Behan confident of Limerick promotion

Following the announcement of his new one-and-a-half year deal with Limerick, Extratime.ie caught up with Denis Behan to talk about his reasons for joining Pat Scully’s men on Shannonside in their bid for promotion to the promised land of the Premier Division.

Local pride was a massive part of Denis’ life, both growing up and even to this day; he admitted: “There’s a sense of local pride about it; playing for your parish, playing for your county when you’re growing up, being from Abbeyfeale, playing for Limerick is the closest thing I’ll get to that and I’m delighted I have the opportunity again. Playing for Limerick is exactly what I wanted, I did it all the way up along, but when I came back from Brentford eight years ago, you had to go to Dublin or Cork to Premier Division football. Limerick weren’t in as strong of a position as they are now. I’m delighted to be here. You heard yourself; Pat O’Sullivan on that stage, he’s brilliant for the club and brilliant for the city. I said it to Joe that you have to listen to what they say because they’re just so professional and impressive.”

A move to Cork City was always going to be on the cards for Behan as he spent all of his Irish footballing career down at Turners Cross with the Rebel Army, but he felt Limerick was the better option: “I spoke to Tommy, I said that I wanted to talk to Limerick, he said it was fine and I met Limerick and it was just the way they spoke to me and made me feel so wanted at the club and I didn’t get that when I was talking to the other clubs. They really wanted to bring Limerick back into the Premier Division; it’s a challenge. Nineteen years without Premier Division football for the size of Limerick is shocking. “

Behan also believes that Limerick can easily claim top spot and regardless of Shelbourne's form, Limerick have the quality to topple their Dublin rivals. “Finishing out a league is a lot harder than you would think, it’s only a seven point lead, hat can even stretch to a ten point lead, but we can catch up. When I get in, when Joe comes in, Shane Tracy is due back as is Stephen O’Flynn; when we get all the boys back, we’ll really push on. We have to play Shels again; it’s all to play for. All I’m here for is goals, goals are what I want. I can only ask the lads to put the ball in the box and if they don’t put the ball in the box, I’ll let them know.”

Dropping a division really wasn’t a problem for Behan as he acknowledges the progress made over the years by the second tier of Irish football. “Looking at the First Division now, there’s so much quality in it, that the only real difference is the status of being in the top tier; where everybody wants to be. With the likes of Limerick, Shels and Cork in here now, there is a lot of quality.”

Denis had offers from England, but decided that Shannonside ticked all the right boxes. “I had offers back in England, as did Joe, from here, there any everywhere. But it was the way Limerick presented themselves, put themselves forward and you can’t help but be impressed. Joe rang me after he spoke with Limerick and he was on cloud nine. Before I signed for Limerick, I kind of knew Joe would sign as well, and that did help to be honest. We will make a difference and we can help some of the younger lads.”

Money is not a massive factor in his move to Limerick as Behan constantly insisted and he admitted his annoyance at some of the figures being spread around various forums and media sources. “There is so much rubbish being spread out there by people about wages; it’s a joke some of the figures people are talking. I really get annoyed when people come along and make up “X” amounts of money. I wouldn’t have had the indecency to ask for the money that some people are saying I’m on. You will get what they are willing to pay for you in return for what you can give them, nothing more. The figures people are throwing around are stupid; you wouldn’t get that in League One over in England. The reason myself and Joe signed here is because both myself and Joe know that this is a club that will be back in the Premier Division and a club that will be successful in a couple of years. It’s nothing to do with receiving massive amounts of money. The reasons are that we knew for certain that we were going to get paid and that we were at a club who were going to be solid for the next couple of years.”

Given a scenario of scoring a late winner in Turner's Cross for Limerick, Denis was asked whether or not he would celebrate. “To be honest, I’m not like that, I had six great years at Cork City and I’m grateful for them. I’d be delighted inside, because at the end of the day, I want to be promoted and beat Cork as much as anyone but I do have the respect for the people at Cork not to celebrate, unless of course I was getting the height of abuse, but even then I’d be biting my tongue.”