Harte’s Red Hand heroes will still fly the flag for Ulster

ARE Tyrone playing possum or are they actually dead? With just four days to go until the start of the Ulster Championship, this is the question that remains to be answered.

If, as suspected, Mickey Harte is experiencing severe teething problems during this difficult period of transition, then the other teams in Ulster might have some hope.

It’s very difficult to gauge where Tyrone are right now. Last year’s Championship was particularly depressing, both for them and the rest of Ulster.

In previous years, the best team in Ulster was a genuine contender for the Sam Maguire.

For a short period, even the top two northern sides could entertain realistic hopes of winning the All-Ireland title.

That wasn’t the situation last year. Without ever being close to their best, Tyrone were still far too good for anything that anyone could throw at them in the provincial Championship.

In the All-Ireland quarter-final, Kildare rattled them for 35 minutes. Then at half-time they remembered they were Kildare.

Cork didn’t suffer from the same inhibition. In their comprehensive tactical and physical dismantling of the Tyrone machine, Conor Counihan’s men graphically illustrated just how far Harte’s men were off the pace.

And if that was a worrying revelation for Tyrone, then consider the ramifications for the sides that the Red Hands casually brushed aside en route to lifting the Anglo Celt Cup.

The key message that Mickey Harte will have drawn from last year’s Championship and this year’s NFL is that the old competitive advantages which Tyrone once enjoyed have gone.

For several years Tyrone’s tackling, defensive organisation, and superior management nous gave them a significant advantage over teams that had equally as good footballers. That edge has gone.

Tyrone no longer have the monopoly on defensive systems. A 14-man Cork shut them out of last year’s All-Ireland semi-final. Cork barely contested Tyrone’s short kick-outs. Instead, the Rebels just retreated to one half of the pitch and set up a wall of red jerseys.

Kerry then beat Cork in the final with a brilliantly orchestrated defensive game plan. Realising that the direct running of the 6ft 6in Pearse O’Neill lay at the heart of Cork’s success,

Kerry used big men like Tadhg Kennelly and Seamus Scanlon to stop O’Neill breaching the middle.

Tackling was another of Tyrone’s trump cards. They made up for their lack of clean catchers at midfield by continually dispossessing opponents. No team worked as hard in every sector of the field to force turnovers.

It’s also worth noting that Tyrone have no reason to fear a level playing field. When it comes to the skill, experience, and dedication of their footballers, they still belong in the upper echelons.

But the real concern for Tyrone is that for all their depth of talent, there has been little to suggest that Mickey Harte has built a new team.

As Tyrone proved in their All-Ireland final victories over Kerry in 2005 and 2008, a team with great chemistry will always beat a team with great players.

Following last year’s defeat to Cork, it was evident that Mickey Harte had to return to the drawing board.

A new formula was required.

But Tyrone’s National League was a disaster. Ideally, Harte would have loved to have repeated 2003 when he won the league while building a team that was high in confidence for the Championship.

Stephen O’Neill’s dislocated elbow in the McKenna Cup final and the late return of Sean Cavanagh seriously disrupted those ambitions. In the end, Tyrone muddled through the league but the new players will have not have gained much confidence from playing in a side that lost five out of seven games.

Tyrone will not have to be at their best to beat Antrim in Casement Park.

However, the Saffrons should be good enough to expose a few chinks in the Tyrone armour, and these can then be remedied ahead of a semi-final against Donegal or Down.

Even a defeat to Down or Donegal doesn’t automatically denote Tyrone’s complete demise. After all, we can’t forget what happened in the Marshes in 2008.

And if Tyrone do manage to make their way to the Ulster final, then the side which poses the most realistic threat to them is Armagh.

In Andy Mallon, Brendan Donaghy, Ciaran McKeever, Kieran Toner, Aaron Kernan, Ronan Clarke, and Steven McDonnell, the Orchard County have the spine of a seriously good team.

But, the Ulster Championship being the Ulster Championship, there is a distinct possibility that Armagh will not get anywhere near the final. On Sunday they will probably take on Derry without Ronan Clarke. The team which emerges can then look forward to meeting Monaghan in the first round.

Regardless of the outcomes, whichever side comes out of the Armagh, Derry and Monaghan triangle will probably be too tired and battered to play well in the final.

So, for all the uncertainty surrounding Tyrone, they still look like the best bet for this year’s Ulster Championship. They won it handy enough last year, and they’ve definitely got no worse since then. The bigger question is whether they or any other team from Ulster can mount a serious assault on the All-Ireland title.

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