Interview with Shamrock Rovers' Korrigan
Since taking over Shamrock Rovers back in June 2013, manager Michael Korrigan is leading Ireland's most successful club to places they have never gone before.
When most people think of football in Ireland the first thing that comes to mind is the national team. The Airtricity League of Ireland is never in the same conversation as the national team. Usually overlooked by both players and fans this league made a radical change in hopes of capturing more attention to the league. Back in 2012 the FAI made a declaration where the league would change calendar dates as well as a major overhaul of the system.
The one club that everyone has been paying attention to is Shamrock Rovers. They are a club located in the Tallaght section of Dublin. Shamrock might be the most known Irish club to outsiders. Founded in 1901 they are a professional club that plays that Tallagth Community Stadium. They boost a pretty decent youth academy as well as a pretty state-of-the-art training facility that was completed this past summer. Having enjoyed the greatest of success during the 1950s, the hoops are undoubtably one of the most successful clubs and Ireland. Boasting a proud total 126 competition wins. Some of these wins include 3 All-Ireland Cups, 18 Airtricity League Titles, 24 FAI Cups and 19 Irish Shield's. They have a lot more trophies but there are too many to be named.
During the summer of 2013 a change in management occurred for this club. Chairman Jonathan Roche hired an unknown American who has been involved with football in Ireland for a few years now.
"When Michael applied for the job I was highly skeptic and thought this was a joke, but after meeting with him I thought his goals were top of the line and signing him would be a massive boost to PR for the club."-Jonathan Roche. Many thought this was a gimmick and Michael's term would only last one season.
Since joining the club Korrigan has done a lot. Last season he won the All-Ireland Cup as well as a clubs 18th league title. Before the season began he also guided them to a Irish Shield championship over rivals St. Patrick's Athletic. Shamrock had not been known as European contenders but this year he was able to make some heads roll. The club would lose to FC Basel in the UEFA Champions League champions playoff leg. Nobody gave them a chance but Shamrock would turn some heads. They would take Basel into extra time during the second leg. The final score would be 4-5. With that loss Shamrock would move on to the Europa League where they are currently in Group H.
He has came up with a system that has been the key for Shamrock. Known as money ball 2.0,Korrigan has taken an advantage on free transfers. Basically with money ball 2.0 all you do is look for good players that are between the ages of 26-36 that still can play a vital role with the club. So far it has been successful with captures of the likes of Robbie Keane, Stephen Hunt, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Glenn Whelan and Luke Wilkshire. In total Korrigan has signed less than €3m in transfer fees. Many teams have been known to do this in the past but never this successful for a club in such a deplorable league. What is amazing is that a few of these Irish veterans have been able to play for Ireland as Shamrock Rovers players. The only team in Ireland to have players on the national team during Euro qualifiers.
So with all that we here at FourFourTwo had a chance to sit down with Michael and talk about everything from football, the ladies, food and anything else that was on our mind. He even gave us a tour of the new facilities and show us how the system has been working for the club.
FFT: Have you enjoyed your time at Shamrock so far?
MK:Yes yes I have, managing this club is such an honor and I am glad I am the one tasked to bring this club to future glory.
FFT: When you first arrived and got rid of half of the current squad at the time, people thought you were mad, what went through your mind as you did this and why did you? Obviously you are lucky that this plan worked out.
MK: Well since the league change the calendar about 60% of the club had their contracts running out in November. I figured that I could use these guys in the beginning and see who is good enough to stay. Luckily Ireland now has a free transfer window that runs until the end of the winter window. So I figure why the hell not and is start working especially when I was able to capture Ebanks-Blake and Hunt. The one thing I really look that that shaped this year squad was guys whose contracts were running out at the end of season. That is how I was able to get some of the guys we have now.
FFT:What is up with the crowd for your squad? We noticed that during league and cup play you get less than 10,000 fans to show up but on European nights especially at the other Stadium you get over 10,000.
MK:This has been discussed amongst everybody with the club. I find it extremely disappointing and pathetic that these "fans" only show up for European matches. I know the league and everything else is crap but come on show up tickets aren't that expensive. Stop being such Fairweather fans and go to a damn league match. The place would be much better if we could pack the house. The big issue little from this is the fucking EPL and that Scottish club known as Celtic FC. We (the league) really need to wake the hell up and find a way that will attract the Irish away from those foreign leagues.
FFT:Oh, so you not fan of Celtic or anything like that?
MK:They honestly do not bother me one bit but the one thing I hate about them is her fans and how they say "oh we are the Irish club". Bullshit there is no way in hell Celtic are the "Irish" club. Yeah they were founded by an Irish dude but come on man they are Scots- Irish more than anything else. We here as well the rest of the clubs and Ireland are the true Irish clubs. Now I don't care some Celtic fan gets butthurt reading my opinion on the club but deal with it. I love the play Celtic one day to show that we are the club.
FFT:One thing that we have noticed is your feud with St. Pat's manager Liam Buckley, what caused it and what you too ever make up?
MK:Well I really don't know what started it other than calling the out for being a rookie manager and not knowing what I was doing. I thought those comments were extremely rude and disrespectful so that's when I have back about him minding his own business. Well things got crazier as both clubs are hated rivals and we had many close an important matches against each other. I hope we can make up and become friends Liam honestly seems like a nice guy and I really do not want our jobs cause hatred outside of football.
FFT:What do you think about the ladies and Ireland, are you dating anyone what your status?
MK:Haha, I didn't think you would have asked me that. While I'm not dating anyone right now because right now I am too busy with my job. The ladies here are fine but I haven't found one that I would really enjoy spending time with that would be understanding of my chaotic schedule.
FFT:What is your favorite thing about Dublin?
MK:Damn, there are so many awesome things here in the city that could take so long to talk about, but I really enjoy the people. So many friendly people especially those who support our rival clubs. They are not vicious or hateful and just give you a good banter about your team.
FFT:Finally, what are your goals for the season?
MK:Well I like to win the league both cups and achieve a third place finish in Europa. There's not much really to achieve our them that and I know this club is up for the challenge. Next year and the year after that and the year after that and so on
this club will be as popular as Bayern Munich, please put that part in bold so people know I am serious.
Well that was our interview with Shamrock Rovers manager Michael Korrigan. He was not afraid to speak his mind about many subjects. With the group stage underway Shamrock are looking towards writing a new chapter in the clubs history. Will the Rovers keep progressing like they have been in the last few years or is this a one-time thing? Only time will tell and we are excited to follow them and see what happens.