retired_amyslack

Are The Wheels Coming Off?
The visit of second place Shelbourne at the start of July produced no joy as a poor performance saw us lose 2-0. As some of our injured players started to get back into training Steve Feeny took their place in the treatment room, a groin strain ruling him out for three weeks. McNevin, Scully and Fenn were all pressed back into action for the trip to St. Pat’s Athletic and we picked up a point in a goalless draw. Our League Cup Semi Final at First Division Athlone Town proved to be a big disappointment as having twice been in front we were overhauled to lose 3-2. We were close to being back to full strength for the visit of Drogheda United but strikers Fenn and McGlue missed a number of presentable chances in the goalless draw. An excellent 3-1 win at Derry City boosted our morale and at the end of the month we had a comfortable 4-0 win at home to Kildare County in the 2nd round of the Senior Cup.

August opened with a hugely disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to struggling Galway United and our powder-puff attack and leaky defence cost us dear against bottom club U.C.D. as we twice conceded the lead to draw 2-2. We were drawn against holders Dublin City in the 3rd round of the Senior Cup and looked bereft of attacking ideas as they ran out easy 4-0 winners. A relatively quiet month concluded with a poor 3-0 defeat at Shamrock Rovers as the early promise of having a successful season seemed to be melting away.

With Campbell suspended for the visit of Cork City in our first game in September I decided to call up youngster Shane Walsh from the youth team as he had been having a very impressive season. The 18-year-old made an effective debut, setting up a goal in our 2-1 win. He kept his place for the trip to Bohemians and despite having Declan O’Leary sent off we still managed an excellent 2-0 win. In our final game of another quiet month we missed out on a hat trick of wins with a 0-0 draw at Bray Wanderers but the points gained moved us up to 4th place and demonstrated that if we could get a good winning run together then we were capable of a top-three finish.

At the start of October at home to Finn Harps we were chasing a hat trick of clean sheets and although we failed in that objective by conceding a goal we scored an unprecedented six in response, McNevin grabbing a treble. Shane Walsh came of age in the trip to leaders Shelbourne when he scored the opening goal in our superb 3-1 win. Our best result of the season came in spite of two sendings-off from an overly fussy match official as both Campbell and right back Andrew Cosgrove were booked twice. With three players suspended for the visit of St. Pat’s Athletic we went from the sublime to the ridiculous as we lost 3-0 in one of our worst displays of the season. We played much better at Drogheda United but failed to turn chances into goals and suffered a 2-0 defeat. With just two games remaining we remained marooned in mid table with a top-three finish just tantalisingly out of reach.

Looking to finish the season on a high we twice came from behind at home to Derry City to finish with a 2-2 draw, a result that ended any lingering hope of European football. Our final game was at already relegated Galway United and an intensely frustrating game ended 1-1 with McNevin getting his marching orders for two yellow cards.

Despite finishing two places and seven points better than last season I still couldn’t help feeling disappointed in our final position. If we had a 20-goal a season striker then with our excellent midfield we could be making a genuine title challenge.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Shelbourne | 33 | 17 | 10 | 6 | 54 | 31 | +23 | 61 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Bohemians | 33 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 48 | 40 | +8 | 54 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Bray Wanderers | 33 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 39 | 39 | 0 | 49 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | St. Pat's Athletic | 33 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 47 | 36 | +11 | 48 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | KILKENNY CITY | 33 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 49 | 45 | +4 | 46 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Finn Harps | 33 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 42 | 43 | -1 | 46 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Shamrock Rovers | 33 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 42 | 44 | -2 | 45 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Drogheda Utd | 33 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 38 | 35 | +3 | 44 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Derry City | 33 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 38 | 41 | -3 | 42 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Cork City | 33 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 36 | 38 | -2 | 41 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | R | U.C.D. | 33 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 41 | 56 | -15 | 31 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | R | Galway Utd | 33 | 4 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 46 | -26 | 25 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
Once again it was the midfield where we were strongest with McNevin finishing as our top scorer.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Name | Apps | Gls | Ast | MoM | Pas | Tck | Drb | Sh T | Av Rat| | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Stephen Campbell | 31 (3)| 9 | 9 | 12 | 73% | 2.44 | 1.99 | 40% | 7.88 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Alan McNevin | 29 (1)| 12 | 8 | 5 | 78% | 1.26 | 0.58 | 41% | 7.70 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Shane Walsh | 8 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 81% | 2.36 | 2.49 | - | 7.50 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Andrew Cosgrove | 11 | - | - | - | 68% | 4.01 | 0.55 | - | 7.45 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Eric McCormack | 21 | - | 2 | 2 | 66% | 3.86 | 0.48 | - | 7.43 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Paul Leahy | 29 | - | - | 1 | 66% | 4.61 | 0.42 | - | 7.41 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Keith Rushe | 19 | 1 | - | - | 68% | 2.95 | 0.26 | - | 7.26 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Ian Morris | 5 | - | 1 | - | 76% | 1.26 | 1.26 | - | 7.20 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Neale Fenn | 31 | 10 | 9 | - | 80% | 0.62 | 0.94 | 58% | 7.16 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pat Scully | 32 | - | - | - | 70% | 2.84 | 0.10 | - | 7.16 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | David McCaul | 6 (1) | 3 | 1 | - | 75% | 1.12 | 0.75 | - | 7.14 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Declan Weir | 35 | - | - | 1 | 57% | - | - | - | 7.14 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Mark McGowan | 22 (9)| 4 | 4 | - | 77% | 2.11 | 1.92 | 45% | 7.13 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Kevin Hogan | 16 (2)| 6 | 5 | - | 81% | 0.73 | 1.59 | 57% | 7.11 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Brian Mallon | 25 (6)| 2 | - | - | 70% | 3.87 | 0.12 | - | 7.10 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Ray Kenny | 19 (5)| - | - | 1 | 71% | 3.32 | - | - | 7.08 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Martin McGlue | 27 (5)| 9 | 9 | 3 | 77% | 0.61 | 1.69 | 50% | 7.06 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Alan O'Brien | 4 (2) | - | - | - | 64% | 4.53 | - | - | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Peter Rooney | 0 (6) | - | 1 | - | 80% | 0.64 | 3.21 | - | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Paul O'Shea | 5 | - | - | - | 48% | - | - | - | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Alan O'Connor | 5 (5) | 2 | 2 | - | 72% | 1.84 | 0.77 | - | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Steve Feeney | 3 (3) | - | - | - | 76% | 1.09 | - | - | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Michael Comerford | 0 (4) | - | - | - | - | 1.55 | - | - | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Darragh O'Brien | 10 (5)| - | 1 | - | 71% | 2.72 | 1.36 | 35% | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Kevin Maher | 26 (4)| 4 | - | 1 | 77% | 2.52 | 0.34 | - | 6.93 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Declan O'Leary | 11 (2)| - | - | - | 62% | 4.21 | - | - | 6.92 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Gavin Whelan | 6 (4) | - | 2 | - | 82% | 1.43 | 0.95 | - | 6.80 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Brian Lynch | 4 | - | - | - | 80% | 2.06 | 0.41 | - | 6.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
I was somewhat surprised to come runner-up in the voting for the Manager of the Year but it was no shock to see Stephen Campbell take the Player of the Year with Alan McNevin in 3rd place. After an excellent season at left back Eric McCormack came second in the Young Player of the Year award, Declan Weir was runner-up in the vote for Goalkeeper of the Year with Paul Leahy joining Campbell and McNevin in the Team of the Year.

Financially the club was in great shape after another very profitable season due to our very healthy attendance figures.

retired_amyslack

Season Four – 2007/2008

The Frustration Builds
As I prepared for my 4th season in charge at my hometown club I was starting to feel a slight sense of frustration on several fronts. Professionally it was a little disappointing to find that Chairman Liam Reidy and his Board didn’t share the same level of ambition for the club as I did, their goal for the forthcoming campaign once again limited to Premiership survival. With a bank balance in excess of £700K I was given just over £100K for transfers but once again it proved to be impossible to spend a fraction of that amount as none of the players on my shortlist had any intention of joining such a low profile club.

On a personal front I was frustrated that I felt unable to act on my increasing attraction to Viv, any attempt to develop our relationship beyond the professional level meeting with little encouragement.

Pat Scully confirmed that he would no longer continue his playing career but I was surprised when he declined to remain on the coaching staff, expressing an ambition to try his hand at management and opting to look for opportunities elsewhere. Forward Michael Comerford and midfielder Gavin Whelan were both released at the end of their contracts and a further ten youngsters progressed from the flourishing Youth Academy.

I decided that given our inability to attract new players then I would invest further in the backroom staff and over the course of the winter I brought in three new coaches and an extra physio to help Viv and her team.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Name | Position | Nat | Age | Value | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Paul O'Shea | GK | IRL | 18 | £2K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Declan Weir | GK | IRL | 24 | £0 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Alan O'Brien | SW/D C | IRL | 18 | £3K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Andrew Cosgrove | D R | IRL | 22 | £1K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Paul Leahy | D R | IRL | 26 | £5K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Eric McCormack | D L | IRL | 23 | £1K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Keith Rushe | D L | IRL | 24 | £0 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Declan O'Leary | D C | IRL | 19 | £2K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Steve Feeney | D/DM C | IRL | 23 | £0 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Ray Kenny | D/M RC | IRL | 34 | £0 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Brian Mallon | D/M C | IRL | 27 | £1K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Kevin Maher | DM C | IRL | 31 | £1K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Alan O'Connor | M C | IRL | 19 | £0 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Shane Walsh | AM R | IRL | 18 | £22K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Stephen Campbell | AM RLC | IRL | 25 | £35K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Mark McGowan | AM RC | IRL | 26 | £1K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Alan McNevin | AM C | IRL | 28 | £40K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Ian Morris | AM C | IRL | 21 | £5K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Darragh O'Brien | AM C | IRL | 19 | £3K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Martin McGlue | F RLC | IRL | 25 | £2K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | David McCaul | F LC | IRL | 19 | £1K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Peter Rooney | F LC | IRL | 18 | £24K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Neale Fenn | S C | IRL | 31 | £4K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Kevin Hogan | S C | IRL | 25 | £2K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
After an unbeaten series of warm-up games we faced the season opener in March 2008 at Waterford United with my entire first choice midfield of Campbell, McNevin and Walsh all suspended. The resulting 1-0 defeat was not the way that I would have chosen to start the season, particularly against a team newly promoted to the Premiership. There was a marked improvement in our midweek game at home to Finn Harps and a very satisfactory 3-0 win. Having got off to a fantastic start at St. Pat’s Athletic by scoring twice in the first five minutes we somehow collapsed to lose 5-2, four of the goals coming in the last 20 minutes. A narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Bohemians at the end of the month left us in 11th place and I was none too pleased with our start to the season.

retired_amyslack

Crunch Time
A 2-1 defeat at home to Drogheda United gave us a poor start in April but at least we picked up a point a week later with a 1-1 draw at home to Cork City. Our recovery proved to be temporary as in our next match we lost 3-1 at Shamrock Rovers, having failed to build on our early lead. It wasn’t that we were playing badly but we were having problems converting chances into goals and we were too unsteady at the back where the influence of Pat Scully was sorely missed. Having now dropped to the foot of the table I decided that it was time to have an “open and frank discussion” with the players and I made it clear how frustrated I was with the situation. I gave them a simple choice – “buck your ideas up and get some wins on board or you can all go back to playing First Division football next season”.

I have to say that the lads responded in the best possible way by going out and beating Bray Wanderers 3-1 in our next league match. For the remainder of the month we continued in the same vein, seeming to have found our goalscoring touch at last, although we were still not exactly rock solid at the back as our 3-3 draw at Longford demonstrated. But in our two other games in April we recorded wins – 4-1 at St. Pat’s Athletic in the 1st Round of the Leinster Senior Cup and 2-1 at Galway United in our opening League Cup group match. Stephen Campbell caught the eye sufficiently in midfield to be voted Irish Player of the Month and we lifted ourselves off the foot of the table.

May began with a visit from league leaders Derry City and unfortunately our goal touch deserted us and the game ended in a scoreless draw. Despite that I was very pleased with the level of our performance as we outplayed the visitors for long stretches of the game. It was a similar pattern at home to Waterford United in our next league match as we created lots of chances but took only one and ended with a 1-1 draw in a match that we should have won. Our run of draws was broken with a 2-0 win at Finn Harps during which Campbell put in another magnificent display in midfield. Our defensive frailties came to the fore again at Shelbourne when we lost 4-2 in a match where we gave as good as we got for most of the game. Neale Fenn finally got off the mark for the season when he scored twice in our 4-0 win at home to St. Pat’s Athletic but we ended the month with a 2-1 loss at Bohemians. As well as a full league programme we also had some cup action during the month. I continued with my squad rotation policy for those games and it brought some reward with a 4-0 defeat of Athlone Town that ensured that we qualified from our League Cup group. There was no repeat of that result in the Leinster Senior Cup Quarter Final at Longford however, the home side winning an entertaining game 4-2.

A quiet June allowed the players to recharge their batteries with our only league game a trip to Drogheda United during which we spent 90 minutes giving the ball boys some exercise. Thankfully our sole successful strike on goal was enough for a 1-0 win and three valuable points. Our only other action was our League Cup Quarter Final at home to Shelbourne and I fielded a full strength team for the match. We gave the favourites quite a game, holding them goalless after extra time before losing a nail-biting shootout 5-4.

At the start of July we had the chance to avenge our cup defeat when Shelbourne visited us in the league but we fell just short, losing a very even contest 3-2. In our next match we recovered from a two-goal deficit to get a point at Cork City with a 2-2 draw and then we went on to win 2-1 at home to Shamrock Rovers. Despite managing to get less than 50% of our goal attempts on target, a depressingly familiar statistic, we still managed to get a narrow 1-0 win in our next match at Bray Wanderers. 19-year-old Shane Walsh had been getting rave reviews for his performances in midfield and he scored the opening goal in our 3-0 win at home to U.C.D. in the 2nd round of the Senior Challenge Cup in our last game of the month. A much improved set of results had lifted us up into mid-table by month end and Alan McNevin won the Irish Player of the Month award.

retired_amyslack

On the Up
August was our best month of the season so far as the players dug deep and responded well. We won three of our four league games, our only reverse coming in a 2-0 defeat at Waterford United, and made further progress in the Senior Challenge Cup with a 2-0 win at Drogheda United. Stephen Campbell was voted Irish Player of the Month for another series of excellent performances in midfield.

It took a late goal from substitute Peter Rooney to take our Challenge Cup Quarter Final against Bray Wanderers to a replay and despite dominating the return we lost 1-0 after we failed to convert any of our myriad of chances. We played just two league matches in September, drawing them both. In both games we created a host of opportunities and I felt that we should have won each match. I was particularly frustrated with the game at league leaders Shelbourne where we outshot our opponents three to one but still drew 2-2.

October was also a relatively quiet month with three league games on the schedule. 16-year-old Keith Keogh became the youngest player to make a first-team appearance when he played in our match at home to Cork City, setting up the first goal in our 4-1 win. The young forward had been impressing for the reserves and I wanted to give him a chance to see if he would improve our goal conversion rate. Our two other games produced a win and a defeat, both by narrow 1-0 margins and we remained in mid-table. By the end of the month Shelbourne had been confirmed as Champions, their 8th success in the last ten years.

We finished off the season with four league matches in November as we cleared our fixture backlog and we remained unbeaten in the month, winning two and drawing two. Our final league position of 4th place was as well as the club had ever done but I was nonetheless unhappy with how things had turned out. I felt that we had the potential to do a lot more but were handicapped by being unable to capitalise on the strength and quality of our midfield. Our first choice trio had all performed brilliantly and were the strongest in the division but time and again we were let down by our inability to score goals. I lost count of the number of matches where we outplayed the opposition but ended up drawing or losing.


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Shelbourne | 33 | 17 | 8 | 8 | 42 | 34 | +8 | 59 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Finn Harps | 33 | 14 | 12 | 7 | 53 | 41 | +12 | 54 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Derry City | 33 | 14 | 12 | 7 | 41 | 29 | +12 | 54 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | KILKENNY CITY | 33 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 49 | 37 | +12 | 51 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Bohemians | 33 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 45 | 48 | -3 | 48 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Cork City | 33 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 43 | 40 | +3 | 46 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | St. Pat's Athletic | 33 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 57 | 52 | +5 | 45 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Shamrock Rovers | 33 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 43 | 37 | +6 | 44 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Drogheda Utd | 33 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 32 | 37 | -5 | 37 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Bray Wanderers | 33 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 44 | 55 | -11 | 35 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Longford | 33 | 9 | 6 | 18 | 37 | 54 | -17 | 33 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | R | Waterford Utd | 33 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 28 | 50 | -22 | 31 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
I guess that finishing runner-up in the Manager of the Year voting should have been some consolation but it still left me feeling distinctly second best. However I was pleased to se Stephen Campbell and Shane Walsh take a one-two in the Premier Division Player of the Year stakes. Shane also won the Young Player award with full back Andrew Cosgrove finishing second. Keith Rushe joined Campbell and Cosgrove in the Team of the Year and Alan McNevin finished 3rd in the Golden Boot standings.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Name | Apps | Gls | Ast | MoM | Pas | Tck | Drb | Sh T | Av Rat| | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Shane Walsh | 35 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 77% | 3.00 | 1.94 | 37% | 7.97 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Stephen Campbell | 36 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 73% | 2.53 | 1.70 | 35% | 7.97 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Andrew Cosgrove | 24 | - | 1 | - | 73% | 4.67 | 0.69 | - | 7.63 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Alan McNevin | 37 | 18 | 4 | 7 | 80% | 0.59 | 0.78 | 42% | 7.62 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Keith Rushe | 29 | - | 1 | 1 | 71% | 3.00 | 0.41 | - | 7.41 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Steve Feeney | 31 (1)| 2 | 4 | - | 80% | 2.80 | 0.26 | 33% | 7.38 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Declan O'Leary | 34 | - | 2 | 2 | 73% | 3.02 | 0.12 | - | 7.35 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Ian Morris | 6 (6) | 1 | 2 | - | 75% | 1.75 | 1.31 | 47% | 7.33 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Paul Leahy | 18 | - | 1 | 1 | 70% | 3.55 | 0.55 | - | 7.33 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Darragh O'Brien | 6 (9) | 1 | 2 | - | 78% | 2.67 | 1.90 | - | 7.33 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Peter Rooney | 24 (7)| 12 | 3 | 3 | 79% | 0.71 | 2.18 | 64% | 7.32 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Kevin Hogan | 38 | 13 | 17 | 2 | 80% | 0.81 | 2.53 | 42% | 7.29 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Brian Mallon | 38 (1)| - | - | 1 | 68% | 3.54 | 0.21 | - | 7.21 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Declan Weir | 33 (1)| - | - | - | 52% | - | 0.03 | - | 7.18 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Eric McCormack | 13 | - | - | 1 | 74% | 2.38 | 0.23 | - | 7.15 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Martin McGlue | 10 (3)| 7 | 4 | - | 83% | 0.58 | 2.88 | 41% | 7.15 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Kevin Maher | 3 (5) | 1 | - | - | 82% | 2.85 | 0.26 | - | 7.13 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Neale Fenn | 11 (7)| 2 | - | - | 83% | 0.63 | 1.61 | 38% | 7.11 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Keith Keogh | 1 (4) | - | 1 | - | 65% | 0.57 | 4.56 | 62% | 7.00 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Mark McGowan | 4 (3) | 1 | 1 | - | 77% | 1.73 | 1.23 | - | 7.00 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Ray Kenny | 8 (3) | - | - | - | 78% | 2.60 | 0.22 | - | 7.00 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Alan O'Brien | 12 (2)| - | - | - | 74% | 3.30 | 0.32 | - | 6.93 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Paul O'Shea | 9 | - | - | - | 48% | - | - | - | 6.33 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
Having featured prominently in the end of season awards there was a strong contingent from the club at the ceremony and dinner and with the booze flowing freely as it always does at these events I once again found a familiar companion in my bed the next morning. The obligatory underwear check confirmed that no breakthrough had been made on that front either, a discovery that merely added to my growing sense of frustration and general lack of fulfilment.

retired_amyslack

Season Five – 2008/2009

It’s Now Or Never
I spent the Christmas period giving my position some serious consideration – on the one hand I could see the potential within the team as some of our youngsters were starting to come through the ranks but on the other another season of under-achievement would just about do me in. I finally reached the conclusion that I would give it one more attempt but this year we needed to get amongst the silverware or else I really would have to move on.

I allowed half a dozen senior players to leave at the end of their contracts and we also bid farewell to the veteran Ray Kenny who retired. The Academy produced a dozen or so graduates with the coaching staff highlighting one or two as real prospects. We also brought in a young keeper called Alan Ward from Finn Harps for a modest fee and with the club in a very strong financial position it made barely a dent in our generous transfer budget. But what I really wanted was a decent goalscorer and yet each and every one of the players on my shortlist had absolutely no interest in joining. However our scouting network had unearthed several unattached teenagers that looked worth a punt so we took them on board to see how they worked out.

Having made up my mind to stay at Kilkenny I was totally taken aback when my Chairman Liam Reidy summoned me for an urgent meeting. His counterpart at Shelbourne, Finbarr Flood, had been in touch to ask permission to interview me as a replacement for former manager Pat Bonnor who had decided to retire. I stalled for time, asking Liam to give me a day or two to think about it. In truth I had no idea what to do – the thought of taking over one of the biggest clubs in the country was undoubtedly appealing but having reached the decision to give Kilkenny another season I was now feeling genuinely torn.

After a sleepless night I finally reached a decision and I called my Chairman first thing in the morning. “Liam, it’s Paddy – I’ve made my mind up. I’m staying put. I must be mad turning down a club like Shelbourne but I’m going to give it another crack at Kilkenny this season.” Mr. Reidy seemed as surprised as I did that I was prepared to turn down such a tempting offer, too stunned to even thank me for my loyalty to the club – at least that’s how I chose to interpret his silence!

As we completed a satisfactory series of pre-season warm up matches I had my usual meeting with the backroom staff to assess the coming season and discuss our tactics and starting eleven. There was a general consensus that we should stick with our favoured tactical approach and try to play to our main strength, our dynamic midfield. We had a pretty young squad and my Assistant Gerry Scully was very impressed with several of our youth prospects and urged me to give them some first team action sooner rather than later. I basically agreed but wanted to start off with the players that we knew and introduce the younger lads gradually. That still meant that we would have some pretty young players in key positions for us however but I was of the opinion that as it had proved to be so difficult to attract proven talent to the club then we should not be too afraid to give youth a try.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Name | Position | Nat | Age | Value | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Alan Ward | GK | IRL | 20 | £4K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Declan Weir | GK | IRL | 25 | £0 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Alan O'Brien | SW/D C | IRL | 19 | £4K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Andrew Cosgrove | D R | IRL | 23 | £1K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Paul Leahy | D R | IRL | 27 | £6K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Eric McCormack | D L | IRL | 24 | £1K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Keith Rushe | D L | IRL | 25 | £1K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Paul Malone | D C | IRL | 17 | £10K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Declan O'Leary | D C | IRL | 20 | £2K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Steve Feeney | D/DM C | IRL | 24 | £1K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Brian Mallon | D/M C | IRL | 28 | £1K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Kevin Maher | DM C | IRL | 32 | £1K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Shane Walsh | AM R | IRL | 19 | £180K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Stephen Campbell | AM RLC | IRL | 26 | £40K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Alan McNevin | AM C | IRL | 29 | £40K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Ian Morris | AM C | IRL | 22 | £2K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Darragh O'Brien | AM C | IRL | 20 | £4K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Martin McGlue | F RLC | IRL | 26 | £1K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Keith Keogh | F LC | IRL | 16 | £35K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Peter Rooney | F LC | IRL | 19 | £35K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| | Kevin Hogan | S C | IRL | 26 | £40K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
Declan Weir would start in goal with new lad Alan Ward as backup. Cosgrove and Rushe were our first choice fullbacks with teenagers Declan O’Leary and Alan O’Brien playing in central defence with the even younger Paul Malone substituting. I would have preferred an experienced campaigner in there but frankly we didn’t have one so the lads would have to mature quickly. Steve Feeney would play just in front of the back four to give them more support and allow our star trio of Campbell, new club captain McNevin and last season’s star find Shane Walsh. Rooney and Hogan would start up front with 16 year old Keogh coming off the bench. There were a couple of exciting young midfielders that would undoubtedly feature during the campaign but we would be starting with our established lads.

retired_jgirl87

C'mon Paddy Feeney and Kilkenny, surely this is their year?

retired_amyslack

I hope so Spav, thanks

Youth Is The Future
I was keen to get the season off to a good start rather than playing catch up all the time but we travelled to Cork City minus striker Rooney and both of our backup midfield anchors, Mallon suspended and Maher injured. A lively match finished 3-2 in our favour and I was mighty relieved that we had started the season with a win. Our first home game of the season ended in a somewhat fortunate 1-1 draw with Bray Wanderers but at least we managed to avoid a defeat. Before our next match Shane Walsh collected his second U-21 cap in a 0-0 draw against Northern Ireland and added a 3rd a few days later against Italy. March ended with a trip to Longford and despite my opposite number marking us down as relegation certainties we returned with a decent 2-2 draw.

Our playing schedule for April was full to say the least with two games a week for most of the month. We started out with a 1-1 draw at home to U.C.D. and then followed that with an excellent 2-0 win at struggling Shamrock Rovers. The visit of bottom club Derry City left me scratching my head in wonderment at the end of the game. We had four times as many shots as our opponents, played against ten men for the final 20 minutes and yet still let a 2-0 lead slip to draw 2-2. We also had three players injured during the game giving Viv and her team five players to nurse in the treatment room.

With three of our first team strikers out I had to call up teenagers Paul Foley and Barry Kenny from the youth setup for the trip to Bohemians with Foley partnering Keogh. Despite being comprehensively outplayed for most of the match we managed to escape with a 1-1 draw thanks mainly to the heroics of keeper Alan Ward. The youngster had been so impressive in training that he had replaced Weir several games earlier and had played well ever since. I made a number of changes four our next match, a midweek League Cup group match at home to First Division Limerick. By half time both of our starting strikers were injured and a poor game finished goalless.

It was back to the first eleven for the visit of Drogheda United in the league and a last-minute goal from 16 year old Keogh gave us an invaluable 1-0 win. Just a few days later the second string were back in action at U.C.D. in the 1st round of the Leinster Senior Cup, Rooney scoring both goals in the 2-0 win. The month ended with an excellent 3-0 win at home to Finn Harps with Martin McGlue scoring a hat trick. The 26 year old was turning out to be an unlikely hero and despite having missed a number of games through injury he was our top scorer of the season so far with 9 goals from 5 starts.

I was delighted that we had remained unbeaten thus far and we sat in second place in the table, five points behind runaway leaders St. Pat’s Athletic. May began with a showdown at the leaders and despite losing two players to injury we managed to fight back from a goal down to win 3-1, a McGlue brace making the difference. A 1-0 win at Longford in midweek by the second string was enough to see us qualify from our League Cup group. Back in league action McGlue’s 12th goal of the season gave us a 1-1 draw at home to Shelbourne to retain our unbeaten record but the dropped points kept us four points behind the leaders.

We were eliminated from the Leinster Senior Cup at the Quarter Final stage at Drogheda, the 1-0 defeat our first loss in all competitions this season. In the same game we also lost the services of striker Kevin Hogan who tore a hamstring in his first game back after a similar injury. On Viv’s advice we sent him to a specialist who recommended surgery and a layoff of several months.

Our unbeaten league run was finally ended by Cork City who scored their winner just as the referee was about to signal the end of four minutes of stoppage time, a cruel blow indeed. In our final match of the month we drew 2-2 at Bray Wanderers and although we held on to second place we were now nine points behind leaders St. Pat’s.

retired_amyslack

The Chase Continues
By the time we travelled to U.C.D. in early June we had midfielders McNevin and Campbell both out with groin strains so teenager Alan Curran was called up from the youths as one of our substitutes. We lost 3-1 and it looked very much like our run of good form (and good fortune) was coming to an end. We recovered with a 2-0 win at home to Longford but then dropped points again in a 1-1 draw at Derry City in a game that we should have won. We then lost our League Cup Quarter Final at Cork City 1-0 after extra time, a penalty four minutes from time ending our interest in the competition.

No sooner had Campbell got back into training that Walsh took his place in the treatment room with a knee injury – Viv and her team were certainly earning their money this season. At least it gave me a good excuse to hang around the physio room and spend some time with Viv. Our relationship was still a little strained but I tried to keep myself on an even keel when I talked shop with her. We ended the month with a good 2-0 win over Shamrock Rovers to keep hold of second place in the table. We were now just past the mid point of the season and the league was as competitive as ever with just nine points between ourselves and 11th place Derry City. St. Pat’s had a healthy 12-point lead and looked to be on course for their first title since 1999.

July began with a disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to Bohemians and then travelled to 3rd place Drogheda with defenders Cosgrove and O’Leary both suspended having reached the five yellow card mark and four other players out injured. A dire game was enlivened with some late goals as both teams tired and I was absolutely delighted when we came out on top with a 2-1 scoreline. I wasn’t so happy the next weekend as not only did we lose 2-1 at Finn Harps but midfield anchor Feeney suffered what turned out to be a torn groin muscle meaning surgery and at least a two-month layoff.

So we faced league leaders St. Pat’s with no backup for the holding player as Kevin Maher was also out with an injury. The first team squad was beginning to look a bit threadbare and I was not optimistic of keeping our strong league position for too much longer. However I made the mistake of underestimating my players and they put in a heroic performance to beat the champions elect for the second time this season. Youngster Peter Rooney scored both the goals in our narrow 2-1 win, a result that delighted the fans and the Chairman alike. We ended the month with a comfortable 5-0 win at home to non-league Keadue in the 2nd round of the Challenge Cup. Rooney was in the goals again with a hat trick, the youngster also striking the woodwork twice as we totally overwhelmed the visitors. That was the good news – the bad news was yet another serious injury as Brian Mallon suffered torn ankle ligaments. A four-month layoff was on the cards leaving us with a real problem in the midfield anchor position. The next day young Rooney damaged his back in training and he would miss at least three weeks. They talk about the luck of the Irish but from where I was sitting the only luck I could see was bad luck!

Shane Walsh was back in the side for our trip to Shelbourne at the start of August and Maher was fit enough to take the anchor position although I was concerned about his ability to fulfil that role. In the event he did well enough and on the balance of play I was content with the 1-1 draw, especially considering that the home side hit the woodwork twice in the closing ten minutes. The defending champions had made an awful start to the season but they had recovered well and their recent league form had been good. I was much less happy with our 2-0 defeat at Cork City, Campbell undermining our chances by being sent off after 25 minutes.

With two thirds of the season gone the title was going to St. Pat’s and we were chasing second place in a four-way fight with Bray Wanderers, Shamrock Rovers and Finn Harps. By this time Darragh O’Brien had supplanted McNevin in the centre of midfield and the 21 year old put in another good display to mastermind a 1-0 win at home to Limerick in the 3rd round of the Senior Cup. Despite holding second place in the league for the bulk of the season the bookmakers still had us as underdogs in all of our league matches and I had made a habit of having a little flutter on the team each match. Our narrow 1-0 win at home to Bray Wanderers not only kept us three points clear of 3rd place it also gave me a nice £100 return for my £10 stake!

The scouting team were producing a steady stream of unattached youngsters for my consideration and although few of them ever got beyond the trial stage I did decide to take a punt on 18 year old Brian Bradley. Nominally a centre back, he was no world beater but he was fit, strong and determined and I had a feeling that he could adapt to a holding role in front of the back four. At the end of August I learned that we would be losing top scorer McGlue at the end of the year after he accepted a contract offer from Shelbourne. I wasn’t happy that he never even gave us the chance to table a counter-offer but there was nothing that could be done about it.

retired_amyslack

Always Second Best
By early September the U21 league was done and dusted with Kilkenny winning the title for the first time. I took the chance to move young midfielder James McCarthy into the first team squad and he scored the opening goal in our Challenge Cup Quarter Final at home to Waterford United. Sadly we seemed to lose interest after that and the visitors scored three unanswered goals to dump us out of the competition. I was furious as I had genuine hopes of gaining some silverware and I couldn’t believe that we had lost to First Division opponents having had home advantage.

Peter Rooney was back in action in our next match and he celebrated by scoring the 3rd goal in our excellent 3-1 win over bottom of the table U.C.D. in one of our best league performances for some weeks. We then ground a 1-1 draw at Longford in midweek before a key match at Shamrock Rovers. Despite missing a penalty we managed to scrape a 2-1 win to establish ourselves as favourites for the runners-up spot.

For the visit of Derry City we had virtually all of our players back in full training giving me the chance to put the likes of Feeney and Hogan on the bench. We won 3-0 but unbelievably we finished with just 8 players on the pitch. We had Campbell, Cosgrove and O’Brien all injured and Malone sent off, the latter three incidents all taking place after having used all three substitutes. Midfielders Campbell and O’Brien both required several weeks off so it was a case of one step forward and two steps back.

I had to change our entire first choice midfield for our next match at Bohemians and during the game we lost both McNevin and Morris, both hurt, and had McGlue sent off. In the circumstances the 1-1 draw was a bit of a miracle and thankfully neither midfielder was badly injured. The visit of Drogheda saw seven of our players unavailable through injuries and suspensions and a patchwork eleven played surprisingly well, the 1-1 draw flattering the visitors.

By the time Finn Harps visited, St. Pat’s had been crowned as Premiership champions and we knew that one win from our last three games would secure us second place. I was mighty relieved when the points we were looking for were obtained with a solid 3-1 win to secure our best ever finish in the top flight. At the end of the month we visited the new champions and repeated the 3-1 win that we had secured there earlier in the season.

The U18 team followed the success of their older colleagues by finishing top of their league, an encouraging indication of the quality of some of the youngsters that our Academy was producing. The season ended with a scrambled 1-0 win at home to Shelbourne to see us end the season just six points behind the champions. U.C.D. finished bottom and were relegated automatically with Longford entering a playoff with Athlone Town, Monaghan United and Sligo Rovers with Monaghan triumphing to gain promotion.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | St. Pat's Athletic | 33 | 20 | 6 | 7 | 62 | 36 | +26 | 66 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | KILKENNY CITY | 33 | 16 | 12 | 5 | 54 | 34 | +20 | 60 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Shamrock Rovers | 33 | 15 | 5 | 13 | 45 | 40 | +5 | 50 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Bohemians | 33 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 46 | 36 | +10 | 48 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Finn Harps | 33 | 12 | 8 | 13 | 49 | 51 | -2 | 44 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Bray Wanderers | 33 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 31 | 37 | -6 | 41 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Drogheda Utd | 33 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 38 | 39 | -1 | 40 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Shelbourne | 33 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 33 | 42 | -9 | 40 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Cork City | 33 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 30 | 37 | -7 | 39 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Derry City | 33 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 34 | 44 | -10 | 39 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | R | Longford | 33 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 43 | 50 | -7 | 35 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | R | U.C.D. | 33 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 35 | 54 | -19 | 33 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
Our financial position showed further improvement with healthy crowds and a relatively modest wage bill giving us a profit of over £300K for the season. On the playing front no one individual really stood out as a top performer. Our midfield performed well once again but I was surprised to see Darragh O’Brien establish himself in the centre of the field at the expense of Alan McNevin. Alan Ward was now firmly ensconced as our number one keeper with young Kevin Keegan his preferred backup. Surprise top scorer McGlue had already decided to move on but Peter Rooney had done well despite his season being interrupted by injury.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Name | Apps | Gls | Ast | MoM | Pas | Tck | Drb | Sh T | Av Rat| | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Stephen Campbell | 27 (4) | 1 | 13 | 3 | 74% | 2.21 | 1.95 | 37% | 7.65 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Keith Rushe | 31 | - | 3 | 2 | 70% | 3.06 | 0.33 | - | 7.52 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Shane Walsh | 27 (4) | 2 | 5 | 1 | 73% | 2.84 | 1.77 | 29% | 7.45 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Darragh O'Brien | 30 (7) | 7 | 8 | 3 | 80% | 1.26 | 0.99 | 48% | 7.43 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Peter Rooney | 26 (4) | 11 | 3 | 4 | 81% | 0.50 | 1.76 | 62% | 7.40 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Alan Ward | 37 | - | 1 | 4 | 58% | 0.03 | 0.08 | - | 7.35 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Brian Bradley | 8 (1) | 1 | - | 1 | 68% | 2.35 | 0.37 | - | 7.33 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Kevin Hogan | 11 (1) | 6 | 1 | 1 | 82% | 0.60 | 1.81 | 52% | 7.33 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Andrew Cosgrove | 36 | - | 1 | - | 65% | 3.22 | 0.39 | - | 7.31 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Martin McGlue | 26 (7) | 20 | 5 | 3 | 81% | 0.58 | 2.48 | 54% | 7.30 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Brian Mallon | 12 (5) | - | - | - | 72% | 3.26 | 0.07 | - | 7.29 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Paul Malone | 27 | - | 1 | 1 | 66% | 3.58 | 0.08 | - | 7.26 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Declan O'Leary | 26 (3) | - | - | - | 72% | 3.50 | 0.15 | - | 7.24 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Steve Feeney | 20 (5) | - | 5 | - | 75% | 1.89 | 0.26 | - | 7.24 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Ian Morris | 13 (8) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 72% | 1.76 | 2.42 | - | 7.24 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Eric McCormack | 10 | - | - | - | 67% | 2.13 | 0.19 | - | 7.20 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Paul Leahy | 5 | - | - | - | 70% | 4.34 | 0.22 | - | 7.20 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Alan O'Brien | 21 (1) | 1 | 1 | - | 73% | 4.50 | 0.09 | - | 7.18 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Alan McNevin | 15 (8) | 3 | 5 | 2 | 76% | 1.35 | 0.64 | 35% | 7.13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Niall Quinn | 3 (2) | 1 | - | - | 69% | 2.31 | 0.26 | - | 7.00 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Keith Keogh | 11 (10) | 3 | 1 | - | 82% | 0.56 | 1.77 | 45% | 7.00 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | James McCarthy | 4 | 2 | - | - | 72% | 1.25 | 1.75 | - | 6.75 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Kevin Maher | 6 (5) | - | - | - | 76% | 1.72 | 0.14 | - | 6.73 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Kevin Keegan | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
The end of season awards saw me finish runner up behind St. Pat’s Noel King in the Manager of the Year. Stephen Campbell claimed 3rd place in the Player of the Year with Shane Walsh and Darragh O’Brien taking one-two in the Young Player of the Year. Rushe, Campbell and Ward were named in the Premiership Select and McGlue won the Golden Boot and Ward was runner up in the Goalkeeper of the Year.

With so much to celebrate we had a pretty wild night at the awards dinner and once more Viv and myself found ourselves sharing a bed the next morning. The obligatory underwear check showed that there had been no breakthrough on that front and I steeled myself for another year of unrequited lust.

retired_justin99099

come on Kilkenny!!!
this year surely! :thup: