By Peter Canavan Don't let the outward demeanour of Mickey Harte, Conor Counihan, Brian Cody or Micko himself fool you into thinking that these men have found some way of suppressing the stress and anxiety that we know accompanies top tier management. Picture instead a flush-faced Davy Fitzgerald as he vigorously shouts commands from the sideline, or a scowling, red-faced Ger Loughnane questioning a dubious refereeing call. Picture still an animated Banty McEnaney with clenched fists driving his players on, or an angry Liam Bradley admonishing a slack defender during the heat of battle. These are the outward signs of the turmoil that rages through the bodies of the modern manager as he stands on the sideline and watches his team battle it out in the dying seconds of a championship encounter. These are the outward signs of the stress that sends blood pressures soaring and hearts pumping to capacity. The fact that some managers fail to display this turmoil visibly certainly does not mean that it isn't there. In fact, their attempts (successful) at hiding it may very well increase the stress levels that accompany the anxiety. The subdued manager on the sideline is just as passionate about his team's success as the manager who is causing a storm up and down the sideline. His reluctance to become animated or loud may simply be a reflection of his nature and quiet demeanour. It may also be a controlled response that is part of his management system designed at imbuing calm and composure within his squad. Either way the stress remains. Post-match interviews are difficult for both managers. Whether victor or vanquished the manager must be magnanimous and cannot be seen to neither gloat nor gripe about the result. Indeed, most managers achieve this through genuine reflection and truthful appraisal. The one emotion that cannot be hidden or suppressed is that of pain. The pain and anguish of the defeated manager is always visible regardless of how magnanimous his interview. The pain of loss was just as evident in the face of Mickey Harte and Pat Gilroy as it was Banty McEnaney and Davy Fitz. Not surprisingly, of course. They felt for their players; the months of hard graft and sacrifice; the laughs and celebrations; the close friendships forged; the dreams. How things can turn in the space of seventy agonising minutes. The dreams are gone. What of the stress - gone too? No, merely increased! What went wrong? Why did our tactics fail? Why did some of our players play below par? Did we underestimate the opposition? Are they really that much better than us? Did I get something wrong? Where is our dream now? Have we lost the hunger? Why? What if.? Why? Of course every manager and team will have different answers to these questions. I can be pretty confident though that Mickey Harte has already answered some of those questions and that he has in place another dream. It may take a while before some of his players come round to that way of thinking but, in time they will. Some of his players have other questions to answer and already the media have been hitting some with the inevitable question of retirement. Foremost in most scribes promptings is of course Brian Dooher. Needless to say Brian will not make any decisions rashly while the painful sound of the final whistle still rings in his ear. Whatever decision Brian does come to will be the right one for him. He alone knows his limits and he alone will decide. His contribution to date has been immeasurable and his commitment to the Tyrone cause will never be surpassed. His decision will prompt much more debate at a future date. As for Tyrone's overall performance against Cork it is difficult to pinpoint any reason why they seemed a yard off the pace. The pace, power and on-the-edge tackling of the Cork players was both admirable and exciting. Tactically they pulled no major surprises with the exception of moving Graham Canty onto the wing in a match-up with Joe McMahon. To pull such a dominant figure from the centre of their defence would not have been taken lightly by Conor Counihan but it surely paid big dividends on the day. A fit Sean Cavanagh lining out at No. 11 would undoubtedly have tempered the effectiveness of Canty but to what degree we'll never know. Tyrone have every right to feel aggrieved by John Bannon's handling of the game but they did fail to take advantage of this harsh sending off. In many instances the sending off of a player, especially if it is seen to be unjust, can effectively prove to be a boost for that team. However, when it happened in this case I thought it would have been a significant factor in Tyrone's favour. Already at that stage Tyrone's midfield and half-forward line in particular were struggling with Cork's size and exuberance. The sending off of such a dominant, powerful figure would, I believed, have opened up the game for Tyrone and lessened that power dominance. Time, of course, proved that not to be the case although at half-time most Tyrone supporters were confident that a better second-half performance would materialise. There were two significant reasons for this. One - Tyrone's lethargy remained. Two - Cork, smarting from the injustice of the dismissal, buoyed by their first-half dominance, wary of Tyrone's blistering restart against Kildare and safe in the knowledge that the referee (now aware of his mistake) would not be sore on them for a while, came out for the second half like a team possessed and tackled Tyrone with full ferocity. It certainly worked and while they didn't rack up a big score they were pretty confident that they had the where-with-all to stop Tyrone from doing the same. Even with the advantage of an extra man Tyrone continually allowed Cork to win possession - vital possession - from their own kick-outs unchallenged. Their persistence in carrying ball into tackles instead of trying to get long ball into Stephen O'Neill and Owen Mulligan frequently ended up in turnovers. Faults that are easily spotted from the comfort of the stand well away from the thumping tackling of the Cork men but factors that highlight how lethargic the Tyrone team appeared to be. Speaking to some of the players after the game I would have got the impression that some of them felt tired and felt perhaps that they had over trained for this game. While they were not looking for excuses they were keen to find out why they didn't perform to anything like their full potential. The fact that so many failed to perform would suggest that perhaps they were indeed tired from heavy training or that they in some way underestimated the opposition. It would be most uncharacteristic of the Tyrone management not to have their team turning out in peak condition but I'm sure Mickey Harte and the squad will analyse events and draw their own conclusions. Even for Mickey Harte this defeat will bring new lessons and I know his outlook will be the same as one Thomas A. Edison who, experiencing setback after setback in his quest to perfect the electric light bulb, said "I have not failed 10,000 times. I have found 10,000 ways that will not work." While it is hard to be continually innovative in the modern GAA sporting arena it is the endless need for achievement and perpetual struggle for success that excites and inspires leaders like Mickey Harte and Brian Cody to always find that "edge" that makes the difference. And as long as competition remains innate to human behaviour their will always be men like Brian Dooher to follow such leaders. Tweet

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