SO, IT'S official. Tyrone senior footballers are currently managerless. It was expected Mickey Harte would be rubber-stamped at Tuesday night’s county executive committee meeting. Not so. Or at least not yet.
While the O’Neill county mulls over the managerial situation, one Tyrone supporter was quick to row behind Harte and insisted he stays in the post.
‘TYRONE supporter’ said: “I was in doubt after the League campaign Tyrone had, but that day in Ballybofey [Ulster Championship defeat by Donegal] they weren’t that far away and since then they have gone from strength to strength.
“Mickey took in some of the U21s and it worked a treat. Peter Canavan was part of the U21 management team that won the All-Ireland this year and even he says Harte is the man for the job when he could probably have grounds [to take the job]...”
‘Tyrone supporter’ continued: “I think about 70 or 80 per cent of the county want to see Mickey stay. If we had taken our chances against Kerry we would be in another final.
“That’s the hard thing to take but they came a long way in three months so I’ve no doubt Mickey will make even more ground over the winter and hopefully we can get back to Division One and land an Ulster title.
“Anything after that would be a bonus. Harte is still the man for the job in my opinion.”
WHILE there is a degree of uncertainty in Tyrone, things are crystal clear in Down. Their manager Jim McCorry resigned after less than a year in the post. And there is still plenty of disgruntlement lingering in the Mourne county over the resignation.
‘Colman’ writes: “The departure of Down manager Jim McCorry did not come as a surprise. Let me be clear from the very start that I agree 100 per cent with Jim’s decision to walk away.
“After the ill-considered rejection he received from the Down county executive and the refusal of half the clubs in Down to back him, how in all honesty could he convincingly lead his panel of players out to any playing field?”
‘Colman’ continued: “I have been following the Down senior team for almost three decades and one of the greatest thrills that I had was when we finally got promoted back to Division One under Jim McCorry.
“This was a very significant achievement considering that Division Three was staring Down in the face when Jim took over. Let’s face the facts: Down were not going to win an Ulster or All-Ireland title this year but by regaining our status in Division One we achieved all that we could have hoped to achieve.
“The short-sighted decision by the county board gave McCorry no thanks whatsoever for attaining such a major achievement. We are back in Division One – do they realise, even from a financial perspective, what that really means?
“It is now the county board’s self-inflicted problem because the onus is on the county board to find us a manager that can at least assure us that Down will retain their Division One status that Jim McCorry achieved with a band of very ordinary but reasonably good players.
“Should the county board fail to deliver a manager that will deliver on this, then every club representative that sits on the county board will have to gracefully depart the scene for good.”
‘CONCERNED Down supporter’ left this message: “What the county executive has done to Jim McCorry – a man of principle and integrity – is nothing short of scandalous. There should be no other manager appointed until the entire county set-up is investigated by someone in headquarters. It’s a dysfunctional county board.”
An investigation is probably an over-the-top suggestion, but clearly there were problems with the county executive over Jim McCorry’s stewardship, which resulted in a 7-6 vote to sack him.
ANOTHER ‘Down fan’ called for a major overhaul of the Down County Board after the managerial controversy.
“I think it’s time that some of the Down County Board resigned… Everybody wants rid of the committee that’s sitting there,” she said.
“Jim McCorry was his own man and they didn’t like it, and he didn’t listen to Benny Coulter in his local newspaper column saying who the manager should play and who he shouldn’t play...
“Good luck to Down and good luck to the man who takes over from Jim McCorry because he’ll get the same treatment that Pete McGrath got over the years with Down.”
Undoubtedly, there is a major responsibility on the county executive to appoint a new manager that has the backing of most interested observers in the county, otherwise they will struggle to recover from this regrettable episode.
IT WAS inevitable The Sunday Game would get a mention in this week’s edition. ‘Joe from Derry’ didn’t like some of the language Joe Brolly was using during last Sunday’s live broadcast of the All-Ireland semi-final between Dublin and Mayo.
‘Joe in Derry’ emailed: “As a dad of two boys I’m not allowed to say sh*t, crap and a**e in front of them in my own living room so neither should Joe Brolly. The Sunday Game [August 30 2015]. Edit as you see fit.”
TALKING of censorship, we were forced to use the dreaded asterisks to blot out what ‘Charlie from Tyrone’ really thinks of Joe Brolly.
“It’s very easy for pundits to make an allegation on TV and it sticks,” emailed ‘Charlie’.
“No matter whether it’s true or not, such as Colm Cavanagh allegedly diving even though he was clearly taken out by Darren Hughes. So how about this for an allegation. Joe Brolly was the most ******** player ever to don a Derry jersey. I don’t think many will disagree with me.”
You mean cerebral, Charlie? Yes? I thought so.
NEW GAA President Aogan Farrell didn’t hold back recently when he claimed that anti-northern bias was alive and well in sections of the media down south.
“The president of the GAA should clean up the mess within his own organisation before he attempts to sort out RTÉ,” said one emailer.
“The naked bias shown against northern teams, especially Tyrone is nauseating. Referees should have to undertake a truth and reconciliation programme before taking charge of games when northern teams are involved. The RTÉ boys seemed happy enough with the ‘thuggery’ handed out by Dublin including attempted leg breaking.”
In fairness, I would venture that Johnny Cooper’s lunge that you refer to was more blind than malicious.
‘NORTH Belfast Saffron’ was angry at the length of time it took him to get out of Clonliffe College after last Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final.
“Total chaos trying to get out of Clonliffe College after Sunday’s match. Got into my car at 5.45pm and didn’t move until 6.30pm. We finally got out at 7pm, not a steward in sight so cars were coming from all directions.
“Surely, they should have some system in place, maybe the stewards from Clonard Novena could go down and show them how it’s done!”
If we’d known you were at a loose end for a couple of hours you could have given our reporters a hand with the player ratings.
AND finally, ‘Gerry from Gilford’ penned the shortest of letters but his point was well made. ‘Gerry’ writes: “To the IABA: Please will you do all you can to keep Billy Walsh as head coach of our Irish boxing team. He is the best coach in the world and he is a local lad.”
Apparently the IABA are treating discussions with Walsh with the “utmost urgency”.Let’s hope his skills aren’t lost to Irish boxing.
