Tyrone - Is this the end?

[Man Marker]

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

Good bloody post, yes we have players, but they haven't been given enough game time to get used to playing at this level. We will be there abouts next year. To many good footballers in this county not to be strong.

[ONeill]

Excellent piece in the Sunday Times today - a discussion between Jordan, Ricey, McGinley, O'Neill, McConnell and Canavan in the aftermath of the Dublin game. Well worth the purchase. O'Neill's raring to go next year.

[Qwerty28]

Anyone able to post this article?  Thanks a lot!

[wheres he takin er from]

yey id love to get a look at this zrticle if possible too

[Minder]

As a gesture of goodwill towards the Tyrone savages on this board


Sunday Times 14/8/2011

End of an era










They sat in the dressing room last Saturday night unstrapping bandages and unlacing their boots, red-eyed and broken. Some of the players looked around at others sitting nearby. They had grown up together since they were kids. They had carried the coffins of friends and teammates, and brought Cups to their graves. They had shared these dressing rooms with trophies and sorrow before, but this felt different.

Tyrone had trailed Dublin by five points at half time. They promised each other better in the second half, but lost by two more. No matter how hard Tyrone tried, Dublin made them look tired.

The younger players sat among their heroes. Had they measured up? The night told each of them something different but left them all with the same fear. Maybe Tyrone weren't Tyrone anymore. They all knew the questions that would come. None of them knew the answers yet. Mickey Harte left to face the media, looking as worn and grey as anyone could remember.

Then, they were left to their own thoughts.

Enda McGinley: It was very emotional. The sense was the core of this group won't be together again. We had played together for most of our lives, which added a greater rawness to everything. Plus the fact our once-strong team was so off the pace on a big day was tough to take. It was one of the most emotional dressing rooms I've ever been in.

Ryan McMenamin: After the game it felt devastating. I was just sitting there wondering what went wrong. We had expected a tight game, but we hadn't expected to be chasing the game.

Philip Jordan: We lost to Dublin this time last year with lots of regrets. This time we never got a foothold in the game. Not even for five or 10 minutes. That was the first time we've ever been in that position.

E McG: Last year it was very hard to watch Dublin go on when we felt we'd had the measure of them. We felt we owed Cork a certain amount too. It felt like an All-Ireland had gotten away. That hurt quite a bit. This year there was none of that. We were well beaten and have to realise how off the pace we were and take stock.

PJ: We had an extra reason to win the All-Ireland. It never needed to be said. We'd love to have given him the opportunity to dedicate an All-Ireland to Michaela.

E McG: It was left unspoken all year, but you don't forget something like that either. The senior boys were very aware of Mickey and what they're going through.

Stephen O'Neill: It would've been nice but things don't work out like that. But we've been in this position before. We just have to bounce back.

R McM: As Mickey himself said on Saturday night, it wasn't in God's plan. We'd set out before on campaigns wanting to win things for those reasons, but we didn't. He thanked us, said he knew what we were trying to do.

E McG: Leaving the hotel I definitely felt we're going to do the business. Training was good. The team felt fresh. The meetings had been good. The warm-up was very sharp. It felt like any time before when we'd achieved big things.

R McM: We felt we'd left the game behind against Donegal (in the Ulster championship). When we went a man down, I felt Donegal were more worried. They already had a sweeper and put the spare man back as well. There was only one team going to go and win that game, but we got caught with a sucker punch. Donegal took a lot of strength from beating us.

Pascal McConnell: There was plenty of confidence there in the older guys. The younger lads could feel that. We weren't singing from the rooftops but we felt we were getting a run together.

PJ: Dublin were quiet. It was a role-reversal from 2008. Dublin came in with nobody talking about them. In 2008 our performances weren't as good as this time. You could see the progress we were making. Now we had to beat Dublin.

R McM: Maybe that was our downfall. We thought history would repeat itself. For Dublin, it wasn't going to be like 2008.

E McG: We wanted to go at their defence at speed, but their power and their discipline made it very hard to get through. Then, two or three of their forwards hit top form.

P McC: We felt we could cut through their middle and exploit the space in Croke Park. Maybe we were too narrow in our play. We ran into too many tackles. Next thing, we were getting swarmed.

R McM: During the qualifiers a few new boys came in and there was a good push on at training, but a few worrying signs against Roscommon went unheeded. We let them down the middle too much. We left them in the game too long and probably needed longer than a week to sort it out.

SO'N: We weren't wild impressive against Roscommon. We knew we were a bit off the finished article. It proved that way [against Dublin].

PJ: We didn't play with a sweeper because we wanted to push Dublin back. When they broke, me and Conor [Gormley] were to tuck in and get back in front of our full-back line, but their half-back line was winning out, and we just couldn't get back.

R McM: Their half-backs seemed happy to let our half-forwards have the ball. They just dropped back straightaway. Then their half-forwards were dropping into midfield and we were getting turned over too quick. That left a lot of space for the two Brogan boys and Diarmuid Connolly. The ball going in was quality ball, too. Nobody could defend against it.

E McG: We were labelled with the blanket defence before, but it was more that wherever the ball was, we attacked it with men. That famous moment against Kerry in 2003 happened on their 45m line. Now teams are immediately falling back and allowing the opposition to come onto them.

PJ: We just couldn't get our hands on possession. Stephen Cluxton is incredible. He can hit a ball 60 yards with a three-yard run-up. We knew where he liked to put the ball, but we couldn't get near it. Some of the passes they hit were exceptional. Maybe that was from a lack of pressure out the field.

P McC: It boils down to work rate. Tyrone in the past wouldn't have allowed Dublin that space or allowed Diarmuid Connolly, Bernard and Alan Brogan the room to thrive. The games against Dublin in 2005 and 2008 back that up. We have to collectively take the blame for not performing.

PJ: At half-time there was some choice words said to show some pride in ourselves. Then we conceded 0-3 very quickly and that completely knocked the stuffing out of us.

SO'N: We were hoping it'd pick up in the second half but they got the start we wanted, which made it a massive task.

P McC: I remember looking at a picture of us from 2008 swarming around a Dublin player. A picture from last Saturday night was the reverse of that — four or five Dublin lads around a Tyrone player. That was what we wanted to do.

Peter Canavan: As I was commentating, I felt if Tyrone got a spell they could get on a roll, but it was the first game Dublin didn't allow that happen. Tyrone never got a hint of dominance. I'd attribute that more to a maturing Dublin team.

R McM: Everything was going right for them. They were kicking points they'll never kick again. Their gameplan was executed to perfection. Ours didn't work out as well.

PJ: At least we didn't give up. If we had, it could've been 13 or 14 points of a beating.

P McC: We can't take anything away from Dublin. They were awesome.

PC: The quality of their football was as high as I've ever seen from Dublin.

E McG: We felt the intensity was there but we were outmatched by Dublin's. That makes losing harder, and forces the hard questions. If it's true the older boys aren't up to it, we should just clear off. But it's usually not that black and white. It's easy to go for the big clear-out, but we'll take time and make our decisions.

SO'N: I'm happy to go back if selected. I'll be looking forward to it. I'm sure other boys need time to sum things up, but I'm ready. It didn't really show against Dublin but there's still a lot of football in some of these boys. The fitness is as good as it's ever been. We were just a wee bit flat on the night.

PJ: When I made the call to walk away, you realise how much you want to be there. This was also a special year for Tyrone. If you're not there you feel you're missing out on something.

PC: People weren't crying or complaining about Tyrone being over the hill when they beat Longford or Armagh. If Conor Gormley was playing for Dublin, no one would say he should go.

If Enda McGinley was with Kerry, no one would say he's gone. There's a crop together since they were minors, but it doesn't mean they're an old team. Only two or three are over 31. There's a lot of football left in the rest.

E McG: We can't avoid the feeling there's work to be done. The game has moved on. The bar was raised. We were doing that before. Now it's other teams. The players are still there. Maybe it'll take a slightly different approach. It's one of Mickey's mottos: embrace the challenge. I'm sure he is already.

SO'N: I'd say we're still with the top five or six teams. Any of them can beat each other on a given day. The players are there. They just need the confidence and belief that they're good enough.

R McM: We have to try and get the consistency into Tyrone again. Before we'd usually win maybe five out of seven games in the league. This year we won three. We need to get out of Division Two and get back that winning mentality.

PJ: Its very premature to write guys off, not because of their age but because they're there so long. You have to look for better players, and we don't want to hold younger players back. The question for them is: can they step up to the mark?

People say Tyrone won't be back for a while. I'd disagree. We've set the standard that reaching an All-Ireland quarter-final isn't good enough. Ten years ago, people would've been reasonably happy with that. That shows how things have changed.

PC: It's no different to when I was that age. We had taken a few heavy defeats and you were wondering where the change might come? It came through the energy and enthusiasm of the younger players brought in. It's up to them to take the initiative and push hard.

E McG: We started playing together when we were 16. A lot of things change personally between 16 and 30, but these boys have been the steady presence. If that's the end, it's crap, but it has to come. There are bigger things, and bigger tragedies, in life.

[ExcellentDriver]

Time to bring in the new crop of talented players.

Snout, Dooher, Jordan and Gormley no longer have the legs to withstand Inter-County Football. Stevie O'Neil is kinda in the same situation Michael Owen is at Man Utd; greatest scorer of his Generation but frigged due in injuries; whilst Joe McMahon has bitten off more than he could chew with his Markers (last Year against Ardboe he used 'School Bully' tactics on 16 Year-Old Conan Campbell).

Perhaps Mickey Harte would need to find another Sweeper in the mould of Horse. Dublin and Donegal are now adopting the Sweeper and 'Blanket Defence' and are reaping the rewards. Lacey proved too much for Snout. I would say; being biased towards Ardboe; Gavin Teague, but I think he needs to build himself up big time (it CAN be done, if he works at it).

Kyle could do well at Tyrone, but he needs to show more consistency. Ditto Peter Harte.

[seafoid]

Keith Duggan had a fabulous piece about Donegal the day of the Kildare match.
Armagh and Tyrone controlled Ulster for long enough. Hard to believe this year was the first Ulster title for Donegal since 1992. 


http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2011/0730/1224301619976.html

Brendan Devenney gave one of his best Donegal performances that evening, enjoying a riveting duel with Kildare corner back Brian Lacey. "Know why that was?" Devenney said wryly this week. "It's because it was the first round of the qualifiers and not an Ulster match in bloody Clones. That was a beautiful evening in Kildare and I was burning up grass and both teams were playing man-for-man open football.

"That was all I ever wanted but playing in Ulster against Armagh and Tyrone, you never got one-on-one. Ever. That was the main problem for us: we ran into the Armagh machine. And you look back now at that Armagh team and what they achieved and you have to say that they were awesome."

Devenney is one of a number of Donegal players who experienced long careers with the county that glittered with mostly unrealised potential. Players like Barry Monaghan and Brian Roper – both of whom represented Donegal over 100 times – Adrian Sweeney, John Gildea, Shane Carr and McGuinness himself were at the heart of a quixotic attempt to win Ulster in the years since the landmark win in 1992.

Several of that gang played in the Ulster final defeats of 1998, 2002, 2004 and 2006. A measure of the interest in those games is the last two finals were moved to Croke Park: 67,000 showed up for the 2004 final. But equally, they had this parallel career outside of Ulster which brimmed with potential. In 2003, they were dismal in the first round against Fermanagh but then kept on winning until the All-Ireland semi-final – against Armagh. They took a fancied Dublin side to a replay in the All-Ireland quarter-final of 2002.

[trileacman]

As a gesture of goodwill towards the Tyrone savages on this board


Sunday Times 14/8/2011

End of an era

Enda McGinley: It was very emotional. The sense was the core of this group won't be together again. We had played together for most of our lives, which added a greater rawness to everything. Plus the fact our once-strong team was so off the pace on a big day was tough to take. It was one of the most emotional dressing rooms I've ever been in.

E McG: Last year it was very hard to watch Dublin go on when we felt we'd had the measure of them. We felt we owed Cork a certain amount too. It felt like an All-Ireland had gotten away. That hurt quite a bit. This year there was none of that. We were well beaten and have to realise how off the pace we were and take stock.

E McG: It was left unspoken all year, but you don't forget something like that either. The senior boys were very aware of Mickey and what they're going through.

E McG: Leaving the hotel I definitely felt we're going to do the business. Training was good. The team felt fresh. The meetings had been good. The warm-up was very sharp. It felt like any time before when we'd achieved big things.

E McG: We wanted to go at their defence at speed, but their power and their discipline made it very hard to get through. Then, two or three of their forwards hit top form.

SO'N: We weren't wild impressive against Roscommon. We knew we were a bit off the finished article. It proved that way [against Dublin].

E McG: We were labelled with the blanket defence before, but it was more that wherever the ball was, we attacked it with men. That famous moment against Kerry in 2003 happened on their 45m line. Now teams are immediately falling back and allowing the opposition to come onto them.

E McG: We felt the intensity was there but we were outmatched by Dublin's. That makes losing harder, and forces the hard questions. If it's true the older boys aren't up to it, we should just clear off. But it's usually not that black and white. It's easy to go for the big clear-out, but we'll take time and make our decisions.

E McG: We can't avoid the feeling there's work to be done. The game has moved on. The bar was raised. We were doing that before. Now it's other teams. The players are still there. Maybe it'll take a slightly different approach. It's one of Mickey's mottos: embrace the challenge. I'm sure he is already.

R McM: We have to try and get the consistency into Tyrone again. Before we'd usually win maybe five out of seven games in the league. This year we won three. We need to get out of Division Two and get back that winning mentality.

E McG: We started playing together when we were 16. A lot of things change personally between 16 and 30, but these boys have been the steady presence. If that's the end, it's crap, but it has to come. There are bigger things, and bigger tragedies, in life.

Cut it down to the best parts.

Enda McGinleys a smart hoor, that is some of the best, most honest analysis i've heard in a while. Ricey isn't far behind. The league is huge for us.

[tyroneman]

Not sure why so many are writing off Block. Still a top defender in my book and if used correctly can be about for another couple of years.

[heffo]

Good article, it's good to see candour like that.

I wouldn't be writing too many of those lads off, I'd hope most of them stay on.

[Qwerty28]

Interesting stuff, be curious to know if they met as a group for the piece as very open and honest in their analysis. Thanks v much for posting it btw!

[ONeill]

I think it's a refreshing article and typical of the high standards of the Sunday Times when it comes to GAA.

McGinley comes across preceptive - he's a fellow you rarely hear from. I think they realise that the excuses of the 17 wides against Dublin masked what became obvious this year - tactics, fitness and application have been elevated to a new level and Tyrone need to be prepared to reach that standard if they're to compete. A bit of an onus put on the young hands too to rise to the challenge.

[Orangemac]

Good article. The influence of the manager is obvious in the honest and concise analysis of the game and where things went wrong.
It is one thing knowing where things went wrong and another fixing them though.

Tyrones problem might not be that too many of the older players will retire but that not enough will. The desire and will to win is still obvious even from this snippet but players should not be in the panel based on former glories.

Mickey Harte will have a difficult job as he has been through everything with a lot of these players but loyalty will have to give way to pragmatism if Tyrone are to get back to the top table.

Would agree with SON though that they are still in the top 6 teams in the country.

[winghalfun]

I think it's a refreshing article and typical of the high standards of the Sunday Times when it comes to GAA.

Maybe a reflection on the players rather than the paper. Would they be as open and honest with some of our local reporters if they knew their candour was for the readers of the Tyrone Times, Dungannon Observor or Ulster Herald? I doubt it.

It is undoubtedly though a very interesting, intelligent article.

[Minder]

I think it's a refreshing article and typical of the high standards of the Sunday Times when it comes to GAA.

McGinley comes across preceptive - he's a fellow you rarely hear from. I think they realise that the excuses of the 17 wides against Dublin masked what became obvious this year - tactics, fitness and application have been elevated to a new level and Tyrone need to be prepared to reach that standard if they're to compete. A bit of an onus put on the young hands too to rise to the challenge.

Holidays are nearly over, you must be getting edgy.