TM Ireland - Trophymanager Ireland

After a season long battle with The Welsh All Blacks TM Ireland welcomes Division 2.1 Champ and LOI virgin FC Cork.

First off congrats on the 2.1 title. You've been in that group for 15 seasons so will you be getting homesick next season?

Homesick?  I hope I never see it again!  Really, though, the cast of characters has changed so much in the division during my time there that it’s hard develop too great of an attachment.  Goldust has been there longer than I was, and there are a few other teams who I’ve a long 2.1 history against, but I’m sure that their time for the LOI will come as well.  I hope I’m still there to greet them.

Div 2.1 has long been considered the strongest outside the LOI. Did you ever lose faith the promotion would come?

It isn’t considered the strongest, it is the strongest.  It’s an indisputable fact and anyone who doesn’t agree is a fool.  The numbers prove it: in my years in 2.1 I’ve seen Stan Franciscans, Cavan Celtic, Moloneys Cojones, Buggleskelly Swifts, Shamrock Hoops, Beechhill United, Askeaton, the B Sharps, and FC Rage come and go.  If you discount Le Sharks, Athletico Teabag, and PND who started back in season 3 when promotion to the LOI wasn’t the scrap that it is today, that means that 60% of this season’s LOI teams passed through 2.1 on their way up.  That’s a pretty impressive record.

I think if you can manage to stick in 2.1 for 4-5 seasons and build your club over that period in a sustainable way, you’ll eventually win promotion.  All of the clubs I’ve seen that come up and stick in 2.1 have eventually moved on.  So, I had faith that my time would come.  I probably could have won promotion 5 or 6 seasons ago if I just would have bought a better GK earlier, but I was sentimentally attached to a mediocre homegrown lad.

Right now we have probably 12 sides that can realistically challenge for promotion, but I think The Welsh All Blacks, 10 Xavis & a Keeper, and Athletico SuperSheep seem the best positioned to make title runs in the next couple of seasons, and also to have a reasonable chance at staying up once they get there.

Who was the main man that made the difference for you this season?

Tough call.  The addition of Samnegard really brought the squad together, and it was that upgrade at GK that won me 2.1.  But it’s hard to pick against Murphy as player of the season.  He’s our offensive engine.  Can I pick co-players of the season?  

You've always had a great production line of talented youths. Who's the next big thing at FC Cork?

Good question, I’ve been wondering that myself.  I’ve been blessed with some talented youths over the years that are now the core of the squad so I have nothing to complain about, but at the moment the well has run dry.  I do have some good young players who should fetch a decent price on the market, but I don’t have anybody that I’m counting on to make my side better.  

So you'll be looking to get some quids your way through sales? Will you be strengthening any areas of your team?

I’ve always been a bit at sea at MC and DC, so if there’s anywhere I need to shore up it’s those positions. I may buy in opportunistically, but if I have to stand pat I think I can compete as the squad stands today.  I have a sales plan for the new season and what I buy in will depend to some extent on what kind of prices I get.

Now that you've made it who are you looking forward to coming up against next season?

I’ll enjoy seeing MC and Stan again, as both those guys definitely added a lot to 2.1 during their times there (it’s the truth and not just pandering, I swear!).  It’s too bad that FC Rage will be dropping, as we came up together, we use the culturally inappropriate leading FC Cork/Rage rather than Cork FC.  I hope Beech can stick around because I’m still upset about the fact that he promoted before me.  And, of course, it will be great to test my squad against the legends like Le Sharks and Teabag.  I suppose I’ll just be political and say everybody or nobody.

Prediction time, what position do you think you'll finish next season?

I’m not expecting too much out of next season as we’ll simply be outclassed by a lot of the established LOI sides.  That said, finishing out of the relegation zone is our first priority (shocking, I know!), but I think a finish at the top of the bottom half is realistically attainable.

So what is it about the game that makes you come back for more?

I don’t know exactly what it is about this game, but I think it’s the fact that there’s something that happens every day which is good, and of course having an active community of managers is critical.  I gave Trophy Hockey a whirl, but the atmosphere over there was nothing like it is here with the lot of you – a lot of tension between the developer and the managers, and just not much life in general.

If you could change anything about the game what would it be?

When it comes to the game design issue I quite simply can’t be bothered.  I let others set the rules, and then I’ll play within them to my greatest advantage.  I don’t get too caught up in the sound and the fury over some of the changes that the MT’s implement - I mean, I’ve got kids so I have bigger things to worry about than deflation or when late bloomers bloom.  Of course I don’t always agree with the changes to the game, but I do give the credit to the MTs for making continuous changes.  The only constant in life is change, so if you operate under the assumption that nothing will ever change then you’re a fool.

While I’m on my soapbox, I think that part of being a successful manager is maintaining the flexibility to adjust to changes in the game.  If you’re operating on a knife’s edge such that a minor change can devastate your club, then that’s your own fault.  I think a big part of the bleating and whining from some managers over, for example, the economy is just due to managers overextending themselves and not being able to adjust their lifestyle to the reality of today.  I always try to keep a half a billion or so in the bank to give me the flexibility to operate out of choice rather than need.  Of course, that means acting like a grown-up and I think we all know that not everyone who plays this game acts like a grown-up.

Thanks for taking the time out to do this. Best of luck in the coming season.

My pleasure.  It’ll be nice to have my name on the site other than my inexplicable inclusion in the Great Teams of Ireland thing that’s been running for ages now.  I guess that’s what a miracle FAI cup win in your 3rd season in the game gets you!