‘LOONY’ CALLS THE TUNE IN A TYRONE REVIVAL

TYRONE great Owen Mulligan has described selector Gavin Devlin as the “lunatic” driving the team towards All-ireland success. ‘Horse’ (below) has been Mickey Harte’s right hand for several seasons though Mulligan admitted he was shocked to see his old buddy move into coaching. Devlin won two All-irelands during the glory years of the mid-2000s and, according to Mulligan, was one of the team’s biggest mischief makers. Now he’s viewed as the brains behind back to back Ulster title successes and the Red Hands’ drive for a first All-ireland final spot in almost a decade. Mulligan said: “He was an absolute lunatic when I played. There were four or five boys that would always have broken a few rules and we were them. He’s a brilliant motivator. “In the changing room, he would have been kissing you, he would have been slapping you, just a massive motivator. “I personally didn’t think he’d go into management but every team he has managed would have had great things to say about him. “I remember saying it to Mickey Harte that ‘Horse’ was going well in management. ‘He’ll be a top manager, he’ll be great,’ says Mickey. Him and Harte got on really well, even though he was a rule breaker, like myself.

“But I think every team needs them, every once in a while you will come across them. We just happened to have six or seven and we were caught all the time!”

Mulligan reckons there’s few breaking the rules in the current Tyrone squad, if any. He says they’ve taken their preparations to such a level that there’s simply no time for boozy nights out or shortcuts in training.

And the three-time All-ireland winning forward hailed Peter Harte as the new face of Tyrone - a model professional and a brilliant player who Dublin could struggle to handle today.

Mulligan said: “I was still playing when Peter first came in with Tyrone. I remember watching the different things he did with the ball at training, he was just unbelievable.

“He was so brainy, he was way ahead of himself for his age, way ahead of the moves in training and always seeing the run before anyone else would see it.

“He’s a massive part of Tyrone and if he can click - and he’s clicked in every game so far, especially against Armagh - then they’re going to be hard to stop.

“He was all over the field in the Armagh game. Dublin will have a massive job marking him. And his left foot is sheer class. Last year against Donegal in the Ulster final, he got one of the best scores I’ve ever seen. As I said, if you can get him on the ball then you have a great chance of winning any game.”

Mulligan: Horse will be a top manager, he is a real motivator