Jim McGuinness: ‘Mickey Harte doesn’t play games - he goes out to win every game’

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness states the only way to overcome Mickey Harte’s Derry is by matching them in terms of consistency for a full 70 minutes. 

McGuinness returns for his first championship outing since the All-Ireland final of 2014 this Saturday at Celtic Park when his side lock horns with a Derry side who are seeking three Ulster titles in-a-row. (6.15 throw-in)

The Oak Leaf County under the new management of three-time All-Ireland winner Harte have been riding a wave of success recently, having won the Allianz League Division 1 title on Easter Sunday.

And while McGuinness is well aware of the task at hand this weekend for his side, the Glenties man is all too familiar with facing Harte’s teams in the past and knows exactly what to expect as he sees several similarities between this current Derry team and Harte’s Tyrone teams of the past. 

“I think when you try to analyse Derry under Mickey Harte, it’s very hard for me to answer that because I haven’t coached against this current Derry team,” said McGuinness. 

“All I can do is spot what the similarities are to his previous Tyrone teams, which is they’re very well organised, they play on the edge, they’re very process driven, they all understand their jobs, and they all understand what they need and have to do in order to win. 

“All of those boxes are being ticked by Derry and they are the exact same boxes that the Tyrone players of the past were ticking too. I know in terms of their game, it’s obvious that they’re fit, and they like to play a running game and they’re very economical with the ball, so all those traits were with Mickey’s teams in the past.” 

McGuinness’s side has also been on the cusp of a wave having achieved league silverware and promotion back to Division 1, but while his side has remained undefeated, the Glenties man acknowledges that there have been bumps in the road, not least with the number of injuries picked up by a number of key players. 

“There was a lot of up and down in the games during the league campaign because we were trying to find ourselves and look at different players and look at different things on different days, so our consistency isn't fully there yet and there is a bit of stealth in terms of what we’re going to bring to the table,” McGuinness said. 

“It has been up and down in certain games because the performance hasn’t been there and we’ve really struggled with injuries, so for us, it’s about being consistent this weekend, that's our plan for Derry. We need a gameplan that’s going to work and be effective when we go to Celtic Park.” 

However, while the Donegal boss praises the success and attitude of Harte, he believes that Donegal’s lack of consistency in terms of a starting team could play into his side’s favour this weekend. 

“If I’m the Derry analyst, it’s not going to be the easiest task in studying our team because there have been so many new players and so many injuries, but that’s the nature of the game, in year one, and as things go on teams are easier to find a read of each other,” said the Donegal manager. 

“We were lucky to get a good look at Derry after our league final. There’s nothing like seeing a team in the flesh, particularly in Croke Park in a final, but listen when you talk about Mickey Harte, he has a very clear vision of how he sees the game, and that doesn’t change, you just have to be good enough to play against his teams and beat them, that’s it. 

“Mickey doesn’t play games, he’s clear in what he says, he goes out to win every game, be it the McKenna Cup or an All-Ireland final, so as a manager coming in against that, you just have to build and prepare the team as best we can.”