Former Tyrone player: Mickey Harte’s comments ‘made my blood boil’

Footballer Shay McGuigan has criticised his former manager Mickey Harte in a strongly worded post on social media.

The player released a statement on Twitter this afternoon, in response to comments made by the Tyrone manager last week.

McGuigan was one of a number of players who quit the Tyrone panel earlier this year due to lack of game time.

The players left after the Allianz League with Tyrone going on to reach an All-Ireland SFC semi-final in the summer.

In an interview last week Harte said he wasn’t interested in seeing them return.

Tyrone boss Mickey Harte.

“There is something about the people who stay and bide their time and have the patience,” Harte said. “They are probably the people who will serve you best in the long run anyway.

“The people who feel they’re not getting as much game time as they want, they tend to be a bit of a drain on the energy of the group.”

McGuigan said that when he saw the comments “it made my blood boil and has annoyed me since and that’s why I’m posting this now”.

The footballer, whose father and three older brothers also played for Tyrone over the years, added: “I’m not going to sit about and say nothing and let him give his view”.

McGuigan insisted that he had been devoted to the squad and had given his all in training even when he wasn’t getting game time.

He said had worked hard in preseason only to see another player come in at the last minute and start ahead of him.

“I hung on and hung on fully fit and injury free all year,” he wrote. “Done all the preseason training from November and through the cold winter nights and to sit there seeing the same men week in and week out get their chance and see a player come back into the squad one week league game of 2015 and get on before me just made my decision a whole lot easier.”

He finished his post with a sharp criticism aimed at his former manager.

“Mickey Harte you are a great man and what you have done for Tyrone GAA is unbelievable, but do you know what else you’re great at…. is destroying a player’s confidence”.