WHEN MICKEY HARTE steps out onto the grass at Celtic Park on Saturday, he won’t be cutting out a familiar path.
Instead of heading for the away corner, he’ll be walking over to the home team. Same scenery, different view. What background music descends from the stands as he emerges from the tunnel will make for fascinating listening.
Silence? A chorus of boos from burned Tyrone fans? Or perhaps just the general din of a National League matchday atmosphere. Just another member of that three-time All-Ireland-winning group seeking coaching employment outside the county. Ryan McMenamin did it without much noise as did Stephen O’Neill. Others too. Perhaps Harte will also be permitted to continue his trade without disruption.
This is a reunion that’s been four years in the making. When Harte stepped down as Tyrone manager after a decorated 18 years in charge, the county board had essentially made the decision for him by declining his request for a one-year extension.
He found a new project in Louth but that didn’t trouble the fans of his home county. Going to a team that was neither in the same league division or the same provincial championship was safe territory. Not getting in each other’s way paved the way to peace. As it turned out, the sides never met in competition during his three years with the Wee County.
Tyrone didn’t share much of a rivalry with Derry during Harte’s time in charge. Aside from a bruising Ulster quarter-final defeat in 2006, Tyrone were always considered the superior side.
“Derry did an absolute job on us,” is Enda McGinley’s recollection of that six-point beating in Healy Park. He was a servant of Harte’s through all three of their All-Ireland wins.
But a lot can happen in four years. The dynamic between the counties is different now as Harte prepares to plot Tyrone’s demise with a team that is rapidly closing in on All-Ireland glory.
McGinley, who is also an Errigal Ciarán clubmate of Harte’s, doesn’t anticipate a frosty atmosphere for his old boss at Celtic Park on Sunday.
“I’d be highly surprised if there was any hostility at all. Supporters who follow teams in National League are very genuine supporters. They’re steadfast and would have always held Mickey in exceptionally high esteem.
“The query for me is say something hot and heavy happens in the game. Mickey is generally very measured on the sideline. But if the game is in the mixer and things start getting animated or something happens close to the dugout, things like that would be unlikely but he’ll be endeavoring to avoid those flashpoints. It’s only league so I think those high-risk situations that may come about, would be later in the year.”
Harte’s legacy in Tyrone is untouchable. Masterminding a first-ever Sam Maguire success for the county as part of a run that saw them crowned All-Ireland champions three times in six seasons puts him firmly on Tyrone’s Mount Rushmore.
And yet, Harte could never quite win his home crowd. He could never win enough to silent his dissenters. Those All-Ireland charges of 2003, 2005 and 2008 were interspersed with brief periods of regression. Enough time for those short on patience to sharpen their pitchforks. Even his initial appointment as the successor to Art McRory and Eugene McKenna in 2003 was tinged with acrimony.
Harte had been working the Tyrone beat for just over a decade at that point, after taking over the county minor team in 1991. But that didn’t suffice for some.
“There were people who felt they [McRory and McKenna] should have had another go,” McGinley recalls of that time.
It goes back further than that. As a player, Harte sometimes played in the shadow of ridicule. One match report described him as “a man who has borne the brunt of criticism from Tyrone supporters.” That trend continued into his coaching days. The sniping headlines aren’t hard to find, or the ones where the critics get their answer after a restorative Tyrone performance.
McGinley has always been aware of the naysayers, but he could only see a manager with a glistening CV when he considered Harte’s worthiness. He enjoyed All-Ireland success at minor, U21 and senior level under him, as well as an Ulster club title when Harte was in charge of Errigal Ciarán.
But 18 years is a long enough stretch to become someone’s villain.
“When you’re there for that length of time, you tend to burn bridges” McGinley says. “You drop players and not play players that others would believe in. You just rack up those things after such a long tenure.
“At times, the team was doing more than enough to convince people we weren’t going well, particularly in 2008 when we were put out in the first round of the championship [against Down].
“There are people who didn’t like Mickey right from the outset. He won his All-Irelands and they would have been annoyed that they would have to keep quiet for a while. And as soon as things started running poorly, they would come out of the shadows throwing digs.”
And so the scene returns to this coming Sunday, and what will be for Harte. McGinley has noticed a major injection of confidence in the Derry set-up since their new appointment at the helm. They have a lot to be enthusiastic about: back-to-back Ulster titles, two All-Ireland semi-finals in-a-row and last weekend’s win over Kerry in Tralee to mark their Division 1 arrival.
A senior club All-Ireland for their Glen contingent has them puffing their chests out all the more. And with Harte now on board, that All-Ireland title could be within reach this year. How the Tryone fans engage with him this weekend will add to the backdrop of what could be a famous season for Derry.
“They are saying it loud and proud: they are going for the All-Ireland title in a way that you don’t hear it coming from Dublin or Kerry. Derry are saying they want to win that All-Ireland.
“I had my doubts at the start of last year, I thought were hyping them up earlier than they should have been. I thought they had a few things to prove to show they were All-Ireland contenders. But they proved it game after game.
“He’s not doing this on purpose against Tyrone. This is his own personal challenge of getting a team back to the top again.”
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