Paddy Bradley believes Mickey Harte is under more pressure to deliver an All-Ireland title this year and compares the expectation levels on the Tyrone manager to those on Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.
Harte has been the most successful manager in Tyrone history, delivering their first three All-Ireland titles (2003, '05 and '08) and five Ulster crowns in his 15 seasons in charge.
The Red Hands have not been back to the decider since their last triumph nine years ago however, and the Tyrone County Board last September opted against giving the manager a contract extension past the end of the current campaign.
Former Derry star Bradley thinks parallels can be drawn with Arsenal's 13-year wait for the Premier League, which has left the Frenchman's future up in the air.
"It's a bit like Arsene Wenger and Arsenal," he told the RTÉ GAA Podcast.
"You've a manager that's been successful and continues to win. With Arsene Wenger on Saturday it was the FA Cup, with Tyrone they won an Ulster championship last year.
"But people in England are looking at Wenger to win the Premiership and people in Tyrone are looking at Harte to win the All-Ireland.
"The fact that they've produced lots of good underage teams over the years means Mickey Harte is under massive pressure to produce things at senior level, but he's been there and done it.
"People within Tyrone will probably look at the fact that Donegal seem to have rebuilt almost immediately within a year or two, whereas Tyrone keep talking about rebuilding but maybe haven't brought through the younger players the way people would have liked."
Bradley believes that Harte is doing a good job to keep Tyrone in the hunt for titles despite the county ranking just 25th in the country in terms of money spent on preparing teams.
"These things aren't easily won. There's only one team that can win any year," he said.
"Mickey Harte has been round the block long enough, he's doing a fantastic job.
"You look at the Dublins and Kerrys of this world and the resources that they have, Tyrone maybe don't have the same financial backing behind them, so I still think they're doing very well.
"They're still one of the top four or five teams in the country and on any given day will give anybody a game."
Bradley tipped Harte's former star forward Peter Canavan as his eventual successor but believes the manager will leave on his own terms and that Tyrone's 11-point dismissal of Derry on Sunday shows he retains the faith of his players.
"Further down the line, that's where you're looking in terms of the next Tyrone manager," Bradley said.
"But I think it'll be up to Mickey when he wants to go himself. I don't see anybody stepping in and telling him it's time to go. It'll be Mickey's decision.
"You only have to look at the way the players are playing.
"People will say that they finished the league poorly but it's all about championship and I think the way the players turned up and showed, he definitely has the players behind him.
"The one thing you couldn't criticise Tyrone for is their structure and their methods.
"Every one of their players knows what they're about and you could sense that a lot of their scores were stuff they had worked on and it was well-rehearsed.
"Derry on the other hand had no structure or method and were relying on individual brilliance."
