When situation calls for a wise old head

THE repeat of last year’s Ulster football final between Tyrone and Monaghan, which takes place in Omagh on Sunday, has thrown up something of a riddle.

The bookies have Tyrone as the 4/11 favourites and the Farney men are 11/4 and rank outsiders. Yet only last July, Tyrone were 10/11 and Monaghan were just 6/5.

Why has Monaghan’s stock price plummeted? The answer is largely because the squad no longer includes seasoned campaigners like Gary McQuaid (31), Rory Woods (30), and Damian (34) and Tomas Freeman (30). Without their craft and character, the general consensus is that Monaghan’s young lads are too wet behind the ears.

But, here is where it gets slightly confusing. Although Tyrone are expected to beat Monaghan, the Red Hands are no longer regarded as prime contenders for the All-Ireland title — mostly on the basis that they have a squad jam-packed with vastly experienced footballers.

How can a team be written off because they haven’t the requisite quota of senior players, while another team is written off because it does have them?

It doesn’t end there. The reaction to Graham Geraghty’s return to the Meath squad has been fascinating.

Colm O’Rourke has roundly condemned Seamus McEnaney’s decision and wrote: “A bigger problem arises if or when Geraghty is put on before other subs, especially those who have been around a long time.

“They will be very unhappy with that and might feel that they would be better off enjoying club football rather than sitting on the bench with the county team.”

Maybe. But there was absolutely no furore when Jim McGuinness introduced the 17-year-old Patrick McBrearty during Donegal’s game against Antrim.

Bear in mind that McBrearty had played the entire minor match and was brought on in the 53rd minute ahead of other senior panellists who had been training since McGuinness was appointed.

Why was there no fuss in Donegal when a teenager was drafted into the squad just a week before the championship but yet all hell breaks loose in Meath when a 38-year-old returns to the panel?

There are other reasons why O’Rourke has attacked Geraghty’s recall.

It’s not simply because the player is 38.

O’Rourke is alsounconvinced by Geraghty’s form at club level. Just to prove that he’s not ageist, he claimed that “no one would complain” if Trevor Giles were asked to rejoin the squad.

While backing up that point, O’Rourke pointed to Giles’s form in club football, stating: “Last autumn he was one of the best, if not the best, player in the senior county final when Skyrne beat Seneschalstown in a dramatic match.”

A racehorse-owner and fearless punter, O’Rourke is naturally a keen student of form. It’s interesting that he believes club performances still provide a decent gauge of how a player will fare at inter-county level. Surely if that logic of club form applies in Meath, it should also hold true for Tyrone?

There is a school of thought in and outside Tyrone that Conor Gormley (30), Ryan McMenamin (33) and Kevin Hughes (31) are too old. Listen to their critics and you will hear all the standard refrains.

But if this were the case, then how do the critics explain the displays given by these players at club level? Carrickmore caused a considerable upset when they pulverised Dromore last year. Who was Carrickmore’s best player, and the best player on the pitch by a country mile?

Conor Gormley.

While Kevin Hughes plays with Killeeshil at junior level, it’s worthwhile remembering his league display against Antrim. Despite being marked by the much younger Kevin McGourty, he still scored four points, one with his left foot, two with his right and one with his fist. Are we really to believe that Tyrone has a stockpile of midfielders who could produce a display of that quality?

The simple fact of the matter is that when it comes to age, supporters, pundits and journalists are often lazy. Once a player celebrates his 30th birthday, he will be subjected to totally ill-informed and unquantifiable claims.

The crisis in Meath has really got nothing to do with Geraghty being 38. The controversy was generated because Liam Harnan and Barry Callinane resigned from the management team.

The county board’s decision to impose two native selectors on a manager like Seamus McEnaney, who already has his own staff, is the real source of the problem. It was a daft idea.

Seamus McEnaney has probably recruited Graham Geraghty because he believes the former star could be employed to good effect in the last 20 minutes of a game. It’s always useful having individuals around who will make the right decision at the right time.

The Meath team needs a wise old head who can demonstrate that type of sound judgment, and going by the evidence of the past few years, the county board could do with a few of them as well.