O’Rourke set to take his bow along the Tyrone sideline

BOOSTING a glittering managerial CV at club and county level, Malachy O’Rourke is acutely aware that high expectations come with the territory as he gets set to take his bow in the Tyrone hot-seat this Saturday evening.

The Fermanagh man has done it all on the club front, winning six senior County titles across Derry, Tyrone and Cavan, and also overseeing an All-Ireland success with Glen, while at inter-county level he helped Monaghan consistently punch way above their weight, with two Ulster Championship triumphs and two National League titles.

So how will be the next chapter of his career unfold under the searing glare that comes with managing Tyrone.

The bar is high, with the previous two incumbents, Mickey Harte (2003) and the Feargal Logan/ Brian Dooher tandem (2024) each sealing the Sam Maguire trophy in their first season at the helm. Time will tell if O’Rourke can complete the hat-trick for Red Hand managerial debutants.

First and foremost, as he prepares to send out a team to tackle Derry in the opening round of the National League on Saturday in Omagh, the Derrylin native is keen to galvanise Tyrone support, with enthusiasm and fanbase numbers having tailed off markedly in recent years.

“ I suppose in fairness there is a number of different factors at play (to explain lack of support at games). The internal club competitions in Tyrone are so strong with the Championship and League fixtures getting massive crowds.

“ That doesn’t happen in many cases in other counties so people in Tyrone do get to see a lot of football outside of the county teams, and with the way the game had gone in terms of style people also had become a bit disillusioned as well.

“ No doubt when you enjoy success as well it does sate people’s appetite but with no pre-season competitions either this year hopefully people will be keen to get out again.

“ But we know it is up to us as a team. If you are playing good football and supporters see that you are working hard they will come out and support you. We can’t expect it to be there if we are not doing the job ourselves.”

Since being ratified as the new boss last September O’Rourke has been seen out and about at venues across the county taking in Club Championship fixtures. Clearly no stranger himself to the cut and thrust of the footballing landscape in Tyrone from his days with Errigal Ciaran, he has been impressed with the high standard on show.

“ We were out at as many games as we could get to, looking at different levels at Senior, Intermediate and Junior.

“ Obviously the Tyrone Championship games are very competitive at all levels, really hard fought. So it is a great arena to judge what way players are going. Sometimes players can show up well when games are loose but in the Tyrone Championship you sometimes have to show different qualities.

“ So I thought it was very useful. We have been back training now this past six weeks or so. It was about getting to know the boys. We had a few challenge matches so it was about getting a handle on everything. But overall I am very pleased with the way the boys are applying themselves.”

Before the business end of the season comes around with the Championship kick-starting in April, O’Rourke admitted that consolidating their top flight status in Division One is the primary objective.

“ That is the starting point anyway. The first thing is to get a grip on the new rules as quickly as possible and then get our performance levels to where we want them.

“ We want to develop into a hard-working and disciplined team unit where boys are going to work for each other from minute one to minute seventy plus and back each other up, and have a really good attitude about us.

“If we achieve those things we will hopefully pick up enough points to make sure we stay in the Division. The big thing too is that there is continual improvement. We want to make sure that regardless of results, we can see improvement from day to day. So it will be a matter of taking it game by game, concentrating solely on the first game and as soon as that is over we set our sights on the next game.”

The new manager appreciates that it is vital to make the most of home advantage in the league, starting against Derry this Saturday, though Healy Park has been anything but a fortress for Tyrone over the past decade.

“ You want to have pride in your home record. That is why it is vital we get a good support as well. Tyrone teams over the years have always had great support and at home you want that real vocal backing. It can definitely give you an edge.

“ If supporters see a team that is giving everything for the jersey, and is backing each other up, and showing real togetherness, I think supporters will then get behind you and stick with you. So our aim has to be to represent the jersey in the right way. That will be massive.”

Derry have secured some empathic victories over Tyrone of late in League and Championship and O’Rourke expects the visitors to have plenty of fire in their belly as they cross the Sperrins into enemy territory this weekend.

“ People forget that Derry were National League champions last year and were very consistent. Yes their season tailed off a bit but that doesn’t take away from the fact they have serious quality. The National League Final against Dublin was one of the best games of the year.

“ I would know a lot of those Derry boys and they will be coming with a real hunger this year looking to bounce back.

“ So it’s going to be a massive challenge for us. They are a quality team but you will face that every week in this Division. The following week we are away to Armagh, the All-Ireland champions, so we couldn’t have asked for a tougher start. But at the same time it will give us a real idea of what level we are at at the minute and what exact areas we need to improve.”