Hearne hoping to unshackle Blues
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With the dismissal of Stephen Henderson after last Thursday evening's home defeat to Monaghan United, the Waterford United board sent out the message that the erratic form, and indeed performances, which had drawn such disillusionment from much of the club's fan base would no longer be tolerated.
With the appointment of the coaching triumvirate of Paul O'Brien, Billy Hearne and Alan Barry, the club have sought to place the team's fate in the hands of men well versed in the philosophy of Waterford United Football Club. All three have a long affinity with the Blues and had previously been serving under Henderson prior to his dismissal; O'Brien as a first-team coach, Hearne as goalkeeping coach and Barry, a club legend, had and will continue to work with the youth setup.
Following a training session with the team on Tuesday night at the club's newly added complex, extratime.ie caught up with Billy Hearne to discuss the recent changes.
"Well the situation is that, last weekend, [after] the unfortunate situation with Stephen [Henderson], the board were left with a decision to make really quickly. Stephen had asked Paul [O'Brien] to take care of a session on Saturday morning", said Hearne, who claims not to know how long the three will be in charge. "When we arrived, some of the board members were here and they gave us the news that it looked like Stephen was possibly going, and just to take the session with the idea of preparing the team for the game on Saturday against New Ross.”
“So we did that and later that day we got the news that Stephen was definitely gone. Like any other workplace when someone loses their job, it was a difficult couple of hours, but as a group we got together; the players, the management committee, everybody involved in Waterford United and we just tried to move on. That's the beauty of football, when you have another game to move on to it gives you something [else] to focus on and that's what we've been trying to do since Saturday evening."
With mixed reports of the players' reactions to Henderson's sacking, Hearne was quick to highlight the positive atmosphere in the camp. "[The mood]'s been absolutely brilliant since Saturday afternoon as you can hear from my voice, it's starting to go from the talking. We've talked ourselves to death really but what we've done is we've gotten [the player's] head's down and we're working really, really hard. We have 16-18 outfield players, it's a small squad but what we've done is tried to instil a spirit of playing for the jersey and starting to look forward and not backwards; that's what we're trying to do."
As to how he is coping with being pushed from backroom staffer to head honcho, or at least one of, the popular former goalkeeping coach appeared excited and in good spirits. "Well it's the first time I've been standing down at The RSC with microphones in my face! It's a daunting task but I'm very proud. After a number of years in football, as a coach mainly and it's still a coaching role that I have here; amongst the three of us Alan [Barry] has the most experience as a player but Paul is a vastly experienced coach and has his A Licence and has coached at this level for a number of years. Myself, mainly working with the goalkeepers, it's now a little bit different for me dealing with the full squad and talking to the players but I'm getting used to it, their getting used to it; I've enjoyed it so far and I think the players now are responding to what we have in mind for the future of the club."
"Over the last number of weeks everything in the club has been focused on our league position and how things weren't going too well", said Hearne of the recent malaise the club has found itself in. "I suppose the target at the start of the season for everybody was promotion but we've had to drop long-term targets like that in the last few days and just focus the players on starting to enjoy football again, and playing a good style of football that'll excite people and get them back into The RSC supporting The Blues.”
“We've been known as a team that can excite people around the country and we haven't been doing it of late. We want to do that, we want to get the team playing an exciting brand of football, get the supporters behind us and New Ross Celtic is a stepping stone. And yeah because it's a different competition there'll hopefully be a bit of freshness about it but if it wasn't, if it was a league game, we'd really be approaching it the same. It's [out of] respect to New Ross Celtic and the competition that we are gonna take it that way."
Having less than a week in charge of the side before the visit of New Ross Celtic in the FAI Cup this Friday night, the new management team will not have much time to implement their own playing philosophy. But Hearne is confident that their familiarity with each other's methods will help smooth the transition. "Well myself, Alan and Paul have worked together before, with Waterford United and in other arenas like the Emerging Talent programme. We're preparing for a game as you do in football, it's a weekly cycle, and we're starting as we mean to continue. It doesn't matter whether we're here for a week or two years, we're going to work like we always would and prepare the players in the proper manner; and have our team going out on the pitch to play with a bit of freedom, get the shackles off and go out and have a cut off whatever team we're up against."
Hearne was sent to the stands for a few choice words too many in Stephen Henderson's final game last Thursday and must now await today's ruling to discover if he will be forced to serve a suspension which could perhaps hamper the trio's initial progress. He is however hopeful that he will not be harshly penalised by the FAI. "Thanks for that! I'm actually up in front of the disciplinary committee tomorrow so they'll make a decision. It's the first time I've ever been in trouble with a referee so thanks for bringing that up, it was just a spur of the moment comment and the fourth official took umbrage at it like and sent me to the stands. But it's up in front of the FAI tomorrow night and hopefully if there's a caution, it mightn't include a ban. I don't think I'll be banned for this game anyway."
Waterford United take on New Ross Celtic of Wexford in the FAI Cup this Friday in what will be the new management team's first chance to arrest the current slide and attempt to return the feel-good factor to The RSC. Every Blues fan will be hoping to witness the beginning of a bright new day in the club's recent history and not another false dawn.
The club have also announced that Friday night's is not covered by the Blues season ticket, and so entry to the match will be via the turnstiles with ticket prices remaining at €10, €6 and €3 as with Airtricity League games. The car park will be open to season ticket holders but they are asked to arrive early.
With the appointment of the coaching triumvirate of Paul O'Brien, Billy Hearne and Alan Barry, the club have sought to place the team's fate in the hands of men well versed in the philosophy of Waterford United Football Club. All three have a long affinity with the Blues and had previously been serving under Henderson prior to his dismissal; O'Brien as a first-team coach, Hearne as goalkeeping coach and Barry, a club legend, had and will continue to work with the youth setup.
Following a training session with the team on Tuesday night at the club's newly added complex, extratime.ie caught up with Billy Hearne to discuss the recent changes.
"Well the situation is that, last weekend, [after] the unfortunate situation with Stephen [Henderson], the board were left with a decision to make really quickly. Stephen had asked Paul [O'Brien] to take care of a session on Saturday morning", said Hearne, who claims not to know how long the three will be in charge. "When we arrived, some of the board members were here and they gave us the news that it looked like Stephen was possibly going, and just to take the session with the idea of preparing the team for the game on Saturday against New Ross.”
“So we did that and later that day we got the news that Stephen was definitely gone. Like any other workplace when someone loses their job, it was a difficult couple of hours, but as a group we got together; the players, the management committee, everybody involved in Waterford United and we just tried to move on. That's the beauty of football, when you have another game to move on to it gives you something [else] to focus on and that's what we've been trying to do since Saturday evening."
With mixed reports of the players' reactions to Henderson's sacking, Hearne was quick to highlight the positive atmosphere in the camp. "[The mood]'s been absolutely brilliant since Saturday afternoon as you can hear from my voice, it's starting to go from the talking. We've talked ourselves to death really but what we've done is we've gotten [the player's] head's down and we're working really, really hard. We have 16-18 outfield players, it's a small squad but what we've done is tried to instil a spirit of playing for the jersey and starting to look forward and not backwards; that's what we're trying to do."
As to how he is coping with being pushed from backroom staffer to head honcho, or at least one of, the popular former goalkeeping coach appeared excited and in good spirits. "Well it's the first time I've been standing down at The RSC with microphones in my face! It's a daunting task but I'm very proud. After a number of years in football, as a coach mainly and it's still a coaching role that I have here; amongst the three of us Alan [Barry] has the most experience as a player but Paul is a vastly experienced coach and has his A Licence and has coached at this level for a number of years. Myself, mainly working with the goalkeepers, it's now a little bit different for me dealing with the full squad and talking to the players but I'm getting used to it, their getting used to it; I've enjoyed it so far and I think the players now are responding to what we have in mind for the future of the club."
"Over the last number of weeks everything in the club has been focused on our league position and how things weren't going too well", said Hearne of the recent malaise the club has found itself in. "I suppose the target at the start of the season for everybody was promotion but we've had to drop long-term targets like that in the last few days and just focus the players on starting to enjoy football again, and playing a good style of football that'll excite people and get them back into The RSC supporting The Blues.”
“We've been known as a team that can excite people around the country and we haven't been doing it of late. We want to do that, we want to get the team playing an exciting brand of football, get the supporters behind us and New Ross Celtic is a stepping stone. And yeah because it's a different competition there'll hopefully be a bit of freshness about it but if it wasn't, if it was a league game, we'd really be approaching it the same. It's [out of] respect to New Ross Celtic and the competition that we are gonna take it that way."
Having less than a week in charge of the side before the visit of New Ross Celtic in the FAI Cup this Friday night, the new management team will not have much time to implement their own playing philosophy. But Hearne is confident that their familiarity with each other's methods will help smooth the transition. "Well myself, Alan and Paul have worked together before, with Waterford United and in other arenas like the Emerging Talent programme. We're preparing for a game as you do in football, it's a weekly cycle, and we're starting as we mean to continue. It doesn't matter whether we're here for a week or two years, we're going to work like we always would and prepare the players in the proper manner; and have our team going out on the pitch to play with a bit of freedom, get the shackles off and go out and have a cut off whatever team we're up against."
Hearne was sent to the stands for a few choice words too many in Stephen Henderson's final game last Thursday and must now await today's ruling to discover if he will be forced to serve a suspension which could perhaps hamper the trio's initial progress. He is however hopeful that he will not be harshly penalised by the FAI. "Thanks for that! I'm actually up in front of the disciplinary committee tomorrow so they'll make a decision. It's the first time I've ever been in trouble with a referee so thanks for bringing that up, it was just a spur of the moment comment and the fourth official took umbrage at it like and sent me to the stands. But it's up in front of the FAI tomorrow night and hopefully if there's a caution, it mightn't include a ban. I don't think I'll be banned for this game anyway."
Waterford United take on New Ross Celtic of Wexford in the FAI Cup this Friday in what will be the new management team's first chance to arrest the current slide and attempt to return the feel-good factor to The RSC. Every Blues fan will be hoping to witness the beginning of a bright new day in the club's recent history and not another false dawn.
The club have also announced that Friday night's is not covered by the Blues season ticket, and so entry to the match will be via the turnstiles with ticket prices remaining at €10, €6 and €3 as with Airtricity League games. The car park will be open to season ticket holders but they are asked to arrive early.
About Dean Hayes
Dean covers Waterford United and, due to a challenge from Gareth, writes in an increasingly Gonzo style. Having found himself with a considerable surplus of a culinary herb, Dean founded sister 'site extrathyme.ie some years … View Full Profile