FORMER Tyrone attacker Connor McAliskey says Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher would not have committed to a new spell as managers unless they were convinced they had a team capable of winning an All-Ireland title.
The pair have agreed a three-year term following their ratification at a county committee meeting on Tuesday evening, with an overwhelming endorsement from club delegates.
“I’m sure Fergal and Brian are not going back into a team that they don’t believe can do it,” he said.
“They’ll believe that Tyrone can win the All-Ireland and that’s what they’ll be striving for, competing in Division One football and pushing for the All-Ireland.
“But, with Feargal and Brian willing to commit for another while, I’m sure they’ll get everybody back in and get the training going.
“There’s definitely a serious group of lads on the panel, and a serious group of lads throughout Tyrone who will be pushing to try and get in that panel to push them on to compete for All-Irelands again.”
McAliskey, an Ulster title winner in 2016 and 2017, believes Tyrone’s failure to make an impact in this year’s All-Ireland series can be attributed largely to a packed and demanding schedule of games.
They were in Championship action on three successive weekends, culminating in a heavy All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to a Kerry side that had two weeks off to prepare for the Croke Park clash.
“I think it was a case of a build-up of games and playing games back-to-back, with a bit of tiredness, a bit of fatigue coming in, and that maybe highlighted Kerry to be further ahead of Tyrone than what they are.
“A few wee things just haven’t worked out for them, but they played some very good football.
“It’s been difficult, but they have shown glimpses of the team that won the All-Ireland. I don’t think they became a bad team overnight.
“They still have the core of a very strong team, a team that won an All-Ireland in 2021, so I think there’s a big push there.”
McAliskey stepped away from the Tyrone squad in June 2021, and missed out on the All-Ireland triumph later that summer.
But he was fully behind his former team-mates as they brought the Sam Maguire Cup back to the county for a fourth time.
“Come All-Ireland final day, I was in the Hogan Stand, supporting them and cheering them on all the way.”
The Clonoe O’Rahilly’s clubman has no regrets over his decision. Unavailable to his club but starved of game-time with the county, he made a difficult call.
“It was something that me and Fergal (Logan) talked about. I had had a couple of big injuries and I wanted to play football.
“I had missed a bit of football, and went back and trained very hard, but I just wasn’t making the panel.
“The thing was that I just wanted to play football, I had got a new job that dictated a lot of hours outside of the football field, so I had to make a decision.
“When I made the phone call to Feargal, the words I said to him was that I fully believed that there’s a panel there to win the All-Ireland, and I wished him all the best.”
