Foot.ie Q&A Session - Stephen O'Brien - Answers
1. Name you all-time eircom League X1? (In your playing career)
My team would be:
David Forde/Steve Williams (Cant choose)
Owen Heary | Pat Scully | Barry Ferguson | Danny Murphy
Kevin Doyle | Kevin Hunt | Joe Gamble | Mark Rutherford
Jason Byrne | George O’Callaghan
Subs:
Liam Coyle
Pat Morley
Glen Crowe
John O’Flynn
Stewie Byrne
2. Can you settle the argument about where your nick-name originated from?
When I first arrived at Longford I had a bit of a plain accent from living in UK, Vinny Perth & Paul Mc Nally thought I sounded like John Barnes so they called me “Digger” as in Digger Barnes from the series called Dallas on TV. Ask your ma’s about Dallas it was on a long time ago.
3. Who have been your favourite opposition fans for craic and why?
Cork City: Great Banter both in the Cross and in Longford, I do the old Hokey Cokey dance for them throughout the match.
Drogheda: Just get on well always good banter.
Pats: All my family from Inchicore so I know a lot of the fans.
4. Which EL ground has been your favourite to play in?
Couldn’t pick one, Turners Cross, United Park, Richmond Park & Dalymount would be best.
5. Who's been your biggest influence on your career?
Damien Richardson and Stephen Kenny.
I was with Damien in Gillingham and then brought me to Shels.
Stephen convinced me to join Longford and was a very good bloke to deal with.
6. Are you small or far away? Honestly, how tall are you?
5ft 7 1/2. I have to say I píss myself sometimes when I see matches on Telly.
7. What do you think about everyone slagging you off about your height? Hi ho hi ho
No problem, it’s enjoyable I have learned to take it in the right spirit.
8. During your career have you seen a noticeable improvement in the standard of play in Ireland?
I arrived back in 1996 to join Shels the Pitches and Facilities have improved along with the players. Players are so much more dedicated and fitter now.
9. How long will it take for an Irish side to get into the group stages of the Champions League?
We have made great strides in the last couple of years but I think your talking at least another 3-4 Years and maybe no even then. I think it all depends on a Full Time League.
We should think about probably incorporating the North so we could get crowds of 10-12,000 for league games.
Imagine the atmosphere being like it was at the recent Cork V Derry game every week and revenue it would generate, it would take the league onto another level.
10. Who has been the best opposition striker you have faced?
Jason Byrne, Liam Coyle, John O’Flynn and Glen Crowe.
11. Seriously can you touch the crossbar?
Have to really stretch before I try.
12. In your playing career, who is the greatest player you played with or against?
When in UK played against several good players, Shearer would be the one.
13. Do you think switching to summer soccer has improved the standard of Irish football?
Without doubt the answer has to be yes.
The only people who would even think of returning to Winter Football are People with their own self interest at heart, take the Drogs/Cork Cup Final as an example. Enough Said.
The reason why summer football works is purely the Weather.
Training facilities are great because floodlights are not required and the standard of Training Pitches and Grounds are super. The players also revel performing in good weather.
14. Given the perilous state of club finances throughout Ireland, do you believe that it is hypocritical of the PFAI to argue against the introduction of the salary cap, as proposed by the Genesis Report?
I think the PFAI have to stand by their Members, so no. I do think the clubs need to look at what they can afford to pay out in wages.
Players will always try and get the best deal they can but how can clubs consistently get into debt to chase a dream that most of the time has a minimal chance of succeeding.
15. What do you think of the coaching standards and practices in our league? (at all levels)
Thankfully for the last number of years I have been fortunate enough to have aGoalkeeping Coach, so for me personally I have been well taken care of.
Generally I think once the FAI implement the Technical Development Plan things should improve.
From the coaches I have worked with in this country Damien Richardson and Stephen Kenny would stand out as very progressive in their thinking which has obviously shown with there recent success.
16. What needs to be done to improve the standards, by that i mean what do you think Irish players are missing, or do they fall down in just one area i.e. technical, fitness, management?
No matter what I say here wont change the fact that Ireland produces players that are in the main technically sub-standard to most other countries in Europe.
Why? Because it is all about winning, we play a different style of football which is all about harrying the opposition and getting the ball forward as quickly as possible.
Schoolboy clubs concentrate on getting the biggest players to play at underage so teams can be bulldozed with strength.
The Eircom League is improving due to the Summer Football, Pitches and Full Time training but by the time the lads get to play in our league a lot of bad habits have already formed.
Again the Technical Development Plan is hopefully the answer and will instil good habits into our nation’s players from an early age.
I am not just paying the Technical plan lip service I have done a couple of FAI courses recently and what they are teaching does make sense. At least there is a plan in place to improve our kids.
17. Have you given any thought about coaching, have you any experience in it, are there certain aspects/areas that you would like to implement if you were to take up coaching.
Yeah I attended an FAI Introductory goalkeeping course a few weeks ago.
I have coached local teams and in my son’s school. It is really enjoyable.
One thing that I would like to see implemented is to attempt to make it mandatory for Professional Eircom League Players to do 2 hours coaching per week in schools.
It would raise the profile of the league immediately and I believe get more interest in soccer. In my son’s school the GAA send in a coach each week, however, St. Pats are only around the corner and they dont, that’s the difference.
18. What do you think of the training you got from schoolboys up to U21?
Because I was involved in the International Set Up training was always very good, but I seen the other side of the coin where someone’s dad was working his arse off to be at training on time after working all day so he could take the U14’s of such a team on Tuesday and Thursday’s and then get stick from the parents when little Johnny was not playing on Sunday.
Again I would go back to a previous answer, I recently undertook a Introductory Goalkeeping Course with the FAI which was really well laid out.
I also met coaches on the course from St. Kevins Boys and the work they are doing is light years ahead of what we done when we were younger, so things are looking up.
19. What do you think of foot.ie and do you not think your name on there (Dirk) is a bit silly?
Foot.ie is always fun to have a look at, there is great banter between fans and it is always good to know what they think.
Lets be honest it’s not as if were superstars on £30K a week, we are just normal blokes who just happen to be half decent footballers at this level.
Dirk is another nickname from Vinny Perth.
20. Can you see yourself managing in the future?
I honestly think that managing an Eircom League should be a Full Time job and with my work commitments I cant see it. I would like to stay involved in some capacity maybe as a goalkeeping coach.
