Waterford: the early days
Credit:
Disillusioned is probably too strong a word to describe how I felt when Cobh Ramblers were relegated
and myself and the club had parted company. That famous Jimmy Greaves quote
sprang to my mind that football is indeed ‘a funny old game’. As I drove away from the Brandywell
that night after my last match in charge of Cobh, I remember thinking I had two options. I could be
miserable or I could motivate myself, either way it would be my choice. I chose to motivate myself so
now all I needed was a club.
I was lucky enough to be invited to speak to three clubs about becoming their new manager. I was wise enough to know that no mans opinion on any subject, let alone football matters, is worth a damn unless he can back it up with enough genuine information to make him really know and care what he is talking about.
John O’Sullivan and the board at Waterford United were open and honest from our very first meeting and that continues today. Like the majority of clubs, not just in this country, it is a constant financial struggle to meet the day to day costs. John and the board showed me a fantastic four-year strategy plan. That plan is now a year ahead of schedule, which is down to the work of the board, the supporters club and the local community getting together and making WUFC a club for the community and the southeast region in general. The whole project was exciting but more importantly it is the right thing to do for the club and I was, and still am, delighted to be part of watching and helping WUFC grow, on and off the pitch.
After myself and the board came to an agreement, we went about looking at what players we could keep and what players we could possibly bring in. John O’Sullivan truly adores WUFC. John and I decided to call a meeting at a hotel in Waterford where we could talk to the players and explain what was happening and what needed to be done to keep the club on a level footing. Unfortunately only a handful of players turned up and I then realised if it was a challenge I was looking for then I had just found one. That challenge was now to get a completely new squad together, gel them and try to get some kind of success for the supporters, the chairman and the board.
I explained to John that I needed my main man, ‘The Bulldog’ Martin Cambridge to become part of what was already a talented coaching staff that consisted of Ray Moran, Paul O’Brien and Billy Hearne. If you did not know Martin and met him in the street you would probably be afraid of him, If you did know Martin and met him on the street you would definitely be afraid of him. Of course I am joking, well kind of, but Martin is someone I trust implicitly. He knows what is required, he gets on great with the players and is very good at his job.
We now needed to get a squad together and we were delighted that players like Kevin Waters, Willie John Kiely, Paul McCarthy, Gary Dunphy, Pc Carey, along with some promising under-20 players, would commit to us.
We wanted to try and bring a few lads up from Cork because we were looking very young and lightweight but getting the lads to travel would be hard. We had long chats and eventually we got Kevin Murray, Alan Carey, Seamus ‘Shammy’ Long, John Kearney, Graham Cummins and Michael Devine to come along.
Trust is a big thing in football, and again these lads I had playing for me with Cobh came into that bracket. Not only are they great athletes and footballers but more importantly they are great people and that was important because they would integrate easily into the new surroundings and that's what they did.
Our first season was relatively successful and I say relatively because the only winners medal we had was the Munster Senior Cup. The lads did brilliantly getting to the final of the EA Sports Cup before losing to a very good Bohemians team but runners up are never remembered, and myself and the lads were devastated not just for ourselves but everybody associated at the club. Our league form took a dip as the amount of league and cup matches we were playing started to catch up on a small squad.
We went to Sligo for the FAI Cup semi-final missing some of our key players both in defence and attack through suspension and, although the lads worked so hard that night, we would lose one-nil to a Sligo team that were there for the taking had we been at full strength. A decent league challenge, two finals and a semi-final left us all feeling that a major push for promotion in the 2010 season was on the cards.
I was lucky enough to be invited to speak to three clubs about becoming their new manager. I was wise enough to know that no mans opinion on any subject, let alone football matters, is worth a damn unless he can back it up with enough genuine information to make him really know and care what he is talking about.
John O’Sullivan and the board at Waterford United were open and honest from our very first meeting and that continues today. Like the majority of clubs, not just in this country, it is a constant financial struggle to meet the day to day costs. John and the board showed me a fantastic four-year strategy plan. That plan is now a year ahead of schedule, which is down to the work of the board, the supporters club and the local community getting together and making WUFC a club for the community and the southeast region in general. The whole project was exciting but more importantly it is the right thing to do for the club and I was, and still am, delighted to be part of watching and helping WUFC grow, on and off the pitch.
After myself and the board came to an agreement, we went about looking at what players we could keep and what players we could possibly bring in. John O’Sullivan truly adores WUFC. John and I decided to call a meeting at a hotel in Waterford where we could talk to the players and explain what was happening and what needed to be done to keep the club on a level footing. Unfortunately only a handful of players turned up and I then realised if it was a challenge I was looking for then I had just found one. That challenge was now to get a completely new squad together, gel them and try to get some kind of success for the supporters, the chairman and the board.
I explained to John that I needed my main man, ‘The Bulldog’ Martin Cambridge to become part of what was already a talented coaching staff that consisted of Ray Moran, Paul O’Brien and Billy Hearne. If you did not know Martin and met him in the street you would probably be afraid of him, If you did know Martin and met him on the street you would definitely be afraid of him. Of course I am joking, well kind of, but Martin is someone I trust implicitly. He knows what is required, he gets on great with the players and is very good at his job.
We now needed to get a squad together and we were delighted that players like Kevin Waters, Willie John Kiely, Paul McCarthy, Gary Dunphy, Pc Carey, along with some promising under-20 players, would commit to us.
We wanted to try and bring a few lads up from Cork because we were looking very young and lightweight but getting the lads to travel would be hard. We had long chats and eventually we got Kevin Murray, Alan Carey, Seamus ‘Shammy’ Long, John Kearney, Graham Cummins and Michael Devine to come along.
Trust is a big thing in football, and again these lads I had playing for me with Cobh came into that bracket. Not only are they great athletes and footballers but more importantly they are great people and that was important because they would integrate easily into the new surroundings and that's what they did.
Our first season was relatively successful and I say relatively because the only winners medal we had was the Munster Senior Cup. The lads did brilliantly getting to the final of the EA Sports Cup before losing to a very good Bohemians team but runners up are never remembered, and myself and the lads were devastated not just for ourselves but everybody associated at the club. Our league form took a dip as the amount of league and cup matches we were playing started to catch up on a small squad.
We went to Sligo for the FAI Cup semi-final missing some of our key players both in defence and attack through suspension and, although the lads worked so hard that night, we would lose one-nil to a Sligo team that were there for the taking had we been at full strength. A decent league challenge, two finals and a semi-final left us all feeling that a major push for promotion in the 2010 season was on the cards.
