Tanel

This is the story of Estonian manager going to try his luck at Europe. That manager is me.

I've just finished my license to manage any team I want in the World. Young manager named Tanel Tursk is going for Europe. After making wonders with semi-professional team in Estonia, i have got my licence and also been an assistant manager in Norway for one year after that to get some more experience.

I sent my CV to different clubs in Europe who were without manager and i was confident of getting a place in some club. I had very good recommendations from Estonian coach Jelle Goes, also from other Estonian coaches + the Norwegian team's manager where i worked one year.

The story begins:

25th of June:

I was waiting for some call. During that day I got calls from Norwegian First Division, Wales and so on, but it was only one offer which I could accept. My first choice place was given to someone else, but late in the night - I recieved a call from Republic of Ireland. It was the Chairman of Cork City - the team in local premier divison. Mr. Brian Lennox asked me to come there to discusse about the possible deal. As fast as I can. I quickly got myself a planeticket to England.

27th of June:

I lived through an awful trip on the sea and Lennox and some other people from the staff were on the harbour waiting for me with nice car. We then drove to Cork and sat down & talk about the deal.

Brian: "I'm really interested in a deal with you. Your'e style is what I want to see and it seems that youv'e got an really good reputation where you have been."
Tanel: "Thank you! I'm also interested in Cork City. It sounds great for me that Cork is playing in Europe and that could help my career a lot."
Brian: "Yes, I think it would be good deal for both of us. We are hungry for titles & you are hungry for reputation. It sounds good."
Tanel: "This may not work very well, but i'm willing to try and deal would be good."
Brian: "So are you willing to discuss about the terms of the possible deal?"
Tanel: "I can talk about them today, but no signing today or tomorrow. I would want to see the team tomorrow."
Brian: "That is the slightest problem. I really need to sign the deal before the Uefa Cup matches though."
Tanel: "But the deal."
Brian: "Oh yes. We have talked about it with the management and they are willing to offer a contract which would last from the moment you sign to 31st of December 2006."
Tanel: "I'm more interested about the wage. I really want it to be over 5 000 pounds."
Brian: "This is also discussed already - we are willing to offer you 7 750 pounds per month + the rent of department you're living in."
Tanel: "That deal sounds ok, but what is your club ambition?"
Brian: "We don't have some special ambition to become the best in Ireland or something. We want to enjoy playing football."
Tanel: "What about the Premier Division title? Looking at the table, it doesen't look like a big impossible dream."
Brian: "This isn't an unreachable dream, but even when it doesen't go like we want - we're not dissappointed. That's why we are hiring you. We can risk."
Tanel: "Okay. I'm tired of the trip. Going to hotel. See you tomorrow at the training! Good night!"
Brian: "Bye!"

Tanel

28th of June:

The training was nice. I really got on with the players and I explained them my understanding of football. It seemed to be okay to them. I also played a little game with them. After shower I met Lennox again. I shaked his hand & said: "You've got a deal!" He was very happy and I told him that I will sign the contract today - then head back to Estonia, get some stuff and be back for the 4th of July where we annouce the contract.

5th of July:

Tanel

LEAGUE & CLUB INFO:

Cork City:
Club Balance: £65 000
Stadium: Turners Cross
Stadium Capacity: 10 000
Transfer Budget: £8965
Wage Budget: £37 500
Continental Cups: UEFA Cup
Other: Semi-professional club founded in 1984.
Squad: Picture + 2 U21 players.
Staff: Picture

LEAGUE:

TABLE (16/33 games):

1. Shelbourne - 31 pts
2. Cork City - 27 pts
3. Drogheda Utd - 26 pts
4. Bray Wanderers - 26 pts
5. Bohemians - 23 pts
6. St. Pat's Athletic - 23 pts
7. Derry City - 21 pts
8. Finn Harps - 19 pts
9. Waterford Utd - 16 pts
10. Shamrock Rovers - 14 pts
11. Longford - 14 pts
12. U.C.D. - 13 pts

1st place - UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
2nd place - UEFA CUP
3rd place - INTERTOTO

poyplemonkeys

Up the Ireland

Tanel

Quick thing which i forgot to mention. I'm acting a real managing career here. When chance to get a better club comes - i will immediately change the club. It will be a long lasting game because i have absolutely no idea how I get out of Ireland.

Tanel

6th of July

It was the first test time. It was only the second time when i step into the Turners Cross field. But this time - I came to play. My debut match was againist Derry City in Irish League Cup. It took me some time to think out who are the players i'm gonna use. I fielded them in 4-5-1 which I used in Estonia.

The line-up for my first game was:

M. Devine
G. O'Halluran - A. Bennett - D. Murray - D. Murphy
J. Gamble
C. O'Brien - L. Kearney
G. O'Gallaghan - D. Behan
J. O'Flynn

Irish League Cup, Quarter-Final
Cork City 2:1 Derry City (George O'Callaghan & Denis Behan)

I was very pleased with the players. They mostly controlled the game and created lots of chances againist the middle placed team in the league. The board game to congratulate me after the game & I had few words with a press. I basically said that I saw what I wanted. It was financialy a good day too - we got us 2k pounds.

7th of July

This day it was a semi-final draw for League Cup. We have an relatively easy match - againist Drogheda Utd at home.

8th of July

A great news for me. Brian Lennoz called me that our match againist Nistru Otaci in Uefa Cup has been televised. The match will take place on 14th of July.

9th of July

This time it was time for League debut. I had few words with mr Lennoz before the last night & he promised to be at the game. He came & again we had some words about Uefa Cup came and match againisst Finn Harps. I also said that it is going very well between me & players.

Irish Premier Division, Week 17
Cork City 2:0 Finn Harps (Anothony Tynin, George O'Gallaghan)

It was a great game in some aspects but finishing wasn't one of them. Though, I can be really satisfied with a win and in dressing room I explained them what they did wrong, but also praised them for the win. Shelbourne lost & it makes table very interesting.

11th of July

It has been very busy times and me & Lennox went to Dublin this morning to take part of the draw of Irish Senior Challenge Cup. We should have no problems progressing to the next round. We got a non Premier club Letterkenny who we play away. I was asked about it & answered: "This draw may look easy, but we aren't through until the final whistle of the game is blown. But we don't think about this game - there are lot games between now and then."

14th of July

Finally it was time for a game I was anaxiously waiting. The Uefa Cup was a perfect chance to show how good I am. I wanted to progress to next round atleast to give Cork City fans a bit something to be proud of.

Uefa Cup 1st Qualifying Round, 1st Leg
Cork City 2:0 Nistru Otaci (George O'Gallaghan & Neale Fenn)

A abosolutely great match that made me very sure of qualification. O'Gallaghan is really impressing me, in training & in game. It was already his third goal under me. Substitution Neale Fenn's goal made us very comfortable for the leg 2.

Tanel

17th of July

On this very sunny day I had to play at home againist Mayfield in Munster Senior Cup Final. As my great friend Lennox told me - this is a must win & they have won it 9 times in a row. So I had chance to collect my first ever title abroad.

Munster Senior Cup Final
Cork City 1:1 Mayfield (George O'Gallaghan)
2:0 on penalties

So here I am, with my first title. They simply scored with a first & last chance of the game. O'Gallaghan seems to be some wonder man. 4 games under me, 4 goals. Since i've moved in - the club has collected lots of money. After the 6k prize we got today - our balance has raised around 200k pounds.

22th of July

So it was time to play league games again - my start in Ireland has been very good & i've had chance to remain in Cork for 2 weeks in a row. That gave me a time to settle before finally getting some away games. On that friday, I had my last match @ home before travelling to Waterford in Monday.

Irish Premier Division, Week 18
Cork City 3:1 U.C.D. (George Callaghan 2, Denis Behan)

It keeps getting better. George Callaghan fits into my squad like glove into hand. 6 goals in 5 games. As Shelbourne is having troubles and have one point more than us, but one less game we have an chance to take the leader position on Monday when we play Waterford.

uskopite

Good luck Tanel, and your English is very good.

Oh, and by the way - first take a cab. then a ferry I would imagine.

Tanel

25th of July

We selled Cillian Lordan for 1k in that day. (To Coch Cambler) But that doesen't really matter because it was a great thing that could have happpened on that day. We were facing Waterford Utd away & we had a chance to get up to position nr 1.

Waterford Utd 1:3 Cork City (John O'Flynn, Liam Kearney, George O'Gallaghan)

We were parting after the match. What a great day in our career. It also shows that I've got a team capable of getting a better position that Shelbourne which is only good sign. George on target again - that man doesen't stop.

27th of July

Shelbourne will be one of the finalistin Irish League Cup. The other one will be either me or Drogheda Utd. They won on extra-time at home 1:0.

28th of July

This was make or break time. For the first time we travelled out of Ireland. Moldova clearly wasn't the best place in the world & some players who stayed at cheaper hotels were having mice disrupting they're sleep. Also some of the player's didn't come to the game as they were really drunk on morning. We're having a little chat with them when we get back to Ireland.

Uefa Cup Qualifying Round 1, Leg 2
Nistru Otaci 3:1 Cork City (John O
Flynn)
4:4 on aggregate, Cork City goes through thanks to away goals

I'm so sad that I couldn't give players a day off because we were quickly flying back to Ireland and then we had a match coming up on 31st. Lennox, who didn't come to the game, called me after the game ended and he was very proud of me and the team. He also told me about the nice job I've done so far.

The draw was interesting for us - Brann from Norway will be a really hard game, but you never know. If we get through then we would go mad though!

31st of July

I still decided to give some players a day off when we met Letterkenny at Senior Challenge Cup round 2. It was squad which had few subs & few first teamers.

Irish Senior Challenge Cup, Round 2
Letterkenny 0:2 Cork City (Denis Behan, Neale Fenn)

An relatively easy game. It was absolutely under control - should have scored more, but were through and happy with that. After a game, some pretty young boy came to me and asked for an autograph. I'm getting popular in Ireland! They're talking a lot with me and I have an interview with Irish Post on the 5th of August.

1st of August

Some monthly awards were announced. One thing I was really interested was the manager of the month award. I was second despite only playing 3 games in Premier Division so far. The other awards including our players were: 2nd place in Player of the Month for Colin Thomas O'Brien and 3rd Goal of the Month for George O'Gallaghan

3rd of August

It was the game I was waiting for. Drogheda at League Cup semi-final. It was my chance to show my values. They weren't an easy team and had won lots of games lately. The game was very hyped at the local footballing communities and newspapers had some very decent lenght previews and articles about the game and had few words with me and the players.

Irish League Cup, Semi-Final
Cork City 3:3 Drogheda Utd (John O'Flynn 2, George O'Gallaghan)
4-2 on penalties, Cork go through

That's an sick match. I still can't believe we played down the 3:0 lead in second half. We were great in the first half, but then the performance really dropped after the break. But in the end the day ended good. We went through on penalties. Shelbourne here we come!

Tanel

5th of July

So I had an interview planned on that day. I said that the reporter would call me around 1PM. Then I had some free hours. I was getting all nervous when he didn't call me like 10 minutes past 1PM. Finally I recieved an phone-call. But that wasn't the reporter - it was my mom! He asked that how am I doing and that usual stuff, then I said to him: "I'm recieving another call, I'll call you back within one hour."

It was the reporter who was calling. From Irish Daily, not Irish post like I said earlier (It's based in England). He asked me to come to some little cafee in central town, but since I didn't know almost nothing about the town I asked O'Flynn to drive me to the street I was supposed to got. I got there around 1:35PM. The reporter already was sitting in table - the restaurant wasn't anything special. Like home - not very full, so noone was interrupting us. Perfect place for interview. I ordered an Aqua water. The waitress was very sexy too.

So we started the interview with the reporter started. His first question was really no suprise ofcourse:

How have you adapted with the life in Ireland?

I've had no problem in Ireland, yet. I've been talking to my partents and relatievs through the phone and I've got a lot of help from the team members. But i haven't yet got time to go out and discover the country itself. As the fixture-list says, we've been very busy. But when a little break comes, I'll take some rest and drive around in the near places and watch some sights.

You've started off nicely with the club. What's your secret?

There is no secret actually. I like to play attacking football and that makes the playing fun, so it will add to our performance. I rarely are mad with the players. There is good group in here, which is very close to eachother and we will give our best to win something this year.

The attacking style you're using is really very popular already in Ireland and George O'Gallaghan who didn't really score very much in past has now started to score a lot since you game. How did this happen?

It is no wonder that that style is popular because as fun as it is to play, as fun it is to watch. But about O'Gallaghan. He's an great player and one of the biggest talents in here. I saw that on my first day. He's really good behind a main striker and he can score goals from really nice places. He came to me with that problem one day and we went to the pitch and I helped to learn him to finish and gain more confidence. He now stays on the training pitch for half an hour more than the others.

Cork City is now the only club remaining in Europe. Do you think that you can get through the next round?

Againist Brann (Norwegian team Cork is facing next round) we're not gonna have an easy game, but with a bit of luck - everything is possible. Norwegian league is on higher level than Irish, but that doesen't mean that we're gona lose. We'll fight, because we have nothing to lose - only win. The odds maybe againist us, but the team can play awesome when they're on form and want to win.

But last time when you had an away game - some players didn't control themselves and got drunk night before the match. What was the punishment?

We didn't punish them because it was the first time it happened and just gave them a warning. But we did talk about it for a long time. They admitted they were wrong.

Could you tell us any precise names?

No, let that stay in the club. We don't need that to ruin those players confidence.

You're running in all the big competitions in Ireland. Is treble possible?

We're in final of the League Cup, first in league and in the third round of the Senior Challenge Cup. Yes, it is possible and we are working to make it happen. The few die-hard fans we've got are also really behind us. This group can to sensation in Ireland.

The rumours are saying that since you took over, the club has really had an enormous profit.

I can tell you - it's true. We've collected around 200k pounds in just one month. We're trying to get fans into the stadiums and we've collected lot's of prize money. Our balance may reach 500k in the end of August. We're building up for the next season - so even if I leave, then the next manager would have an nice sum of money behind him.

You said "If You Leave", does that say that you're not staying here for long?

Yes, that's true. I'm an young manager who has big ambitiouns. The team & management knows that I may only stay here for half year or a year. But with that time - I'll make sure I give my best for the team.

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So the interview ended there. This will get published on tomorrows newspaper. I quickly went to the training. I was few minutes left because i chatted with the reporter about some non-interview stuff. Really nice man.

Oh, and I also called my mom.