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06 Sept 2025

'No-one saw this coming at all!'

Derry GAA

Mickey Harte is the new Derry manager.

Former Derry star Gerard O’Kane believes that Mickey Harte could be the man to take the county to the next level, insisting he is the best possible appointment to the senior manager’s role.

The news that the All-Ireland winner has taken charge of Derry has shocked many in the game, O’Kane included, who admits that the news of his appointment was something no-one saw coming.

Harte, who won three All-Irelands and six Ulster championships with Tyrone, has been named Derry manager on a three-year deal after stepping down from his position at Louth earlier this week.

The County Board confirmed the news tonight. A brief statement said:

“Following tonight’s meeting of Coiste Chontae Dhoire, Derry GAA are pleased to announce the senior football management team for the incoming year.

“Multiple All-Ireland winning manager Mickey Harte has been appointed on a three year term and will lead a management team including Gavin Devlin. Further details about the backroom team will be confirmed in due course.

“We wish both the management team and playing panel every success for the 2024 season.”

O’Kane, who was part of the Derry team which won the National League in 2008, agreed that the news came as a huge surprise.

“I was as shocked as anybody,” he said. “I like to think I have my ear to the ground and in the circle you’re in with your friends from football you would hear stuff, but nobody seen that coming at all. This decision wasn’t made yesterday, this decision took some planning, so fair play to all parties for keeping it quiet.

“I suppose Mickey had to be respectful to Louth as much as he could, but nobody seen it coming. There was never a whisper. Usually you would hear a whisper, but his name was never mentioned once.

“This time 10 years ago, Derry’s stuff was always worked out in the public and I think it’s a measure of where Derry are going with this appointment; they’re trying to get their business done, with no outside interference and just move on from it.”

Given the magnitude of the rivalry between Derry and Tyrone over the years, the possibility of seeing the Red Hands’ most successful manager taking charge is significant in itself. But O’Kane believes the County Board are making the best possible decision.

“If you look where Derry are situated logistically on the island of Ireland; it’s not as if we’re a midland county and you can reach out to six, seven, eight different counties that’s within an hour or 90 minutes,” he explained.

“Because of where Derry’s at, we’re sort of hemmed in and that’s the first thing that hampers your selection of candidates really to be honest. Derry would realistically be looking for a candidate within 90 minutes, so if you’re looking around and drawing a circle around Derry, Antrim, maybe touching parts of Co. Down, Tyrone, Donegal and Armagh, unless they went for a complete outsider, but then you’re looking at boys staying overnight and helicopters, and all that sort of stuff. So, where Derry are situated and looking who they’ve got, it’s a very, very good appointment from that point of view.”

 

Next level

Derry have won back-to-back Ulster titles and reached two All-Ireland semi-finals in the past two years, and O’Kane believes the players would have wanted a manager who could take them on to that next level.

“The way Derry players are now and working at a high level, I don’t think a novice or a gamble would have been the perfect fit for them,” he said. “It’s just a matter of getting someone to kick them on a bit as opposed to starting from scratch again, which could happen with a novice. You could take a gamble on someone and it could work out, but more often than not, a proven and experienced man is just a better decision.

“From what I can gather, Gavin Devlin is one of the big pulls in it too. Notwithstanding, he would know all the Slaughtneil players, and he has been at Newbridge and he has been at Bellaghy in Derry, and everywhere he has been they have talked massively about his coaching and his knowledge of the game, not dissimilar to the way Rory Gallagher was always spoken about in terms on hands-on coaching, for his motivation, how he interacts with players and the energy he brings. I think the two of them are pretty similar in that regard, so I think Gavin is a big draw along with Mickey.”

 

‘Favourites’

Harte will replace Ciaran Meenagh, who took over as manager for this year's Ulster final victory against Armagh after Rory Gallagher stepped aside, leading Derry to the All-Ireland semi-finals. But he recently ruled himself out of taking the job on a permanent basis. Harte will now step into the role, hoping to lead Derry to an historic third Ulster success and ultimately the All-Ireland title.

“Derry have won two Ulsters in a row and I would say if the bookies were drawing up favourites on Sunday past, before Mickey was nominated, Derry would probably be the favourites anyway,” O’Kane reflected. “This will probably make them stronger favourites. But Donegal will get a bounce without doubt and Armagh will be there or thereabouts. Conor Lavery improved Down to no end and he has another year under his belt, and that’s just within those four counties alone, never mind outside that.”

“Mickey does have a good record of bringing players through. Some people would say he maybe stayed too loyal to boys in the end, but it’s hard not to with boys who have done so much for you in that regard. He’ll not be like that in Derry because he doesn’t have to show that type of loyalty, and Derry’s conveyor belt over the last seven or eight years has been very good. Add that to what they have now and they now have an All-Ireland manager, so it’s looking fairly bright for them.”

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