Alan Gough gets Longford Town job

[Martinho II]

just heard officially that alan gough got the town job..

www.ltfc.ie

Alan Gough (born 10 March 1972 in Watford) is an Irish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper.

His clubs included Portsmouth FC, Galway United, Fulham FC, Shelbourne FC, Glentoran FC and Derry City FC.

Gough began his career initially as an apprentice with Portsmouth before moving to Ireland with Galway United. After eighteen months with Galway, he joined Shelbourne, with whom he spent five highly successful seasons. In July 1999, Gough made the switch to Glentoran and had an excellent first season, winning three winners medals in the process. He was in terrific form in the Irish Cup Final and played a large part in the victory. He finished his career as team-captain at Galway United at the end of the 2006 season but continued to play in 2007 as an emergency goalkeeper as well as his assistant manager role. On 31 March 2008, he was sacked from Galway United along with the rest of the management team.

He won numerous major honours both north and south of the Irish border. They include five under-21 international caps with the Republic of Ireland in the early 1990s, youth caps, FAI Cup medals and League Cup medals.

On 22 May 2008 he was signed by Bray Wanderers F.C. as a player.[1]

[Inside Man]

Not sure if that is the type of appointment that will have ye back challenging for premier. Hope I'm wrong. Good luck to him and Longford.

[Captain2007]

Best of luck to Alan, our Player of the Year last season, very good professional and nice guy,wish him every success in management.

[Longfordian]

Not sure if that is the type of appointment that will have ye back challenging for premier. Hope I'm wrong. Good luck to him and Longford.

Alex Ferguson wouldn't have us back challenging for the Premier next season with our budget. We're in a "rebuilding" phase.

[galwaygirl]

Best of luck to Alan, our Player of the Year last season, very good professional and nice guy,wish him every success in management.
as was said.... best of luck to Alan, great goalie, great man to have on the team, great professional, has got a few of his badges as well...best of luck to him..... c ye against mervue....;)

[Réiteoir]

Just remember this - Galway took a punt on Kenna - which reaped rewards - could be the same with Gough

[Claret Murph]

Well Well , I didn't see that one coming , best of luck Alan :)

[Roo69]

Goughy is one of the nicest men i have ever had the pleasure of meeting through football. He is a total professional and leaves nothing to chance, i'm sure he will do a great job for Town. Best of luck to him.

We need a new keeper big time now ! :eek:

[rambler14]

Fiiiiiiiiiixxxxxxxx!:D

[RonnieB]

I shall slaughter a fattened lamb in his honour.

[rambler14]

I shall slaughter a fattened lamb in his honour.

Your going to slaughter Roddy Collins???:confused:

[Pauro 76]

Best of luck to Alan, hope he does a good rebuilding job for us. Id have loved to have seen Vinny been given a chance, but that said the board know better than me. Best wishes Alan!

[Demoshield]

Great player for united but as assistant manager to the spoofing taxi driver didn't seem to do alot. United couldn't defend to save their lives, especially brutal at set pieces. As a top class keeper the least I would have expected is that he would have been able to organise the team to defend set pieces. The rumour here was,GUFC had to sign a second keeper last season as he was unable to provide cover for Rogers because of his dodgy knee. Yet when he was sacked along with Cousins the injuries made an amazing recovery. Must have been all that sea air in Bray :confused:
Wish him all the best, would love to see a Longford side back in the premier.

[Rovers1]

Best of luck to Mr. Gough and Longford Town, a Premier Division club in every right.

[WoodquayBoy]

Gough was a great keeper about a decade ago. From what I heard down here, he couldn't manage a good fart after a feed of sprouts, never mind a football team. He'll do a job for ye all right. Just hope for your sake its a good one and he is not too busy running his furniture business with a certain ex-gaffer of his, if it hasn't already fallen a victim of the recession, and if he does play, just pray teams don't put crosses into the box as, good a shot stopper he is, he is woeful in the air,

[Redkenrover]

Gough was a great keeper about a decade ago. From what I heard down here, he couldn't manage a good fart after a feed of sprouts, never mind a football team. He'll do a job for ye all right. Just hope for your sake its a good one and he is not too busy running his furniture business with a certain ex-gaffer of his, if it hasn't already fallen a victim of the recession, and if he does play, just pray teams don't put crosses into the box as, good a shot stopper he is, he is woeful in the air,

I think it is widely accepted that Alan Gough was worth about 15 points to Bray last season, being awarded player of the year despite only playing two thirds of the season is testamount to that. Also give the guy a chance, he will be judged on his results, that will be the proof of his ability to manage.
By the way, he doesn't run a furniture business either!

[gufct]

Gough was a great keeper about a decade ago. From what I heard down here, he couldn't manage a good fart after a feed of sprouts, never mind a football team. He'll do a job for ye all right. Just hope for your sake its a good one and he is not too busy running his furniture business with a certain ex-gaffer of his, if it hasn't already fallen a victim of the recession, and if he does play, just pray teams don't put crosses into the box as, good a shot stopper he is, he is woeful in the air,

Talk about bitter.Woodquay you havent a breeze .Goughy was the best ever keeper we had and an absolute Gent despite the falling out we had over his departure to shels he remains a very good friend.Given the chance and backing with longfors he will do a great job for ye and he is still a great keeper

[difalloni]

with a name like that, the chants'd be a fine thing!

[howsyourtouch]

how did philip coofey still manage to get the assistant's job??he wasnt good enough for the position at galway last year so why is he good enough for us?

[Martinho II]

how did philip coofey still manage to get the assistant's job??he wasnt good enough for the position at galway last year so why is he good enough for us?


i didnt even know that philip coffey got assistant manager, the only thing that I can think of is that him and gough are close pals from their time together at galway utd.. who else was appointed to the coaching staff?

[sligoman]

Goughy should register himself as a player, he'd do a great job in the First Division. I know he's getting old now and if he doesn't want to play regularly fair enough, but he'd be good to have in back-up.

[atfconline]

how did philip coofey still manage to get the assistant's job??he wasnt good enough for the position at galway last year so why is he good enough for us?

Nice one. Wonder how long it will take for his son to sign for ye. :D

[howsyourtouch]

dont know much else about the olther staff,just that coffey is definetly there anyway...

[Redkenrover]

Goughy should register himself as a player, he'd do a great job in the First Division. I know he's getting old now and if he doesn't want to play regularly fair enough, but he'd be good to have in back-up.
He's going to register all right, still a good keeper.

[hollocaine]

who else was appointed to the coaching staff?

Do we really need any more than a manager and an assistant? Gone are the days of fitness trainers, goalkeeping coaches and yoga teachers (this last one a nod to the ill-fated Martin Lawlor era)!


As for goalkeeper, I heard Gough is trying to persuade Neil Gallagher back. Gough will be sub-keeper then. Of all the players from last year, Gallagher is the one the new manager should try hardest to tempt back.

[Martinho II]

Do we really need any more than a manager and an assistant? Gone are the days of fitness trainers, goalkeeping coaches and yoga teachers (this last one a nod to the ill-fated Martin Lawlor era)!


As for goalkeeper, I heard Gough is trying to persuade Neil Gallagher back. Gough will be sub-keeper then. Of all the players from last year, Gallagher is the one the new manager should try hardest to tempt back.


is there any other clubs after neil gallagher??

[Martinho II]

Nice one. Wonder how long it will take for his son to sign for ye. :D


explain yourself atfconline ...

[Massop 10]

Don't think it needs an explination marty !!!!!
I don't want to sound like the profit of doom but i can't see much coming out of this season !!!! Best we can hope for is 2nd from bottom and us and Athlone in a season long battle for the drop, sad to say but true i fear :(

[Rocky77]

Don't think it needs an explination marty !!!!!
I don't want to sound like the profit of doom but i can't see much coming out of this season !!!! Best we can hope for is 2nd from bottom and us and Athlone in a season long battle for the drop, sad to say but true i fear :(

I hate to say I agree. The policy of recruiting solely from the west and north west could backfire. Daire Doyle seems to be the only player from last year to be definitely staying at the moment. Gough hasn't even spoken to McKenna or Oladele.

[Macy]

I'm not really sure what people were expecting with a lower budget than last year!?!

[Longfordian]

I'll wait and see who he can bring in on the budget he has before getting too worked up. I'd like to see McKenna kept though if possible, he and Glynn could be prolific, then again maybe we can't afford both. Oladele looked a good prospect too, don't see the harm in speaking to him, maybe he will yet. We're not going to be in the shake up for promotion and I'd be pretty confident of finishing ahead of Mervue and Athlone at least, Wexford and Monaghan won't be uncatchable either. Finn Harps aren't going to be spending much more than us either by the sounds of things. All in all much the same as last year. As Macy said we can't really expect a lot more on a lower budget. If the players whoever they may be give everything they have we'll see how we get on.

[Massop 10]

Wouldn't be aiming to finish ahead of Mervue !!! Was talking to a coach from there and a player who was asked to play for them, they are confidant of at least mid-table !! Don't think anyone in Longford can say that truthfully !

[RonnieB]

Well then what do you suggest? Feel free to go rob a bank and solve our financial issues.

[Longfordian]

We could be confident of finishing mid table as well doesn't mean we will. Mervue are going to be mostly amateur aren't they?. I don't see how they're going to be that great that we couldn't even think about finishing ahead of them. We don't even know what the squad's going to be yet. What difference does it make once we stay up anyway?. It's all a bit pointless getting your knickers in a twist because we might not finish 7th or 8th.

[Massop 10]

Not getting my knickers in a twist about anything, I have more important things in my life than longford town to worry about ! Although I do belive that when you support a sports team and pay hard earned cash for the plessure you can expect that team/club to try there best right from the top down and also to have an ambition to strive to be the best possible. I have been talking to players, coaches and fans alot recently from clubs around the league and they have all said the same thing - All clubs will need to manage on little or no money but they all have something that I feel is lacking with Longford Town since Alan Mathews left and that is AMBITION to be the best ! Ok, money is in short supply but EVERY player out there knows that. The thing is that ALL players want to play for a forward thinking club who is looking to push on and not be happy with "just avoiding relegation". Also to be this far into the run up to pre-season and not have the main bulk of a squad yet is realy poor. If the club was going to change manager at the end of last season they should have started the ground work either just before the end of the season by getting interested parties to apply or as soon as the final ball was kicked for the season. In my opinion things at Longford Town have been going backwards for a while now and from talking to people around the town that is why the crowds all but dissapeard last season. All the work done through the years of keeping people and mainly childern in touch with the players has gone to waste, the link with the kids is all but gone outside the ground for example the pub sponsor ! It was a good way of involving ALL the people of Longford by going to a differant pub every week. It is no coincedance that since PV's became pub sposor the attendances dropped ! It is easy to blame summer soccer for everything bad in the club (and league) but small things like that CAN make a differance.
But what do I know !!!!!

[Longfordian]

Kids aren't allowed in pubs after 9.30 anyhow so what that has to do with anything I don't know. PV's were offering a lot of money for the privilege, it would have been madness not to take it especially when most of the other pubs never paid what they agreed to pay. There's a much changed committee and a new management team in place for this year, give them a chance before you write them all off as not having ambition. I don't know what their plans are but we all know the people in question so any ideas you or anyone else has to improve things I'm sure they'll listen carefully. There's a distinct difference between ambition and expectation, it's nobody's ambition to avoid relegation but I for one won't be expecting an awful lot more at present. Should we manage to get together a decent squad within the budget, which was agreed on by the members, then hopefully we can do better. It's too early to judge at the moment.