New Manager

[Frank76]

Well lads I started up a new thread for ye to make it handier for outsiders to be kept up to date on your new search for a manager because your current debate is under your match for Kildare!!!

So who do ye want to see get it? Who's been mentioned?
As I've stated earlier Jimmy Greene has applied for it and he seems fairly confident on getting it. He also said there's only 2/3 others in for it.

So whats your thoughts Longford fans??!!!!:cool:

[Longfordian]

They're down to a shortlist of 2 or 3 now I'd imagine alright. There were 10 or 11 people they were going to speak to initially. Liam Kelly and Des Cawley would appear to be in the running by all accounts. I think this is the third or fourth time Des Cawley has applied and he didn't leave on the best of terms after Alan Gough got the job apparently.

[Frank76]

Liam Kelly?? Is that the former Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers striker?? He used to play with ye for a bit too didn't he?

So the third one could be Jimmy Greene. So it could be between Greene and Kelly then. Surprised Cawley went for it again if he did't leave in the best of terms with him. Although he could be a good appointment because he'd be all fired up to proove your board were wrong not to hire him in the first place.

[Longfordian]

Yeah, the same Liam Kelly, he played for us in 2003. He's been managing in the Leinster Senior League. It could be those three or there could be others there's been a few names bandied about without much foundation by all accounts.

[gufc2000]

John Gill would be a great catch

Its a wonder Tony Cousins/John Ryan/Pete Mahon haven't thrown their name into the hat, Mahon in particluar would be a good appointment, but I suppose he'd want money, which is scarce everywhere these days

[Tallanted]

Heard Mahon and Gills names mentioned but they wont be getting it

[Frank76]

I'm just after hearing a name been mentioned as been in with a shout with been your new manager. And he's a former manager of yours too.

Could this surprise appointment be Martin Lawlor?

When is the announcement been made?

[Longfordian]

I'd say I've more chance of getting it than Martin Lawlor. There's still plenty of people involved who remember his last tenure. Hopefully..

[Rocky77]

I'm just after hearing a name been mentioned as been in with a shout with been your new manager. And he's a former manager of yours too.

Could this surprise appointment be Martin Lawlor?

When is the announcement been made?

You're making this up now. Between Derek Glynn goin to Athlone (he's more likely to go back to Galway I'd say), Jimmy Greene (a mate of mine's brother played under him at Athone and he's a joke) and now Martin Lawlor?????

Are you the same fella who swore that Oladele was joining you even after I told you flat out he wasn't and it was more than likely Onwubiko????

[Ash]

Gareth Cronin got the job from what I've been told

[sparkey]

Gareth Cronin appointed manager
Today, 2:04PM

Longford Town F.C would like to announce the appointment of Gareth Cronin to the position of first team manager. Cronin (35) takes over the position vacated by Alan Gough 3 weeks ago. Gareth has previously managed Waterford United and also held the position of assistant manager to Dermot Keely at Dublin City. His extensive playing career included over 400 games with his home club Cork City while he has also had playing spells with Shamrock Rovers and Kildare County. Gareth has also represented the Irish international side at every level bar full international. Longford Town would like to wish Gareth every success during his tenure and look forward to a prolonged and fruitful working relationship.

Source:www.LTFC.ie

[Pauro 76]

What was his record at Waterford? Wish him the best of luck with us.

[blue til i die]

What was his record at Waterford? Wish him the best of luck with us.


Got us relegated, tried to resign live on air afterwards, stayed on to get us back up.

Last Season:
Played36
Won17
Drawn 10
Lost 9
Scored55
Conceded35
Points 61

Went really well til we fell away badly at the end of the season!

Agreed to stay on again for this season, then changed his mind.
I wish him all the best!

[RonnieB]

Look forward to seeing how things go for him here. Best of luck to him for the rest of the season.

[Tallanted]

Excellenet appointment wish gareth the best of luck hopefully he can get us movin up the table now. No need for him to eat his words now he is one of us lol

[Rocky77]

Would have preferred Kelly but that can't be helped. I hope he'll do well.

Season starts now!

Is he bringing Sean Francis with him?

[Tallanted]

id love to see him bring francis but no mention of him yet

[Martinho II]

id love to see him bring francis but no mention of him yet


I heard that Sean Francis is not coming down at all. I heard also that Philip Coffey is staying on. I heard the news at half eleven this morning.Cronin dropped his demands from a couple of months ago ie by lowering his wages offer. It is a good move for the club as he wont take any nonsense plus he has the experience of workin with smaller clubs.

Its a very low key appointment considering the reaction on the forum to it. How things change.I belive that cronins cv only came in on friday so it was a dramatic turnaround as the race was between des cawley and liam kelly as suggested earlier. Cronin officially got the job at 11am. I heard that the reason why Kelly didnt get it was it cost too much and I heard that Cawley didnt do a good interview.

It doesnt say on the website whether Cronin will take charge immediately?

[Tallanted]

Id imagine if he was appointed this morning then he will start straight away

[Town Legend]

Happy with the appointment and hopefully he'll do well. Would of liked to see Kelly get the chance and see if he'd come from no-where like Kenny did when he arrived. But Cronin is a good appointment.........for now anyways!!!

[Town Legend]

Is the transfer window open yet or is that in July? He'll need to freshen things up I imagine and get a few of the deadwood out.

[Frank76]

Thats a surprise appointment indeed. Where did ye get the money to hire Cronin? Is he based in Dublin?

[Frank76]

You're making this up now. Between Derek Glynn goin to Athlone (he's more likely to go back to Galway I'd say), Jimmy Greene (a mate of mine's brother played under him at Athone and he's a joke) and now Martin Lawlor?????

Are you the same fella who swore that Oladele was joining you even after I told you flat out he wasn't and it was more than likely Onwubiko????


Come on Rocky I was just having the craic about Lawlor been mentioned because he's a joke just like the Longford team!!!

But on Glynn and Greene, Greene applied and was called back for a second interview. And Glynn has apparently become disillusioned with whats gone on there this year that he's apparently looking for a move.

[Rocky77]

Apparently or allegedy?

[Salmon Coloured]

So we have a Corkie managing us now? Why did the Board not consult me regarding this?
Im going to pretend we dont have a Manager from now on, if we start doing well im just going to say "Now theres a great bunch of lads, driving from the heart".

[Dillo]

Good appointment with experience and a decent record.

Disappointed things didn't work out for Gougher. He's a passionate man and it wasn't down to the lack of effort on his part. Not many could assemble a squad in that space of time and he made a real go of it to be fair to him. Was it purely down to the run of results that he left or was there more to it??

[De Town]

I'm very happy with this appointment. Lets hope he can get a few decent players in now and try push up the table a bit.

[Longfordian]

He has a bit of managerial experience anyway and didn't do badly at Waterford so hopefully he can improve things a bit.

[howsyourtouch]

Good appointment with experience and a decent record.

Disappointed things didn't work out for Gougher. He's a passionate man and it wasn't down to the lack of effort on his part. Not many could assemble a squad in that space of time and he made a real go of it to be fair to him. Was it purely down to the run of results that he left or was there more to it??

think it was just a lot of pressure from the board coming his way as they didnt want to give the team time to settle and find its feet,which realistically with a brand new squad and young players could have taken nearly the whole season...

[Longfordian]

Apparently it wasn't just the results though they didn't help his cause. They had other concerns from what I hear. Anyhow, there's no point getting into that now there's a new man in charge and we'll hope he can stabilise things.

[Tallanted]

There is always more than meets they eye, its time to move forward and not look back. Optimism should be high now travelling to wexford

[Martinho II]

the team are training tomorrow night in flancare with the new manager so for sure I will be there. they also are having a press launch with gareth cronin tomorrow evening too..

[blue til i die]

Thats a surprise appointment indeed. Where did ye get the money to hire Cronin? Is he based in Dublin?

Live's in Dublin alright, works as an accountant. Maybe he'll do ye're books for free... :D

[Martinho II]

Live's in Dublin alright, works as an accountant. Maybe he'll do ye're books for free... :D


im surprised to hear that hes only 35. where did cronin come from when he was waterford manager?

[De Town]

the team are training tomorrow night in flancare with the new manager so for sure I will be there. they also are having a press launch with gareth cronin tomorrow evening too..

What time is the training at? Might pop out for a look.

[Rocky77]

im surprised to hear that hes only 35. where did cronin come from when he was waterford manager?

He was assistant at Dublin City when they went to the wall

[Martinho II]

What time is the training at? Might pop out for a look.


well the press launch is half six so it could be on around that time or slightly later

[Martinho II]

I was up at flancare last night. Saw Cronin in action for the first time and was very impressed. He was running with the players, giving players instructions , stopping play to tell players where they were going wrong. He also had a patience about him too. He strikes me as both of a coach and manager at the same time. This is very encouraging as this was something Alan Gough lacked big time. But also in the training session Cronin showed that he is boss of the whole show.

Theres hope for the future with him. It probably wont be this season but given a full season I can see us going onto better things with him.

It looks like the reserve goalkeeper role will be sorted out as former sligo rovers,kildare co and athlone town goalie Danny O Leary has being training with us the last few weeks.:) Adrian Murphy didnt train Andy Bermingham did. I hope Bermingham will be a better help to Cronin than he was to Gough.

[Town Legend]

I was up at flancare last night. Saw Cronin in action for the first time and was very impressed. He was running with the players, giving players instructions , stopping play to tell players where they were going wrong. He also had a patience about him too. He strikes me as both of a coach and manager at the same time. This is very encouraging as this was something Alan Gough lacked big time. But also in the training session Cronin showed that he is boss of the whole show.

Theres hope for the future with him. It probably wont be this season but given a full season I can see us going onto better things with him.

It looks like the reserve goalkeeper role will be sorted out as former sligo rovers,kildare co and athlone town goalie Danny O Leary has being training with us the last few weeks.:) Adrian Murphy didnt train Andy Bermingham did. I hope Bermingham will be a better help to Cronin than he was to Gough.


Although I don't know much about him O'Leary could be a good signing. From other threads elsewhere he seems to be well respected from the fans of the clubs he played with before. And even though I haven't seen Fennelly play yet if O'Leary does sign it could be as No. 1. Has Murphy left the club Marty? And where was Bermingham all season?

[stann]

Danny O'Leary is mates with Cronin I think, certainly he signed for us at short notice at the start of last year when we had a goalkeeping shortage and that was mentioned at the time.
The move fell through as he fell foul of the three clubs rule through playing for a junior club in the interim IIRC, but I also seem to recall that he was semi-retired anyway cos his hands were cream crackered from being broken several times - will check this out later!
Unlike to be a #1 then?

[Battery Rover]

Danny is a gentleman and is a big asset to any club. As Stann says his hands are knackered and I know when he was with us there was a problem with the lights affecting his eyes as he needs contact lenses when playing.

Regardless of the bits above he will do a good job for you and with one hand and one eye would he give me more confidence than what you have.

One of the few players that could cross the trenches to Longford after playing for Athlone and still be given a heroes welcome. LEGEND

[howsyourtouch]

birmingham was there all season,gough just didnt like him which kinda says it all about his time here,wouldnt play one of our better centre halfs because of a personal reason...

[stann]

Sorry forgot to get back on this. :o

Found the old thread on the Athlone forum (http://foot.ie/forums/showthread.php?t=83561) and it basically just repeats what was said above.
Nice testament to the chap from fans of a few clubs there though, good sign, that. I never met the chap the short time he was down here but people in the club echo those sentiments.
A top, top keeper on top of all that as well. Class doesn't diminish that quickly, a Mick Devine for the West & Midlands maybe? :D

[Town Legend]

birmingham was there all season,gough just didnt like him which kinda says it all about his time here,wouldnt play one of our better centre halfs because of a personal reason...

Have to admit I was very surprised he wasn't played and then just thought he'd lost interest and quit. Good to hear he's still about and hopefully Cronin will play him.

What players do ya think we should get rid of? And any rumours of any new signings?

[howsyourtouch]

get rid of some of goughs mates he brought in,the ones he wouldnt discpline,we all know who they are,the red cards for dissent speak for themselves,i mean for gods sake its senior football...

[Keen2win]

I heard that a few of our players, especially Mickey Lee is very happy Goughs gone! Apparantly he hated the way he was being treated ang was even considering quitting at 1 stage!

[Ash]

Danny also played at Kildare when Gareth Cronin was there. He has apologised
to me for crossing the divide so I'll let him off this time!

Great keeper and sound out fella off the pitch. Feckin ragin he gone to ye though :mad:

The lights in the Flansiro might not affect him that much though cos there was shag all light
from them last time I played there! :p

[Martinho II]

Although I don't know much about him O'Leary could be a good signing. From other threads elsewhere he seems to be well respected from the fans of the clubs he played with before. And even though I haven't seen Fennelly play yet if O'Leary does sign it could be as No. 1. Has Murphy left the club Marty? And where was Bermingham all season?

I assume town legend you are on about Brendan Murphy yeah he quit early in the season after I think seven games as he couldnt commit. Andy Bermingham has being injured then semi fit he got injured at training on thursday last and was in crutches up in wexford .He confirmed to me that he will be out for the next six weeks. He hasnt made a first team appearance all season and was on the bench once.

[Town Legend]

I assume town legend you are on about Brendan Murphy yeah he quit early in the season after I think seven games as he couldnt commit. Andy Bermingham has being injured then semi fit he got injured at training on thursday last and was in crutches up in wexford .He confirmed to me that he will be out for the next six weeks. He hasnt made a first team appearance all season and was on the bench once.


No Marty, was asking about Adrian Murphy because you said he didn't train Thurs night. Was thinking he was probably getting sick of been on the bench all the time and decided to pack it in.

I was glad yesterday when he didn't!!! Hopefully Cronin will give him a bit of a run now, although I haven't seen him play since he came back. Has he still got the talent he showed when he started out or has the break he took affected him?

[Martinho II]

No Marty, was asking about Adrian Murphy because you said he didn't train Thurs night. Was thinking he was probably getting sick of been on the bench all the time and decided to pack it in.

I was glad yesterday when he didn't!!! Hopefully Cronin will give him a bit of a run now, although I haven't seen him play since he came back. Has he still got the talent he showed when he started out or has the break he took affected him?

Now I get you ! The reason he wasnt training is that he works in barwork in dublin so it was probably hard for him to come down. I thought sunday was his best performance since he came back to us. Hes gradually getting back to the old Adrian Murphy we used to love.. He was so unlucky near the end not to score when Youths goalie made a last ditch save on him. I am expectin Glynn to be dropped and Murph to play.