By common consent, perhaps only 3 players in the running for captaincy - Harte, Donnelly, C Cavanagh. A good captain has to be able to read people and communicate with people, not just be a good player. Cavanagh is an excellent player, but three factors are against him: (1) he plays a high-energy style and is getting on. Harte likes to get a few years out of his captains. Cavanagh is getting to the end of his playing years. (2) He has a short fuse. More so than the other two and can always be guaranteed to pick up a card. Saying that Donnelly should not have been capt for "ill discipline" and then opting for the short-tempered CK as some kind of level-headed saint is comical. CK has one of the poorer discipline records on the Tyrone team. I've seen Sean Cavanagh wrestling him away from incidents in games, realising that his younger brother was going to get booked. (3) He's an introvert, not a natural communicator or someone who would naturally get onto other's players' wavelengths. In that regard, he's the opposite of his outgoing and personable older brother. There's more to motivating others than just playing well. A good capt is a mix of football skills and people skills. Donnelly is a fanatic about football and winning and comes from a long line of great football people who live for the game, and he's a pleasant lad off the pitch. Obviously, as a mere 2 times all star, AI minor winner and O'Neill cup winner, he wouldn't be a good enough footballer to get onto bigdog's club or county team, but most rational people who don't have an axe to grind will accept that he's a good all round choice for the position. So would Harte, obviously, but you can imagine the stick MH would have got if Peter had been appointed. Cavanagh is a good player, and I wish that he was 6 years younger so we'd get more of him, but for the reasons outlined, despite his great on-field attitude, skills and energy, I don't see him as 100% capt material.
I will never get the time back I spent reading this dribble!! How unfortunate.
Has Colm Cavanagh turned 30 yet? I wouldn’t class him as on the road out. His discipline is exceptional and maybe a flaw that could have been leveled at him in his younger days but I actually can’t remember him seeing red or black. He isn’t as media savvy as Sean a fair point but on the pitch I see him organising players and ensuring everyone is working.
I don’t feel MD is a bad candidate for captain, I just felt Colm was stronger from the outside looking in.
Was at today’s game and if Richie Donnelly plays many games for Tyrone this year I will be amazed, he was so bad today and looked well of the pace. He has bulked up but can’t carry it the way Mattie can.
