Tournament win on Doolin's mind
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After naming his 20-man Republic of Ireland U-23 squad Paul Doolin told Extratime that he wants to guide his young team to victory in the International Challenge Trophy.
The Irish selection, made up solely of Airtricity League players, will face England in the RSC, Waterford on May 26th as their first game of the tournament.
Even though the players will only be getting together a few days before the game, Doolin still believes that his side have a great chance and that they are in it to win it, not just to make up the numbers.
"I think no matter who you are, there’s no point entering competitions just for a stroll," Doolin told Extratime.
"First and foremost is to try and get a good result against England, that’s probably the main thing because there is only two games in it. We probably need to get a good result in our first game and take it from there."
Despite this being Doolin’s first sway into international management, the former Drogheda United and Cork City manager feels he has the experience to lead this Ireland team.
"I think I have a lot of experience outside the league with European games," he said.
"As a player I would have played maybe 30 games in Europe and as a coach I would have managed Drogheda in 12 games over a period of time, but it’s different alright."
The squad contains many of the highly rated Airtricity League’s players and Doolin feels that the right balance is needed in order to achieve success.
"When you look at the squad, we’re always looking to get a good balance within the squad," he stated.
"We’ve a lot of attacking players, if you look through the squad there’s some good young talented players with great potential. I feel it’s a decent squad and hopefully we’ll do well.
"There was a close call with certain players but there are only 20 players I can pick and I’m quite happy with the squad I have."
Before his team take on England, they will face Giovanni Trappatoni’s senior training camp squad in a training match, which Doolin is looking forward to.
"I think it is great for us. It’s a fantastic opportunity for us because we would only have been meeting on the Sunday prior to the game, whereas now we have a practice match against the senior international development squad," he stated.
"It’s a big plus for us that we can get a game in and maybe get a few things across to the players about what I’m looking for and hopefully take it into the England game."
Despite the England squad being made up of Blue Square Premier players, Doolin thinks that they are a talented side and won't be under-estimating them.
"They are a decent team and they have good preparation, playing a couple of friendlies already and there is some very good players in it," he said.
"I think people might feel that they are only Blue Square players, but there is some good players."
The Irish selection, made up solely of Airtricity League players, will face England in the RSC, Waterford on May 26th as their first game of the tournament.
Even though the players will only be getting together a few days before the game, Doolin still believes that his side have a great chance and that they are in it to win it, not just to make up the numbers.
"I think no matter who you are, there’s no point entering competitions just for a stroll," Doolin told Extratime.
"First and foremost is to try and get a good result against England, that’s probably the main thing because there is only two games in it. We probably need to get a good result in our first game and take it from there."
Despite this being Doolin’s first sway into international management, the former Drogheda United and Cork City manager feels he has the experience to lead this Ireland team.
"I think I have a lot of experience outside the league with European games," he said.
"As a player I would have played maybe 30 games in Europe and as a coach I would have managed Drogheda in 12 games over a period of time, but it’s different alright."
The squad contains many of the highly rated Airtricity League’s players and Doolin feels that the right balance is needed in order to achieve success.
"When you look at the squad, we’re always looking to get a good balance within the squad," he stated.
"We’ve a lot of attacking players, if you look through the squad there’s some good young talented players with great potential. I feel it’s a decent squad and hopefully we’ll do well.
"There was a close call with certain players but there are only 20 players I can pick and I’m quite happy with the squad I have."
Before his team take on England, they will face Giovanni Trappatoni’s senior training camp squad in a training match, which Doolin is looking forward to.
"I think it is great for us. It’s a fantastic opportunity for us because we would only have been meeting on the Sunday prior to the game, whereas now we have a practice match against the senior international development squad," he stated.
"It’s a big plus for us that we can get a game in and maybe get a few things across to the players about what I’m looking for and hopefully take it into the England game."
Despite the England squad being made up of Blue Square Premier players, Doolin thinks that they are a talented side and won't be under-estimating them.
"They are a decent team and they have good preparation, playing a couple of friendlies already and there is some very good players in it," he said.
"I think people might feel that they are only Blue Square players, but there is some good players."
About Brendan White
Brendan White is Extratime News Editor and is responsible for the news section of Extratime.ie. Brendan also covers matches in Dublin and Waterford. You can contact Brendan on twitter @whitebrendan. View Full Profile