TM Ireland - Trophymanager Ireland

LoI Champ Stan Franciscans chats to Cup winner Cavan Celtic...

- Congrats Cavan. That was one hell of a final and we all enjoyed watching it. In a word did you?

Yep it was a lot of fun. Well, it was fun only while I was winning. A lot of nervous parts as well.

- Please talk us through it as you saw it. It must have been an emotional rollercoaster.

This Rollercoaster was forced to emigrate, but has just come home for XMAS

- You opened your Cup run with a 12-1 drubbing of Division 4’s inactive tn2011 but from there on in had tough draws. Prior to the final who worried you most?

Yes, it was a tough run. Travelling to FC Cork was always a tough one. We were 2-0 up after 13 minutes but he brought it back to 2-2 and I thought that would be it. We finally scored in extra time. MC and last year's winners Kilkenny are two of my oldest rivals. Cavan Celtic and Kilkenny City were created on the same day and were originally in the same Division 5 group so I've probably played him more than anyone. We also required a late goal against KK so it was 3 dramatic victories in the last four games in the cup. Can't really pick one but definitely KK and MC would always worry me the most of the teams I played.

- Elland was a very tough prospect in the final. Was there much analysis of them involved before the game or did you just have faith in your teams abilities?

We had just finally signed a world class central midfielder in Azizul Yahya the best player I've ever had and I knew he could make the difference. I'd been looking for a big CM for a long time. Elland are a great side but I have faith in my team after an excellent season and I was confident going into the game and even after we were 1-0 down. In the end Yahya was one of the players who helped make the difference.

- You’ve have a big season with a Cup win and an LOI runner up spot. You’ve firmly established yourself as one of the top teams in the country. What does next season hold in store?

Well if you have another season like last season I can forget about winning the title. But with the help of Yahya and maybe one or two other tricks up my sleeve I hope I can get the upper hand in our head-to-head games and take advantage of any slip-ups on your part. I've had a good enough team to win the league for a while now but I usually fall off at the end. The 5 games without a win in december killed my chances. Hopefully next season will be different. Also looking forward to my debut season in the UETA Champions League. I'll be delighted to get past the group stages.

- With a season of TM 2.0 now complete how do you feel about this version of the game?

It's been my best season so far. My highest placing and highest number of points ever. And then the cup. So it's been good for me in that sense. For various reasons I've been a lot less active this season. Mostly I find the little things annoying, everything takes a little longer to find and some great features are missing. Conditional orders and the team history/records page is something I like the most. So I'm mixed on it. Not sure it was worth all the buildup!

- Congrats again on the Cup win. I’ll be looking to take that trophy off your hands next season.

And vice versa with regards to the league. :)

Thanks a lot Stan.