Sean Cavanagh can't get head around 'bizarre' Mickey Harte switch of allegiance

Kilkenny hurling Captain, Eoin Cody and former Tyrone footballer, Seán Cavanagh have come on board as AIB ambassadors for this year’s GOAL mile. Picture: Bryan Keane/Inpho

Tyrone great Sean Cavanagh reckons 'the wheels could come off' pretty quickly for former boss Mickey Harte and Ulster champions Derry if results don't go their way.

Cavanagh and Harte were key figures in Tyrone's three All-Ireland wins in the 2000s but Harte is now managing neighbours and great rivals Derry after surprisingly leaving Louth.

Former Footballer of the Year Cavanagh described the situation as 'just really, really bizarre' and said that he personally has had 'lots' of offers to manage teams but couldn't go up against his own club or county.

Speaking at the launch of this year's AIB GOAL Mile, Cavanagh said that when Harte managed Tyrone 'he was always very quick to let you know that outside of Tyrone, the other counties were to be dismissed'.

Against that background, Cavanagh said the Harte development now 'doesn't feel real almost' and he warned that if his one-time ally doesn't hit the ground running with All-Ireland hopefuls Derry, 'it could go badly wrong' as the 'grace' period will be short.

"I was with Mickey from 2002 to 2017, I had 15-odd years or whatever with him and he was very strong around his allegiances," said Cavanagh. "The idea that next year he's going to be standing on the line with a Derry top on him and the Tyrone guys in the opposition dug out is...I just struggle to get my head around it.

"The only comparable thing I could think of, because of his longevity, was Alex Ferguson. I could never have seen Alex Ferguson sitting in a Liverpool dugout managing against Manchester United. It's one of those images that doesn't feel real almost.

"I know it will feel real very quickly. And Mickey will have thought that through, I presume. It's just really, really bizarre. I just struggle to get my head around it.

"They'd be lying to you if anyone was to say they saw something like that coming. I know I was speaking to Sam Mulroy (Louth captain) last week and he was surprised by it too.

"It caught everyone (in Louth) from left field because they saw themselves as being on a bit of a journey. And Mickey is brilliant at doing that, he's brilliant at getting the buy-in of a group and making that group believe.

"That's part of the magic that he has as a coach. He's brilliant from a motivational perspective. It just feels bizarre. I don't know would I use the word 'wrong'. I presume he has ambitions to win Sam Maguire because that's what Derry people will demand.

"It feels like one of those things that, if it goes wrong, it could go badly wrong. Derry people obviously are not Tyrone people. You'll always give your own people a bit more grace.

"Going into that sort of pressure cooker, and he's obviously thought it through, he's going to be under more scrutiny than he has been at any time in his entire career.

"But he must see that opportunity to win Sam. That must be the reason he's gone there. And fair play to him, if that sits with him, that's fine.

"It's just the strangeness of coaching against Tyrone. Forget about trophies, forget about players, I could never personally see myself standing with an Armagh top on or a Donegal top and coaching against the team that I still am passionate about."

Pundit Cavanagh, who was player/manager with his club Moy this year, also queried how Derry will respond to a legendary Tyrone figure in charge.

"If I was sitting in that Derry changing room, I'd be thinking, 'He's a massive, massive Tyrone man - is he 100 percent with us, with that Tyrone background?'"

* AIB is offering people the chance to win €1,000 for their GAA club by registering for their GOAL Mile by visiting www.goalmile.org and also registering their club for the AIB GAA GOAL Mile competition