Harte is a Godfather of football
DECLAN DARCY claims Mickey Harte is one of the ‘Godfathers’ of Gaelic Football management.
Harte wants his fourth All-ireland final success at senior level with Tyrone on Sunday and Dublin selector Darcy believes the hunger Harte possesses will drive the Red Hands on.
“They’ve been fantastic. With Mickey Harte on board, he’s the Godfather of managers, himself and Mick O’dwyer, so there’s huge amounts of respect there,” said Darcy.
“Any team he’s in charge of, there’s just going to be huge respect. They’re wellconditioned, physically fit and really good footballers.
“They’ve done really, really well this year. Their route through Ulster was a bit of a challenge for them, but still, for them to have come through the back door the way they have, it’s obviously bonded them. You can see that way worked for Mayo last year as well. So nothing but respect.” Harte has been in the Tyrone hot-seat for 15 years, an achievement that Darcy describes as “phenomenal”.
“It’s great to pit your mind against someone of his ability. They’ve huge passion and you can see that in the way they play.
“Their underage teams, Garvaghey, everything about them – the supporters’ clubs, we got a sense of that in Omagh as well.”
Darcy believes that while Dublin have had the whip hand against Tyrone, the way the Red Hands finished their Super 8s clash at Healy Park will give them real encouragement.
“Ronan O’neill, if he’d kicked the point, we’re all asking the question what would have happened after that,” Darcy admitted.