Anger is not an energy for Shamrock Rovers as they go in search of redemption
Stephen Bradley has more to worry about than club’s €3 million pay day should they overcome Flora Tallinn in Europa Conference League play-off tomorrow.
ANGER IS NOT an energy Stephen Bradley wants his Shamrock Rovers players to be driven by.
As he plots a dramatic turnaround in their Europa Conference League play-off with Flora Tallinn, the Hoops boss is searching for redemption rather than retribution.
There is more than just €3 million worth of group stage prize money on the line for a progressive 36-year-old head coach aiming to make a statement at this level.
Time and again he referenced the “terrible” and “uncharacteristic mistakes” his side made in the 4-2 defeat to the Estonian champions last week.
Losing possession in their own defensive third for two of the goals and caught on the counter for two more, Flora punished them with a clinical precision any manager would be proud of.
Brian Reilly-Troy / INPHO
Brian Reilly-Troy / INPHO / INPHO
Rovers may have been at fault by leaving the door ajar, but the opposition were of a calibre to make them pay by bursting through.
Scoring twice – albeit away goals no longer carry the same weight – at least offers them hope of a revival in front of 3,500 supporters at Tallaght Stadium tomorrow.
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“You can’t have anger. You’ve got to understand what happened, sit down and review it. Learn from it. Make sure you move on, it’s done, you can’t have anger, you have to progress and learn,” Bradley insisted.
He watched the video of the defeat on the flight home, and then again in Dublin. “It makes you really frustrated watching it back, because what you felt on the side line is what you feel watching it back.
Like I said at the time, and even after watching it a few times, it was very unlike us. But it just happened to be in a big game, and we got punished. It’s as simple as that. You have to take it and learn from it and move on. It’s very simple.”
The task facing Rovers now is clear, but far from straightforward. Victory by three goals is required. Centre back Lee Grace is out with a thigh injury while Celtic-bound Liam Scales “will definitely play” according to Bradley, despite a move to Glasgow imminent.
Rovers have already shown form for coming back from a similar situation. After losing 2-0 to Slovan Bratislava in the first-leg of their Champions League qualifier, they responded at home by cutting out that deficit.
The concession of a late goal scuppered what would have been a famous night, a reminder of how delicate a scenario they find themselves in. “We’ve been here before, we know what we’re going into and what we have to do,” Bradley explained.
Rovers boss Stephen Bradley. Brian Reilly-Troy / INPHO
Brian Reilly-Troy / INPHO / INPHO
“It’s a difficult task, we know that, because they’re a dangerous team but we know we can score goals against these, which we did, obviously. We just have to be better in the other part of the game.
“Look, it (the Slovan game) just gives us confidence because we know what we do works, we know how good we are when we’re on it, and last week we were off it.
And it happens, we’re just unfortunate that we made a lot of mistakes in the same game against good players and they’re punished, and that’s usually what happens.
“It’s just very unlike us to make that many errors and defend the way we did, and yeah, we’ve got to take it on the chin.
“Similar to Slovan, I think we were very, very patient in that game, the way we played, the way we managed the game, and Thursday will require nothing different,” Bradley continued.
“We’re playing against good players and we have to respect that. There’s going to be times when they have their periods in the game and we have to respect that and make sure we’re comfortable with that, but when we get the chance to go and impose ourselves on the game then we’ve got to do that as well.
“I thought over there, the score line and the mistakes took away from a lot of the good stuff that we did going forward. So we’ve got to make sure we bring that and obviously tidy up on the other bits.”
If they’re unable to pull off a clean break, a penalty shootout might just be required. And while so much preparation and analysis goes into every other element of their plan, Bradley is content for instinct to determine their fate.
I don’t think you can have a penalty strategy to be honest. I think there will be players that will play that will feel at the time that they are on it and will want to take them. There will be other players who might be really good at penalties, but that might not feel it on the night.
“It’s very different taking them in Roadstone and then you play tomorrow night and you are falling over your feet, and you’re down to take the first peno and you still have to take it. It’s very different. You have got to trust the players and trust how they are feeling at that moment in time.
“I always felt that as a player and a manager. Players know when they are on it and when they are in the zone. You have got to trust them on that.”
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Anger is not an energy for Shamrock Rovers as they go in search of redemption
ANGER IS NOT an energy Stephen Bradley wants his Shamrock Rovers players to be driven by.
As he plots a dramatic turnaround in their Europa Conference League play-off with Flora Tallinn, the Hoops boss is searching for redemption rather than retribution.
There is more than just €3 million worth of group stage prize money on the line for a progressive 36-year-old head coach aiming to make a statement at this level.
Time and again he referenced the “terrible” and “uncharacteristic mistakes” his side made in the 4-2 defeat to the Estonian champions last week.
Losing possession in their own defensive third for two of the goals and caught on the counter for two more, Flora punished them with a clinical precision any manager would be proud of.
Rovers may have been at fault by leaving the door ajar, but the opposition were of a calibre to make them pay by bursting through.
Scoring twice – albeit away goals no longer carry the same weight – at least offers them hope of a revival in front of 3,500 supporters at Tallaght Stadium tomorrow.
“You can’t have anger. You’ve got to understand what happened, sit down and review it. Learn from it. Make sure you move on, it’s done, you can’t have anger, you have to progress and learn,” Bradley insisted.
He watched the video of the defeat on the flight home, and then again in Dublin. “It makes you really frustrated watching it back, because what you felt on the side line is what you feel watching it back.
The task facing Rovers now is clear, but far from straightforward. Victory by three goals is required. Centre back Lee Grace is out with a thigh injury while Celtic-bound Liam Scales “will definitely play” according to Bradley, despite a move to Glasgow imminent.
Rovers have already shown form for coming back from a similar situation. After losing 2-0 to Slovan Bratislava in the first-leg of their Champions League qualifier, they responded at home by cutting out that deficit.
The concession of a late goal scuppered what would have been a famous night, a reminder of how delicate a scenario they find themselves in. “We’ve been here before, we know what we’re going into and what we have to do,” Bradley explained.
“It’s a difficult task, we know that, because they’re a dangerous team but we know we can score goals against these, which we did, obviously. We just have to be better in the other part of the game.
“Look, it (the Slovan game) just gives us confidence because we know what we do works, we know how good we are when we’re on it, and last week we were off it.
“It’s just very unlike us to make that many errors and defend the way we did, and yeah, we’ve got to take it on the chin.
“Similar to Slovan, I think we were very, very patient in that game, the way we played, the way we managed the game, and Thursday will require nothing different,” Bradley continued.
“We’re playing against good players and we have to respect that. There’s going to be times when they have their periods in the game and we have to respect that and make sure we’re comfortable with that, but when we get the chance to go and impose ourselves on the game then we’ve got to do that as well.
“I thought over there, the score line and the mistakes took away from a lot of the good stuff that we did going forward. So we’ve got to make sure we bring that and obviously tidy up on the other bits.”
If they’re unable to pull off a clean break, a penalty shootout might just be required. And while so much preparation and analysis goes into every other element of their plan, Bradley is content for instinct to determine their fate.
“It’s very different taking them in Roadstone and then you play tomorrow night and you are falling over your feet, and you’re down to take the first peno and you still have to take it. It’s very different. You have got to trust the players and trust how they are feeling at that moment in time.
“I always felt that as a player and a manager. Players know when they are on it and when they are in the zone. You have got to trust them on that.”
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