Rebirth of the Emerald Isle: The Dublin Project

Well you all have been waiting to see who our hero of this story is. Hopefully he will lead the club to glory on the pitch. Well I want you all to meet Michael O'Leary, a 35 year old guy from Ennis, County Clare, Ireland. Mick is one of those guys who you will like and will hopefully have a great career.

I am hoping to make Michael one of the best managers of all time and I really hope you all enjoy his career. There will be many ups and many downs in his career, hell I would wager there will be a lot of heart break as well.


Well with that introduction let me give you a chance to meet him in person...............



Hey, were you talking to me?? Well ok I guess, anyways my name is Michael O'Leary from Ennis Co Clare Ireland. It is nice to meet you my friend. It is an honour being in your presence and I hope we can have a good friendship. If not I hope you can just listen to me for a minute.

Currently I am working as a teacher and a soccer coach for one of the local secondary schools. You ask if I enjoy what I do and I will say yes as it keeps me busy especially since I get to coach my favorite sport. Did you know I used to play the sport??? Before I became a teacher I played for Ennis Town from the time I was 10 until my early 20’s.

I had a good time playing and I was pretty decent as I was able to get a trial with Galway United at the age of 19 but I started to realize there was more to life than playing. So with that I decided to go to uni to become a teacher and a coach. I was able to graduate with honors in my teaching program and even obtained my National C license with the FAI.

For the past year or so I have been trying to get a job as a coach for any club in the country and I do want to be at a higher level than where I am now. As someone who is up to date with the FAI I was both pleased and shocked to hear about the reorganization of Irish domestic soccer. I am hoping to land something now and to be honest I think I will have a chance now.

I am hoping that I get a call soon. In the report by RTÉ Sport I saw that we would have a club here in Ennis. I know it is not my beloved Ennis Town but if I can get an interview and maybe a job there my life would be perfect.

Thank you all for giving me some time to talk about myself, I will hopefully hear for you soon.

Hopefully Michael O'Leary has a wonderful career ahead of him, I envisage nothing but a promising future for him!

O'Leary has my whole-hearted support throughout his career

Patrick Lynch:
So I have been really busy in getting the club all ready for the season and I have been interviewing people left and right for the job. I have about 5 people that I am interested in meeting with. One person who has really caught my attention is 34 year old Michael O’Leary of Ennis. He has no coaching experience outside of school ball and his playing experience.

Due to this and despite his low profile name I felt he would be a great person to interview. I think having someone new would be interesting and for him to grow as a manager with this tam growing from nothing I think he is interview worthy. So I have called him in for an interview today.

Michael O’Leary:
I can’t believe I got another interview this time it is with some club in Dublin. I like what I am seeing out of them and I can’t express my feelings about this. Hopefully something goes my way in this interview and I can impress the people I am meeting with.

So I am here in the waiting room waiting until I get called in and damn I am nervous. Apparently I am interviewing with the famous Patrick Lynch who is a huge name in this country. Well here goes nothing.


The Secretary: Mr. O’Leary, Mr. Lynch is ready for you please follow me, said this really beautiful secretary. So I followed her in and there he is Mr. Patrick Lynch was ready for me.


PL: “Michael, please take a seat and welcome, it is really good to finally meet you and I have been waiting for this.”

MO: (Wow this guy seems to like me) “It is nice to meet you and I am pleased to be here today.”

PL:"The first question I want to ask is why should I consider you to become our new manager?"

MO “Well I have a previous football background where I played semiprofessional for most of my career and that should help in management, I also have the drive to succeed and want to help this club grow."

PL:”So I have noticed you have played and coached this sport before and I like that, I want to know what your goals are for this club?”

MO: “I want this club to grow and hopefully become one of the top teams in the country, I know it will take time but I feel we can obtain that goal. Like you I have mega pride in Ireland and I want to develop the best talent to ever play in this country and keep them here in the country. I know that will be hard but knowing what I have heard about your project we can do that.”

PL:”Fair enough, now tell me about your system of play you want to run???”

MO:”I am really interested in running either a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1, I could even have both set. The reason why I want to run those two is that I find both formations to be the best way to run things. I really think that Carlo Ancelotti’s system he had at Real Madrid was perfect and I want to emulate it with your club.”

PL:”Obviously we have no players at this point and that might be hard getting players to join up. How are you going to get players to join??”

MO:"This will be tough buy I will be looking for player on the Island and in the UK that are willing to join us. I want to go to trial days and also find gems in the lower Irish leagues. I can easily get a full squad by the first of July. “

PL:”For the first season do you think you can get us promoted or a cup win?”

MO:” I will be honest here Patrick, I think we can get promoted but without any players to my knowledge currently I can’t tell, all I can say is that I am looking to get us to play in the playoffs to get promoted. For cup play I want to go far in the cups and my aim is to win the Intermediate Cup.”

PL:"I am happy you have been real with me, I have had a few guys interview that I could tell just made things up and were looking to just get the job with no real knowledge of what is going on. Anyways I want to be upfront and honest with you here. I have a feeling that you and I could work well together and that you will be the one hired for the job. You seem to have what I am looking for and I will let you know soon on my decision. It was nice talking with you and have a good day.”

MO:"Sounds good hope to hear from you soon, it was nice meeting you."




Michael O’Leary:
Wow I can’t believe how good this interview went, I have a feeling that Patrick will hire me as he thinks I am a good choice to become the first manager in club history. His plan and ideas for this club are amazing and I believe the two of us will work well together. Well now it is time to return home and await a phone call. First I need to get that secretaries number haha.

Patrick Lynch:
This meeting went well, I believe that Michael will be a good manager if I do hire him. He seems as eager as I am about the project. I like what he had to say and that he was real with me. Beforehand I did not have high expectations for him but he surprised me. I will most likely hire him but I have one more interview in a day and I want to see what the next guy has to say.

Interesting to see how this develops from here mate!

22 December 2014

Club announcement: O'Leary named clubs first manager


After spending the last few months searching for a manager, Chairman Patrick Lynch has announced that, Michael O’Leary will become the first manager in CS Átha Cliath history. Michael is only 35 years old.

Previously he played football for Ennis Town a decade ago and is now a teacher at a secondary school in the town. O’Leary has his National C license that he had obtained during his time in university.

Chairman Patrick Lynch said, "To be honest Michael was a surprise candidate during the search for a manager and I am glad we got a chance to bring him aboard. His vision for the club lines up and I feel he can get us to the top.”

O’Leary has signed a three year contract until the end of the 2017/18 season for €44,000 per year. The contract starts immediately.

“I am very happy to be a part of this club and I can’t wait to get things started, it will take some time but we can get to the top. My main goal for now is to assemble a staff and players,” said O’Leary in an interview.

A press conference will be set for the New Year’s Day at the Craobh Chiarain GAA Club clubhouse. Before that he will make an appearance at Parnell Park to meet the fans and say a few things. It is a free event open to all.

Good luck, although James Robinson is going to do better #upthebishops

Good to see you've got a manager. Also would the secretary happen to be one of the two women in the first photo

Tallery I don't think so haha


ninjaskill Thanks and haha maybe

Today is finally the day I have been waiting for, it is New Years Day and other than it being a new year I get to have my first ever press conference as the club is finally giving me an introduction. These past few weeks have been really crazy for me and I am very happy I can finally start my new job. If you asked me on a scale of 1-10 how nervous I am I would say that I am about a 5.
I am ready for whatever they ask me.

Before it was time for me to have the press conference I made my first appearance to the 500 or so fans that came out to Parnell Park. I was not upset about the number of people who came out as it is New Year's Day after all and we really don't have a fanbase yet.

What was cool was the fact they allowed me to pick a song out for my entrance to the stadium. I felt this song was the best choice for my first time walking out to the fans. To be honest I feel like a bad ass walking out to it and I have this smile on my face as I am waving and shaking hands. Well I am now at the podium to address everyone.

Michael O'Leary:

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I want to thank you all for coming today and it is such an honour to be named this clubs first ever manager. I am so happy and excited for the upcoming season and I hope you all will be as well. The next few months will be really busy as we build up a club that will compete in League Two. Once again thank you for being here. I will promise you this will be an exciting first year.

After that it was time for the press conference.......................


Patrick Lynch: "Good afternoon and Happy New Year, I would like to welcome you to this introductory press conference for Michael O’Leary.I am very happy to have picked him (Michael) as our first ever manager for CS Átha Cliath. I hope he brings this club success and that he is around for a long time. Before we start Michael would like to start with some welcoming remarks"

Michael “O’Leary: “It is a hounour to be sitting here with Patrick and I am happy to be here with you all today. Before we begin I want to let you know how special this is for me and that I am aiming to get this club to the top as quick as possible.”

"Alright, Michael, let's begin the questions. First, let's go with your new job. What are your feelings on being the first manager of CS Átha Cliath?”

“I am really happy to have been chosen and I think Patrick made the right move. With this being my first job in the non-school ranks it will be a challenge but I am excited to coach here. I am hoping to grow along with this club.“

"Obviously this club still has no players or other staff what are you looking to do and what type of players and coaches are you looking for?"

“Good question, in the coming weeks I am looking to add some coaches to the coaching staff and start searching for players. I will be looking in the lower Irish leagues for players, free agents and anyone who wants to tryout as there will be open tryouts around April or May. I am not really looking at a certain type of player at the moment as I am looking for those willing to contribute and who would play in such a low division.”

"What are your long-term plans and short-term plans for the club, if any?”

“For the short-term I want this club to have a good first season and have a shot at promotion in our first year. As long as we are not dead last I am happy. Long-term I want us to win a few cups and promotions and maybe a shot at winning the Premiership in the future.”

"Could you please talk about your formation you want to use and play style?"

“I am looking to run a 4-3-3 or even a 4-2-3-1. Carlo Ancelotti is one of my favourite managers and I loved his tactics used at Real Madrid so I want to emulate that to the best of my ability.”

"Will you be concentrating solely on League Two, or will you be focusing more on the cup competitions, like the FAI Cup, League of Ireland and Intermediate cups?"

“I really don’t know but for the first season I just want to take it one match at a time.”

Patrick Lynch:”That is all for now and I thank you all for coming out, if you want to meet with Michael just let us know and we will set up a time for you all to meet."

One of the first tasks that I have had to do since taking over was assemble a staff team. After a few months I have found some people that would work for me. Well with about four months to go before preseason things are coming together. I still have a few areas to fill but for now I am satisfied.


Here are some of the key staff member who have joined me.

Cillian Doyle: Assistant Manager
I have been good friends with Cillian for a few years now and just like me he was a coach in the lower leagues. I asked him to join up and he said yes. I look forward to working with him.

Matt Buckley: Head of Youth Development
For Matt this is his first coaching job and I have a feeling he will be a good addition to the club

Ashley Wells: Coach
At 22 Ashley is our youngest member of the staff team. This is also his first ever job in coaching.

Jan Fleuren: Coach
Jan joins us in his second coaching job. Before joining us he coached at FC Den Bosch between 2004-2010.

Chris Melia: Head Physio
Chris joins the club after his stint with Shelbourne that ended in 2013

Niall Barr: Chief Scout
This is Niall's first job in the world of football.

Good looking staff on big wages so hope you can get some good players in as well

Some solid staff signings there

Staff overhaul is always needed!

Bringing in your own men - can't beat it