McGuigan expects Tyrone to bounce back

THE fall-out from the ‘Cathedral City Chaos’ may still be reverberating five days down the line but the bare facts of the matter are that Tyrone are yet to register a victory in 2022.

Whatever the outcome from the inevitable appeals which will be launched to try and exonerate the four visiting players to see red at the Athletic Grounds- Kieran McGeary, Peter Harte, Michael McKernan and captain Padraig Hampsey- the Red Hands emerged from Armagh a distant second on the scoreboard.

Former Tyrone favourite Brian McGuigan believes that the team are going to have to get back to winning ways as soon as possible, starting with Kildare on Sunday week, but he is confident that the mentality exists within the camp to do just that.

“ We are perhaps using the excuse that we are behind Armagh at the moment in terms of our preparation but how far are we behind them in terms of training?

“ Brian Dooher will know what we did right and did wrong the year after we won All Irelands. I was talking to Conor Meyler before Christmas and he was so keen to find out what we thought went wrong the following year after winning it so these boys are made keen to do two in a row because they are always hearing about the teams in the 2000s and they may have the Monkey off their backs, but they want to go one better and do two in a row, something that we were never able to do.”

Of more immediate concern for the Red Hands is their survival in the top flight, and McGuigan underlines the importance of the team winning their appeals to clear those red carded against Armagh.

“ Tyrone are under a wee bit of pressure now in the league and if those four men are going to be missing the next day against Kildare they really will struggle.

“ With the five boys having left the panel the strength in depth certainly isn’t what is was last season and the absence of potentially another four players will only weaken the options that Brian and Fearghal have further.”

Reflecting back on his own playing days McGuigan recalls the difficulties which Tyrone encountered in the years subsequent to their All-Ireland victories in the noughties.

“ The strange thing is when you are stuck in that bubble the following year, especially after 05 and 08, you think that you are in a good place and you think that you are doing things better this year up until you are nipped and then you starting thinking back and wondering what you did wrong. Looking back on that Dublin team you have to give them credit for the way that they came back year after year and after watching Dublin the other night there isn’t too much talk about having too much money and getting too much coaching. You have to accept that they were an exceptional bunch of players and we probably will never see their likes again.”

The whole country has commented on the rights and wrongs of David Gough’s course of action last Sunday, and McGuigan admits that the imbalance in terms of punishment did surprise him.

“ I thought that it was a bit strange to be honest. I do understand what they are trying to do, stop melees in games, and that is what Gough’s intentions were but I just can’t understand how he picked four Tyrone players out and only one from Armagh.

“ I think that if he wanted to make a statement, coming from the officials up above him, common sense would have been to send two of from each side.

“ I do think that a lot of responsibility has to go to David Gough’s backroom team. He spoke to the linesmen and umpires before showing red cards so he was obviously going on instructions from them so I wouldn’t blame David Gough solely.”