Revolutionary Harte deserves to be respected

SUCCESS explains everything. As long as Tyrone keep winning, the methods of Mickey Harte will be gladly accepted by his players.

And when defeat eventually halts them, they might still believe in the pre-match routines ordained by their manager.

Harte is, lest we forget, one of the exceptional figures in football, along with Jim McGuinness he’s the most transformational influence on the old game since Mick O’Dwyer and Kevin Heffernan.

It’s worth remembering how profoundly Harte has changed football, because in recent days he has been dismissed as a relic.

Admirably, he has never sought to play down the role faith has had in his life, but when Harte revealed in a fascinating interview that the Tyrone panel say a decade of the Rosary before matches, it prompted the predictable response: derision leavened by disrespect.

We can safely suppose that many of the Tyrone players do not share the depth of Harte’s religious belief. However, we can also presume most are from a Catholic background and so the concept of communal prayer will not be alien to them.

Snatched moments of reflection can be valuable to a team before a game, no matter what the motivation, and be sure players not investing in the religious significance of the Rosary make more pragmatic use of a period of quiet.

It’s working so far.