Tyrone GAA Discussion Thread

So in answer to the original OP, it seems yes, Tyrone have gone away and they won't be competing for an All Ireland or even realistically winning an Ulster while Donegal are so strong for a long time.

There's no general Tyrone GAA thread on here and this is as good as any to use having looked though the ones with Tyrone in the title over the last few years. Tyrone football has so much potential but something has stopped us moving with the times for a few years. We've stuck with the tactics that won us 3 all Irelands but we don't have the same level of player we had then and the other top counties have evolved to the point where our tactics won't see us beat a top 4 side for a long time unless we change.

Dublin, Mayo, Kerry and Donegal are all so much stronger than us. I'd put us in the next group with maybe Cork and Monaghan but even then I doubt we'd beat either of those in the championship at the moment.

I can see Tyrone having a good run in the qualifiers this summer, but the way the draw if set up, if we progress though the rounds we'll have to play the loser from Ulster or Connacht (probably Sligo or Monaghan) and even is we win that we'll have to face Donegal or Mayo. There's no chance really that we'll get to a semi final this year in that case.


This is how I see our side of the qualifiers going.



1B

Armagh v Wicklow
Wexford v Down
Louth v Leitrim
Tyrone v Limerick

You'd fancy the 3 Ulster teams to go though from that with the Louth Leitrim game being a toss up.

I'm trying to figure out who will be the next 4 teams to come into this pot.

The losers of;
Donegal/Derry
Meath/Westmeath

And the 2 already beaten semifinalists;
Tipp
Galway

So by my estimation the draw for the round 2b will be;
Armagh
Down
Louth/Leitrim
Tyrone

Vs

Derry
Westmeath
Tipp
Galway

The teams then play against each other to get down to two teams in 3b

Being added to this side of the draw once it's down to 2 teams for round 4 are;
Loser Connacht (likely Sligo)
Loser Ulster (Likely Monaghan)

Then for the (B) quarter finals the two winners from Ulster and Connacht are added so likely Mayo and Donegal.

Tom Joad wrote: »

Good idea to have a Tyrone thread and had changed the thread title to reflect this.

Tyrone at the minute remind me of Meath towards the end of the Sean Boylan years. Don't seem to be producing the underage success as much anymore and I think Mickey Harte has stayed on a wee bit too long and things have gone a bit stale.

Your second point about Harte is 100% correct. He's been an absolute legend for Tyrone and brought is success I could only have dreamt about 20 years ago however it seems now that he's more of a hindrance than a help which is harsh but just my view.

As for underage players, we won the U21 this year, we've 2 minors in the last ten years. The talent was there but it wasn't nurtured or brought into the senior panel on time and now a lot of them have gone away from the county set up all together.

We've seen lads retire in droves including the likes of young Kyle Coney who was looking like one of the best players in the country in his underage days.

The whole thing needs a shake up. There's been the same management team there now for 12 years and that's not fair on all the other talented managers in the country. It needs to be freshened up and I think if that happens it could reflect better on general public perception of Tyrone which is at an all time low.

Tom Joad wrote: »

If and when Mickey Harte moves on, would the next manager come from one of Harte's ex-players such as Canavan (which could be a bad move) or is there anyone from outside that group that would get a crack at it?

I'll be honest, I'm living in Sligo now for 15 years so I'm totally out of touch with the club scene and who's doing a good job there.

Since I cant see there being much graw for an outside manager I'd say the management team that delivered the U21 All Ireland would be in the driving seat. That formula of bringing a successful underage manager straight into the senior panel worked well in the past with Mickey so it could work.

Fergal Logan with Canavan, Dooher and McMenamin involved would be odds on to be the next lads at the helm.

frostyjacks wrote: »

Apart from Donegal, who seem to have the Indian sign over us, I'd fancy our chances against any of the other sides out there. The qualifiers look a bit if a minefield again this year, and I have a feeling we'll get drawn against Armagh again. I'd back us to beat them but at the same time I'd rather avoid them. I drew a lot of confidence from the Donegal game, build in that and we could go a long way.

For the coaching ticket, any of Logan/Canavan/Dooher/McMenamin would be welcome. They all bring something different to the table. I'm sure folk up and down the country would love to see McMenamin prowling the sidelines.

Regarding the Meath comparison, I think the big difference is that we've laid down foundations on the back of our success, whereas Meath thought it would last forever and didn't really invest in the future.

At least there one more Tyrone head here!

I reckon we'd beat Armagh handy enough tbh. The only counties I'd be worried about are Dublin, Mayo, Donegal, cork, Kerry and probably Monaghan. Not saying we'd beat everyone else, but we normally to out when we meet one of those sides.

Do you think mickey and co should go?

frostyjacks wrote: »

I think he's earned the right to go at a time of his own choosing. We were 70 mins away from an All Ireland final the year before last with a lot of the same players as now, they should have that bit more experience under their belt since then.

Public perception of us is low, yes, but we were never flavour of the month like other counties. Even after Mickey goes we'll still be getting tarred with the same brush. Doesn't bother me though, it's better than having a reputation as a soft touch.

Aye I don't think he'll be pushed out anyway!

Re the reputation, I think it's gone so low that it's now counter productive. Certain refs just seem to nail us game after game especially southern refs if we're playing teams from outside the 6 counties. It's never the big decisions, but rather death by a thousand 50/50's.

If we're going to have a reputation for being the dirtiest most physical team in the country then be that and not what we currently are. Plenty of talk but still get bullied by the bigger teams.

frostyjacks wrote: »

Yeah, with Hughes and Gormley retiring we lack that enforcer-type player that would break up the opposition's momentum anytime they got a run at us.

Tomas O'Se had a good anecdote in his article last summer about Hughes from the 08 final, how he laid down a marker after we got the goal.

http://m.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/tomas-o-se-we-never-beat-tyrone-when-it-really-mattered-30278802.html

We need a bit of that attitude back in squad.

I love reading O'Se's writing! Probably the best articles in the business from a former player. Manages to tell a wee story about how good they were every time without coming across like a cock ever.

Redsoxfan wrote: »

What's the story with Coney? Mickey really doesn't have the scoring forwards to let him go.

It's madness to be fair. Kyle never really was able to turn it on for the seniors for many reasons, form, not settling in, not being picked and not being available through injury, but the lad was one of the classiest underage players I've ever seen.

The lad is 25 now and should be hitting his prime but he's sitting at home with his fella in his hand when Tyrone are playing. It's hard to fathom.

JB81 wrote: »

Not sure where i would place Tyrone in the whole scheme of things at the moment. There is definitely talent there in the panel and coming through. But is Harte the right man to take them forward? I don't know. I have the deepest respect for Mickey Harte for all he has done and he has deserved the time in charge even since 2008.
It is only as recent as 2013 where we reached a league final to be beat by Dublin by 1 point, and to be fair we played really well that day and lost Stephen O'Neill to injury in warm up. And in the same year reached an all ireland semi final, allbeit failing against Mayo with a poor enough performance.
So I think he deserved another year last year after that at least. But i do think if we dont ( and i think a quarter final would be a good achievement ) perform well this year then it may be time for a change, either a new back room team with new ideas or even a new system/idea/tactics from Harte. Either way I wouldnt mind.
But I do think there is talent and it just needs the right guidance.

The problem with using getting to the odd semi final as justification is that we've avoided the four or five teams who always beat us now on the way. Donegal dump us out of Ulster every year and then one of Mayo, Dublin or Kerry will put us out of the all Ireland. I see it playing out exactly the same this year as we should beat every potential opponent in our side of the draw until we have to meet Mayo, Donegal or Monaghan in the last round of the quarters.

frostyjacks wrote: »

It's a bit annoying how they've structured the qualifiers, I would rather a team played loser of Ulster/Connacht followed by winner of Leinster/Munster or vice versa, try and mix it up a little. Worst case scenario would be us having to play Monaghan followed by Donegal (provided we get that far). I'm sick of them. Still, would be a chance to settle a few scores.

Not sure how much we're going to learn about the team from this weekend, I doubt many Limerick fans will be prepared to make the journey up to watch what should be a straightforward win. Worth backing McCurry for the first goal, there should be a hatful here. I haven't seen Limerick play in years, but I hear they're not as good as they used to be. But the Antrim win over Laois should serve as a warning against any complacency.

I think they beat Sligo in the league and Sligo had a good win over the rossies but that means little.

No clue about Joe, on the panel so can't be too bad. Maybe just giving him a rest and taking him out of the spotlight for a game.

iDave wrote: »

Based on yesterday you underestimate our ability to balls things up

haha very true.

He's flipping dangerous. For all the blowing on RTE about the abuse he got on twitter, they barely mentioned the challenge which could have caused an awful serious injury. You can bet your bottom dollar if that was Cavanagh they'd have spend half an hour talking about how bad a person he is and how he should be banned for life.

Did they not see the abuse Sean got after the famous Brolly rant? Some of the stuff was awful but not a mention on RTE because they were too busy bull****ting about him doing something every other player in the country woudl have done.

Saint Sonner wrote: »

Petey Harte playing midfield was a major surprise yesterday for me.

Although Tyrone only kicked one kick out long and there was literally no Tyrone players around to attempt to catch it!

Having seen what Sligo did to nullify the Rossies a few weeks back in midfield you could see a lot more of that. You're essentially giving up on winning any high fielded balls in the middle third by putting two small mobile players in there but you can compensate for that by using their mobility to cover ground all over.

Could we possibly throw Sean up front at some stage against a blanket defence and put someone else in the middle along with Colm?

Horrible draw for Tyrone both from a playing PoV and from an image one. If we beat them I've no doubt we'll get Donegal again at some point if we go that far and all the media attention will be on the big bad boys from Tyrone.