Tyrone great Peter Canavan admits the current crop in his native county aren’t up to the standards of the Red Hand’s golden era.
Mickey Harte’s side have won no major trophies in the last four years, having claimed three All-Irelands and five Ulster crowns since the turn of the century.
When asked if Tyrone are in a prolonged slump, Canavan told Off The Ball tonight: “There’s absolutely no doubt about it it’s a time for concern.
“We’d be expecting a lot more form this current crop of Tyrone players because there’s a number there that came through on good minor teams.
“I suppose there’s a realisation there that we in Tyrone have been very fortunate this past few years to have some exceptional footballers come through at the one time.
“Talk about players like Conor Gormley, Stephen O’Neill, Sean Cavanagh, Ryan McMenamin ... Martin Penrose. Most of them are away now."
Captain Peter Canavan (right) and manager Mickey Harte with the Sam Maguire in 2003 ©INPHO/Andrew Paton
The two-time All-Ireland winner and multiple All Star added: “There’s a realisation that things aren’t as good and we're not going to have the great years that we’ve had every three or four years.
“Fans have gotta be a wee bit more realistic to the fact.
“We have one All-Ireland Under-21 in the past 14 years so maybe we’re codding ourselves in thinking that there’s great players coming through every two or three years – the bottom line is that there’s not.”
The Red Hand were soundly beaten in their Allianz NFL opener at Healy Park on Saturday night. However, Canavan sounded an ominous warning ahead of this weekend’s trip to Castlebar. “There’s no way that performance will be replicated against Mayo this weekend,” he said.
Listen to Canavan's chat with Joe and Wooly here:
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