‘LACK OF FAREWELL DID DISAPPOINT ME’
COLM Cavanagh has admitted he was left ‘disappointed’ that his retirement last September had not been formally acknowledged by the Tyrone county board or Mickey Harte. Cavanagh’s departure after 13 seasons severed the playing link with the last of Harte’s three All-Ireland-winning teams, with the Moy man having come from the bench in the 2008 All-Ireland final win over Kerry. However, in a break from common courtesy, his departure was met with silence from the Tyrone board and management, something that Cavanagh’s older brother Seán highlighted in an interview last autumn. ‘It was a wee bit disappointing if I’m being totally honest with you,’ admitted Cavanagh yesterday. ‘Not that I wanted a song and dance about leaving or any of that sort of piece. But I played for 13 years, I did give it everything, I put it to the forefront of my life and sacrificed an awful lot, as all players do. ‘Not that it’s sitting griping with me at the moment or anything, but at the time I did probably expect to see something from... whether it was Mickey, the county board or whoever, it would have been just a basic recognition, a thank you, and it probably didn’t come.’ However, Cavanagh conceded that Harte, who was appointed Louth manager within two weeks of finishing with Tyrone, had become ‘more approachable’ to players in his final years. ‘I remember in his early years, you would never have gone near Mickey Harte because he’d have scared you to death, so I think he probably recognised over the last five or six years that he was dealing with different generations and he sort of opened up a wee bit more and was a bit more player-led,’ he explained. ‘Definitely in the early stages with Mickey I would have been fearing going anywhere near him to actually ask him for anything, a night off training or whatnot because I would have known the answer.’