TM Ireland - Trophymanager Ireland

Hi, I've been kindly asked to do an interview with FAI Cup winner Romero FC for the TM Ireland website. Here he discusses that emphatic title win, adapting to an ageing squad and the next generation of Romero players.

Q. Congratulations on an excellent cup victory. Out of approximately 1300 teams, you came out on top. What was your most memorable moment in the cup run?

Thanks Cav. I think it would have to be the 92nd minute winner against the B Sharps in the semi final. I watched the game from just after his striker Antrago was sent off and was convinced that it was going to extra time and that I'd lose by the odd goal. Was so relieved when Doyle scored.

Q. Always exciting to score late when watching in the livematch. Is this your biggest achievement in TM? Finishing 2nd in the LoI in Season 17 must be a close contender?

Definitely my biggest achievement in TM so far. I was delighted to finish 2nd in the LOI especially since I'd narrowly avoided relegation with a play-off win in Season 16, but I think coming second might have been more to do with a lot of established teams being in transition rather than my team being particularly good! Look where Les and Askeaton finished.

Q. Who were your key players on the road to victory?

I used a fair amount of the squad throughout the cup, starting with the back-up players in the earlier rounds and then bringing in the first-teamers as we got into the latter stages. Everyone played their part, no player particularly stood out, but it'd be wrong not to mention club record signing O'Grady http://trophymanager.com/showprofile.php?playerid=13669976 who scored 2 in the final.

Q. After three seasons of staying at home, you'll be back in Europe next season. How far can you go?

Honestly have no idea. The first-team have a good amount of routine which obviously helps, but the European competitions are full of teams with buckets of routine. Injuries will be a big factor. If my first 11 can stay fit then I might have a chance of getting out of the group stages. I'd be happy to do that much, anything after that would be a bonus.

Q. Do you think any Irish team has a chance of winning in Europe anytime soon?

We're definitely getting stronger, as your excellent run this season proved, and there are a fair amount of strong teams in the LOI who are capable of putting together a good European run, but we're still a bit behind in comparison to more established leagues with more active players. Although I don't think we'll win a European title within the next few seasons, I'm sure it will happen sometime. Just to spite me, Beech will probably win one in Season 25 :)

Q. 19 points from 21 put you into the title race on the final day - this run co-incided with most of your cup run for an incredible total of 11 wins out of 12 - what do you put your late charge down to - presumably your squad depth was crucial in this period?

I got lucky in that most of the injuries the team incurred were in the first half of the season and nearly all injuries in the 2nd half of the season were short-term ones, meaning I got to play most of my first choice 11 in all 12 games. There were times when I had players on the bench that I would rather weren't there, but luckily it never got to the point where they were required to play.

Q. Must have been disappointing to miss out on the league title on the final day, though?

Disappointing, but not unexpected. Knowing that I would have to beat a very strong Elland Rovers team and rely on Les, Teabag and Hoops all failing to win as well, I rested a fair few of my first 11 to avoid injury for the cup final. Wasn't surprised when Elland beat us 4-2 and was happy to see Hoops win too (sorry KK!), confirming that I'd done the right thing when choosing to rest the first-teamers. Delighted that the lads were involved in the title race up to the last day though.

Q. I'd say ya would have been sickened if Shamrock didn't win, after having rested players, not expecting all the other teams to slip up! How are the preparations for next season going - what are your goals, and any NT sale activity planned?

Hoping to be in with a title shout again next season. No money for NT sale purchases or any purchases for that matter! Decided to go the YD route early in my TM career and it's proving to be a costly choice. I also hit over 30000 fans towards the end of this season, but my stadium is nowhere near the capacity it should be for that amount, so any money earned for this season is going towards the stadium, meaning there's no planned purchases and we'll have the same squad next season.

Q. Your regular first 11 has an average age of a little over 30 years. In the short-term it must be great to have all that routine, but do you worry about the longer term impact of having an ageing team?

Yes, simply because a higher YD does not guarantee higher potential players every week or high potential players in the positions where you need to replace an ageing player.

Q. What is your long-term plan for dealing with the age issue - milk this team for all its worth and depend on your yd in the long term, or will you start trying to make some money while you still can on some of these players, to make way for younger signings?

It was always planned to keep the average age below 30. I couldn't tell you the amount of times in the last few seasons that I had decided that Ljubisavljevic http://trophymanager.com/showprofile.php?playerid=1658153 and Winogradski http://trophymanager.com/showprofile.php?playerid=13605772 were being shown the door, but routine became so important when the new ME was introduced that it just seemed better to keep them. As long as routine has such importance, I probably won't sell the older experienced guys and it looks like I will be relying on YD to produce the players needed to replace these older guys when they retire.

Q. Any prospects we should know about? Who's the next Luke McArdle?

I seem to get my highest potential players in midfield most of the time. MCs O'Flynn http://trophymanager.com/showprofile.php?playerid=43303362, Kealy http://trophymanager.com/showprofile.php?playerid=45820392 and McNulty http://trophymanager.com/showprofile.php?playerid=55687111 have all been scouted at 18* and above. Sadly O'Flynn and Kealy are late bloomers. DL Martin http://trophymanager.com/showprofile.php?playerid=47571751 has also been scouted 18* and above but again is a late bloomer :(

There are also a couple of 16 year olds, Dunne http://trophymanager.com/showprofile.php?playerid=56255140 at DC and Murphy http://trophymanager.com/showprofile.php?playerid=56413856 in goal who look good. Whether any of them reach the same level as McArdle remains to be seen, but I've high hopes for more NT representatives in the future.


Q. I've already shortlisted one or two of them. So, what change would you most like to see in Trophy Manager

They need to address the Routine imbalance, especially with GKs. It's not right that someone with the skills of Les' "Claw Hands" conceded 16 goals in 8 games because of his low routine.

Q. Finally, who is the man behind Romero FC and how did you discover Trophy Manager?

The name's Paul, I'm a 30 year old Government pleb from Finglas (the nice part ;)), and I am a TM addict. I first fell in love with football management after playing LMA Manager 2003 on the PS2. Despite my addiction to TM I do have a girlfriend and friends, but they'll never understand how I get such joy from pulling a 20* player or winning the cup in "just a game" (Their words, not mine!). I was introduced to the game by a then acquaintance and quite controversial manager who has been seen in the game in a few different guises. He has been NC, was banned for selling off his team and is now in the 4th division building up a substantial wad of cash for when he (maybe?) decides to become more active in the game again?

He wouldn't be from Dublin by any chance? :) Thanks for your time and good luck next season!

No problem. Thanks for showing the interest :)