Neale Fenn: 'We could go more direct but it's not the way football should be played'

Since taking charge of Longford Town in June of 2017, Neal Fenn has had some memorable moments.

The former Cork City star admitted that his favourite moment in charge of the Red and Black would have to be the 4-2 cup upset win over Sligo Rovers back in August.

Speaking exclusively to Extratime.ie, the 40-year-old Londoner shared his views on his time in charge to date with the Red and Black as well as his hopes and ambitions for 2018.

“[The] best moment in charge would probably have to be the game against Sligo in the cup after extra time,” said the former Ireland under-21 international.

“It was a great result for us and especially with it coming after extra time so that was the highlight so far.”

Undoubtedly the former Leyton Orient Assistant Manager has impressed many onlookers in League of Ireland football with his more possession-orientated style of play at his new employers.

Fenn said that he found that some players did struggle to adapt to the new style of play on offer at the City Calling Stadium, but says that he never expected every player to make a seamless transition into his new system.

“There had been managers before that had played decent football before and we just tried to play the way I like to play it.

“Some of the players could do it and adapt to it when some found it a little bit more difficult. You’re going to get that at any club and every player has got different strengths and its just about trying to find players who can do what you want them to do.”

Reflecting on his time in charge to date, Fenn admits that he may have approached certain scenarios differently, but he ultimately has no regrets as he always knew that he was looking at an entirely bigger picture.

“I suppose there’s loads looking back at ways I could have handled stuff a little bit better maybe but in hindsight – which is a beautiful thing, isn’t it? – there was little bits and pieces I could have changed.

“I think if I would have gone ok, I need to get every result and need to win at all costs, then perhaps I would have changed and not tried to play the way I had done in certain occasions.

“But because I wanted to stick to what I believe in and the way I think it should be played we might have lost, or we might’ve got beaten or drawn a game that if we had gone a bit more direct sometimes we might have won it.

“It would’ve been going against what we were trying to do so I suppose that’s the main one.”

Making the step up to management for the first time, he noted that there is a marked difference between being a coach to being a manager, as he has found out in his brief time in charge at the City Calling Stadium.

“I suppose being a manager you have to worry about everything,” he said.

“When you’re a coach you just have to worry about setting up a session while if you are manager you have to think about everything.

“At this level, Longford’s level anyway, you have to make sure all the gear is there, everything’s ready, everyone’s come, the pitch is booked, and you’ve arranged everything like that with everybody coming in at the same time.

“You have to worry about the session as well, all at the same time, so there’s a lot more involved in being a manager to a coach.

“And obviously you have the players who just have to look after themselves and that’s all they’re worried about.”

With Longford Town racking up some impressive off-season signings especially with the recent signatures of Chris Mulhall and Darren Meenan, Fenn has declared that he is more than happy with how his off-season recruitment drive has gone so far.

“[I'm] really happy with how its gone to date. We’ve got some good players in and there’s a couple more to come so I’m really happy with the way the squad is looking and I’m really excited with us starting back in pre-season.

“The lads came back in good shape and they’ve been tested there in DCU and the lads all scored really high in all the test results so I’m really happy with the way the boys have come back.”

With concerns regarding a new attacking option commonplace among Town supporters after the departure of club legend Davy O’Sullivan, Fenn reassured supporters that it's not an issue.

“You know we’ve got 4 or 5 attackers who can play in three attacking positions and we signed another lad called Dean Byrne from Junior football in Hardwicke recently who is a striker.

“So I’m not overly worried about that, finding a number nine. They’re not easy to find and not easy to get so I’m not overly rushed about getting one.”

Fenn knows that he is expected to gain promotion back to the Premier Division, but is well aware of how competitive the division will be in 2018.

“The aim for the club is to get promoted. That was spelt out to me last year and it was spelt out to me again this year and its what we all we want, it’s what we’re all fighting for.

“I’d say there’s probably eight out of the ten teams in this division who are all looking for the same thing, so promotion is the aim.”

Longford Town kick off their 2018 First Division with a home fixture against Cobh Ramblers side on the 24^th of February at City Calling Stadium (kick-off 7.30pm).