Monotony of playing for Mickey was hard to stomach
Cavanagh reveals temptation to return as Tyrone set-up offers a fresh approach to old hand Harte
COLM Cavanagh has said that he is open to an invitation from Tyrone’s new management team to return — after the veteran admitted that he found football ‘monotonous’ in his final seasons under Mickey Harte.
The 33-year-old, who retired mid-season last year, said he spoke with the new management team headed up by former teammate Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan prior to Christmas, and was not ruling out a return.
Cavanagh said he was ‘curious’ about the new set-up after 13 years playing under Harte.
The two-time All-Star claimed that while the Covid lockdown last season had been the main factor behind his decision to retire, he had also found it hard to ‘stomach’ the monotony of life under Harte, whose 18-year term as Red Hands boss came to an end last winter when his request for a one-year extension was denied by the Tyrone board.
Cavanagh, speaking yesterday in his role as an Electric Ireland minor football championship ambassador, revealed that he
‘Routine didn’t change the last five years’
found his final seasons under Harte a grind as it had become too predictable.
‘In terms of approach to coaching and how he approached games, routines, and this is a lot of stuff that players pick up on, it probably didn’t change the last five years.
‘And sometimes that can get a wee bit monotonous really from a players’ point of view. If you do the same thing over and over again, in terms of preparation, hotels, video analysis, just generally everything — it was the same year on year and I found it where I was going to things going, “We did this last year, there’s been no change up”.
‘And it’s not even that a changeup would have been better. Players just enjoy fresh approaches, seeing different things and approaching things differently.
‘I know he tried to bring in different men in Kevin Madden and Johnny Davis but the general approach was very similar year on year and I found that very hard to sometimes stomach,’ added Cavanagh, suggesting that there was an unspoken desire for change within the player group.
‘There were a lot of guys there who had played under Mickey for a long period of time and not getting over that final step in terms of winning another All-Ireland was on people’s minds, the likes of probably Mattie Donnelly who had been playing for a long time and hadn’t got to the highest part of the game.
‘There would have been a consensus. It would have been nice but at the same time nobody was going to question Mickey’s ability. He has done so much for Tyrone football and brought so much positivity over the years. Sort of torn, really.
‘I think players now will be happy to have that fresh approach but was there a general consensus Mickey had to go? Not really.
But now that it has happened the guys will be really looking forward to the coming season.’ And two-time All-Star winner Cavanagh has not ruled out a sensational return to the inter-county game, less than four months after announcing his retirement. After speaking with the new management team, he declined the opportunity to immediately come back into the fold but admitted that the delay in returning to collective training due to the re-imposition of Covid restrictions has left him still open to the idea of returning.
Cavanagh also revealed that his older brother and three-time Tyrone All-Ireland winner, Seán, had been shocked by his decision to walk away.
‘I spoke to Seán after I retired, and it came as a shock to him that I actually stepped away, but he referenced the curiosity of what it would be like to go again under something different, something new and something refreshing. That bit of me is just very curious.
‘And I suppose hoping that Tyrone will be there or thereabouts.
‘They have a serious set-up there at the moment in terms of players and that side of me would lead me to go, “Can I step back in and do this again?”
‘The other side of me is knowing the way I am built. I’m either 100 per cent in or 100 per cent out. It is just mentally trying to get back into that mode of really eating, breathing and sleeping football, and that’s it. So we’ll see.
‘I would never have completely ruled it out, but I think at this stage unless something changes in my head over the next few weeks then I’ll probably not see a return, but I wouldn’t 100 per cent rule it out at this stage.’
He had played in all five League games prior to the season
being suspended and one of the factors behind his mid-season retirement was the unappealing prospect of playing games behind closed doors.
‘The other side of it was there was going to be no fans, no crowd and that really was a big part of my decision,’ Cavanagh said.
‘And if that continued into this year again then that would probably lead me back towards not going in this year because it was a big part of my decision.
‘I play football for the sentimental things at the moment. You want to win of course, but playing in front of fans and that buzz and excitement and bringing family and kids and all on the pitch, all that sort of soft stuff, I really enjoyed that. And that was taken away last year and it was part of the decision making process because that didn’t sit right with me.
‘My wife had said to me when I was watching the Championship game against Donegal that I should be there and I was saying, “Yeah, possibly”.
‘And then someone said to me afterwards, if I had been there, I might have stopped that goal.
‘People put thoughts back into your head that make you want to
‘I play for the sentimental things now’
step back in and give it your all but it was strange I was watching the Championship game with Donegal and I wasn’t overly fussed in terms of playing.
‘But it goes back to the absence of a crowd.
‘I might have found it very hard from a motivational point of view to get up for what looked like a challenge match on TV. I did find that bit hard.’
Colm Cavanagh was speaking at the announcement of the Electric Ireland Minor Special Recognition Awards in which he was a judge.