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Tyrone started Sunday's game very slowly. That was mainly down to the large no of personnel changes as well as the fact that it was mainly a second string side.

Fermanagh were out early and had done an extensive warm up and that was reflected in their better start. However, after 15 mins or so Tyrone began to get on top and should have been 5-6 points up at HT. Surprised at a lot of the comments that Fermanagh bossed the first half. Tyrone were well on top in second half when Eoin Donnelly got the line and Fermanagh basically threw in the towel after that. The game petered out after that with Tyrone over playing the ball and displayed poor decision making on a no of occasions. They should have scored another few goals and that is still a problem following on from last year.

Plenty of strength in depth in Tyrone squad now. More than last year with real quality added in Niall Sludden and McGeary and Hampsey. Impressed with Sludden yesterday and Ronan O'Neill looked lively when he came on.

Fermanagh still look dependent on Quigley and Eoin Donnelly. McGrath has them fit and competitive though.

Some win for Fermanagh. Something missing in that Roscommon team especially when they go in as favourites.

McGrath working wonders and building on the great work Canavan/Donnelly did. Impressed with their conditioning and fitness which has obviously been developed over the past 2-3 years.

Westmeath draw is favourable and just shows what belief and momentum can do. Great draw for Fermanagh and a great chance of a quarter final now. Well deserved

There has been a gradual decline since 2010 really if we are honest. We are now at the stage where we are back in the pack in Ulster never mind worrying whether we can survive in Division One. Donegal and Monaghan have both went beyond us in the last 4 years, Armagh outgunned us last July and we struggled to deal with an average Down side last year.

You have to seriously look at Harte now at this stage and his role since 2010 onwards. There has only been stagnation since then. Some outstanding prospects haven't been nurtured into senior players or indeed, been allowed to develop and been handled correctly. The players clearly aren't responding to him. Even loom at the way he has handled the "retirement" of several players over the past few seasons. The silence with Stephen O'Neill retired was intriguing. The overall squad now looks threadbare and an aging Sean Cavanagh looks your only All Star type player.

In terms of Saturday, the problems evident for the past 18 months were again exposed. No evident man marker in defence and no real half forward line. That line is now perhaps the most important line on the pitch and Mayo's half back line perhaps the best in the game. Having Peter Hughes on Dessie Mone was a complete mis-match from Harte's perspective. It was striking on the highlights the impact Mone had and the physical deficit between the two.

For Mayo, he will have to set the team up to deal with Mayo's key men;

Morgan

McCrory
Justin McMahon
McCarron

Tierney
McNabb
McNamee

Colm Cavanagh
Sean Cavanagh

Harte
McGuigan
Mattie Donnelly

McCurry
McKenna
McAliskey

Sean Cavanagh will have to go back to midfield to add a presence. That was clearly lack on Sat. Mattie and Harte would be positioned to attempt to curtail Lee Keegan and Colm Boyle/Higgins. McGuigan was livelier that RO'N. McCurry will drift out alongside him there. McKenna and McAliskey are our best options of winning ball inside at the moment.

Very concerning now what is happening.

This is a Title winning squad and although the other contenders have strengthened, United shouldn't be languishing where they are. They are throwing up easy points at home. At least 8 have been dropped now. There is no cohesion to the team; no definite style of play and he clearly doesn't know his team. He played Rio and Vidic for 3 consecutive games in 7 days earlier this season, culminating in the 4-1 City defeat. Last night, he dropped Evans. Why? Surely he should be trying to build a settled back four.

There is no punch in final third and no goal threat other than Rooney. RVP is suffering injuries as he has done previously at Arsenal. You sensed Fergie got the best out of him and he thrived at OT. You don't get that feeling this year even in the games he has played.

Fellaini is too slow and ponderous in possession and the loss of Carrick at min cant be under estimated.

Ballinderry are a more seasoned team than Clonoe and have experience in Ulster. Clonoe don't. That counts for a lot. Plus, they have home advantage and an extra week rest.

Someone said Conor Gormley was the problem for Carmen. They were right. He was. The role he played was strange, almost like a quarter back. You couldn't really call him a sweeper as he didn't protect his full back line who were exposed on occasions. Clonoe had their homework don as they knew he would be spare. They hit high and diagonal balls into their inside men, bypassing Gormley. Plus, they marked him on Carmen kickouts.

I thought Carmen were niave and should have marked Colm Doris on Clonoe kickouts as they usually target him and whilst Loughran at 7 was one of their best players, Dorsi was effective aerially. Carmen struggled generally at midfield and i felt they needed Gormley there rather than a sweeper.

In terms of possible County material, McNulty is obviously a contender but he needs to add workrate and awareness to his game. Colm Doris and Stephen McNulty are also good enough but age is a factor. PJ Lavery another; he was very influential coming from deep

Cluxton

Walshe
Cafferkey
Higgins

McCarthy
Darren Hughes
McCaffrey

Aidan O'Shea
Cavanagh

Mackey
Kilkenny
Graham Reilly

Mannion
Stephen O'Neill
Conor McManus

McGinley won't play at 5. I'd say there will be a reshuffle with probably Mattie Donnelly picking Reilly up or else Joe McMahon but it would be ideal if Joe could sweep like the last day.

Conor Gormley put the shackles on Bray in 2007 after he ran around Ricey so he may well be sent to do the same tomorrow although Gormley wouldn't have the speed of those years now. Harsh on McCrory being dropped but he does have a tendency to play the forward from behind which is fatal in Croke Park.

Biggest gripe would be Cassidy not starting. Think we will get cleaned at midfield as neither Cavanagh are natural fielders.

Defence could line out McCarron, Clarke and Gormley in FB line; Mattie Donnelly, Harte and McKenna HB line; 2 Cavanaghs; HF line of McGinley Mark Donnelly, Penrose; FF line of McCurry and O'Neill with Joe sweeping

Overall it is difficult to see many changes to that Tyrone team as he will be reluctant to throw in men that are cold or lacking match sharpness. People shouldn't get carried away with Kildare result as Meath should always have been looked on as the more difficult. Kildare have shown signs of decline all year whereas Meath are on the up and came out of Dublin game with credit.

They will pose Tyrone a different set of problems up front. They will expose what is Tyrone's biggest flaw; the fact they are suspect defensively in the open spaces of Croke Park. Cork 09, Dublin 10 & 11 have shown this as did Kerry last year and this year in Omagh. They have a lot of pace inside. Who will go full back as Clarke won't suit Bray? Mattie Donnelly looks made for Graham Reilly.

Peter Harte is a problem. He is undoubtedly a class act but clearly not a No 6. Conor Gormley should probably move back here and shore up the centre. Cassidy is clearly needed at midfield as Meath dominated here against Dublin. Harte clearly doesn't rate him though as he hasn't started him this year.

McCurry is honest and willing but is predictable. Something extra is needed for Croke Park so i'd go with Ronan O'Neill. You have the pace of McCurry and reliability of Mcliskey to come in if either O'Neill hhasn't 70 mins. Not sure if you can trust Coney especially seeing as he has missed so much football this year. I'd go for the following;

McConnell

McCrory
Clarke
McCarron

Carlin
Gormley
Mattie Donnelly

Cassidy
Colm Cavanagh

Peter Harte
Mark Donnelly
Sean Cavanagh

Penrose
SO'N
RO'Neill

I agree with the comment that we've been in decline since Cork in 2009. I recall after the final win in 2008 that I thought that was the last drop squeezed out of a lot of those players. Saturday showed up how important those contributions were from Dooher at his best between 2003-2008 and Sean Cavanagh.

The reality is that since 2008, very few if any of the players, younger ones included, have improved or kicked on. Although Sean was injured, the reality is that he has went sideways since then. Justin McMahon was been injured and Tommy McGuigan hasn't got back to that level even before his injury. Penrose has established himself in the team but is he really all star class at the highest level? In reality, that is the level players need to be attaining if Tyrone are to be contending for All Irelands again.

Saturday confirmed that a lot of the players in their mid-20s aren't good enough. Sean O'Neill, Colm Cavanagh and Mark Donnelly aren't good enough at that level. I though Colm lost his man for the Kerry goal. You look at Dublin 2010 and 2011, Donegal 2012 and Kerry 2012; he has been found wanting. Mark Donnelly handled ball but nothing came off it. He lacks the killer instinct of a forward. He repeatedly turned away from goal and lacks that killer penetrative passing ability for a No.11. It's a pity he wasn't introduced to the panel 5-6 years ago. At 29 next year, it's unlikely he'll improve further.

As for next year, it's time to look offering players an opportunity who offer you the best chance long term of surviving against the Kerrys, Dublins, Corks, Kildares and Donegals. Those are the top 5 teams in Country. We're in the 6-10 bracket. For the league and McKenna Cup, there should be a focus on playing McKenna et al even if that means relegation in a tough Division 1. At the same stage of development of the 98 class, O'Neill had won an All Star at 11, McAnallen had won Young Player of the Year and represented Ulster and Ireland. How many of the 08 class have even threatened to do that? Peter Harte for all his potential and displays in the league, simply hasn't produced it on the big stage these last few years. The other like McNabb and Coney have been injured although the potential is there. A team like this should be conisdered forearly next year with a view for next year's championship; McConnell, Quinn, Clarke, Carlin, McNabb, Justin McMahon, Harte, Gormley, Cassidy, McKenna, S O'Neill, Joe, Penrose, Coney and R O'Neill

If we're honest, Kildare were the best team for large parts of the opening league game back in February. The two goals there were decisive and Kildare set up yesterday not to concede goals.

We were too lateral and predictable. O'Neill went 25 minutes before he touched the ball in the first half. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned his name, but the player we are clearly lacking, if only as a game changer, is Brian McGuigan. I remember in 2009, we faced the same problems with Kildare in the QF and he came on and transformed the game. He would have been the go to man yesterday. I looked at the options on the bench and there was nobody that could have done that. Dublin last year showed he doesn't have the legs for 70 mins of that intensity, but he may have for 20 mins, like Canavan in 2005. If it's too late to bring him back, then Peter Harte needs to be moved to 11. He should be doing his best work up the field now and with his goal threat there is little point having him in his own half as teams are now man marking him.

Coney's loss is massive. Our inside men showed well, but are now too easy bottled up and are predictable. Most of their scores will come from frees. Coney can run in behind and is dynamic. Ronan O'Neill could have been the same. Any chance of contending this year is gone with their injuries.

Defensively, we are still struggling with the early ball in, even with the sweeper.

Cavan U-21's and Kildare yesterday have shown how the game is going. Unheralded, powerful players who are tactically aware and hungry. Tyrone are being out thought and out fought

It is not the end but rather, it has to be a fresh beginning. The bar has been raised since as recent as 2008 and truth be told, we have fallen short in 2009 against Cork and in 2010 and 2011 against Dublin. Kildare 2009 was the moment when the writing was on the wall. We see now with Dublin, Donegal, Cork and Kildare the level of physicality, tactics, systems, gameplans, fitness, strength and conditioning required. Are we forerunners in any of these fields any more? Probably/definitely not.

What do we need to do? I certainly think some serious thought needs to be given to the fitness/conditioning aspect. Does it need freshening up? All the best coaches/physical trainers are Tyrone men and they are serving other counties. It would be difficult to impose Dublin's/Donegal's physical training regime on established players/veterans, but certainly the younger players now know what level of devotion is required. Are Kyle Coney, Niall McKenna and Peter Harte better players than Mark McHugh? Yes. Are they in a position where they can go straight in and survive in Croke Park in an All Ireland Quarter Final like Mark McHugh? If not, then why not?

In terms of the changing of the guard, there will be some changes and probably this is needed. Gormley and Jordan need to remain. Gormley most likely will but the worry is that Jordan won't. Both carried the fight to Dublin throughout. I thought if anything, Jordan looked too fired up for it at the start of the game. Jordan should be offered the captaincy and told to report back in April next year. Gormley looked revitalised this year and back to his 2007 form. We should now look at developing one or two specialist man markers in an attempt to rid Gormley of the burden of having to plug holes and mark dangermen, a role which is probably not his forte anymore. We have a nucleus of defenders like PJ Quinn, McCaul, McCarron, Carlin and Swift. Each of these need to be tried and hopefully we can establish two corner backs. Carlin proved in the second half that he merited more game time. His only weakness is his tendency to carry the ball into the tackle.

Cassiy and McKenna now need to be given their head at midfield, along with Colm Cavanagh. Hub was shown up to lack the mobility to cover ground. Bastick and MD MacCauley are manufactured footballers but that is the way the game has now gone. Sean's best football is now to be played in the forward line. With the tactic of subtlely fouling a dangerman, teams can simply foul him around centre field and then rotate the fouler.

the forward line requires the most work. Mattie Donnelly, Coney and Ronan O'Neill need to be given their head now. Mark Donnelly has been a bonus and a bright spark. Peter Harte will only continue to develop. Tyrone are still potentially a top 8 side with some tweaking and development but the big challeneg is to make that next step again

Conor Gormley is extremely doubtful and unlikely to play

I agree totally with the view that Harte should take the U-21 job again. It makes sense and would help to bridge the gap to senior level as we should now be attempting to bring a lot of these guys through. We have won numerous minor titles in the last 3-4 years and the U-21 season is quite short anyway with it being a straight knock out.

The short kick out ploy contributed to our loss big time. It granted us possession in the short term, but put the full back line under pressure to then play the ball as Dublin simply filtered back. The same problem that we had againts Cork last year: a lack of penetration and physicality to regularly penetrate Dublin's wall at speed. Harte spoke in 2008 about energy. Cork 2009 and Dublin 2010 illustrated a lack of energy or rather, a lack of high ocatne stuff which characterisied 2003, 2005 and to a lesser extent 2008.

It was clear Dooher lacked the legs for 70 at Croke Park. Harte showed a lack of confidence in his bench. The introduction of SO'N was strange as Dublin set up a wall which prevented early ball into the inside line. This meant that we required pack and movement in the inside line. Penrose would have offered this more than O'Neill and whilst i could clearly understand the logic in placing him in the half back line for his legs, surely Sean O'Neill or Peter Harte could have played this role? I also feel McCullagh would have been useful, firstly for keeping the ball and secondly for spreading the play and the Dubs made our forward line seem very narrow. McCul;lagh's appreciation of space would have been useful.

From watching the match again, not only did we kick wides when 10-8 up, we also gave away possession. Brian McGuigan carried a ball out of defence below the Hogan Stand and was in acres of space with several options. He proceeded to fumble possession and was turned over. Dooher the, moments later did the same and was penalised for touching it on the ground. Two incidents which indicated the sea change in favour of the Dubs.

A NUMBER OF POINTS:

1. This is the first year Tyrone have played with a specific sweeper. Previous years there was the flooding of the defence but also then the flooding of the attack.

2. The Cork game from last year clearly resonates with Harte. Exemplified by his instructions that McConnell doesn't kick out the ball to midfield. Dooher, McGuigan, Jordan etc obviously havent the legs of yester year, hence he doesn't want them expending energy scrapping for ball off their own kick outs. Dublin clearly were prepared for this and were happy to let the McMahons collect the kickout as they posed no threat to the Dubs on their own 21 metre line.

3. Joe McMahon's direct deployment as the sweeper with instructions to sit in the full back line obviously illustrates Harte's acceptance that the full back line is now seriously weak. I've said before that we now have no-one who can mark a top forward. Conor is no longer able to do that job which he did when we won our All Irelands. In previous years when we did play a sweeper, it was ricey who had licence to drive forward. It was no coincidence that when ricey took over as sweeper after mccarron's substitution, we had our best spell, as he turned over ball and drove forward. Joe has been deployed as a sweeper to protect the full back line, simple.

4. Joe, when moved to a specific marking role after mccarron was subbed, should have been put on o'gara or else played as an orthodox 5 or 6. I worried when i saw him on bernard brogan. I thought conor could have done a botch job on him as an alternative.

5. There is clearly an issue with Sean Cavanagh. His form is patchy. I don't think he has been done any favours by Harte as he does not have a settled position. At the moment, i would play him as an orthodox 9 or else at 12. He is not a natural full forward and is definitely not a playmaker at 11. The best years of his football career are been ruined by moving him around. A few years ago, he was the logical successor as skipper. Would he be now? I think he has shown a suspect temperment, i worry about his focus and drive. Would he change anything in hindsight following 2008? He is appearing far too often in media and papers with GPA etc. I wonder too does Harte feel it is a bit too delicate to voice these concerns to him?

6. Dooher. Cork 2009 and Dublin 2010 have shown that he is struggling on the big stage at Croke Park when the intensity is lifted. I agree with others who say his legs were gone yesterday. He offered nothing. I think too that even if he does stay another year, he should be replaced as skipper. that would soften the psychological boost opposition would get if u had to sub him. That may have stopped Harte taking him off yesterday. The Hill would have been in full voice.

Don't think this is as clear cut as people may think. A number of points;

1. Hopefully Tyrone have momentum. Last year they didn't. In 2007, the other year they found themselves in this position having won Ulster, they didn't either. 2007 and 2009 semed like stop go seasons and ultimately they were caught. This year, there appears to be a freshness and an improvement with each game. The 2 week break from the Monaghan game seems about perfect, although the Dubs are building their own momentum

2. There may be a big game in the Dubs. There should be close to a full house with the possibility of this being a stand alone game on the Saturday. The Dubs may relish this.

3. Their forward line, in particular the Brogans, especially Bernard. He went to town in Omagh a few months ago. Although the Tyrone defence will play totally different this weekend, it is important the Dubs aren't given space like Cork were last year in the first half and also Kildare last year, again in first half. If this is the case, the Dubs could score heavily in a short space of time. The jury is out on O'Gara, but it will require one of the McMahons to mark him. Then, who marks Bernard? and Alan?

4. Their midfield is physically powerful and have dominated their last 3 games. Tyrone's midfield have to play as well as they did in Clones at the very least.

5. Up front is key. On reflection, perhaps the main reason they lost to Cork last year and Meath 2007 is the amount of wides kicked. If they miss like last Sunday in Clones, they could be in difficulty. With SO'N unlikely to start, free taking is an issue. How reliable will Penrose be into the Hill? And right footed free taker? Has Tommy McGuigan the confidence to take them? Sean Cavanagh or Mulligan? Perhaps Mulligan has the temperment. Also the role of Sean Cavanagh. I don't think he is a '40 man. Either inside to occupy O'Carroll their young full back or else around the middle.