On a quest to be the best (Take II)

[mathllanber]

Great story so far, keep it up.

 

[Shedender]

Cheers mathllanber and don't worry, I intend to keep it up.

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Institute: End of season round-up 2019/20

Somehow I haven't been sacked as Institute manager despite having an atrocious league campaign to date as we're down in ninth place in Championship 1 despite being the preseason favourites to win the league - the only saving grace is we're still in the Intermediate Cup, another trophy I was hoping I could win whenever I took the charge at the Riverside Stadium.

Our run in the Irish Cup ended in the sixth round after a two goals to one defeat away to Premiership side Glentoran at The Oval, we had shocked another Premiership side in Carrick the previous round, beating them 1-0 in a replay. But one trophy that was signed sealed and delivered was the Intermediate Cup after we beat Dergview 3-2 in the final despite falling behind twice in a crazy final twenty minutes - in the other rounds of the Intermediate Cup the side managed to beat Hanover, Strabane, Newington, Malachians, PSNI and Lisburn Distillery.

The league form picked up slightly in the second part of the campaign after back-to-back 2-0 wins at home to Newry and Loughgall but that was then followed by back-to-back 2-0 defeats away to Bangor and home to Larne but we then duffed Banbridge Town seven goals to two. Our league campaign ended with back-to-back wins and clean sheets but everyone knew the title had gone before the New Year began.

So despite being the preseason favourites for the league, the club had to settle for a massively disappointing eighth place finish which simply can't be acceptable. The eleven league defeats simply cost us any chance of secure at least a play-off spot. I don't understand why, but I haven't been sacked nor am I no longer under pressure. I plan to stick around for one more season unless something else comes up. Ards won the league which cheeses me off a little.

 

[Shedender]

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Republic of Ireland Bound

I've decided to make the decision to leave Institute whenever a job vacancy became available "down south" in Republic of Ireland. The club in question are currently rock bottom and possibly could be relegated to the First Division and that's the main reason why I've decided to take the job, if they do end up being relegated then I pray I can keep my job as I'm not the one to blame.

The club in question?

Shelbourne. After delaying it for two weeks to consider the offer, I decided to jump and I hope it's a switch I don't end up regretting but I've been thrown into the deep end with my first set of fixtures which will begin "tonight" with a trip to Cork City. Institute received fourteen thousand in compensation.

And this was the 'deep end' I was talking about because with the side already on a losing win-less run my first four games will see us travel to Cork, host Shamrock Rovers, travel to Dundalk and welcome Derry to Tolka Park. Ouch. Confidence could be even more shot if Shelbourne get duffed in those four games.

And finally this is the league table at the time of my arrival, as you can see Shelbourne are rock bottom and technically nine points behind Wexford Youths who occupy the tenth place (one position outside the relegation/promotion playoff spot). Just two wins from their opening twenty two games is quite terrible although they were predicted to finish bottom but the goal difference is quite alarming, minus 32. Relegation could be a certainty.

 

[Shedender]

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Shelbourne: Final Eleven League Games 2020

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Whenever I finally decided to jump ship to Republic of Ireland club Shelbourne I took charge of a club, not only bottom of the Premiership table but also low on confidence. Relegation wouldn't be the worst thing for the my sake as I'd assume we'd be favourites for an immediate promotion to the top flight - the question needs to be asked though, will we end up being relegated or would we end up surviving against the odds?

Confidence was low and that was obvious when I failed to win any of my opening five games and then I started regretting about leaving Institute as I thought I'd never pick up maximum points but we did when Wexford Youth (undeservedly) were beaten 2-1. Three more wins would end up following against Finn Harps, Sligo and St. Pats. I deserve to win Manager of the Year (ha!) after guiding a confidence ridden club to four more league wins.

But those back-to-back wins weren't enough as Shelbourne were assigned to relegation in their one and only season in the Premiership (since the save began) but I sure as **** gave it a go as goal difference (-36) is what ended up sending us down when all the smoke had cleared. Wexford Youths are in the relegation/promotion playoff while Dundalk retained a league title they had failed to win in the previous two seasons.

 

[Shedender]

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Shelbourne: Mid season round-up 2021

Relegation from the Airtricity Premier Division has been and went and now it's time for the squad to concentrate and ensuring we make an immediate return to the top flight in Republic of Ireland but to ensure that, I need to keep the majority of the squad together and also attempt to add quality and I feel I done just that - no one of any "significance" left the club while I brought in Darragh O'Driscoll (Free), Jon Egan (Free), John Foster (Free from Derry City), Ciaran Kelly (Free from Galway United), Craig Donnellan (Free from UCD) while Paul Caulfield's loan from Sligo was extended for another season.

As per usual, we will begin with the cup competitions - in both the Leinster Senior Cup and EA Sports Cup the club crashed at the first hurdle as Dundalk (and rightly so) beat us 3-1 at Oriel Park while fellow relegated side Wexford Youths beat us one nil at Tolka Park - victory on the road at Letterkenny seen us progress to the third round of the Ford Cup but the draw hasn't been yet been made.

The league form has been solid enough, even if we have annoyingly lost three times at Tolka Park (and four league defeats in general) so my hopes of turning our home into a 'fortress' has disappeared quickly. We hadn't lost any of our opening eight league games before back-to-back home defeats - we have ended the 'mid season' with three games without a win and our first game in the second part of the campaign is on the road to leaders Cabinteely.

And we lie in second place (our predicted media finish, Wexford favourites for title) as the season hasn't been the worse - four league defeats is a little annoying but it's important the side bounce back as soon as possible. Cabinteely, predicted to finish second bottom, are the surprise leaders but whether they'll be able to maintain the form or not remains to be seen.

Finally, the board are allowing me to take my latest coaching course which if successful will see me capture my National A Licence. It feels like it's been a "while" since I've been on one of these courses so I hope I'll pass. Once again it's going to take approx. four months of study and the Shels will be covering the six hundred pounds fee for the course.

 

[Shedender]

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Shelbourne: End of season round-up 2021

The first part of the campaign has been quite enjoyable at Shelbourne and we're still deep in the title hunt, I'm sure Cabinteely can't maintain their excellent campaign and the bubble is due to "burst" sometime, or so I hope. We have thirteen league games remaining and a minimum of one Ford Cup game in which we ended up being drawn out at home to Premiership side Galway.

Our run in the Ford Cup seen a quarter final exit after defeat at home to Cork City who deservedly won 1-0 at Tolka Park. In the third round I guided Shelbourne to a shock, but fully deserved single goal win at home to Premiership side Galway United due to an early goal.

To say the second part of the campaign was a mixed one is an understatement, things began well with six consecutive wins - including huge victories away to Cabinteeley and home to Cobh Ramblers - but the season then didn't end particularly well as Shelbourne failed to win any of their last five league games, which was a little annoying.

But the league was won and I've chalked off the Airtricity First Division title which has delighted me. We won exactly 50% of our league games, drawing eight and losing six times as we finished two points ahead of Cobh Ramblers who will be joined in the play-off by Cabinteely. Athlone finished rock bottom, a point behind Bray.

And following the league success, I tendered my resignation with immediate effect as I'm fully aware the club will struggle in the top flight.

 

[Shedender]

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Staying put in Ireland

Whenever I made the decision to leave Shelbourne at the end of the 2021 campaign I had to play the waiting game for my next opportunity despite applying for several jobs "across the pond" as I failed to even get interviews at League One duo Preston North End and Milton Keynes Dons, League Two's Colchester United and even National League's York City - whenever I seen one job become available in Ireland I knew I had to apply for it and pray I got it.

Quicker than expected but I'm joining @[Dan] at Oriel Park as I've been appointed the new manager at Dundalk and I'm chuffed they've decided to appoint me. The previous manager departed to become the new gaffer at Scunthorpe United and I couldn't pass up this opportunity. I've signed a one year deal which will expire in December 2023 but I'm hoping the country will be almost chalked off before the current deal expires.

Don't be alarmed but this is the entire first team squad and, to put it lightly, it's a little on the large side. It's a solid enough looking squad but some players will need to depart the club in this transfer window as we're currently over the wage budget and I'm unable to get any coaching badges ffs but I don't know whether some players will leave permanently or just on loan deals. Two players from the first team (Ger Gunning and Ryan Brennan) have already left on loan but whether more will follow, well, only time will tell.

 

[Shedender]

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Dundalk: Mid season round-up 2022

I'm delighted to have landed on my feet while remaining in Republic of Ireland in an attempt to almost chalk the country off. Dundalk have done well in recent years in the league even though they haven't been overly dominant (Derry City have won the league twice iirc) but with four cup competitions and the league to potentially win, this could turn out to be a tremendous campaign, or a disastrous one.

I've only been at Dundalk for six months but two trophies have already been secured as the President's Cup (2-1 vs. Derry City) and Leinster Senior Cup (3-0 vs. St. Patrick's Athletic) headed to the Oriel Park trophy cabinet. We still remain in the Ford Cup and the EA Sports Cup while we'll face Malmo in the Champions League second qualifying stage, although not important, should help our bank balance.

And just like @[Dan] Dundalk have been excellent in the first part of the 2022 season despite suffering two single goal defeats on the road to Longford Town and St. Patrick's Athletic. Our success has been built on not just attack but defence as well as the side have kept nine clean sheets from our sixteen league games thus far and the first part of the season ended with back-to-back one nil victory against Cobh Ramblers and Bohemian. As you can also see, I beat my former employers Shelbourne 3-0 at Oriel Park.

Seven points clear of St. Pat's with I believe seventeen games remaining, this are currently looking good for the league title as we've been in excellent form but it's also important that it's maintained. We have a +18 GD as you can see we haven't conceded too many at present. Shelbourne have done better than they did at this stage the last time in the Premiership, they've won four of their sixteen games and are out of the bottom two.

 

[Shedender]

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Dundalk: End of season round-up 2022

It's been an enjoyable first part of the campaign at Dundalk as not only are we seven points clear at the top of the table but we've already won two trophies (President's Cup & Leinster Senior Cup) while we still remain in the EA Sports Cup and FAI Ford Cup so it's very possible FIVE trophies could be signed sealed and delivered in my first season at Dundalk which would be incredible, perhaps expected but incredible nonetheless.

We've won every domestic cup competition Republic of Ireland threw at us although the side needed a penalty shoot-out to get past Sligo Rovers in the Ford Cup but we did beat the same opposition in the EA Sports Cup final, winning that one 2-0. We didn't have the worse run in Europe as Swansea City ended up beating us four nil on aggregate in the Europa League play-off.

The league campaign could've ended better as the side failed to win any of it's last four games - drawing against Sligo and St. Pats while losing against Shamrock Rovers and more surprisingly at home to Limerick. The side did thump Shamrock Rovers 5-1 but they had went down to ten men very early on while the club had also secured excellent wins at Cork and Derry.

And as predicted Dundalk won the league but the most surprising thing was we only finished four points clear of St. Patrick's Athletic at the summit but if it wasn't for being complacent then it would've been more. Galway finished rock bottom, Cobh Ramblers will go into the relegation/promotion play-off which meant my former employers Shelbourne survived and quite comfortably in the end.

So I've resigned. I had won everything possible at Dundalk so I didn't see the need to stay on. Just one season was spent at Oriel Park.

But before I resigned, our run in Europe meant the club was no longer in the red and it also meant I was finally able to ask to go on a coaching course a few weeks before I would end up tendering my resignation and once I'm success, I'll have my Continental C Licence which will then mean I will be three away from getting all my required badges. Just like all the courses, it's going to take approx. four months to study and Dundalk will be paying near a grand to cover it.