Monaghan eye place at the top table

It is eight years since Monaghan United were last in the top flight of Irish football, but a lot has changed since then and they are now ready for a return.

Away from the highlights reel on MNS, the glossy pull-out’s of tabloid newspapers and the bonus of European football, there is a second tier of the Airtricity League that rarely pops up on the national radar.

This column is part of the guilty party who don’t promote this division as much as we should and there are many reasons (or excuses) to explain this embarrassing oversight.

But we do keep an eye on it and know, for example, that Marwan Azimi is a talented youngster breaking through at Shelbourne, that Derry City are the pace-setters and that Monaghan are in the mix for promotion.

That latter point is one that has caught our attention of late as Mick Cooke’s side are starting to flex their offensive strength as they are currently on a nine-game unbeaten run in league and cup competitions.

Last week’s victory over Waterford United at the RSC moved them level on points with the Blues (along with a resurgent Limerick) and put them in the spotlight as a team that can potentially win promotion to the Premier Division.

There might not be any star names on the Magic Mons’ roster, but that is typical of Cooke, who was worked wonders on a tight budget and could be set to eclipse last season’s fifth-place finish.

Not enough credit is directed towards Cooke and club captain Aidan Lynch thinks it is about time that people recognised the excellent work that he has been doing.

“I think Mick [Cooke] would admit himself that he hadn’t quite got the type of team that he wanted in the last two years. It has taken him until this year to build the type of team that he was happy with,” Lynch told Insider’s View.

“He has chopped and changed a lot over the last couple of years, but the big difference this year has been consistency. He now knows what his players are capable of and everyone is working hard for the team.

“Mick has a lot of belief in us. Most managers will try to build up confidence in the dressing room, but he has a way of getting that bit extra out of players because he really feels that we are good enough to be competing on a higher platform.”

Promotion talk had largely been treated as a taboo subject around Gortakeegan, although Monaghan supporters are now starting to view things through a different side of the prism.

No longer is Brian Gartland seen as an up-and-coming talent, but a reliable defender. Gabriel Sava is an agile shot-stopper and not just someone who was released by Bray Wanderers, while Karl Bermingham is a striker who can score all types of goals against all types of defenders.

Can they finally make a return to the top flight and hold their own against the heavyweight contenders that hog all of the media attention? Are they truly ready for such a jump?

Lynch believes they are and he reckons that Cooke is the type of manager who would thrive on pitting his wits against some of the best coaches in the Airtricity League. For Monaghan as a club, it has been a long wait to reach the stage where they can confidently declare that they are indeed ready for top-flight football again. This could be the year when they make that return.