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23/06/2004, 9:58 AM
www.unison.ie
Gospel according to Dolan converts Euro sceptic Leesiders
FEW who have worked closely with Pat Dolan would have been surprised at the manner in which his Cork City side executed last weekend's magnificent success against Malmo, a result which now leaves them tantalizingly close to qualification for an InterToto Cup second round tie against the eminently beatable Dutch side NEC Nijmegen.
Small ripples in a European club pool perhaps but, on Leeside, the gospel of Dolan has finally demonstrated its ability to form a huge wave of emotion wash over a passionate Rebel Army who have been bereft of nights like these for too long.
The passionate myopia of Dolan - whose relationship to football is arguably as devoutly intimate as that of his mentor Brian Kerr - laid the platform for Saturday night's 3-1 success at Turners Cross where, for one tiny corner of Europe at least, the enthralling encounter between the Czech Republic and the Dutch did not arrest the population's attention.
Those proud spectators in the Cross last Saturday were enveloped in a cocoon which allowed complete and utter self-absorption. Dolan swathed his players in an equally secure blanket, single-mindedly inculcating in each of them a belief that they had every right to beat Malmo.
He denuded them of any doubts they have had of their ability to prosper at a level which, although moderate by European club standards, remains far above that produced weekly by the attritional domestic game.
That many of Dolan's side possessed international experience at U21 level was an obvious boon, especially since few of his side boasted that much competitive experience in UEFA club competitions.
Dolan's ability to harness his own experience of the European game was critical. The exhaustive research he compiled on the Swedish outfit rivalled the approach that is being undertaken as a matter of course, and at much greater expense, by coaching staff at the current Euro 2004 championships.
Undeterred by the late withdrawal of Malmo's Polish striker, Dolan deftly deleted him from his deliberations and adapted a new formula which his central defenders adhered to capably. The squad to a man have remarked upon the thoroughness of the three-hour team meeting which Dolan held with his players on Thursday night.
Equally, the club's departure for Sweden tomorrow signifies that Dolan had earmarked this as a tie his side could win, though understandably he continues to play down his side's chances.
"In days gone by," admits City defender Greg O'Halloran, "if a player saw he was heading out for a European match a few days early, he'd be thinking to himself, 'Great, an extra few days for a ****-up!' Instead, this shows that we believe we can win."
City chairman Brian Lennox has invested heavily in backing his manager's faith. The expected €200,000 prize for reaching the next round is the merest salve to the hole burned in Lennox's pocket. The significance of the statement which would be made by City taking such an admired scalp is priceless.
Dolan's preparedness will be little different from that of the Eircom League's other full-time managerial representatives in European competition this season, Stephen Kenny at Bohemians or Pat Fenlon at Shelbourne, as they await Friday's UEFA Cup and Champions League draws. (Alan Matthews, in his defence, is not a full-time manager; hence his task is justifiably more taxing).
It's been said too often before but one hopes that last Saturday night may kickstart something a tad more meaningful than another hackneyed footnote in a history of European involvement for Eircom League clubs which has been littered with a trail of false prophecies.
Recent improvements in European competition has been of a staccato nature. For every encouraging step forward, it seems, two are taken in reverse. Sure, the list of teams which will stand between Shelbourne and a second qualifying round berth in the Champions League are hardly frightening.
Yet it is the next step which proves elusive, an obstacle which, this year at least, might see either Manchester United and Real Madrid provide the opposition. Yet this mouthwatering prospect may, on recent evidence anyway, remain elusive.
Shelbourne's task in the second round this summer will be difficult to broach, a direct legacy of the same club's failure to dispose of Maltese club Hibernians two summer ago; the latter's own weekend win in the InterToto Cup against Croatian opposition indicates that the standards are increasing all the time throughout Europe.
Whatever the outcome of City's European odyssey, their results will not have an effect on Ireland's ranking in Europe, as was the case when Dolan led St Pat's to the brink of the InterToto Cup third round two seasons ago, when only an away goal denied them on that occasion.
Ironically, an away goal may prove to be the biggest obstacle to his new side progressing this weekend although Eircom League fans will genuinely hope otherwise.
Kerr's Ireland may have been absent from the biggest football party of the summer. Hopefully, City's opening salvo under Dolan may provide more cheer on a smaller, though no less significant scale.
David Kelly
Bootroom
Gospel according to Dolan converts Euro sceptic Leesiders
FEW who have worked closely with Pat Dolan would have been surprised at the manner in which his Cork City side executed last weekend's magnificent success against Malmo, a result which now leaves them tantalizingly close to qualification for an InterToto Cup second round tie against the eminently beatable Dutch side NEC Nijmegen.
Small ripples in a European club pool perhaps but, on Leeside, the gospel of Dolan has finally demonstrated its ability to form a huge wave of emotion wash over a passionate Rebel Army who have been bereft of nights like these for too long.
The passionate myopia of Dolan - whose relationship to football is arguably as devoutly intimate as that of his mentor Brian Kerr - laid the platform for Saturday night's 3-1 success at Turners Cross where, for one tiny corner of Europe at least, the enthralling encounter between the Czech Republic and the Dutch did not arrest the population's attention.
Those proud spectators in the Cross last Saturday were enveloped in a cocoon which allowed complete and utter self-absorption. Dolan swathed his players in an equally secure blanket, single-mindedly inculcating in each of them a belief that they had every right to beat Malmo.
He denuded them of any doubts they have had of their ability to prosper at a level which, although moderate by European club standards, remains far above that produced weekly by the attritional domestic game.
That many of Dolan's side possessed international experience at U21 level was an obvious boon, especially since few of his side boasted that much competitive experience in UEFA club competitions.
Dolan's ability to harness his own experience of the European game was critical. The exhaustive research he compiled on the Swedish outfit rivalled the approach that is being undertaken as a matter of course, and at much greater expense, by coaching staff at the current Euro 2004 championships.
Undeterred by the late withdrawal of Malmo's Polish striker, Dolan deftly deleted him from his deliberations and adapted a new formula which his central defenders adhered to capably. The squad to a man have remarked upon the thoroughness of the three-hour team meeting which Dolan held with his players on Thursday night.
Equally, the club's departure for Sweden tomorrow signifies that Dolan had earmarked this as a tie his side could win, though understandably he continues to play down his side's chances.
"In days gone by," admits City defender Greg O'Halloran, "if a player saw he was heading out for a European match a few days early, he'd be thinking to himself, 'Great, an extra few days for a ****-up!' Instead, this shows that we believe we can win."
City chairman Brian Lennox has invested heavily in backing his manager's faith. The expected €200,000 prize for reaching the next round is the merest salve to the hole burned in Lennox's pocket. The significance of the statement which would be made by City taking such an admired scalp is priceless.
Dolan's preparedness will be little different from that of the Eircom League's other full-time managerial representatives in European competition this season, Stephen Kenny at Bohemians or Pat Fenlon at Shelbourne, as they await Friday's UEFA Cup and Champions League draws. (Alan Matthews, in his defence, is not a full-time manager; hence his task is justifiably more taxing).
It's been said too often before but one hopes that last Saturday night may kickstart something a tad more meaningful than another hackneyed footnote in a history of European involvement for Eircom League clubs which has been littered with a trail of false prophecies.
Recent improvements in European competition has been of a staccato nature. For every encouraging step forward, it seems, two are taken in reverse. Sure, the list of teams which will stand between Shelbourne and a second qualifying round berth in the Champions League are hardly frightening.
Yet it is the next step which proves elusive, an obstacle which, this year at least, might see either Manchester United and Real Madrid provide the opposition. Yet this mouthwatering prospect may, on recent evidence anyway, remain elusive.
Shelbourne's task in the second round this summer will be difficult to broach, a direct legacy of the same club's failure to dispose of Maltese club Hibernians two summer ago; the latter's own weekend win in the InterToto Cup against Croatian opposition indicates that the standards are increasing all the time throughout Europe.
Whatever the outcome of City's European odyssey, their results will not have an effect on Ireland's ranking in Europe, as was the case when Dolan led St Pat's to the brink of the InterToto Cup third round two seasons ago, when only an away goal denied them on that occasion.
Ironically, an away goal may prove to be the biggest obstacle to his new side progressing this weekend although Eircom League fans will genuinely hope otherwise.
Kerr's Ireland may have been absent from the biggest football party of the summer. Hopefully, City's opening salvo under Dolan may provide more cheer on a smaller, though no less significant scale.
David Kelly
Bootroom