Ramblers' reward
Credit:
It was a cold wet night in Finn Park, Donegal in 2004 when I made my managerial debut. Dave Hill had resigned as Cobh Ramblers manager and I was approached by Cobh’s commercial manager Barry Walshe to see if I would be interested in taking the job for the last 9 matches.
Finn Harps were top of the league at the time and Cobh were 2nd from bottom, so to say I was apprehensive about the game would be an understatement. We lost the game by the odd goal but we played well and I have loved every minute of managing ever since.
I remember playing Monaghan United in St Colman’s Park that season and winning 8-1 with Davy Warren scoring a double hat-trick, After the game my Chairman John O’Sullivan, who is the father of the great Sonia, approached me after the match to announce how unprofessional it was to concede a goal.
Of course he was right but Mr O’Sullivan would resign at the end of that season and be replaced by the commercial manager Barry Walshe and together we went about trying to bring the club to a higher level on and off the pitch.
Ramblers’ stadium, St Coleman’s Park, was in bad shape. The sheds were old and dangerous; the dressing rooms were in an awful state so much so you could hear the opposing managers team talks because the dividing wall did not go all the way up the ceiling. Obviously if I could hear them then they could hear me so we tried using it to our advantage by shouting one thing at the players but whispering what we really wanted to them to do.
The state of the dressing rooms also started my slight paranoia regarding referees. The old wash room at St. Colman’s was adjacent to the referee’s dressing room where again the big gaps at the top would allow you to hear all conversations. We had a very good young player called Darren Murphy who was hard as nails but very talented to go with it. He got sent off a few times before I got to Cobh so we needed him to calm down, or so I thought; Darren was suspended for my first three games so I was delighted to have him back.
I went into the wash room for a cup of tea with John Meade and as we spoke I could hear shouting in the referee’s room. "The first thing you do is book Murphy. Yellow card him as soon as you can and if he opens his mouth send him off". I was fuming. What chance has this kid got if he is going to be targeted like this? I went around to the referee’s room, knocked on the door, and politely asked would it be in my team’s best interest not to start Darren as you have made up your mind to send him off. I got no reply. I did not want a reply. Darren played the full game and was outstanding.
Barry and the committee did Trojan work for the club. They went about getting the new stand erected, state of the art floodlights were installed and a fantastic new dressing room facility was built. Crowds were on the up and we were putting a squad of lads together had who had finished 3rd and 4th in the previous seasons. There was a belief growing within the camp that we could go and win the league but we kept that thought to ourselves. I started to dread the squad photo that would be taken at the start of every season. It irked me to no end that we all had to go in the picture with a few footballs and a tray of Lucozade bottles.
Off the pitch, the chairman and his committee were delivering, now it was time for myself and the lads to do the same. On a cold night in 2007 at Athlone Town, Kevin Murray scored the winning goal that gave Cobh their first ever trophy, winning the league by one point from Finn Harps. All of a sudden I was looking forward to the squad photo.
Finn Harps were top of the league at the time and Cobh were 2nd from bottom, so to say I was apprehensive about the game would be an understatement. We lost the game by the odd goal but we played well and I have loved every minute of managing ever since.
I remember playing Monaghan United in St Colman’s Park that season and winning 8-1 with Davy Warren scoring a double hat-trick, After the game my Chairman John O’Sullivan, who is the father of the great Sonia, approached me after the match to announce how unprofessional it was to concede a goal.
Of course he was right but Mr O’Sullivan would resign at the end of that season and be replaced by the commercial manager Barry Walshe and together we went about trying to bring the club to a higher level on and off the pitch.
Ramblers’ stadium, St Coleman’s Park, was in bad shape. The sheds were old and dangerous; the dressing rooms were in an awful state so much so you could hear the opposing managers team talks because the dividing wall did not go all the way up the ceiling. Obviously if I could hear them then they could hear me so we tried using it to our advantage by shouting one thing at the players but whispering what we really wanted to them to do.
The state of the dressing rooms also started my slight paranoia regarding referees. The old wash room at St. Colman’s was adjacent to the referee’s dressing room where again the big gaps at the top would allow you to hear all conversations. We had a very good young player called Darren Murphy who was hard as nails but very talented to go with it. He got sent off a few times before I got to Cobh so we needed him to calm down, or so I thought; Darren was suspended for my first three games so I was delighted to have him back.
I went into the wash room for a cup of tea with John Meade and as we spoke I could hear shouting in the referee’s room. "The first thing you do is book Murphy. Yellow card him as soon as you can and if he opens his mouth send him off". I was fuming. What chance has this kid got if he is going to be targeted like this? I went around to the referee’s room, knocked on the door, and politely asked would it be in my team’s best interest not to start Darren as you have made up your mind to send him off. I got no reply. I did not want a reply. Darren played the full game and was outstanding.
Barry and the committee did Trojan work for the club. They went about getting the new stand erected, state of the art floodlights were installed and a fantastic new dressing room facility was built. Crowds were on the up and we were putting a squad of lads together had who had finished 3rd and 4th in the previous seasons. There was a belief growing within the camp that we could go and win the league but we kept that thought to ourselves. I started to dread the squad photo that would be taken at the start of every season. It irked me to no end that we all had to go in the picture with a few footballs and a tray of Lucozade bottles.
Off the pitch, the chairman and his committee were delivering, now it was time for myself and the lads to do the same. On a cold night in 2007 at Athlone Town, Kevin Murray scored the winning goal that gave Cobh their first ever trophy, winning the league by one point from Finn Harps. All of a sudden I was looking forward to the squad photo.
