It seems like a long time ago that many GAA people were viewing Derry as one of the favourites to lift the Sam Maguire this summer.
The county had been on an upward trajectory for a number of years, winning back-to-back Ulster titles and reaching the latter stages of the All-Ireland series. With Mickey Harte on board and having blown through the league in the spring, many felt that their time had arrived to end their wait for the biggest prize of all.
However, things have unravelled at a frightening rate since the start of the championship.
The loss to Donegal was one thing, with Jim McGuinness' side performing brilliantly on the day. The defeats against Galway and Armagh that followed were even more concerning, with Derry easily outplayed by two teams that would have been considered as being behind them in the All-Ireland pecking order just a few weeks ago.
Derry can still keep their hopes of lifting the Sam Maguire alive with a win over Westmeath next week, but it seems that there are plenty of issues in that camp at the moment.
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Kerry legend feels Conor Glass moment sums up Derry unrest
Rumours circulated yesterday about the future of Mickey Harte at Derry, and while there was nothing in them, some feel that there is a bit of disconnect between the players and management team at the moment.
Writing in the Irish Times, Kerry legend Darragh Ó Sé pointed out one moment in the loss to Armagh that spoke volumes.
There was one other small thing on Sunday that jumped out.
When Derry took off Emmet Bradley, Conor Glass turned to the bench with his arms out, as if he was going, ‘What the hell is that about’?
That’s your leader, your captain, your best player, openly questioning the management in the middle of a game. Again, even if you didn’t take one look at the scoreboard, that tells you something is badly wrong in that set-up.
Eamon Fitzmaurice made a similar point in recent days, suggesting that Glass' current frustrations are a major red flag in the Derry setup.
It will be interesting to see if they can bounce back from this position over the coming weeks, but their recent performances suggest that this is far from a guarantee.
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