O'Brien settling in at Cork
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After scoring the winner in his home debut against Limerick last Friday week, while impressing in the disappointing draw away to Athlone Town, Derek O’Brien has made a solid start to life with Cork City.
City are unbeaten after four games, and he thinks that, while it’ll be difficult, promotion must be the aim for Tommy Dunne’s side.
“I wouldn’t be down here if I didn’t think we could get promoted,” the winger states. “To be honest, if you look around the team you’ll see there are four or five Premier Division league winners and with experience like that, when it’ll come down to the end of the season and it’s tight in the race for promotion, having winners like that in the squad will make things a lot easier.”
Indeed O’Brien’s best years to date have been in the Premier Division, so how did a drop down to the second tier come about when he clearly hadn’t had a personal drop in his own standard? Simply, it was the uncertainty at Galway United the prompted the move, though he was impressed with how Dunne approached him despite interest from other clubs around the league.
“Tommy rang me and asked me if I wanted to come down to play with Cork. I had the option of a few other clubs around but they were looking for an answer off me a bit sooner, whereas Tommy was more patient and understanding of the situation I was in.
“It was a difficult enough period up in Galway for me and I couldn’t continue up there. I was impressed by his patience and I had a few things to sort out up there. Once I had them sorted out though, I phoned Tommy back about moving down here and then the move happened.”
While the 31 year old doesn’t think there is a big gulf in class between the Premier Division and First Division, he is glad to have the likes of Danny Murphy playing behind him on the left flank and the friendliness of the squad as a whole has seen him settle in quickly.
“This squad is full of good players, and it’s very easy to play with them. I have Danny behind me and it didn’t feel like we hadn’t known each other before the game against Wexford. That quality makes things easier on the pitch.
“Everybody also seems to get on within the squad which is important, because I’ve been in teams before where literally training stops and there’s no communication amongst the squad until they’re back out on the pitch for the next session.
“This is a great bunch of players here and there’s good craic off the pitch too, which is great to see and a big positive.”
City are unbeaten after four games, and he thinks that, while it’ll be difficult, promotion must be the aim for Tommy Dunne’s side.
“I wouldn’t be down here if I didn’t think we could get promoted,” the winger states. “To be honest, if you look around the team you’ll see there are four or five Premier Division league winners and with experience like that, when it’ll come down to the end of the season and it’s tight in the race for promotion, having winners like that in the squad will make things a lot easier.”
Indeed O’Brien’s best years to date have been in the Premier Division, so how did a drop down to the second tier come about when he clearly hadn’t had a personal drop in his own standard? Simply, it was the uncertainty at Galway United the prompted the move, though he was impressed with how Dunne approached him despite interest from other clubs around the league.
“Tommy rang me and asked me if I wanted to come down to play with Cork. I had the option of a few other clubs around but they were looking for an answer off me a bit sooner, whereas Tommy was more patient and understanding of the situation I was in.
“It was a difficult enough period up in Galway for me and I couldn’t continue up there. I was impressed by his patience and I had a few things to sort out up there. Once I had them sorted out though, I phoned Tommy back about moving down here and then the move happened.”
While the 31 year old doesn’t think there is a big gulf in class between the Premier Division and First Division, he is glad to have the likes of Danny Murphy playing behind him on the left flank and the friendliness of the squad as a whole has seen him settle in quickly.
“This squad is full of good players, and it’s very easy to play with them. I have Danny behind me and it didn’t feel like we hadn’t known each other before the game against Wexford. That quality makes things easier on the pitch.
“Everybody also seems to get on within the squad which is important, because I’ve been in teams before where literally training stops and there’s no communication amongst the squad until they’re back out on the pitch for the next session.
“This is a great bunch of players here and there’s good craic off the pitch too, which is great to see and a big positive.”
About Alan Smith
Alan Smith works as a sub-editor for the Guardian newspaper in London. Originally from Cork, he freelances for several other newspapers and websites. Follow him on twitter @alansmith90. View Full Profile