Conor McDonald: The Student

Making this look easy! Semi-finals of the Europa League is a magnificent achievement no matter how it ends, but with the form and momentum Cobh must be feeling quietly confident. As normal the league is going smoothly and another title seems to be on its way.

Cobh Ramblers boss Conor McDonald has fired a warning shot to the remaining teams in the UEFA Europa League, claiming none of the contenders have the credentials of ‘champions’.

Only Arsenal, RB Leipzig and Wolfsburg are still in with a chance of winning the tournament as the First Leg of the Semi-Finals go ahead tomorrow evening.

Conor McDonald said in his pre-match conference:

”The big advantage that we have over any of the contenders at the moment is that we are the only champions left at this point.

“They may have better players, paid for by bigger budgets but between them, none of them have been champions of their own divisions for a combined period of 53 years. I did the maths a few days ago.

“We have a team that has won the league on the last three occasions, a team that has stuck together for some time now to build that winning mentality.

“None of them are champions and it breaks them to know that they are not champions yet we are.”

RB Leipzig are the only team in the competition that has never won a top-flight title in the Bundesliga whereas Wolfsburg’s last win came in 2009 under Felix Magath.

Arsenal have won the English top-flight thirteen times however, they have not succeeded since their Invincibles season in 2003-04.

Zinedine Zidane – who will be facing Conor McDonald at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow – was asked about his opinions of the Cobh manager’s comments but he refused to reply, claiming that mind games did not bother him or his team going into the Semi-Final.

Over 57,000 tickets have been sold for tomorrow’s big clash of England vs Ireland in the Europa League, whereas in the other fixture it is a domestic fixture as RB Leipzig travel 170 miles west to face Wolfsburg at the Volkswagen Arena.

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Justice: Not my area of expertise sadly.
Zed: Absolutely, anybody can beat anybody!
Tango: And there you were thinking Roma would smash us
Scott: Conor seems to match your opinion...
tedbro20: Definitely, the spirit in the camp is that Cobh can beat anyone at this point!
Seb: Our objective was just to be competitive and I think it's fair to say we have been just that!

Here is the McGregor coming out!

I can honestly not understand how you have been so successful in Europe so quickly, incredible.

Conor is making some noise ahead of this one! Clearly has a lot of faith in his side and they will need to repay him or this comment might come back to haunt him.

“This is on the market for nine-hundred thousand Euros – an expensive piece, sure, but ultimately it will be worth it. Should you have any plans for children in the future, I couldn’t imagine any better spaces for growing up than here,” said the estate agent.

Conor and Saoirse had both agreed to look for properties together. They both had their own places but Saoirse was only renting, despite having enough to pay a mortgage through her work in parliament.

They had tried to find a way to live together in Conor’s house on Norwood Park but the house simply wasn’t up to the standard that they wanted, being two high-earners in Cork society.

Conor had to catch a flight to London that evening as his squad were given three nights in a hotel in North London. His flight was at eight o’clock from Cork Airport to Stansted, it was four o’clock now and he still had a little more packing to do.

“Obviously, if you were to purchase the property then all of the current furnishings can be adjusted,” he said as Conor and Saoirse were shown the living room with some questionable wallpaper and furniture design.

Aside from the current design which could all be changed; Conor was in amazement at the kind of property he was looking at. It was absolutely perfect for him and he couldn’t quite believe that he was in this position aged 27.

As the house tour went on, led by the estate agent from Sherry FitzGerald, Conor was becoming increasingly worried about his plane. However, he felt like he had seen enough of the house to know that it was something that he wanted to invest in.

“It’s a tremendous property, Anthony,” Conor said, holding hands with Saoirse who wasn’t sure what he was about to say. “There is an issue that I do have a flight to London in a few hours,”

“Ah! Playing at the Emirates on Thursday, I almost forgot! I will make sure I clock off early enough to catch it,” he replied.

“Absolutely, so with that in mind I will have to cut the viewing short if that’s OK?” Conor said. “If Saoirse wants to stay around and keep looking with you then I’m perfectly happy to get off on my own but as I have said, I am conscious of the time.”

“That’s not a problem, Mr McDonald,” the estate agent said, shaking hands with Conor.

“Thank you, Anthony, I will certainly be in touch in the near future regarding direction.” Conor said, as he was shown the door on the way out.

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Griffo: The claws are out I think the constant winning mentality in the league compared to the up-and-down form of other opponents has a lot to play in Europe.
Seb: Indeed, I think Conor has that confidence to make that statement now. Just hope he isn't made to look a mug now!

Moving quicker than Cobhs rise as a club these two! Exciting times on and off the pitch!

I hope they're happy together.

McDonald was patting all of his team on the back out of the players’ exit at the Emirates. His team had just put three goals past Arsenal, making their way to the Europa League Final in doing so.

Conor was about to walk out of the door to a flurry of camera flashes as the noise was reverberating around the exit.

“Mr. McDonald,” a voice behind him called in a French-sounding accent. It was Zinedine Zidane. The man who Conor had idolized as a young boy, a Champions League and World Cup winning midfielder.

Conor had beaten him tonight, one of the greatest moments of his career without a doubt. However, despite his attitude before the game Conor felt as though he was in territory that he shouldn’t be in. He was a student from Liverpool, it felt wrong to be getting the better of Zinedine Zidane – his childhood hero.

Zidane smiled as Conor turned to face him. “Do you want to join me for a drink?”

Conor walked away from the bus and towards Zidane without hesitation. There weren’t many chances to share a conversation with a legend and he was damned if he was going to turn the offer down.

“I’d be delighted,” Conor smiled, making his way towards Zidane who held a bottle of wine in his hand, letting him go first into his office.

Zidane showed Conor to the sofa, opposite to a wooden chair that looked more like a throne with the Frenchman sat in it. In between was a small table where there were two old-fashioned glasses sitting on top, with a used cloth on the side that Zidane had cleaned the edges with.

“I knew that I wasn’t going to get past you,” he said, taking his seat. “I usually respond to mind games like yours because I’m usually confident in my abilities against other managers who say the same things.

“But you, I’ve studied you for some time now. You back up your words and I didn’t want to get involved in a press debate over a man that I know can beat me.” Zidane said.

The conversation kept going and Conor and Zidane had an enlightening chat about football and life.

“So, what about managing a top club. Your time at Real Madrid for example, what was that like?” Conor asked, beginning to become slightly more drunk on his fourth glass of wine as Zidane reached into his cupboard to pull another bottle out.

Zidane stopped with the bottle, realising that it was territory that Conor had not entered yet and that he had all the credentials to go into at some point. He saw him as a man in need of guidance so he considered his thoughts.

“It’s the most fantastic thing in the world, just being able to say that you are at a certain club. However, it comes at a price. Your personal life is no longer a real option, you have to make a lot of sacrifices.

“On top of that you have the staff at the club itself, a lot of which have big heads. You need to make those players have a brain of their own, make their own good choices rather than giving them the option to blame the regime.

“There is a lot of nepotism as well, I say that as a man who has had three sons in the Real Madrid youth teams. In that instance you must appreciate the whole family’s concern, including the parents who have no doubt have their own vested interests.

“I think you can go all the way though, Conor.” Zidane finished, pouring out two more glasses.

Those words sent shivers down McDonald’s spine, to be given a vote of confidence by his hero. It felt as though Conor had reached footballing heaven.

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Seb: Conor doesn't mess around
Scott: The bitterness in you comment is palpable

1st update :

2nd update:

3rd update:

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In all seriousness: everything is going so well for Conor on and off the pitch at the moment. Despite looking at purchasing a new mansion house in Cobh, it could be time for Conor to start making glances towards the Premier League

Oh us Conor about to buy a house when interest in him is going to go through the roof around Europe after a number of managers lose their jobs at the end if the season

Zidane has met his match in an ego-contest.

Cobh Ramblers have performed the shock of the decade as they beat RB Leipzig 3-2 in the Europa League Final at Ibrox Stadium.

Since falling out of the Champions League Group Stages, Conor McDonald has led his team that were only semi-professional two years ago all the way to lifting the Europa League title.

With a tight first-half finishing 0-0, Chris Savage opened the scoring at Ibrox with a goal in the 66th minute.

However, this was quickly cancelled out by Timo Werner five minutes later after seizing on a Lee McCormick mistake to equalise and bring the score to 1-1.

Cobh went back into the lead with just ten minutes left thanks to Kern Hernandez’s header from Cian Kavanagh’s corner.

Victory was ensured in the 90th minute as Chris Savage completed his brace with a fantastic free-kick to take the scoring to 3-1. Leipzig tried their hardest to get back into the game in final minute as Matheus Cunha brought one back but it wasn’t enough to stop the cup from going to Ireland for the first time ever.

McDonald:

We have installed ourselves as the best team in Ireland over the past few years and today we proved that we are ready to be one of the key players in Europe. This is a prestigious moment, not only for Cobh Ramblers fans, but for the entirety of Ireland itself. From this moment, Irish clubs can expect to have every chance of doing well and I am proud to have created that here.

Cobh defeated Roma, Hertha Berlin, Sevilla and Arsenal to reach the Final.

Ramblers legend Roy Keane – current assistant manager at Watford – heaped the praise on his fellow club legend McDonald, going on to state that he was certain that McDonald would be considered a legend for eternity as a result of their triumphs in Ireland and now Europe.

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James: Things could not be better after this!
tedbro20: He's the man on everyone's lips right now
Scott: I'm sure it won't take away from the fact he remains Conor's idol

What a win. If Conor isn't a club legend after that then there are deep rooted issues at the club. Reckon Conor has a serious night in front of him now as well with parties galore

Savage, McDonald and company have written themselves into the history books. Congratulations.

Wow! That's an incredible achievement from Conor and his side! I do wonder if Zidane's words will be playing through his mind following that victory now though. Could now be the time Conor moves on for a bigger test?