Roy Keane - A Cobh Ramblers Journey

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Player Meeting

After a terrible performance in the last match against Dundalk, I was keen to ensure that McCarthy knows I wont accept such performances in the future!!

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At this point I am FU*KING FUMING!!! How dare he pass the blame on to other players! Be a man, stand up and admit that you were at fault for your own performance yesterday!

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I needed him to know that he is delusional if he thought he defended well..

He's lucky he came around or a few weeks in the u19s would have given him food for thought.​
 
I feel as if this may really be Roy Keane playing FM at home?!? Roy is it you?
 
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Season 2

June Update

We face Dundalk twice this month, we have a chance to get some revenge!

With U.C.D stuck at the bottom of the table, our match with them is considered a must win. Dundalk, Sligo and St Pats are going to be tough to get anything from.

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League

I'm aiming for a win against U.C.D and then just hoping for the best against the rest of the teams this month...I have a lot of faith obviously.



St. Pat's Athletic
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Conor Meade started due to his great form when he comes on as a sub. Managed to score on the brink of half time.



Sligo Rovers
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Rafter scored a well taken penalty which takes his tally to 5 in the league this season.

KEY PLAYER Murphy off injured....5 MONTHS!!

Rowland injured for 1 month!!




U.C.D
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Central defender Dempsey scores from a corner!

We pick up our first win of the month, this was the game I was determined to get 3 points from.




Dundalk
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F*CK! Dundalk again getting the better of us.

We were definitely missing Murphy in the middle of the park! Will have to get used to not having him until next season...




Senior Cup Challenge Cup 2nd Rnd

Dundalk
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Crazy match!

Rocks scored a brace and rafter continued his decent goalscoring form.

Match goes to a replay.





Senior Cup Challenge Cup 2nd Rnd - REPLAY

Dundalk
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Heartbreaking for our guys as we slip to a 2-1 loss!

Rafter opened the scored before we conceded 2 sloppy goals.

We are out of every cup now, great..





Summary

5 points from 12, isn't the best but it should just be above relegation form!

We have lost our best player, and ball winner, Murphy for 5 months which is heartbreaking.




Cobh Ramblers POTM
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Michael Rafter
5 Games - 3 goals

Nothing like the form of last season from our strikers but I can at least be confident that Rafter will score at least 1 in every 2 games.

As a relegation battling team I guess that's the best I can ask for.​
 
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Season 2

League Table

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Thanks to U.C.D's poor form, we are basically safe from instant relegation but if Bray pick up their form we could still get relegated.

We have quite a few tough games ahead and we are missing quite a few key players for the next bunch of matches.
​
 
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Season 2

Injuries

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Where to start...?

We are going to be without our best player Darren Murphy for the next 5 months, basically ruling him out for the rest of the season.

Conor Meade is back on the injury table after a training incident. Poor guy has just not fully recovered from his 5 month injury last season.

Rowlands, backup to Murphy is also injured for a month which is going to leave us short in the midfield!

Lastly McCarthy is out for near 2 months after a freak accident. He plays backup to Kenny so as long as Kenny doesn't get injured.



Results have been going downhill lately and the loss of key players are not helping at all.

Hoping we can push on, finish the season strong and then regroup as we attempt another crack at the Premier Division.​
 
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Season 2

July Update

We are currently extremely short in the midfield due to key injuries! I am hoping we can push through this month until Rowlands comes back to give us some quality.

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League

We have the giants Derry and Cork to play this month which is going to be tough but we will play our best and work hard...what will come will come.


Derry City
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Drop to a 1-0 defeat against Derry City. We didn't get forward well but we definitely defended a lot better. Cantwell has been key for us this season.

And another one bites the dust..

Centre back Dempsey out for a month..



Bray Wanderers
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Another 1-0 defeat which is frustrating..Bray Wanderers now close the gap to us. Relegation is looking like a possibility now!

3 niggling injuries meant we couldn't get going in this game.



Longford
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Left Winger O'Connor helping us to get out 1st point of the month but a poor match.



Cork City
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Rivals cork beat us confidently to heap further misery on the Ramblers fans.

O'Connell out for a week..


Bohemians
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Another terrible loss.

Key Left Winger, O'Connor, out for over 2 months...we are down to bare-bones.





Summary

I have nothing good to say about that.

Absolutely diabolical month. We are just racking up the injuries now, I fear it is only going to get worse.

A team meeting is definitely required!!



Cobh Ramblers POTM

You're joking right??​
 
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Injuries still causing issues..

Great to have a few of our players back from injury!

Rowlands will fill in for the injured Murphy and hopefully stablish the team as we haven't been able to get a foothold in the midfield battle without Murphy or Rowlands available.

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I fear Meade will have to be let go at the end of the season, I really like the lad but he is constantly injured and his stats have taken a big hit this season.


Although a few people have come back from injury, the treatment room is still occupied by 3 key players.

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Team Meeting

Last month's results forced me to call the guys together, we just can afford to have another month like that or we could very well get relegated, which is annoying considering the start of last month I considered us basically safe..jinxed that or what.

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That's what I'm talking about!

Exactly the sort of reaction I was after.

I'm hoping this new found morale can help us pick up some precious points next month. ​
 
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Season 2

August Update

So after that morale boosting team talk I'm hoping for more positive results this month!

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League

Tough month ahead in the league with the likes of Limerick and St. Pats to be played.


Shamrock Rovers
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Ok, we got beat 1-0 but we definitely played well. Our defensive game was on point!

Shamrocks had 27 shots but we got so many blocks in.

Cantwell will be covered in bruises tomorrow. This is the type of dedication I am looking for!



Limerick F.C
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We managed to get a cracking 2-2 draw considering we had to use all 3 subs for injuries.

3 Injuries in one game just sums up our luck this season...



Sligo Rovers
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Rafter and Rocks both score in the same game together for the first time in months!



St. Pat's Athletic
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Conor Meade comes on in place of the injured Rafter and scores a brace.

Unfrotunately we got trashed.

Rafter injured for 4 weeks.





Summary

1 win and 1 draw in 4 games! We have picked it up a little this month but still lacking that midfield quality.

Those 4 points have put us 9 points ahead of relegation with 6 games remaining.



Cobh Ramblers POTM
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Robert Waters

Waters has been playing really well all season and has made the most key passes in the team and 2nd in the league. He started the attacks off that resulted in 3 goals this month​
 
The curse of the Irish league with all these injuries! Must be all these amateurs running around like headless chickens!
 
coolmcool said:
The curse of the Irish league with all these injuries! Must be all these amateurs running around like headless chickens!
Click to expand...

Indeed, what's worse is when they come back from a long injury (eg 5 months), they just aren't as good as they used to be. It's a shame.

Hopefully get professional status in the next season or 2.
 
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Season 2

September Update

Just 2 games this month as we start winding down to the end of my second season in charge of Cobh Ramblers!

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League

Big guns Derry City and Dundalk are on our fixture list for this month which will be tough but I am determined to at least get a win over U.C.D who still sit bottom of the table.


Derry City

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Convincingly beaten by Derry City as we fall to a 3-1 defeat.

Goldsmith, playing in place of the injured O'Connor on left wing, scores a real beauty.



U.C.D
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As I demanded, we get a comfortable win over U.C.D

Meade scores!

BOBBY FROST (season 1's best youth prospect -central defender) comes up for a corner and scores his first goal for the club!



Dundalk
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Conor Meade opens the scoring for us again!

Unfortunately we fall to a late defeat to the league leaders..




Summary

1 win out of 3, does nothing to help our cause...we are now 6 points above relegation with 3 games left...could still get relegated next month!


BOBBY FROST, 17, central defender, scored his first league goal.
Frost is last year's best youth prospect and he isn't even that impressive but has played extremely well this month.

Frost Profile
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Nothing special about him, he cant mark, tackle or head the ball. The only thing going for him is his work rate and determination.

Yet somehow averages 7.1 in his 5 games for us this season.




Cobh Ramblers POTM
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Conor Meade
3 games - 2 goals

Injury stricken Meade manages to score 2 goals this month including a winning goal over U.C.D to record our only win this month.​
 
CraigWL said:
I have belief that you'll survive!
Click to expand...

Cheers man! Lets hope so.

Going to be a big rebuilding job at the end of the season, like 15 players contracts expire which should lessen the financial burden on the club. Definitely need to go professional if we want to do more than just 'avoid relegation' each year..

Anyway, not to get a head of myself, I'll wait until we are mathematically safe, as luck has not been with me this season!
 
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Season 2

Youth Intake

This is why I love the month of September! It is time to welcome the new batch of youth players to be evaluated in the coming weeks.

I'm hoping after not having a great intake last season that we get lucky this year..

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So my assistant manager believes the best player this year is a local lad, Jon Kearney.


Jon Kearney
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I decided to check him out for myself, Jon is an exciting young playmaker who could easily play backup to Waters even at his age..

His passing, technique, work rate and flair are definitely nice to see!

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I have to say, I am extremely excited to have him join us!

Straight away we signed him up on a 2 year youth contract, hopefully we will be a professional club by the time his youth deal expires so we can sign him on proper terms.



Apart from Kearney, there a couple of decent players but nobody that really stands out...

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Although a few of their reports look good, their attributes are definitely not up to much and I have no plans to integrate them into the first team any year soon.
​
 
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Season 2

October update

This is the last month of the season, lets end it on a high! We need at least 1 win to ensure we dont get relegated this season.

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League

We have a chance this month as we play both Longford and Bray Wanderers, if we play to our potential then can get at least 1 win here. Cork City may be too strong for us though.


Longford
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F*ck yeah!!

We managed to pick up a 1-0 win thanks to a goal by Rafter!


Bray Wanderers
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Poor Poor Poor...




Cork City
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Rocks finally ends his long goal drought with a goal early in the second half!

Unfortunately that wasn't enough as Cork scored 2 well taken goals.




Summary

We have done enough to avoid relegation!!

It was looking more and more like luck wouldn't be on our side after we went through a period of getting injury after injury. Thankfully I am happy to say we will be competing in the Premier Division next season. I know the fans will consider this season a big success.

With 10+ players contracts expiring in December I have a huge squad rebuilding process ahead of me.



Cobh Ramblers POTM
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Killian Cantwell

Cantwell gets the nod again after a fantastic defensive display against Longford to give us the win we needed to ensure survival. He also got an 8.0 in th game against Bray Wanderers. He has been fantastic all season.




Next up...Cobh Ramblers Season Statistics and End of Season Review​
 
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Season 2
Cobh Ramblers Survive Relegation!!

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Fantastic achievement from everyone at the club, especially the backup players..they really stepped up to the plate when key 1st team players got long term injuries.

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We receive £31k for maintaining our premier division status. This will help lessen the financial strain on the club for the coming season.


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Great to see that in the end, we didn't just 'avoid relegation' we finished in 8th which is there, or there abouts, a mid table finish; which is what myself and the players agreed upon at the preseason team meeting!


​
 
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Season 2

Cobh Ramblers End of Season Review

Once again, great achievement to avoid relegation but not only that be an 8th place finish is a new Cobh Record which is fantastic.

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Finances

After cementing our place in the Premier Division for another season, we have negotiated with 2 new sponsors, earning twice the amount from previous sponsor deals.

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Hopefully this will give a good boost to the Rambler's poor finances.




Player Contracts

We have 17 players out of contract next month, I will need to take time to mull over who gets a new contract and who is free to move on...this is a chance for us to trim our wage budget to make room for fresh recruits in the transfer window.

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Player Stats

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We clearly cover the most group over 90 minutes than other teams with the top 5 being made up of 4 Rambler players.


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Kilian Cantwell proves his worth to Cobh Ramblers coming joint 1st in the rankings for key tackles throughout the season.


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Waters comes 2nd with 'key passes' in the league this season, unfortunately poor finishing this season has halted up progress.



Squad Screen/Goals/Assits
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Top goal scorer, for us, Rafter netter 12 in total this season, 10 in the league. Rocks only managed 7 goals with only 4 in the league.

Conor Meade managed to scorer 9, 8 in the league... Too bad about his injury problems restricting his games.

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Winger Kenny tops the assist charts this season with 6.

Super, injury prone, Meade manages 4 assists this season. Play maker waters manages 3.

Even sub goalkeeper Hickey takes part in our long ball style with a long punt to grab an assist.




I look ahead to the start of the 3rd season in charge of my boyhood club, Cobh Ramblers.

Going to be big changes ahead this Winter in order to take the team to the next level!​
 
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Interest in Keano builds..


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It is always nice to be linked to looked at when a new managerial job becomes available but I've made it clear that I am not leaving Cobh Ramblers any time soon!

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Seems the board are extremely interested in tying me down to another contract as it is due to expiry next month and I am being linked with new jobs..


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I am interested in signing a new deal as I see my future here...but I want to see what the club are willing to offer me in order to stay.​
 
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Keano signs new contract with the Rams!

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A new 2 year contract at £425 a week, nearly doubling my current wage.

I cant seem to get any board requests approved as part of the contract which is disappointing but I understand the club is in a poor financial state...so for that reason I decided to negotiate and accept a lower wage contract.

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I've accepted a contract at £120 a week, which will save the club just over £15k this year which should help a little with the running of the club.

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