February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Tyrone were widely criticized for employing a blanket defense and for persistent fouling out the field, especially in the semifinal victory over Kerry. But Harte remains unrepentant.
“People are going on about the number of fouls we have committed, but they should look at the number of turnovers we forced against Kerry,” Harte said in his new book, “Kicking Down Heaven’s Door: Diary of a Football Manager,”which he co-wrote with Kieran Shannon of the Sunday Tribune. “We forced over 35 and we played 20 games this year and we had no one sent off.”
With space currently at a premium in football, Harte also rejects any proposal to reduce the game to 13 a side.
“If you had a bird’s eye view of the pitch, you’d notice everything is played in the middle channel,” he said. “Those calling for 13 a side should really be calling for teams to use greater width in their play.
“There’s a myth that we used to have this wonderful game when everybody caught the ball above their heads. If clean catches can still be made, great, but if you have to reach into the skies to catch a ball, it probably isn’t the best ball anyway.”