Harte is going nowhere with this Derry team
Things can change fast as Mickey has found out with Oak Leaf men
IT’S amazing how things can change so much in a couple of days.
Donegal travelled to Cork last Saturday with the whole country talking them up as All-Ireland hopefuls.
Now there is a real danger that they’ll fall into the trap door of the preliminary quarter-final, which makes the route to Sam very difficult.
Derry hosted Armagh in Celtic Park and there was talk of players returning and a big reaction coming from them.
Instead, they were beaten out the gate and WhatsApp rumours did the rounds about a supposed heave within the camp against Mickey Harte.
Harte and Gavin Devlin would be as well off leaving as they’re going nowhere in Derry.
The indiscipline shown by Gareth McKinless against Galway showed that things weren’t right. Conor Glass is seen as Derry’s main onfield leader and we all saw his reaction when Emmet Bradley was substituted last Sunday.
When stuff like that happens, the gig is up. Now I’ll be shedding no tears for Harte and Gavin Devlin and the predicament they find themselves in.
I didn’t agree with the manner of their departure from Louth and I don’t think I’m alone in feeling that way.
Derry will just about get over Westmeath and a win in the preliminary quarterfinal could, in theory, reignite their season.
But I can’t see it happening. I think Derry will be looking for a new manager after this summer.
Clear
Watching the Championship, it is increasingly clear that turnovers have never been more important.
Stephen Cluxton ensured that kick-outs became the focus and they’re still animportant part of the game.
But I think turnovers have taken over as the key element to victory.
We saw further evidence of that last weekend. Cork scored 3-6 from turnovers against Donegal. That was just a point short of Donegal’s entire tally.
A day later, Armagh had the game won by half-time against Derry, when they led by 10 points. In that opening half, all of their tally of 2-8 came from turnovers.
You see — especially with the stronger teams — that players often spend a couple of years in the squad before being given first team action.
That’s often due to managers wanting them to get a couple of winters of top level S&C under their belts.
If you’re not physically strong and go into contact, then you can give up costly turnovers.
No team was better able at matching Dublin at their best on a consistent basis than Mayo, even if they didn’t get over the line.
Dublin had the better goalkeeper, midfield, forwards and bench so why were Mayo able to compete? One of the main reasons was Mayo’s ability to turn Dublin over and then hit quickly on the counter.
How many times over the past year have we seen a team running into acres of open space and putting the ball in the back of the net? That comes from a turnover.
Coaches and players now have to think of a way to attack with numbers while still holding a defensive shape that provides cover if you’re turned over.
Cynical fouling has a part to play here but that’s not sustainable
Attack
UNDER FIRE:
Things have not gone well for Derry manager Mickey Harte since he and Gavin Devlin left Louth in controversial circumstances last year to take over the Oak Leaf County with a good referee.
One of the criticisms you often hear of football is that players are too afraid to give a pass that might lead to a loss of possession.
If a strong defensive shape is kept, then that fear is diminished.
You have geniuses — on social media, especially — who want teams to attack with abandon. Do that and you’ll be cut to pieces, like Derry were against Donegal and Armagh.
Teams have the ball around 20 times per half, the stats prove that. I was taken aback when I heard that but it’s true.
You’re not going to make the right call in every single one of those 20 possessions. Even when Dublin were at their peak, their highest scoring return was 60 per cent in relation to possession. So they still gave the ball away in eight out of 20 attacks.
So we have to focus too on the reaction of players when turnovers happen. I watched some of the Derry players after it happened to them. I’m 40, have two bad hips and haven’t kicked a ball in months, but I’d still have chased back better than those lads.
I have issues with Harte, as mentioned above, but I have sympathy for him here.
If I was him, I’d show the players the clips and they can give out about him if they want but they’re going nowhere with that pathetic effort.
In contrast, you had a Donegal player sprinting the length of the pitch to try and stop one of the Cork goals. That, to me, showed the difference in the mentality of Donegal and Derry.
Maybe there’s a different model for how we deal with possession that might suit some teams. Something similar to the hurling method of attacking.
Get possession, increase that famous scoring zone to a bigger area and go out and have a pop. Goes wide? So what? Reset and get set up in your kickout press. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
You’re not giving opponents that direct turnover, you’re only giving them a chance to get the ball away from a kick-out.
If you’re a better team, you want the opposition making football decisions and not hitting you with sucker punches that rely on athleticism and speed. You want to turn the game back to a situation where the best decision makers win out.
KICKING OUT: Stephen Cluxton was an innovator but game has moved on