Opinion: Harte's managerial mantras ring hollow now

On the first page of Mickey Harte’s first book, Kicking Down Heaven’s Door, there is a quote from Chinese general and philosopher Sun Tzu.

“Regard your soldiers as your children,” it reads, “and they will follow you into the deepest valleys.”

That ability to forge close ties within a group has always been one of the hallmarks of Harte’s managerial ‘brand’. While he has been an innovator in terms of his tactical approach, there was always the sense about Harte that managing teams was about much more than just getting results on the football pitch, which he has been extraordinarily good at in any case.

No, Mickey Harte’s great strength was his ability to unify a group, to motivate them towards the pursuit of a higher purpose. To work as hard as they could together, to have belief in the collective. Harte is a deeply religious man and his approach to managing football teams has seemed to verge on the spiritual at times.

In his three books, he leans heavily on his faith and on various thinkers and motivational gurus whose teachings he has been influenced by.

Harte talks about ‘the circle’ and quotes George Zalucki about having the commitment to do what you said you’d do long after the mood leaves you.

He pioneered ideas like using music as a motivational aid, with each player selecting a song; they were compiled on one CD and provided the soundtrack to the season. He also placed a high value on respecting the jersey – for him, it wasn’t just a garment worn on match day. It represented so much more.

In his superb 2009 book Presence Is The Only Thing, he wrote: “It’s become a tradition that my players respectfully unfold their jerseys before every game and put them on together, as a unit. It’s a way of paying tribute to what that jersey stands for and the work we’ve done to uphold its traditions.”

Elsewhere, he writes: “As you think, so shall you be. Don’t let the future be defined by circumstances or fear. That simple sentiment brings us all hope and illuminates a whole new set of possibilities for us.”

A Belfast-based American academic called Gladys Ganiel, with zero knowledge of Gaelic games, was very taken with this work.

“What Harte conveys in his book is a sense that the world he inhabits is imbued with a profound mystical meaning. This is less about winning or losing than it is about finding significant lessons for living in the tragedies, defeats and victories that have come Tyrone’s way.”

Writing about the 2008 All-Ireland success, he further described his ‘team above all else’ philosophy.

“The way this group of players bound themselves together into a team in the truest, most profound sense of the word was the greatest legacy of 2008. We always wanted to create a structure that would empower everybody on the team. Every team has stars that always twinkle a little brighter than the rest, but that’s no reason for the others to disappear out of sight. Our injuries and retirements had forced us to take our concept of team to a new level.”

It all paints a picture of a singular individual with the ability to form extremely close relationships with the players under his care – in fact, when a documentary about the 1997 and ’98 Tyrone minors whom he managed was made, it was titled Tír Eoghain: The Unbreakable Bond.

All of this, then, is why his decision to leave Louth and take up the reins in Derry has come as such a shock. Would many of those who have admired the man from afar have anticipated Mickey Harte ditching a team when a more attractive suitor fluttered their eyelids but that is exactly what happened?

The Tyrone man had done a brilliant job, taking the Wee County from the depths of Division 4 to the upper end of Division 2 and transforming them into a side who can compete with most in the country. Just before the championship last year, Louth announced that Harte had agreed to extend his term as manager and had committed to being in charge until 2025.

And then, just like that, he was gone. Louth had already begun their preparations for next year when the squad was called in for a hastily-convened meeting last Monday week. Goalkeeper James Califf told the Irish Times that there was nothing very unusual about the late notice for the meeting – but the news delivered at it was a bombshell no-one had seen coming.

Louth’s best-laid plans are now torn asunder and they must scramble to find a new management team as soon as possible; most other counties already have theirs assembled for next year.

While the players and officials who have spoken to the media have been magnanimous and expressed their gratitude to Harte for all he had done, one doesn’t have to scratch the surface very deeply to see the hurt that’s there – and, given that they probably had yet to fully process it at the time of being interviewed, it is a wound which will likely fester as the weeks and months go on.

“Yeah, it’s a little bit of a kick in the teeth for us, maybe where we’re at and the journey that we’re on,” said team captain Sam Mulroy on Off The Ball.

“I don’t think it changes very much. We’re the Louth players, it’s our county, it was never Mickey or Gavin’s (Devlin, Harte’s right-hand man),” he added, which felt quite pointed.

Louth GAA chairman Peter Fitzpatrick went further. "It was a real, real kick in the teeth,” he told local radio station LMFM.

“I didn't see it coming. We've been preparing for the last number of months with Mickey and Gavin, they've given an extra programme to the players. The players were fully behind them.

“We wanted to excel next year in Division 2. Even two or three weeks ago, we were talking about how do we get into Division 1 and what extra resources we need.”

Fitzpatrick added: “Honestly, I feel let down. I'm just disappointed for the players.”

Harte has always carried himself very well in public but behind the amiable façade lurks a serious competitor. Although he didn’t say it, he was clearly sore about how things finished up in Tyrone – although their subsequent success in winning a fourth All-Ireland surely justified the county’s effective decision that, after 16 years, it was time for change – and within 10 days, jumped back into inter-county management.

Now, he’s gone again but this time, it is Louth who are jilted.

In a 2018 interview with the Irish Times, Harte spoke about his ongoing boycott of RTE.

“I am more interested in the right thing than the easy thing,” he said. “For me, the right thing is what I am doing. It is a point of principle.”

Leaving Louth in favour of Derry was the wrong thing to do for the Louth players, officials and supporters. It remains to be seen whether it was the right thing for Harte but even if he achieves his goal of another All-Ireland, it will leave a bad taste.

As for Derry, a county who have endured their fair share of negative headlines this year, poaching a manager who was in situ with another county is a very bad look to put it mildly.

Loyalty, a higher purpose, the journey, the circle… It all rings very hollow now. Sad to say that the unbreakable bonds, it seems, are breakable after all.