When Mickey Harte asked Tally to help with the training of the team from the beginning of 2003, severe questions were immediately asked. Tally was 29 and inexperienced. In an environment where Harte was already being toasted by his critics before a ball was kicked, Tally’s appointment added to the pressure.
Less than two years have passed, and his worth has been proved. His reputation now places him among the best coaches available, and the demand for his services will be high. For Tyrone, his removal closes a year they could never have imagined living through. Losing Cormac McAnallen ripped the soul from their team, but even since then they have endured one hit after another.
Early in the spring, Enda McGinley received a second serious neck injury, Peter Canavan barely featured all year, their league and championship ended before they got a whiff of a final and at the end of the summer Brian McGuigan announced his intention to depart for Australia for the coming year. Over the years strong friendships had developed between Tally and many of the players, and it will take time for them to recover their bearings following his departure.
In the meantime Harte has been busy shoring up the story, ensuring the rumours that constantly inflame opinions in Tyrone are kept to a minimum. Initial reports that Harte had casually dismissed Tally with a phone call didn’t fit with the image of a manager who has always valued loyalty and carried himself with dignity. The first version of the story, which told of how Tally had quit, also infuriated Harte. When he phoned Tally, Harte had attempted to set up a meeting to personally inform Tally of his decision. Having failed to settle on a place and time, Harte opted to inform him immediately.
Harte’s decision hurt Tally badly, but it was the final say on a relationship that had disintegrated since the winning of the All-Ireland. The talk quickly started up around Tyrone last week of heated debates between them during games about switches, of showdowns over the wisdom of choosing certain players. If you were looking for such things, the developing rift between them was visible all year. At the league semi-final against Galway, Tally could be seen imploring Harte to make switches but finding no audience for his suggestions. Some in the camp suggest the problem seeped into the Derry game in the Ulster championship and became a prominent theme within the panel this summer.
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It was a battle Tally was never going to win. During the week, Harte re-affirmed that Tally had been appointed as coach in 2003 and 2004, not as selector. If he sought a greater input into team affairs, he wasn’t going to get it here.
In a place like Tyrone, where the concentration of top-class coaches is more intense than any other part of the country, Harte will have his pick. Already former player Jody Gormley joined Down last week, while the highly regarded Raymond Munroe from Carrickmore is expected to be confirmed as Donegal’s new trainer in the near future.
Martin McIlkennon, perhaps the most talented coach Ulster can currently offer, worked with Harte and the Tyrone minors in the late nineties and with school teams in Ballygawley, but he is unlikely to commit himself to a subordinate position. It has been suggested Harte might take the training himself but having thrived under Tally, the players will expect another talented coach to roll off the belt and into their training sessions.
In the meantime, while Tally will find a prestigious job should he choose to seek one, this weekend sees the local championship funnel down to the semi-finals. Yesterday morning Harte left Tyrone before nine with a shadow Tyrone team to play a one-off challenge game in Cork and the full panel is expected to re-assemble again before Christmas. The players still have the time and talent to make good, but the last year has shown them how quickly it can slip away too. Their story isn’t written yet.