Tyrone Management Team Confirmed for 2014

The Tyrone ladies county board have ratified the appointment of Brian McGee, Paudge Quinn and Tiffy Quinn as the management of the  county ladies senior side for 2014. The three stepped up to the plate in an interim basis ahead of last years Ulster championship and despite limited time in the hot seat they helped guide Tyrone to the Ulster final and they progressed to the all Ireland quarter final.

McGee and the Quinns replaced Mickey Rea and his management team but they were left with a squad badly hit by injury, five players suffered the dreaded cruciate ligament while several other players were no longer in the selection mix.

From the day Tyrone lost to Galway at Cavan the management team have been focusing on next year , the national league and the championship, McGee said that they had a plan in place,

” We met that day and spoke frankly together as one unit, there was no them or us, it was us all together, we made a vow that day to carry on and bring Tyrone back to where they belong, that remains the focus, the target and we have the girls already working”

When McGee and Quinn took over the reigns early in the Summer just past, they had no targets, it was a case of getting the season “punched in” as the Errigal clubman explained, that has changed now and the management team have last seasons squad still on board and have indeed added to it, that will be an ongoing plan for the confirmed management.

“There’s no point in going back to the start” explained McGee, “The players we have are all of the highest quality, its a case of adding to what we already have and developing the players already there, it will be a long process but we have to build, its about time Tyrone were back up there with the big hitters, we are not far away but it will take work and that has started”

The players have already been going through a specific programme for several weeks and there is certainly an air of positivity about the place, earlier in the year the players with the assistance of the county board put together the Red Hand Rumble as a key fundraiser and next weeks county AGM will see the official launch of Tyrone 300, a  12 month draw with limited membership with all the proceeds directed to the ladies football structures.

” I have been impressed by the efforts of the players this year in terms of fundraising and working so closely together” enthused county chairman Martin Conway who is expected to return to the top table at next weeks meeting. The Strabane man is focused on the direction that ladies football is going in the county and the efforts of the senior squad he says is a bench mark ” I look at the senior squad and see that they have been doing on and off the park, there is a steely determination in everything they are doing, the pre season or Winter training, the fundraising efforts, there’s a unity about them and with the management staying put we have stability”

Stability is the key word being used not only by the chairman but also by Brian McGee and the management team, ” The players need stability ” confirmed Brian after that Galway loss in Cavan, that has been translated into everything that Brian, Paudge and Tiffy have been doing behind the scenes since.

” This is a great group of girls, they and ladies football deserve the best, they needed stability and we will offer them that, the rest will fall into place now”

At underage level, management structures are in place but before further details are confirmed some finer points have to be firmed up, an announcement in relation to the underage management teams are due to be confirmed next week.