Yahoo News Sean Cavanagh column: Mickey Harte is in his element when in charge of a team that has been written off
There are times when I look at Gaelic football and come to the conclusion that it is impossible to make a prediction without looking foolish.
We all know that life has its ups and downs, but the things that have happened to Derry this season are ridiculous. I started out the season believing Derry could win Sam. A couple of months later, I had my doubts if they could even win a game.
Now they are in an All-Ireland quarter-final, praying they will be paired with Donegal, but unafraid of any of their possible opponents, Dublin or Kerry included.
Read more: Recap as Down set up Laois Tailteann Cup decider after extra-time win over 14-man Sligo
This rollercoaster season of theirs reached another high on Saturday with their win over Mayo. You just know that when their players sat on the bus and pulled out of MacHale Park that they would have quietly said: “We’re back boys, we’re back.”
I know their manager, Mickey Harte, closely. He was Mr Tyrone when we won our three All-Irelands. We always had a cause, always had a siege mentality.
In 2003, it was all about proving we could beat a big team on a big day. “Be the first Tyrone team to do it,” Mickey would tell us.
Eventually we began to believe. Next to 2005, Armagh beat us in the Ulster final. “Get them back,” he said. We did. On to 2008. Again, a cause was found, this time that we could not do it on our own, without Peter Canavan.
Well, we could. That sort of psychological trick works. And it is working for Derry now.
Having been told they were finished, that there was a split in their camp, Derry – now managed by my old mentor – were under siege, just like we were in 2003, 2005 and 2008. And they have come out fighting.
I have never seen a team dip as alarmingly or as dramatically as they did in the aftermath of their League.
It was as if they peaked too early physically and then were damaged mentally by the smash-and-grab nature of their defeat to Donegal in the Ulster quarter-final.
Further defeats, to Galway and Armagh, followed. There and then I just couldn’t see how they would recover to be one of eight teams left in the All-Ireland.
But Mickey, to his credit, is in his element when in charge of a team that has been written off. He got them back to basics. He set the team up to be horrible to play against. He said the right things to Lachlan Murray who excelled against Mayo.
They were resilient and tough in Castlebar. Conor Glass, Chrissy McKaigue, Brendan Rodgers were back looking like their old selves again. They needed a cause to come out fighting.
And the rest of the country went and gave them one, telling them they were no longer interested in representing their county, that they were mentally weak.
Well, those accusations were thoroughly dismissed on Saturday evening. Ranking the teams left in this year’s Championship is both easy and hard.
The top two – Dublin and Kerry – stand apart. But after that, it’s a nightmare trying to differentiate between numbers three to eight.
Just over a week ago, you wouldn’t have had Derry in that top eight, not even in the top ten. But it doesn’t matter a jot that they have come into the quarter-finals on the back of three defeats whereas the Dubs are unbeaten.
What counts is that they are there. And if they get Donegal in the draw they will be licking their lips because Donegal was where the rollercoaster began to change direction for them.
They dipped after that defeat to Jim McGuinness’ team. And it took three more games before they began to rise up again.
Some people have suggested Mickey’s managerial methods are outdated but I am not so sure. Do Derry play radically differently to Galway or Mayo?
The answer is no. I don’t agree with their decision to send their goalkeeper Odhran Lynch so far up the field. They paid the price for that against Donegal and Armagh and even on Saturday, I just did not feel he looked comfortable being on the ball so far away from goal.
He is no Niall Morgan. So Mickey needs to get that part of their game plan right.
But every other aspect of their play – their hustle, their ability to retain possession, their doggedness, their togetherness, their measured passing - is spot on.
They delivered an ambush on Saturday. And they are capable of producing another big upset because nothing generates morale in a side quite like winning.
We discovered that in 2008. Flying in January, we dipped in April and May, lost to Mayo in the league, to Down in the Championship, and it looked over for us.
But somehow we found a rhythm and we also found ourselves. It took heartache and time to get there but the point is that Mickey never stopped believing in us.
And as that summer went on we began to believe in ourselves. That’s where Derry are now. No team will want to meet them.
Sign up to our free sports newsletter to get the latest headlines to your inbox
