STEPHEN BRADLY WAS full of praise for the way his Shamrock Rovers players put the disappointment of losing their League of Ireland crown behind them as they responded by making European history against The New Saints.
The Hoops came from one goal down to beat the Welsh side 2-1 courtesy of goals from Johnny Kenny and Dylan Watts.
They are now the first Irish club to reach seven points in the group/league phase of a European competition. The Rovers boss says that total is 97% certain of securing a play-off, but he is aiming for automatic qualification with a top-eight finish.
Bradley has given his players some time off over the next week, and he also heads off on holiday in the morning before celebrating his 40th birthday on 19 November. Two days later they play the first of two friendlies with HJK to help sharpen the focus for a trip to Rapid Vienna on the 28th.
“It’s easy for me and the staff to move on because we are constantly assessing where we are and where it’s gone wrong and what’s gone on. But the players are in it, they give everything to every moment on the pitch, so that takes a lot out of you mentally and physically.
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“So that was the part tonight where you are a little bit worried. You are not worried if they’ll show up, these players always show up. It’s just ‘are they in tune mentally and physically?’ I thought they were brilliant in that regard, I thought they showed real character, real leadership and experience that we gained throughout the years. That came to the fore tonight.
“I said up in Larne [after winning 4-1 now] that our aim was not to get seven points and then just say, okay, pat each other on the back and say job done. That was never the aim. Why limit our expectations and what we want from each other. We are the ones who have brought up the standards in this country for a long time and the players continue to do that.
“You see that tonight, they’ve done something that has never been done before, but we want to keep going. We understand that we are going to come up against some really top teams, but that’s European football. We won’t be patting each other on the back, saying, okay, we have seven points, job done, everyone switch off. It’s not going to be about that, it’s going to be about, we’ve created history, now can we go and push on and raise the bar again?”
“We’ve created history tonight and regardless of what people’s opinions are of us as a team, us a club, me as a manager, you can’t rewrite the history books, as much as some people might want to,” Bradley added.
“You can’t do it and these players have created history. Hopefully more League of Ireland teams come after us and do the same but these are the first group to do it, which is special. I keep saying, we didn’t pin seven points up in the dressing room and say when we get that we’ll pat ourselves on the back and have a great Christmas. It’s given us a great platform and let’s attack the next games to see where it takes us.”
Bradley confirmed that he has already held talks with chief executive John Martin and independent chairman Ciaran Medlar about what level of transfer budget will be available to improve a squad that will now almost certainly have at least a Conference League play-off to reach the last 16 in the new year.
“We won’t just spend for the sake of it. We’ve always been very calculated about who we’ve gone after and brought into the group. That will be the same. We have targets and the work has already started on those targets. Hopefully over the next four or five weeks we can start to get some of them in the door.”
Dylan Watts, the Rovers player of the year, scored for the fourth game in a row to make it five from his last seven games. Johnny Kenny also notched his 17th of the season with Rovers hopeful of extending his loan from Celtic for next season.
Graham Burke, Jack Byrne and Gary O’Neill all came off the bench, and Bradley was keen to stress the importance of savouring their achievements together.
“It’s about understanding where we are right now and what we are doing, we will never ever get it again, we will never get these moments again, we will never get this group again because things change and people move. They are a special group. We’re a special group together so you have to cherish these moments. You have to cherish the good times and the bad times as well because they are the ones that make you stronger.
“They are a special group of men and have drove the standards for a long time. Not just one year, I think we have been competing for the league for six or seven years, that takes a lot and these players have done that. What I love about them is that it’s always on to the next challenge, that has to be out mentality going forward.”
The next couple of weeks allows time for rest and a reset, then this European adventure continues with a visit to Vienna.
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'We are the ones who have brought up the standards in this country for a long time'
STEPHEN BRADLY WAS full of praise for the way his Shamrock Rovers players put the disappointment of losing their League of Ireland crown behind them as they responded by making European history against The New Saints.
The Hoops came from one goal down to beat the Welsh side 2-1 courtesy of goals from Johnny Kenny and Dylan Watts.
They are now the first Irish club to reach seven points in the group/league phase of a European competition. The Rovers boss says that total is 97% certain of securing a play-off, but he is aiming for automatic qualification with a top-eight finish.
Bradley has given his players some time off over the next week, and he also heads off on holiday in the morning before celebrating his 40th birthday on 19 November. Two days later they play the first of two friendlies with HJK to help sharpen the focus for a trip to Rapid Vienna on the 28th.
“It’s easy for me and the staff to move on because we are constantly assessing where we are and where it’s gone wrong and what’s gone on. But the players are in it, they give everything to every moment on the pitch, so that takes a lot out of you mentally and physically.
“So that was the part tonight where you are a little bit worried. You are not worried if they’ll show up, these players always show up. It’s just ‘are they in tune mentally and physically?’ I thought they were brilliant in that regard, I thought they showed real character, real leadership and experience that we gained throughout the years. That came to the fore tonight.
“I said up in Larne [after winning 4-1 now] that our aim was not to get seven points and then just say, okay, pat each other on the back and say job done. That was never the aim. Why limit our expectations and what we want from each other. We are the ones who have brought up the standards in this country for a long time and the players continue to do that.
“You see that tonight, they’ve done something that has never been done before, but we want to keep going. We understand that we are going to come up against some really top teams, but that’s European football. We won’t be patting each other on the back, saying, okay, we have seven points, job done, everyone switch off. It’s not going to be about that, it’s going to be about, we’ve created history, now can we go and push on and raise the bar again?”
“We’ve created history tonight and regardless of what people’s opinions are of us as a team, us a club, me as a manager, you can’t rewrite the history books, as much as some people might want to,” Bradley added.
“You can’t do it and these players have created history. Hopefully more League of Ireland teams come after us and do the same but these are the first group to do it, which is special. I keep saying, we didn’t pin seven points up in the dressing room and say when we get that we’ll pat ourselves on the back and have a great Christmas. It’s given us a great platform and let’s attack the next games to see where it takes us.”
Bradley confirmed that he has already held talks with chief executive John Martin and independent chairman Ciaran Medlar about what level of transfer budget will be available to improve a squad that will now almost certainly have at least a Conference League play-off to reach the last 16 in the new year.
“We won’t just spend for the sake of it. We’ve always been very calculated about who we’ve gone after and brought into the group. That will be the same. We have targets and the work has already started on those targets. Hopefully over the next four or five weeks we can start to get some of them in the door.”
Dylan Watts, the Rovers player of the year, scored for the fourth game in a row to make it five from his last seven games. Johnny Kenny also notched his 17th of the season with Rovers hopeful of extending his loan from Celtic for next season.
Graham Burke, Jack Byrne and Gary O’Neill all came off the bench, and Bradley was keen to stress the importance of savouring their achievements together.
“It’s about understanding where we are right now and what we are doing, we will never ever get it again, we will never get these moments again, we will never get this group again because things change and people move. They are a special group. We’re a special group together so you have to cherish these moments. You have to cherish the good times and the bad times as well because they are the ones that make you stronger.
“They are a special group of men and have drove the standards for a long time. Not just one year, I think we have been competing for the league for six or seven years, that takes a lot and these players have done that. What I love about them is that it’s always on to the next challenge, that has to be out mentality going forward.”
The next couple of weeks allows time for rest and a reset, then this European adventure continues with a visit to Vienna.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
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