In this episode of the Football Firsts Podcast we are joined by Blackpool striker Shayne Lavery, who has been at Bloomfield Road since 2021.
He discussed a number of topics including football in Northern Ireland, coming through the ranks at Everton and dealing with injury.
Photo credit: CameraSport
He discussed a number of topics including football in Northern Ireland, coming through the ranks at Everton and dealing with injury.
Photo credit: CameraSport
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SportsTranscript
00:00 - Hello, and welcome to the Football First Podcast,
00:02 a show all about memories of the beautiful game.
00:04 For this episode, I'm joined by Blackpool striker,
00:06 Shane Lavery.
00:07 So first of all, how are you, mate?
00:09 - I'm all good, thanks.
00:10 All good.
00:12 Especially after Saturday there.
00:14 - Yeah, we were a bad one on Saturday.
00:16 Obviously we're doing this after the winning game.
00:18 Of course, you came off the bench back in action,
00:20 so did it feel good after being injured?
00:23 - Yeah, definitely.
00:27 I didn't think my hamstring was as bad as it was.
00:30 You know, it was obviously a great one,
00:32 but I think it took an extra few days.
00:37 That's why I missed the Wickham game.
00:40 But yeah, definitely felt good to be back out
00:44 onto the pitch.
00:45 - How's everything feeling now?
00:47 Have you settled back into training and feeling good again?
00:50 - Yeah, yeah.
00:52 No issues.
00:55 Yeah, it was only two or three weeks left,
00:58 so I didn't lose much fitness or anything.
01:00 So yeah, I'm feeling good, feeling ready to go.
01:02 - Not bad competition up front at the moment.
01:05 Of course, we saw Jordan Yould get his hat trick.
01:07 There's yourself, Jake Beasley, Kieran Carrasse,
01:09 and then Kyle Joseph still out injured,
01:11 so it's not bad, is it?
01:12 - No, no, it isn't.
01:13 It's good.
01:14 It's healthy competition.
01:15 You know, they're all great lads
01:18 and we're all getting on really well.
01:20 You know, Jordan's come in there and, you know,
01:24 you can see it in training, like the class he has.
01:26 So he's a great help off the pitch as well.
01:29 So yeah, can only be good for Blackpool.
01:32 - How are you all learning from each other?
01:35 Of course, you've all got different qualities.
01:36 So is it a good mixture?
01:37 - Yeah, definitely.
01:40 You know, obviously Jordan brings quite a lot of experience.
01:43 Kylian, you know, he's a strong guy.
01:46 Like, you know, you see in training,
01:48 he's one of the best I've seen, like, holding the ball up.
01:52 So yeah, we've all got different qualities
01:54 and we can offer different things on the pitch
01:58 whenever, like, the gaffer needs us, I suppose.
02:01 - Well, we'll get into your football first now.
02:03 Probably the best way to start is
02:04 your first memory of the sport as a whole.
02:07 - Ooh.
02:08 I think I only got into it around 10.
02:11 I didn't go, I always played with my mates,
02:13 but I never actually went to a club
02:15 until I was like 10 years old, I think.
02:17 So yeah, I think the first training session
02:22 was on, like, a sandpit,
02:24 like where, you know, they do their horses and stuff.
02:29 So yeah, that's probably my first memory.
02:30 Like, I was nervous going to my first training session,
02:34 like, and I found out I wasn't on grass as well.
02:37 But yeah, it was good fun, like.
02:40 - Yeah, what was it like the first time you played?
02:42 Did you feel, like, natural?
02:44 Did you slot in quite easily,
02:46 even though it was obviously tough circumstances?
02:49 - Not really.
02:50 I suppose I was quite quick when I was younger as well.
02:53 Like, so I think that just helped, you know,
02:57 progress me on in football.
02:59 But yeah, we had a really good team, good lads and stuff.
03:04 There would have been lads I'd played with
03:06 that I went to school with.
03:07 So yeah, it was easy fitting in with them.
03:10 - Was football a big part of your life and for your family?
03:14 Was it a big thing,
03:15 or was it just something that you discovered by yourself?
03:19 - It was more mates when I was younger.
03:21 We always used to play.
03:22 I was lucky to have quite a few people in my class
03:26 who played football.
03:29 I wasn't too big in my family,
03:32 like my brother would have played
03:34 up until he was about 16, maybe.
03:38 But yeah, it was more my mates that played
03:42 that got me into it.
03:43 - Of course, my big question is,
03:45 what was your first pair of boots?
03:47 Do you remember what you had for the first time
03:48 when you went out there?
03:50 - No, but I remember having quite a few F50s back in the day.
03:56 I like getting old boots now.
03:58 I actually prefer just the ones that I couldn't get
04:01 when I was younger, 'cause they're too expensive.
04:04 My first stock, I couldn't remember my first stock,
04:09 but F50s were a big one for me.
04:11 - What do you like in a boot?
04:13 What makes it a good boot for you?
04:14 Is it a certain style or a certain colour that attracts you?
04:17 - I like a white boot.
04:20 I couldn't, I wouldn't feel quick in a pair of black boots.
04:24 Certain style.
04:27 I mix between Nike and Adidas,
04:31 but yeah, I couldn't pick between them.
04:36 It's just how I'm feeling,
04:37 or if I like the colourway or whatever that comes out.
04:40 Yeah, that's the only way I could decide.
04:42 - You mentioned white boots.
04:44 Surely you can't have had them when you was younger.
04:46 It would be a nightmare to clean.
04:47 - Yeah, to be fair, my mum never,
04:52 any boots really that I did ask for,
04:55 obviously they would have been the fake ones,
04:57 not the real ones of the mech now.
04:59 She did get me, but I think she used to clean them as well,
05:06 that's to be fair, so I have a lot to thank for my mum,
05:10 I suppose.
05:10 I don't think I cleaned them well enough,
05:12 and then I think that annoyed her.
05:13 She's a bit of a clean freak.
05:14 So, let's let her go along with it.
05:17 - You mentioned your mum.
05:19 What was the family impact like?
05:21 Were they very supportive when you,
05:22 obviously when things kick on for you as well,
05:24 just driving you to training,
05:25 driving you around the country and stuff like that?
05:28 - Yeah, my mum was unbelievable.
05:31 She'd drive me everywhere.
05:34 Obviously my dad would have worked a bit later and stuff,
05:37 so he kind of brought me,
05:38 but he always says though,
05:40 'cause I was there,
05:41 but my mum having to drive me across the country
05:43 to all the games, all the trainings like,
05:46 but my dad says he brought me to my first training session,
05:48 so it wouldn't have started without him.
05:51 That's his duty sort of done, he says.
05:54 - So, can you remember the first kit
05:57 you would have bought as a young fan,
05:59 and did you have anyone's name on the back?
06:01 - It would have been,
06:05 I think they would have been passed down
06:06 from my brothers and stuff,
06:07 but the first actual kit,
06:09 I think it was the Man United 06 maybe?
06:13 I'm sure Rooney would have been on the back,
06:17 I'm guessing, or Ronaldo.
06:19 But yeah, I think 06,
06:22 Vodafone maybe, I think it would have been.
06:24 And then the AIG ones came in as well,
06:26 07 or 08, I think I would have got them as well.
06:30 But yeah, anything Man United, I would have got.
06:33 - So you'd have been a big United fan,
06:34 obviously when you were growing up,
06:35 they'd have been the big team.
06:37 Things have changed a little bit,
06:38 but back then, they were massive.
06:41 - Yeah, I think I was a bit of a glory hunter back then.
06:43 So I just watched them,
06:46 'cause Rooney and Ronaldo won that,
06:48 and obviously they were winning back then,
06:51 quite a few trophies.
06:52 So yeah, everyone, it was either Man United or Liverpool,
06:55 you had to pick back home.
06:56 So I went with United.
06:58 - I suppose, as someone who's gone on to be a striker,
07:01 not a bad bunch of picks in United back in those days.
07:04 Obviously Rooney, Ronaldo,
07:05 you have the likes of Tevez,
07:07 Berbatov, Van Persie, a bit later on.
07:10 So not a bad inspiration.
07:12 - No, it was a good watch.
07:14 Good, there's like, but obviously,
07:17 yeah, Tevez was a big one for me as well, actually.
07:20 I forgot about him.
07:20 Yeah, good times.
07:24 - Can you remember the first match you'd have watched?
07:26 Would it have been a United game?
07:27 Would it have been one back home?
07:30 - It would have been one of the Man United ones back then.
07:32 Like the Champions League final standside,
07:34 obviously I had to watch games before that,
07:36 but the one against Chelsea,
07:38 I think I had training.
07:41 So I got back for like the second half or something,
07:43 then obviously there was extra time and penalties.
07:46 But yeah, that one sticks out the most, I'd say.
07:50 - Yeah, do you have good memories of that John Terry slip?
07:53 (laughs)
07:54 - Yeah, that was a good night that, yeah.
07:56 - What about wing watching matches?
08:00 What was like your first experience with a stadium for you?
08:03 - I'm not really sure.
08:05 Maybe an Irish league game back home.
08:07 The team Portadown that I used to play for
08:12 after my first team.
08:14 They would have been in the primary division back home.
08:20 So I would have went to their games.
08:22 And obviously back then it was all just about
08:26 going through the ranks there
08:27 and trying to get into that first team.
08:30 But yeah, it was a nice little stadium and that.
08:32 I haven't been in a while though.
08:34 - What's the Piribid like in Ireland?
08:36 Like what was your experience
08:38 sort of going through the ranks there
08:40 when you was a young age?
08:41 - Yeah, I loved it.
08:43 I think I had three years there
08:44 and then actually I think I went to their rivals for a year.
08:48 The team that I was on.
08:50 And then that's when I got moved to Everton
08:53 when I was there.
08:54 But yeah, I loved it.
08:56 Like I loved my youth sort of years back home.
09:01 - What any standout messages that you learned?
09:03 Any key coaching information
09:05 that you've taken through your career?
09:06 - He's put me on the spot.
09:10 I can't remember.
09:13 I remember when I went under 17s,
09:15 you know, David Healy and that would have been there.
09:16 And that was the first time I met him.
09:18 And that was massive.
09:20 And obviously, you know, I ended up,
09:22 he ended up coaching me at Linfield later on.
09:26 But yeah, that was just a big,
09:29 that always sticks out.
09:31 I think it was under 17 level.
09:33 I think we went to Holland for a few games
09:35 and, you know, obviously he came as part
09:37 of one of the coaches.
09:38 Yeah, it was just great to learn off him.
09:43 He was a legend back home.
09:45 - You touched on obviously moving over to England.
09:48 A lot like at such a young age,
09:50 like it must have been a big learning curve for you.
09:52 - I don't know.
09:55 When I look back at it now, like it doesn't really,
09:57 I don't know if I just didn't think about it
09:58 or like it was just all happening so fast
10:01 that I just, I don't know, sort of took it on a stride.
10:05 But yeah, I loved it.
10:08 Like until after 18 at Everton,
10:13 like I had a few injury problems and stuff.
10:16 So it was tougher and obviously tougher
10:19 being away from home as well when that happens.
10:22 But yeah, there was always,
10:25 there were great lads at Everton as well.
10:26 And yeah, I did love my time there as well.
10:30 - What was it like at that age?
10:31 A lot of people go off to uni and stuff like that.
10:33 Was it a bit like that or a bit more disciplined,
10:35 a bit more regimented?
10:37 - Yeah, like I sort of, yeah, that's, you know,
10:40 stuff back home, like, you know,
10:41 lads just going out and my mates and that,
10:44 that I would have missed.
10:45 I don't know, I missed my formal as well.
10:48 That was, you know, I was trying to get back for it
10:51 at that time and stuff.
10:53 'Cause it was quite close to quite a few people at home,
10:55 obviously, in school.
10:56 But yeah, it's a sacrifice, sort of.
10:59 You have the tech to make it, like,
11:01 I'm not complaining.
11:02 - What was your first impressions of Everton like
11:05 when you arrived at the club
11:07 and just seeing how they did things?
11:09 - Yeah, it was a big, big change.
11:11 Like the, obviously the facilities in that Finch farm
11:15 were unbelievable.
11:18 But yeah, I loved it.
11:22 Like, couldn't ask for a better place to learn a trade.
11:28 - Was there a big difference in expectation
11:32 of what the club wanted from you
11:33 to what you'd experienced before, maybe?
11:36 - Not really.
11:37 Like, you know, I wish I just did more, you know,
11:40 away from the pitch, you know,
11:43 like whether it was food or, you know, extra gym,
11:48 you know, 'cause the facilities were there,
11:50 but you're still sort of, you're growing up as well.
11:52 Like, but, you know, it's hard to say that then,
11:57 but I do see it now.
11:58 Like, I wish I did more away from it to help myself,
12:02 you know, try and make it there.
12:06 - How competitive is it in that environment?
12:08 Obviously different players wanting to stand out
12:09 and wanting to make their mark
12:11 to get a chance for the first team.
12:13 - Yeah, yeah, it is tough.
12:14 Like, especially 23s, you know, everyone's,
12:16 because you feel so close to the first team,
12:18 but you're actually, you're still quite far away.
12:22 So everyone's for themselves, kind of.
12:26 And, you know, like, obviously everyone's,
12:29 I mean, it's not like, but it is, it's a tough environment.
12:32 Like, you know, you've got to look after yourself.
12:36 And I do sort of wish I'd tried to go out and loan a bit
12:39 when I was younger and not stayed in the 23s as long.
12:43 But yeah, it's definitely a tough environment,
12:47 but yeah, it's still an unbelievable place, again.
12:51 - You did have some good experiences.
12:53 I know you didn't play, but you had a European away day.
12:55 So how was that experience?
12:58 How did that feel different to anything you'd done before?
13:01 - Yeah, that was, yeah, it was crazy, obviously,
13:03 'cause, you know, there's quite a few first team players
13:06 that still played.
13:07 And I just remember the sort of buzz around, you know,
13:11 that it was going to happen,
13:13 and like quite a few lads were going to be called up.
13:15 And I think you had to be in the under 18s
13:20 for a certain amount of time.
13:21 I think that was their sort of, like,
13:24 the way that we were picking the players to come up.
13:28 And I think I just made it, you know,
13:30 like being at Aberdeen at a certain point in time.
13:32 And yeah, that was nice.
13:36 Like, I think it was around my birthday as well at the time.
13:39 So yeah, nice weekend for sure.
13:42 - Did it open your eyes a little bit,
13:45 seeing the way that they've played for games like that
13:47 and just being around that coaching team?
13:49 - Yeah, 'cause it was the first time.
13:52 It was more the airport and that.
13:54 Like, obviously, the only times I would have been away,
13:57 I was with the under 16s, under 17s in Northern Ireland.
14:01 And we would have still got the flights and stuff,
14:03 but when we went to the, you know, it was a charter flight,
14:06 you didn't have to wait in the airport or anything.
14:08 It was just straight free.
14:09 So yeah, I suppose that sticks out the most.
14:13 Like, I just didn't know that they'd done that at the time.
14:17 - Has it ruined flying for you now?
14:19 So you have to go through that airport checks again
14:21 and all the waiting around, has it ruined going away?
14:24 - Yeah, yeah.
14:26 But yeah, I don't get it.
14:28 Obviously, we would have done that at Linfield as well,
14:31 I suppose, the charter flights and stuff.
14:34 But yeah, back to easy jet now to get back home.
14:38 - Who would you have worked under during your time at Everton?
14:41 Who were the managers?
14:42 'Cause I know they've been through a lot in the last few years.
14:44 So would there have been a few different coaches?
14:47 - Well, the first team, I think, when I came in,
14:48 it was Roberto Martinez there.
14:51 I would have worked under David Unsworth,
14:53 John Abbrell, Frannie Jaffers,
14:58 Paul Tate as well, under 18s, and Kevin Sheedy.
15:03 For the under 18s, they changed it around
15:06 every a few months, I think, I remember.
15:09 So you would have got quite a few coaches
15:11 throughout the year.
15:12 A coach would take the under 16s for a few months
15:17 and then go to the under 18s for the rest of the year.
15:21 So it was good 'cause you'd got different coaching styles
15:23 and different ways of playing
15:26 and what they expected of you.
15:28 - Yeah, do you think that rotation can keep you on your toes?
15:31 'Cause you may impress under one coach,
15:33 but a few months later, it's a reset,
15:35 you need to prove yourself all over again.
15:37 - Yeah, exactly.
15:38 That's the way it was.
15:40 Like a certain manager might like something else
15:45 and it might not suit you.
15:47 But it wasn't really looked into too much
15:51 at under 18s, I suppose, under 18 football.
15:53 But yeah, it was good, kept you on your toes for sure.
15:58 - And when you'd have that game away in Cyprus,
16:00 was it Sam Allardyce who was in charge of the team then?
16:02 Can you give a bit of insight
16:03 to what he would have been like as a manager?
16:06 - He was, but he didn't actually come on that trip.
16:08 Shakespeare, Craig Shakespeare, wasn't it?
16:12 He took it, I think.
16:14 Yeah, like just being in the change room and stuff was good.
16:18 Like I think we were obviously out at the time,
16:21 so it wasn't, you know,
16:25 like we had to win the game or anything.
16:27 But yeah, still an unbelievable experience.
16:31 - You mentioned you wish you'd gone more long moves,
16:34 but you did get one to Scotland.
16:36 So what was that experience like?
16:38 A different kind of football, a different league?
16:40 - That was tough as well.
16:42 I don't think like I've done as well up there.
16:47 It was tough to sort of get in the team.
16:49 You know, the striker had been doing well
16:52 when I went up there.
16:54 So I struggled to find a way into the team.
16:57 But just to be in the change room,
17:00 I thought was like a good experience, you know,
17:03 'cause we were fighting relegation and we were,
17:05 you know, it was a tough time for Falkirk.
17:09 Yeah, some really good lads up there as well.
17:11 And it was good.
17:13 Definitely a good experience, if nothing else.
17:16 - When your time at Everton came to an end,
17:18 was it an easy decision to go back to Ireland
17:20 and just obviously head back over and sort of familiarise yourself?
17:25 - It wasn't until I spoke to David Healy, I suppose.
17:28 Sat down with David Healy and he, you know,
17:32 talked through basically,
17:34 he planned out what ended up happening.
17:38 You know, me coming back over here
17:39 and, you know, how I thought I'd benefit
17:42 from a few years back home.
17:44 I'd hoped, you know, I'd only, you know,
17:48 try to hopefully stay a year back home
17:50 and then, you know, try to get a move back over.
17:53 But I think the decision to stay too
17:58 and, you know, just work on my game better with him,
18:03 you know, was definitely the right call.
18:06 - Yeah, do you feel like it kick-started things for you?
18:08 Given you a bit of a spring in your step going forward?
18:10 Put you in a better place than where you were before?
18:13 - Yeah, definitely.
18:14 I got, you know, I got fitter and got sharper.
18:16 You know, got confidence, you know,
18:19 that I could score goals, I suppose.
18:22 You know, it was, yeah, I loved my time at Linenfield.
18:28 It was just some, like, unbelievable lads
18:30 and obviously, you know, winning the leagues
18:33 and the Cup as well.
18:34 Like, yeah, it's just memories I won't forget.
18:38 - You mentioned the confidence of scoring goals.
18:40 I know something that's spoken about a lot with strikers,
18:42 but how big a thing is it just having that rhythm
18:44 and that self-belief that you can do that
18:47 and go into a new environment on the back of it?
18:49 - Yeah, it's massive.
18:51 Like, I was speaking to one of the lads the other day
18:53 and, you know, it's just like, when you're confident,
18:57 you don't really think about it on the pitch.
18:59 Like, you just end up in a situation in a box.
19:03 Like, you just end up there
19:05 and you're not thinking about it.
19:07 It's when you're overthinking,
19:08 you're like, "Oh, I should be there.
19:09 Oh, I need to get back post,
19:10 I need to get across to the front man."
19:12 Then I think that's when you're low on confidence.
19:15 So, like, you know, just to have a freedom on the pitch,
19:17 and I think Linenfield gave me that.
19:19 You know, just that it sort of just came naturally to me
19:23 then on the pitch.
19:24 - Is the only fix to that lack of confidence
19:26 is just getting a goal?
19:27 Is that the only way to sort of get round
19:29 that goal drought?
19:30 - It is. People say you just need to think,
19:34 like, not think about it in your head,
19:35 but it is. If you just hit the back of the net,
19:37 all the worries go away, I suppose.
19:42 - So, obviously, you came back to England,
19:45 joined Blackpool.
19:46 Did you feel that confidence
19:47 when you came into the changing room
19:48 on the back of what you'd done with Linenfield?
19:50 - Yeah. Well, obviously, it was, you know,
19:52 it's a higher level, I suppose.
19:54 But, yeah, like, that's what I was coming off the back of.
19:58 Like, so I still felt confident and felt good.
20:03 You know, I didn't think I'd come in
20:05 and do as well as I did at the start, like,
20:08 but, you know, yeah.
20:12 It was just, that's what I was off the back of
20:15 my two years at Linenfield.
20:17 - What was your first impressions of Blackpool
20:20 and, you know, Bloomfield World and the entire club?
20:22 - Yeah, I loved it.
20:24 Like, you know, it was on such a buzz, obviously,
20:26 'cause, you know, the promotion and, you know,
20:29 everyone was, you know, very welcome and stuff.
20:33 So, yeah, I loved it then.
20:35 And I still do now, obviously, but, yeah,
20:39 I just remember that everyone was on a real buzz.
20:44 - What was the first time you met Neil Critchey like?
20:47 Was it, did you talk to him and just think,
20:49 "Yeah, I can work well under this guy"?
20:51 - Yeah, yeah, I'd obviously chatted to him before,
20:56 and, you know, by coming over and that, like,
20:58 but, yeah, he was, you know,
21:03 just someone, you know, you could play under
21:05 and, you know, get the best out of you.
21:08 He was very keen on, like, working with me
21:13 and making me a better player.
21:16 So, yeah, it was an easy choice in the end, for sure.
21:20 - What's it been like with him coming back?
21:23 Has he just picked up where he left off?
21:24 Has he done things differently?
21:26 What was it like in the changing rooms at the moment?
21:28 - Yeah, it's pretty much been the same.
21:32 Like, you know, he's came in
21:35 and all the lads are buzzing again, I suppose,
21:38 you know, to have him back.
21:40 Obviously, you know, we had good times when he was here,
21:44 you know, the promotion and the year in the championship.
21:48 So, yeah, hopefully we can replicate that again.
21:50 - Looking back on your time with Blackpool so far,
21:54 how would you rate your time with the club?
21:56 Have you, is there anything you would change,
21:58 anything you'd do different?
22:00 - I don't really know.
22:00 I think I just wish I never got injured.
22:03 It's probably just the few times that I did.
22:05 I think I got injured at a bad time in the first year.
22:09 I think I thought I was doing well
22:10 and then the injury set me back then.
22:14 But yeah, no, I've loved it, like,
22:19 and I can't really have any regrets.
22:23 So, obviously, I just wish that I didn't get injured
22:25 the few times that I had.
22:26 - Yeah, how do you stay positive during those injury spells?
22:30 Is it just about looking after yourself mentally
22:33 as well as physically?
22:34 - Yeah, the mental side is a big thing,
22:38 especially for the first two or three weeks
22:40 because you're not doing any training,
22:42 you're not on the grass or anything like that.
22:44 So, yeah, you just got to keep yourself right.
22:48 And, you know, obviously you just got to accept it
22:53 after it happens.
22:54 It's not nice at the time, like,
22:57 but yeah, you just got to think about getting back fit then.
23:01 - I know I spoke to someone during the COVID pandemic
23:05 and they got injured during that time
23:06 because of all the rules and regulations.
23:08 They had to do everything by themselves.
23:10 So, it was really tough.
23:12 So, you feel a bit excluded when that happens,
23:15 but even when obviously it's not rules and regulations,
23:18 but do you feel separate when you see everyone else
23:20 doing obviously normal training?
23:22 - Yeah, 'cause you're heading into the gym, I suppose.
23:26 But all the lads are great here.
23:28 Like, you know, they keep you a part of it.
23:32 You know, like Jordan and Kyle at the minute,
23:35 they've been injured a few months,
23:37 but they're always around it.
23:40 And, you know, obviously the physios bring them in
23:42 at the same time as us and stuff.
23:44 So, yeah, it doesn't feel like you're excluded
23:48 from the team or anything.
23:49 It's just obviously you're going into the gym
23:53 instead of going out to the grass with them.
23:54 That's the only thing.
23:56 - I've got to ask you about your international career.
23:59 Of course, debut back in 2019 for the senior team.
24:02 Just what an honour.
24:03 How proud are you to have that sort of back record?
24:06 - Yeah, yeah, very proud.
24:08 Yeah, I love going away with the Northern Ireland team.
24:14 It's a great honour.
24:17 And I can, that was good times as well.
24:20 Actually, I think it was Panama, wasn't it?
24:21 So, yeah, that was a crazy experience.
24:24 - Yeah, people always say about Northern Ireland,
24:28 it's like a club feeling.
24:30 Is that made much the case within the team?
24:32 - Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
24:34 Everyone's, yeah, everyone's very close.
24:36 Like, you can sort of, you know,
24:41 you want to play against the lads growing up
24:43 and stuff like, so yeah, it's a good place.
24:46 Like, and, you know, it's good to obviously
24:48 have Michael Neil back as well.
24:50 You know, obviously he had good memories
24:53 with the lads before as well.
24:55 So, yeah, hopefully we can replicate that as well.
24:58 - Yeah, how good a coach is he?
25:01 And how inspirational is it what he's done in the past?
25:03 Like, does it give you maybe that confidence
25:05 for the next few years?
25:06 You know, you can punch above your weight again
25:08 in some ways and, you know, press at the tournaments?
25:12 - Yeah, yeah, he's one of the, like,
25:14 one of the best coaches I've seen,
25:16 like, go into, like, detail.
25:17 Quite a lot on, because of our game
25:21 and some of the big nations that we come up against,
25:24 I suppose, you know, like the set pieces
25:27 and, you know, like just defending
25:29 and, you know, being hard to beat.
25:31 He's one of the best I've seen at that, like,
25:34 'cause, you know, he does make us,
25:36 you know, like, a lot of things we do,
25:40 our set piece-wise, anyway.
25:43 You know, and we do score quite a few of them,
25:46 or have done.
25:47 So, yeah, it's great to have him back, like,
25:51 and, you know, a lot of lads are buzzing there as well.
25:54 - Final question, the podcast's always finished with this.
25:58 If you could change any of your football first,
26:00 so that could be change your boots, change your shirt,
26:02 or change anything from your career, what would it be?
26:05 - Anything from a career?
26:08 It can be absolutely anything we've talked about.
26:10 - I'd change my hamstrings.
26:13 (laughing)
26:15 It's the way, I think it's the way I run, like,
26:17 I just have, I just, you know, overload my hamstrings
26:20 and I've had quite a few problems with them, like,
26:23 but I'll get touch wood that that's some more clear,
26:28 like, 'cause I've been working quite a bit on them,
26:31 you know, trying to strengthen and, you know,
26:33 yeah, I'd change that.
26:37 No injuries.
26:38 (laughing)
26:39 - Mate, well, fingers crossed, that'll go as well.
26:43 Thank you very much for joining me.
26:45 - Thanks very much, mate, appreciate it, enjoyed that.