Sean's captaincy is reason for lack of success in recent years. Ouch!  Nothing to do with management then... "We've been very, very close in recent years and we didn't get over the line to win an All-Ireland. Maybe that's what was missing, that calibre of captaincy."