Joe Brolly has historically been far from Mickey Harte's biggest cheerleader so his latest scathing criticism of the Derry manager should come as little surprise.
For years on The Sunday Game, Brolly would voice his disapproval of the former Tyrone manager's methods that won The Red Hands three All-Ireland SFC titles during his reign.
Speaking on RTE back in 2017, Brolly best summed up his own thoughts on Harte's managerial 'genius' when Dublin trounced Tyrone 2-17 to 0-11.
'I don't think and I've never thought that Mickey's a tactical genius. You hear that phrase being used. It's a one-dimensional game plan that's very, very good against the lesser teams."
He was equally vocal when Harte was shockingly appointed as Derry manager ahead of this season, claiming it was 'the worst thing to happen to Derry since the plantation'.
This is the worst thing to happen to Derry since the plantation
— Joe Brolly (@JoeBrolly1993) September 19, 2023
The heat has ramped up on Harte after Derry's dismal All-Ireland Championship bid, in which they have lost all three of their Championship matches thus.
Harte did guide Derry to the Allianz League title earlier this year, but the wheels appear to have come off tactically after losses to Donegal, Galway and Armagh.
He can still mathematically guide The Oak Leaf County to the knockout phase of the competition with a win against Westmeath but there is clearly something amiss with the team right now.
Joe Brolly fires scathing criticism of Mickey Harte
Harte's appeared to speculate there is a mental issue with his players in his - as opposed to a tactical problem - post-match assessment to The Irish News.
Former Derry footballer Brolly did not hold back in his response to Harte's take, accusing him of pointing his finger at his players instead of stadning over his questionable tactical approach.
Writing on Twitter, Brolly claimed that Harte 'is the rot' at the heart of Derry's apparent decay.
'Mickey Harte blaming the Derry players," he began.
"Not his disastrous keeper/midfielder strategy, pushing up high leaving no cover, giving up 9 terrible goals in 3 games. Nor the chronic indiscipline coming from the top.
"The truth is that Mickey Harte is the rot at the heart of our decay."
Mickey Harte blaming the Derry players. Not his disastrous keeper/midfielder strategy, pushing up high leaving no cover, giving up 9 terrible goals in 3 games. Nor the chronic indiscipline coming from the top. The truth is that Mickey Harte is the rot at the heart of our decay pic.twitter.com/48cZy4gtPx
— Joe Brolly (@JoeBrolly1993) June 3, 2024
To be fair to Harte, Derry have had a spate of injury issues to deal with but Brolly is not the only person to have publicly questioned their tactical approach in recent weeks.
Derry have been consistently found out when turned over for possession and under the high ball since the defeat against Donegal, shipping 3-14 from those situations vs Armagh.
Harte still has the chance to turn things around for his side in the final phase of the group stages but their path to potential All-Ireland glory now looks a particularly perilous one.
