I SUPPOSE you could have been forgiven for thinking that Mickey Harte was on the rebound when he first agreed to manage Louth.
After 17 years of elite-level action with his native Tyrone, the county he’d played for and managed to the unprecedented success of three All-Ireland titles, you could maybe have been forgiven for supposing that Harte had jumped on the next inter-county management bus that happened to come along.
All those hours training players in all weathers, organising things, watching teams, picking teams, mulling over match-ups and systems and opponents and team talks and venues and referees….
What do you do with your time when that’s all over unless you’ve truly had enough and you want to play golf, or travel, or do the garden or whatever?
Mickey Harte could have walked away as a bona fide GAA legend – Ulster’s most successful manager ever – but obviously he hadn’t had enough, he knew he had more to give.
But still: Louth?
A few months before Harte took over in November 2020 Louth were relegated to Division Four. They won a single game in the League and in the Leinster Championship Longford beat them by two points.
Louth had only one scorer on the day – they posted 1-7 and Sam Mulroy scored the lot.
That forgettable season was the end of the line for manager Wayne Kierans and when the shortlist of potential replacements was drawn up, you mightn’t have expected Mickey Harte’s name to be on it.
Not because he wasn’t extremely well qualified of course; he was over-qualified and, at the very least, you’d have assumed he’d want a break from the rigours of inter-county management.
What could he realistically achieve with a team that, from a distance, looked to have one top class player in Mulroy and some honest triers who might, or might not, be inspired by the arrival of a man who’d been there and done that?
How wrong we were.
When Harte stepped down as Tyrone manager following the Ulster Championship loss to Donegal, Louth wasted no time in getting in touch - the nerve of them! They managed to land the big fish and what a success story it has been.
In Harte’s first season Louth won Division Four, in his second (last year) they won Division Three and now, on Sunday, the Wee County travel to Croke Park to play Dublin and if they win they’ll pip the mighty Dubs for a place in Division One.
Next year: Louth versus Tyrone in Omagh? What a story that would be!
He has a bit to go yet of course but you could argue that what Harte is doing with Louth is beginning to rival what he achieved with Tyrone. What isn’t in doubt is that he has proven once again what a genius of a manager he is.
To have success in any county is one thing. Tyrone is a large county with a fiercely competitive club scene that produces top quality players and they have invested in excellent facilities at Garvaghy which, by the way, are bearing fruit from underage and schools’ level up.
But to do it in two counties is a rare gift. Think about the managers who’ve done that...
Mick O’Dwyer is the obvious name that springs to mind. The doyen from Waterville propelled his native Kerry to the proverbial shed-load of Sam Maguires (eight) and then took Kildare (twice) and Laois to Leinster titles.
Paidi O Se, one of Micko’s proteges, had success as Kerry manager and then worked wonders with Westmeath and Pete McGrath, architect of Down’s two All-Irelands in the early 1990s, had some good times in Fermanagh.
Talking of Fermanagh, Belleeks native Rory Gallagher is another who deserves a mention here. Gallagher has transferred his tactical skills and man-management techniques across three counties. After starting with Donegal and then moving to Fermanagh, Gallagher won the Ulster Championship with Derry and took the Oak Leafers to the All-Ireland semi-finals last year. Derry sealed promotion with a Blitzkrieg run through Division Two and are definite Sam contenders this year.
But when you factor in the low base he started from, Harte’s achievements with Louth have been remarkable.
The lion’s share of credit for that goes to the man himself of course and also to his coach Gavin Devlin who has been lauded as the best in Ireland by some of the Louth players.
And behind the scenes there’s a Louth stalwart by the name of Peter Fitzpatrick who had the vision and the ambition to bring Mickey Harte to his county. I wouldn’t be surprised if Harte himself was surprised when he got the call from Fitzpatrick but I bet he’s glad he took it and accepted the offer.
Once he took the job he threw himself into the role with total commitment. Originally he was appointed for three years but he’s had such an incredible impact that he’ll now be manager until 2025.
Wouldn’t it be something if Louth could start 2024 in Division One?
To do that they have to beat the Dubs (without the injured Mulroy) and if they do that wouldn’t it open up the door for the Leinster Championship.
H’on the Wee County.
I CHATTED with Paddy Carr during the McKenna Cup and you could tell how proud he was to be the manager of his native county. It was sad to see him walk away earlier this week and he deserved better.
Like James McCartan in Down last year, his appointment didn’t work out but he should have been given longer than five months to steady the Donegal ship.
Watching Donegal over the last three seasons has been immensely frustrating. They have a group of players who are as talented as any but they left silverware behind them and you always had the feeling that Michael Murphy had to nurse them to victory.
Murphy retired and Donegal immediately lost their way. Could Paddy Carr have got them back on track? We’ll never know now.
Donegal haven’t made the most of their talent but Monaghan did for a decade. However, Father Time has been breathing down the Farney necks for a couple of years and I fear he’ll catch up on them on Sunday. Not that Vinny Corey isn’t doing a good job with them - they played well in patches against Tyrone last weekend - but their indiscipline cost them and the cutting edge that Conor McManus supplied in his prime wasn’t there.
The Clontibret maestro hasn’t gone yet but they’re not going to replace a generational star like him easily and without his scores from play and with the likes of Drew Wylie and Colm Walshe added to a long list of recent retirements, a struggle was always on the cards. But we'll see what happens on Sunday.
All eyes on Castlebar then. And Croke Park. And Omagh. And Cavan…
