Talking Derry City_ Opening Day High and Nicky Low

Derry Journal

Episode two of the Talking Derry City podcast featuring interviews with John Kelpie from Derry City and Strabane District Council, Nicky Low and Ruaidhri Higgins.

Transcript

00:00:00 [MUSIC]

00:00:12 Well folks, welcome to the second episode in the second season. I'm joined here with

00:00:17 Simon Collins. We're just out of the fans forum here in the City Hotel. We're in here

00:00:22 doing a wee recording. And after last night's start, Derry getting the victory the night

00:00:27 before against Drogheda. Everything's great. And the forum too, Simon, went really well.

00:00:32 And we got a few wee sort of tip-tops of what sort of happened behind the scenes. Not everybody

00:00:37 was here. It was still well-intended, but people weren't at this fans forum. We heard

00:00:43 a few wee different things.

00:00:44 Definitely. So it's all part of it. We'll talk about the match shortly. But if we address

00:00:49 the fans forum, there was a good crowd. There must have been, what, maybe like 50 people

00:00:53 there. They've been better attended, but probably not best publicised.

00:00:58 Well, I'm like in the vault, and he's in the vault there.

00:01:02 But it was a good crowd. It was all positive messages in terms of the stand. And Fullible

00:01:07 Dordogne, the chairman, he's open and honest. When you get him, when you get your hands

00:01:11 on him, when he addresses people, he's going to tell you the truth. He's going to tell

00:01:16 you what's happening, the ins and outs. You had John Kelby there from the council, who's

00:01:20 obviously the go-to man in the council in terms of the brand and the developments there

00:01:25 too. So we have a wee interview with him coming up as well. And he's giving us basically what's

00:01:32 actually happening with the stand and with the pitch as well too, because that's obviously

00:01:37 still rumbling on, still a massive topic, hard topic in terms of the club.

00:01:43 I know that, just listening to Kelby too, he was sort of chatting about the great relationship

00:01:49 that the club and the council now have. It's probably the best they've ever had. And that

00:01:53 has to be positive, because at the end of the day, you know yourself down the years,

00:01:57 it might have been a wee bit frosty with both of them, but they seem to be working hand

00:02:00 in hand. I think it helps when Fullible Dordogne's giving them the money and funding everything.

00:02:04 It certainly does. I knew that about that. I think I would be working hand in hand with

00:02:08 him too. But either way, it's still good. It's still good. You can't put a dampener

00:02:12 in Adelaide. When things are going so well on the pitch, you see last night, obviously

00:02:18 they've started working on the Southend Park, the first two sections of that as well too.

00:02:24 They've ripped up the seats. Obviously, the Drogheda fans weren't too happy. Now Adelaide

00:02:28 fans are going to be a bit disgruntled. But it has to be done. Fullible said there, there's

00:02:34 no point waiting until the end of the season and another season gone by before you start

00:02:38 to work. Costs and everything will go up. Price and everything just keeps going up,

00:02:41 as we all know, the cost of living and stuff like that. So property and you look at everything

00:02:46 that you need to be building a stand, the price has gone up. So Fulible's right. When

00:02:50 you can go and do it now, get it done. Straight with an iron's hot, as they say. He reckons

00:02:54 potentially July time. I don't see it before that, do you Kev? In terms of what has to

00:03:00 be done. The big thing is, obviously now, he was saying it takes a certain length of

00:03:05 time to turn off the electrics and then you can start the well or two plays apart and

00:03:10 stuff like that. Your big thing and your big concern is, I suppose, is you play some pats

00:03:14 live in RTE in two weeks time. You're hoping them electrics are turned off and turned back

00:03:17 on again and everything's grand because obviously when he means electric, he's meaning obviously

00:03:21 the lights and everything else. Ah, the floodlights. You're going to need them like. You're going

00:03:24 to need them like unless you kick off at two o'clock on a Friday afternoon. I don't think

00:03:28 RTE would be impressed with that. No. No, that's the case of, you know, it's positive.

00:03:32 It's going in the right direction and we've seen ourselves. We alluded to it. The place

00:03:36 was packed. There were so many people. I know you would have been tortured. I was tortured

00:03:40 because we're trying to get tickets. We've seen Bert and Martin in there. Bert's just

00:03:43 going spare. He's thinking about throwing his phone into the foil. He's just at that

00:03:46 stage. It's just like, I don't have a ticket. Stop ringing me. I think that's where he answers

00:03:51 his phone. No, I don't have a ticket. Not even hello. Just I don't have a ticket. But

00:03:55 talking about Bert, just because you brought it up and you don't even know what I'm going

00:03:58 to say next year, which is I love this. This is always slightly concerning. This is insane.

00:04:03 He just throws on these shame-worn googly's, but go ahead. I got an email from a guy who

00:04:08 owned a Derry City fan last night as well. I'm not going to read out his whole email,

00:04:12 but it was just about his experience at the match last night. It's a family of four that

00:04:17 go. Basically, I'll read it out to you, but they entered the ground. They gave themselves

00:04:21 plenty of time. They come on at seven o'clock. They got a good place to stand. Terrace tickets,

00:04:26 obviously, they got. There's two kids. They stood behind the rail next to the merchandise

00:04:32 shop, which you know well, Kate. So, they started to pack out, basically. The thing

00:04:42 is, they've paid nearly £50 for their entrance. They get on and they're matching everything

00:04:48 else. But then they can't see. The kids can't see because the guys come and stand in front

00:04:53 of them. It's a level ground there, that sort of way. He was basically saying about it's

00:05:01 not right selling tickets. Marketing is on terrace tickets on flat ground. You need to

00:05:06 be over six foot to see or be ignorant enough to stand in front of someone who you'll block.

00:05:11 He was thinking, hopefully, the club can see that this is an issue at the minute. Could

00:05:15 you not stand behind the goals at the showgrounds end, sort of thing as well, too? Because it's

00:05:22 not fair. The problem is, Bert was very, and as you know, Bert, he's always willing to

00:05:28 listen to people and accommodate and explain as well, too. I didn't even realise that that

00:05:33 was a blue lights area behind the goal. That's the ambulance coming out. You couldn't be

00:05:38 allowed. They stand there. That's always going to be a problem. He's right about you need

00:05:43 to be six foot to see it. That's the problem. I know a few fans, as soon as they meet, there's

00:05:48 all stacks of spits and that over beside the merchandise shop and beside the chippy. I'm

00:05:51 going, I know, but if you go back, you're standing behind the mark for instance, you'll

00:05:55 not see half the pitch. And then the penny drop, people, oh, that's a fair point. She

00:06:00 was trying to keep everyone happy. You are restricted. Restricted viewing, but the problem

00:06:03 is, obviously, if you're not six foot, then you might not get to see the whole thing.

00:06:08 And I think he must have missed a penalty on some of it as well, too. But those are adult

00:06:15 tickets, the terrace tickets, which again, they shouldn't be sold for kids. And the club

00:06:21 has come out and said that before. And they're just reinforcing that. So if you're listening,

00:06:28 I guess it's obviously, Bert's one, they chat to you and explain to you about the issues

00:06:32 they have with that because they're, basically, the club can't police the outlets that sell

00:06:38 the tickets, but they are designated for adults. So because they know the kids basically won't

00:06:45 be able to see. So that's just the situation around the minute.

00:06:50 And the flip side of that, and as I said, Bert's one, they chat to you. You can contact

00:06:55 him at the club, email him. He's very open and honest, too. So the flip side of that,

00:07:01 and that's what this whole meeting was about today, was the plans for that stand at North

00:07:05 Terrace, which we should have by the mid-summer. And then the Mark Farran stand at that sub-regional

00:07:12 Stadia fund, which was 36 million. It's now potentially 100 million. And there, as Sean

00:07:17 Barrett had said, our number one priority because they tick all the boxes.

00:07:21 Well, that's a big thing. Dairy sell out, not just do they sell out, they can't get

00:07:26 enough tickets. So they are, as you see, Sean alluded to, they are A1 for all,

00:07:32 ticking the boxes. They get that sort of funding. Look, we know we're sales. Storming's up and

00:07:37 running and everybody's thinking, "Whoa, we're all red, they're all minted." It's still be years,

00:07:43 years down the line. I hope I'm wrong. And this time next year, it's all looking rosy

00:07:47 in the grounds. Virtually the whole way around. I don't think you'll ever be able to get a stand

00:07:53 in the Southend Park. Or walk in the Southend Park because of the blue lights and that sort of

00:07:59 app and stuff like that. But don't get me wrong, I think if you get three sides going the whole

00:08:04 way around, I think, you know, one, it'll look spectacular. Two, it'll be more than enough,

00:08:10 I would suspect. You know, the club and the city is going in the right direction. So you want to

00:08:15 just keep getting more fans in. But it's just trying to keep everybody happy. And you're not

00:08:21 going to. That's the bottom line. The club will have these mistakes, these wee issues. As you

00:08:27 alluded to, anybody's buying a terrace tickets, they have to realise that they're all for adults.

00:08:32 So if you're buying it and it's for your two kids, you know, a wee bit of it is all new too,

00:08:38 because you know that they were all adults. So it's the same wee things, but look, it's going

00:08:43 to be one of them seasons. I know, having spoken to Seán Barratt myself, from an merchandise point

00:08:49 of view, we're sort of going right, a big match, some pats in the next couple of weeks time. Can

00:08:55 fans still come across from the Southend Park? They go to the Mark Farris stand, they go to the

00:08:59 merchandise shop. So I don't think that'll be a problem. That's something we are looking at.

00:09:04 But look, because there are a small number of away fans being allocated tickets because of the

00:09:09 redevelopment, you can't see that being an issue. But it is the same type of thing. Everybody at

00:09:14 the club is sort of thinking there's going to be a wee bit of hindrance. But you know, sometimes you

00:09:19 have to take the roughest move to get to the bottom line. Would you rather that they just

00:09:24 stop the work, you know, until the end of the season? I know I wouldn't. Get it done now.

00:09:30 Because the more these go on, God knows, again, with Mark Farring, Stormock could be back down.

00:09:35 And 20 minutes, you know. They could be selling up there. No, I think, listen, if there's money

00:09:41 available, in this case for the North Stand being built, the money's available because Fulham's

00:09:46 paying for it. Get it built. You know, and that's the thing when you get the work done, you've got

00:09:50 it started, get the ball rolling. And come July, we're sort of hoping, possibly by the end of July,

00:09:56 but you just don't know with the Weller and whatever else, and whatever problems they may or

00:10:00 may not run into. So if it is up and running by July, August, you'll see some difference in the

00:10:05 brand. The big thing they alluded to, Philip, and the fans, when we talked about Paddy Simpson

00:10:10 being at Celtic Park and all our European venues, that stand is going to have terracing and the

00:10:15 upside European matching with the seats and everything. So it's these wee things that

00:10:19 we're starting to, you know, be coming under like a proper 21st century club, like, and thinking

00:10:24 ahead and thinking for the future. And that's great to see. You know, Tal is the head of the

00:10:28 company, like, you know, in the wind up brand. It could be a real force in terms of the stadia as

00:10:32 well too, when it's all done and completed, everything done on the plans. I don't think the

00:10:36 wings of the Mark Farren stand, I know we're good and fair, it's going to take the money, but in

00:10:40 terms of the construction of it, I think the groundwork's been done on that too. So that'll

00:10:45 be fairly quickly done. I should show them the sort of, alluding to, saying, you know, you're

00:10:49 putting in your business plan, your business case to Stormont. Their business case has been done

00:10:54 eight, nine years ago. So it's just sitting there, literally as a copy paste, change the date

00:10:58 and forward your business plan. So that's basically what the plan is, I would suspect. So

00:11:03 I look, funding wise, how much Derry City and Derry and Stirling Council get is great. And we keep,

00:11:11 obviously, Derry City pockets, we know that, but it's benefiting the whole city, this, you know,

00:11:15 the Foil Cup, that brings big numbers. Exactly, you've got Institute playing there, they get,

00:11:21 we're going to this game today, top of the table of class, they get in the Premier League, they're

00:11:25 playing Lintfield in a couple of weeks. There's a lot going on at the moment. So it's not just

00:11:29 Derry City, it's for the city itself. It would be great if you didn't get the funding to finish

00:11:34 off the Premier League. Well, that's what exactly what John Kelpy was saying, and obviously,

00:11:38 I have to speak for all stakeholders. So I suppose we'll just cut the John Kelpy's interview here,

00:11:44 like I just caught him just after the forum had finished. So we'll see what he had to say.

00:11:49 Obviously, that's for his ideas about the pitch, which is the big talking point, which we're not

00:11:55 really talking about anymore. They'd be Rory Higgins or Paul Hegad or any of the players.

00:12:00 So here's John Kelpy.

00:12:21 John, that was fairly positive. Obviously, it's good to inform the fans of what's going on as

00:12:26 well, too. And lots of positive things happening at the pitch.

00:12:29 Look, it's a brilliant partnership at the minute, working with Derry City Football Club.

00:12:35 I think for far too long, we've been trying to do things that are right for the brand new world,

00:12:40 but maybe we haven't been working together as closely as we have right now at the minute. So

00:12:44 you've got a team of council who are working very, very hard to get the stand approved.

00:12:49 And you've got a team working for Derry City Football Club who are working hand in glove with

00:12:53 them. So it really is a very exciting time for the club, for the council, for the brand new world.

00:12:59 Yeah, obviously, it's a fantastic stand at North Terrace that they've planned as well,

00:13:03 too. And work's getting underway now as well, too, which is, as Philip said, potentially by

00:13:09 July. That could be up and done and dusted, you know, so it would be fantastic.

00:13:14 Absolutely. As you've seen yourself, the demolition work to the South End stand has

00:13:20 started this week. So it'll take about six weeks or so to get the seats out and to get

00:13:25 Blocks A and B demolished and then to make that stand good. And then at that stage, the new work

00:13:30 starts then on the North stand. So it'll all be weather dependent, contractor dependent and all

00:13:35 of that. But the thing is to get it on site and to get it going. And then at that stage,

00:13:38 there'll be a very, very clear picture of how long it's going to take when we get on site,

00:13:43 get the contractor appointed. As you know, look, it has always been the intention of Mark Forran's

00:13:47 stand to be extended each side. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to do that a few years ago.

00:13:52 The sub-regional stadia fund is there. There's not enough money in the pot. But, you know,

00:13:58 there's a lot of discussion going on at storm at level, as you know, in terms of trying to

00:14:01 increase the size of that pot. The club have to make the application. And we've provided the club

00:14:07 with all the information that we have to enable them to write the business case. So they can

00:14:11 submit as robust an application as possible. And we hope they're successful. And if they are,

00:14:16 and we could go ahead with that, that'll be another 1400 seats. So it together with the

00:14:21 North stand would bring the capacity of the brand new up to over 7000, which will be superb.

00:14:26 The demand for tickets is there to you know, you'll get the bums on seats if they are developed.

00:14:31 The big question was the pitch and obviously, I think the FA last year said would for elite

00:14:37 soccer to be playing on would be, you know, you couldn't see it beyond 2023. Obviously,

00:14:42 has there been an update on that? Has it been tested and done recently? And what's the condition

00:14:48 of the pitch for this season? So there has been testing done and it will get approved. There's

00:14:52 probably another couple of years left in it if we keep, you know, we keep replacing the beads and

00:14:57 making sure that they're compacted well and making sure that it gets through the testing.

00:15:03 For professional soccer, it's not ideal. We know it's not ideal. So the council has commissioned

00:15:09 a report through a set of consultants working with the club and with the FAA to look at

00:15:14 different options for the pitch ranging as I said earlier from grass, right up to grass grown on

00:15:21 site, right up through grass grown off site, right up to various hybrid options right up the very

00:15:26 top end of the scale, which will be a hybrid pitch that's grown off site and imported. And as you

00:15:32 would know yourself, the cost of that goes from the bottom end of that right up to the top end of

00:15:37 that. It's a huge difference. There's pros and cons for all of those. So we're going to work

00:15:42 with the club. We're going to work with the other users. Very importantly, there's many other users

00:15:47 of the brandy well. We have to make sure that all their needs are considered as well. And then we

00:15:53 work with the council and we can come up with an option. And I would, you know, I think the council's

00:15:57 view would be to try and get this matter resolved sooner rather than later for the good of everybody.

00:16:01 That's basically where we're at at the moment.

00:16:03 Well, I was up to a nursery, you know, a few wee things of these coming out, Ben,

00:16:25 obviously from your point of view, you must have been enthused as a fan. It's great that they're

00:16:31 all sort of talking, they're all going the one direction.

00:16:33 Aye, that's how you start it off. They're working like sort of hand in glove together.

00:16:39 And you don't want to be cynical about it because it's, you know, you've seen these things happen

00:16:44 and you say things publicly and, you know, when you say another thing privately. But I think

00:16:50 John Kelby, he's got the experience, he comes from a construction background as well too,

00:16:57 doesn't he, as an engineer. So, you know, he knows exactly what he's talking about. He knows

00:17:02 the difficulties, the intricacies here as well too, which is, you know, I think a lot of people,

00:17:07 it's not as easy as just lifting that pitch and down.

00:17:08 Aye, you say that's what it was. You just get it, put a new one down, it's a little bit undaunted.

00:17:13 A lot of money. And he's not silly enough to say basically, they ignore the fact that it's

00:17:19 very profitable for the council, which is at the end of the day, you know, that's what's going to

00:17:25 be a major factor in all this as well too. Can they still get the funds coming in as well too,

00:17:31 for when whatever kind of surface, hybrid surface was probably the most likely, wasn't it? Like the

00:17:36 grass surface is not going to be profitable. No, I can't see that happening to be brutally

00:17:41 honest with you because, you know, you have your local football, you have your institutes,

00:17:46 you have your academies that are training for the week. You've obviously dairy training on it every

00:17:50 day. You've so many things that a grass pitch just couldn't cope with, no doubt about that.

00:17:55 But I keep in mind that down at Corian, the prime example, there are a couple of years

00:18:00 under their new surface now. It's like anything, it's like your mobile phone, a laptop, you know,

00:18:05 the years go by, the pitches get better, the better surfaces. There's so many different types

00:18:09 of surfaces now too. But the big thing is they have like a sprinkling system that's just second

00:18:13 to none. It literally is as if you're going to like an Old Trafford or a Salt Lake Park or an

00:18:18 Alford. They're setting a timer, the teams go off the pitch and it goes around the pitch and the

00:18:23 entire pitch of Corian is saturated. And you just sit there going, that doesn't really look like a

00:18:29 hard job. Not exactly like Torsham, I remember Torsham. It was remotely, actually. I think that

00:18:39 he was trying to, he was batting off John Kelby too about the sprinkler system as the fact that we

00:18:43 don't want to go on and do work that's probably not needed. If we are, and he was very positive

00:18:49 about, you know, that pitch will be taken out and replaced by whatever kind of surface it is. So I

00:18:55 think he doesn't want to do work that doesn't need to be done. But if you ask the playing staff and

00:18:59 the coaching staff, that doesn't matter. It's an accessory. It doesn't matter if you're grass,

00:19:04 hay or whatever, it's putting on the sprinkler system and it just makes everything just a whole

00:19:10 lot easier and a whole lot slicker and whatever else for teams. And it doesn't matter if you're

00:19:15 in the Foil Cup, you're in the T&D, you're in the Institute, you all want a decent slick surface.

00:19:21 Possibly not the T&D boys who might be out the night before going, "I don't want this slick

00:19:25 surface." But you know what I'm getting at. You know, you want the...

00:19:27 The sari and salieta.

00:19:28 Well, I guess out the night before they can go and just get a bag of chips.

00:19:32 But no, as I say, it's just getting that sort of a good slick surface. Any player you talk to

00:19:37 at any level, that's what you want.

00:19:39 Well, I had a wee sneaky reference to the fact, or asked the question, posed the question,

00:19:46 should Philip fund the new pitch? You know, like he's doing with the Monteros.

00:19:50 Aye, you had the feed, Keoghie. And Philip was actually in the car park. I could see when you

00:19:56 asked that question, Philip was there.

00:19:57 Well, he did come back and say, "You're asking the wrong man."

00:20:00 But he was a goal in the UOF spots or maybe. But if, you know, so potentially if he was

00:20:05 defunded, then, you know, take it out of their hands. But just buy the thing.

00:20:08 But the thing that did sort of strike me was, the FAA, remember we had the story where they

00:20:16 were saying that beyond 2023, that pitch is going to be unplayable for elite soccer, basically.

00:20:22 So what's changed now? They've done the testing, FIFA testing again, and it's passed. It's passed

00:20:29 the test. So that pitch is going to be deemed playable for hosting professional football,

00:20:35 elite soccer.

00:20:36 That's us ruled out then?

00:20:38 For the season.

00:20:39 We'll take one of them.

00:20:41 No, but elite soccer will not be to go on. I'd have been there too, if I hadn't of been.

00:20:44 But obviously, it's there. If anybody was wondering, which I was wondering, you know,

00:20:51 how are we playing on this when it was so, you know, it was going to expire, basically. But

00:20:55 no, they've got the, it's passed now for another season at least.

00:20:58 So, well, that's positive. No doubt about that. So that's a good thing.

00:21:03 Philip also alluded the other day at the fans forum about Europe this year. And

00:21:08 I wouldn't say jokingly with Philip, but he did come out with a remarkable group stage,

00:21:12 as we know it. And you can see where we're headed.

00:21:15 Where will we play?

00:21:16 Where we play. Well, that's the thing. So, it depends. You draw all these things. There's a

00:21:20 lot of ifs, buts, and maybes. But Aviva's been mentioned. But I think the two grounds that they

00:21:25 possibly will nominate will be Talla and Wunser. And he did allude that last year,

00:21:30 the IFA and Lumfield were very much in favour of this idea.

00:21:35 The IFA, he doesn't know how they were. Maybe they were swayed by UEFA. So, you just have to,

00:21:43 you know, work with things they got there. But it's positive that, you know,

00:21:48 Derry's speaking to a lot of people. They possibly make this a lot easier for fans.

00:21:53 Because they did allude to that. The fact that after the Topo match, you know, it was 20 penalties,

00:21:58 extra time penalties. And then you're driving off from Talla, which is three and a half hours.

00:22:02 The way you drive, maybe six.

00:22:05 So, obviously, it would be more feasible for fans on a Thursday night. They go to Wunser,

00:22:15 which is good. They're looking at everything, aren't they? And that's

00:22:18 what I got from everybody that spoke today. Basically, they're all punching the same way.

00:22:24 Well, this is something that a lot of fans maybe don't see. They do it, but

00:22:29 we should do this. And we should, you know, they're not actually seeing that. See,

00:22:33 to be honest, behind the scenes, they are trying this. They're trying to look at every sort of

00:22:37 aspect and every avenue they can go down. And that can only be positive. Like, you know,

00:22:42 the people that are, you know, around there now, you can start seeing Sean Barrett's back in there

00:22:47 in a more full-time capacity. There is a lot going on. It was good to see that the club

00:22:51 thanked Dodie McGillis for his service down the years. We're right on the same and Philip. And,

00:22:57 you know, it's things you get that people don't really see that goes on behind the scenes. And,

00:23:01 you know, people do a lot of work at the club. Yes, I know Dodie was employed and all, but

00:23:05 she's still... There's an employer at a football club and then there's an employer at a football

00:23:10 club. You know, you don't finish 95. You're stuck at the base. European run last year,

00:23:16 the amount that passed. But even the headaches with, you know,

00:23:19 residents and players and, you know, and I don't know, the team with the comment system.

00:23:24 All that. There's so much. And, you know, these are the type of things that people don't really

00:23:30 see. And that's why, as I say, fair play to Philip and Rory. They acknowledge all that.

00:23:35 But no, I think, as I say, it's off the field, it's definitely on the up behind the scenes.

00:23:41 And people may not know and may think, what are they doing? There's a lot going on. There's a lot

00:23:46 of things bubbling on the surface. And it's just trying to keep on top of everything and keep

00:23:52 pushing ahead and dealing with Stormont, dealing with the FAA, dealing with, you know, away fans,

00:23:58 all these issues that you're going to have to have when you're building. You know, it's just

00:24:02 the way it is. You can't do like what Tala did. Tala got built and then they had another stand,

00:24:07 but they still had enough to help away fans and get in this. Now they've got more than enough,

00:24:12 there was about 7,000 at the game last night. So it's these type of things where you're going to

00:24:16 have to just look at it and say, look, you're going to be reteaming probably. Bare with them.

00:24:20 But that's why these forums are fantastic. Because the club are,

00:24:26 I think it's the invitation they seize in ticket holders, isn't it? So just informing them,

00:24:32 keeping them in the loop, which is always good because they said in the past we're renowned for

00:24:37 burying our head in the sand with the tricky issues. So it's brilliant that they are so open

00:24:43 ended and chat to the fans that way. I suppose it's all in the back of last night's performance

00:24:49 as well too. There's a lot of good feeling about the club. It was always going to be a tough one.

00:24:56 It was the first home match since the UCD game in 2019. That was the last time we won one as well

00:25:02 too. So good to get that monkey out of the way. Good to get a home game. The three points was the

00:25:08 main thing. That's something. To be fair, if I'm drawn, I'm a wee bit disappointed. They had a

00:25:14 great chance at 0-0. Brian makes a big save. They obviously had the penalty saved. After they got

00:25:23 it back to 2-1, which incidentally was a massive deflection. If I hear another person tell me it

00:25:29 was a worldie. I don't know how. In people's defence. Must have been from Mark Farney. It was

00:25:34 because I watched it last night on YouTube. They went home and I went, "That doesn't add nothing."

00:25:39 But obviously I know it did because we were sitting in the Southend Park. Everybody there went,

00:25:44 "Ah no, that doesn't add anything." I think it was McDanath's shoulders. He was still screaming

00:25:48 for the cameras afterwards. Exactly. Got them back in it. When they got back in it, while they

00:25:54 had pressure and Derry were bringing on Kieran Cole and stuff like that. And obviously Connolly

00:25:58 went off and you had Brad Sheen. Brehmar didn't have a save, did he, Mick? During that last 20

00:26:03 minutes or so. Peppered the box, didn't they? High ball. He was headed out and cornered and stuff.

00:26:09 But I know, even to be fair, Kevin Doughty, he says the same. He says, "Look, we'll get back

00:26:15 in it." He was delighted with his team's performance. But they never really tested Brehmar.

00:26:20 So Derry were comfortable, yes. But it's the first game of the season. You're not going to be

00:26:25 at the races straight away. So you just take a one and move on. And that's what Derry did. But

00:26:30 as I say, if I was Drogheda, I'm a wee bit disappointed. I didn't get anything.

00:26:35 But I'm not Drogheda. So unlucky. And thanks very much, Derry, for the victory.

00:26:40 Oh, Kevin Doughty, listen to this. I was chatting to him. I imagine he was lovely. He was on with

00:26:46 Damien McGrath, a referee, straight on after because he thought he was adamant that it was

00:26:50 a handball with Jordan McInerney from the build-up to Pat Hoogmans' goal.

00:26:54 I'm not going to lie because he came out to us before the interviews and he was chatting to Pat

00:26:58 Hoogmans and he was talking about this handball. And he looked at Eric White. I'm just dropping

00:27:03 Eric on this premise. Eric looked at the ground. "What's he on about?" So I asked him, "Eric,

00:27:07 what's he on about?" And it was the end of it. See when you go home and watch it, Kevin Doughty is

00:27:12 100% right. Oh, 100%. I seen it at the time. I seen it. It was like his hand was down and it was

00:27:17 a headless hand and sort of under his path until they let it back out there. And he let it back to

00:27:21 Patsy. Bang, go. So I hold my hands up like Jordan and... Now, we'll give him that. We'll

00:27:29 give Kevin Doughty that. We'll also now just say that it's a huge striker. Huge striker. Should

00:27:34 have been sent. He's lucky he wasn't... And you know what I love? Afterwards, Kevin Doughty,

00:27:41 his defence was all out. Because I said, "You took him off, obviously, because he was walking

00:27:46 a tightrope." He says, "No, we took him off to protect him." Because there were three guys on

00:27:51 him every time. There were three guys and he needed protected. I suppose he had that saying

00:27:56 to make a swearing in. No, he took him off because he was lucky he wasn't sent off. He'd gone with

00:28:03 foul of Brian Martin and got caught in for that. And then he just emptied in and got moved. Kevin

00:28:07 Doughty got a nice elbow in the top of the head. He was just rubbing up out the elbows out and

00:28:11 hitting everybody. Now look, if you're Kevin Doughty, you're going, "That's brilliant,

00:28:16 big man. That's great, but we need to just set him. We need to do that every week."

00:28:20 Well, that's what he does say. He says, "Look, see if it happens they run on thee,

00:28:25 you're dropping to the deck." He said he was a big guy. And he was. There was a handful of him

00:28:31 and the other guy too that they got from Sweden. A Swedish third tier team. So,

00:28:37 them two boys won't cause anybody problems, won't they?

00:28:40 Well, listen, particularly at Drogheda, at Weavers Park, Hokey Dory, whatever, United Park. But at

00:28:48 home, I think Drogheda will be a hassle, particularly them two boys up front. But I

00:28:52 think if you're Kevin Doughty, you're bringing friends in, they say, "Settle, big man. It's

00:28:56 great, but you need to just calm a bit." Well, I'll tell you what though. I think the

00:29:01 difference, as we said, last year, obviously we lost that game. In April, they beat us 1-0. It

00:29:09 was two men sent off. Janet was sent off. They were the only man sent off first. I know that.

00:29:16 That was horrible. But we would have probably lost those kind of games in the past. Now,

00:29:24 Pat Hoogan, we keep going on about him, but it was a murky signing. He did the business last night.

00:29:29 Not just his Poachers finish, but his all-around game too.

00:29:33 Well, as I said, I think you're right. You alluded to it there. It was the Poachers finish.

00:29:37 I just went, "Don't I suspect a Keane or a Jimmy?" It was just shot. If you actually see it again,

00:29:45 you can sort of see his first instinct is before Patrick. He's starting to run towards the net.

00:29:48 Yeah, he's ready.

00:29:49 It's coming out. I'm going to be the man to get it. Stuck it in the net. You know, look,

00:29:54 it was any cross. Mickey Duffy had won the first half, crossed the six yard box. It was just behind

00:29:58 it. But he's on that six yard box. He is like, "None of this, I'm going to be out wide and

00:30:02 bucket. I'll get it, hold it up, bring people in, play it. And I'm going straight to get on that

00:30:06 six yard box." And everybody knows. These teammates know from Michael Duffy, Patrick McElhinney,

00:30:12 Walt Paget. They've all played with him. They know what he's like. They know what he brings in.

00:30:16 And then even speaking to, we spoke to Ronan Boyce too, I think Ronan just says he's just

00:30:20 brought that winning mentality in. He's just taking, training up the new levels too.

00:30:24 Because you could see on the pitch too, where he, like I know he was, I was speaking to him

00:30:30 before where he was saying when he was playing for Mirvie, he shouldn't be playing. I'm lying,

00:30:33 I'm on it here. But he was also playing the Hurling as well too for the local club. So he was

00:30:38 playing the both, finishing the Hurling, going to China with Mirvie and stuff like that. But you

00:30:42 see he's got that physical aspect, that G8 background and stuff like that too. Because

00:30:46 he's wrestling boys about. But what you were saying there about Ronan Boyce and stuff,

00:30:52 like him bringing that to training. You've seen that on the pitch too. There was one stage where

00:30:56 he was shouting and roaring. I think it was Jordan McAnaf, he was getting the wrong side out.

00:31:00 He was telling him to press out. Probably because he didn't want to press himself.

00:31:04 I think it was straight after he scored, the kickoff. He was like a sprinter. He was like

00:31:10 "I'm for Chrissie" down the block. And then when they maybe popped it around him, he turned around

00:31:15 and went "How long am I going to be here, boy? See if I'm going Usain Bolt down the block. You need

00:31:19 to be with me." And that's, look I don't mind that. The man will literally say "Take a weekend

00:31:26 off to look at my medals." So you know what I mean? I'd be lifting him. But the fact is, I think

00:31:32 overall, like Rory said before the match, the home record wasn't good. Not a 21 point strap last

00:31:39 season at home. If you're going to challenge Rovers, like Rovers aren't driving 21 points at

00:31:43 Tala. I know they drove a couple last night. They could have dropped more than the highlights. I

00:31:48 think Ryan O'Kane had a great chance at that 1-0 header back post. He headed it well to be fair

00:31:54 to him. He came back off the post. And obviously, Hoopins' replacement, the new number 9 scored

00:31:59 that rugged free kick. It was a wonder free kick when we watched it in the brand new world.

00:32:04 And it's still not taking anything away. It's still a great free kick. But when you actually

00:32:07 go home and watch it in the bigger picture, what we did last night in the highlights.

00:32:10 So he's no keeper?

00:32:11 The keeper was a wee bit tired. I'd be asking questions about the keeper to be honest. He

00:32:15 needs to do better. But look, don't get me wrong. If and when Derry played in Duck,

00:32:20 he could be giving a free kick away in the Aza box. He could be in Bollard.

00:32:23 Well, we'll get a wee bit of a reaction from the match. Rory Higgins was chatting obviously in

00:32:30 good form. He was very business-like. Three points, that's all we needed to get that first

00:32:34 game out of the way. But I like this comment about Brian Maher. How many times have you sold him?

00:32:39 I've no wonder.

00:32:40 I was sold. I know for a fact that he was definitely sold. I'm not going to make the

00:32:47 kit lodge. And they told me why he was making the kit lodge. And the whole place was all tied

00:32:51 around in the photo shoot. Oh, he's gone. He's definitely gone. So yeah, I can feel Rory's

00:32:56 playing.

00:32:56 I thought it was funny. Well, let's see what Rory had to say as reaction to the big one.

00:33:02 [MUSIC]

00:33:24 I believe it was three points. That's all you really want from the opening fixture, obviously.

00:33:28 Performance is probably secondary in the opening day. We had spells in the first half where I

00:33:34 thought we were good. We were on the front foot. We played some good stuff. And I felt we lost

00:33:39 our composure for a 10-minute period after we went a goal in front, which was disappointing.

00:33:43 But we got it over the line. Second half was scrappy. I don't know what it would have liked,

00:33:49 but we got there. He's just got an unbelievable knack of knowing how to score goals and big goals.

00:33:56 Big goals is first goal for the club, competitive goal. And it's great for him to get around the

00:34:02 opening night, and that'll set him off. And if we had to took a wee bit more care at the top end,

00:34:09 we could have had a few more. But listen, it's three points against a really difficult opponent

00:34:15 who have caused us big problems over the last couple of years. So I'm delighted with three

00:34:21 points, and we move on. For the period, as I said, after we got the first goal, we lost the composure.

00:34:25 For the period after we got the second goal, we lost the composure. And I don't want that to be

00:34:30 the case. I want us to really relax and play and show more experience and more class about us,

00:34:40 because we're more than capable. But it's the first game of the season, and we'll improve.

00:34:46 25 years ago or something, the last time we had a home game, we started the season. But

00:34:50 we got one tonight, and thankfully, we made it a wee bit more difficult. But thankfully,

00:34:59 we leave you three points, and our supporters will go home happy, I suppose.

00:35:03 Brian's. Many times that we sell him in the off-season. No, listen, it's a brilliant penalty

00:35:13 save. You're right, he made a really good one-handed save from the chance that they

00:35:16 created in the first half. It's a big moment because it was soon after we went the goal in front,

00:35:21 and it was a big save. He's been a brilliant player. I've said it numerous times, he's been

00:35:29 an absolutely brilliant signing for this club, and the best in the country. I know it's early,

00:35:34 but obviously the only downside is Mark Connolly picking up an injury and stuff like that. That's

00:35:38 not what you wanted in the first half, is it? No, it's not ideal. I thought Shane as well

00:35:43 came on and was excellent, and steadied us up. Mark got a wee niggle in the first half,

00:35:50 so we need to see what that is. But if we can avoid injuries, great. Obviously,

00:35:55 we're going to pick ones up here and there, but we've got an outstanding squad and players who

00:36:00 are top level, ready to come on. Just tell us about the squad, as you say,

00:36:04 the substitutes you make. Compared to last year, 12 months on, it's definitely a bigger squad and

00:36:09 a better squad that you're bringing on. It's not any bigger. I just feel that the balance and the

00:36:15 quality that we have now is the best that we've had. They were getting big players on, they were

00:36:23 targeting us from set pieces, so we had to get Kieran Cole on the pitch as well and stuff like

00:36:27 that. You want the one being really pretty and scoring loads of goals, but we found the way

00:36:35 they won tonight, which was really important. Obviously, Patrick McDonnell, the squad,

00:36:40 has he picked up an injury? If tonight was the last game of the season, he'd have been able to play.

00:36:47 He played in every pre-season game, he'd pick up a really minor groin issue that,

00:36:53 if he aggravated it, it could have set him back for a few weeks. We just weren't prepared to

00:36:58 take the chance. He's in a really good place physically, but tonight he sat it out and

00:37:03 thankfully we were able to get the three points in his absence.

00:37:05 [Music]

00:37:27 There you go, he was delighted. The performance was secondary, he was getting that result.

00:37:33 Which is up to you know what I mean. The first half, Cape possession didn't really harm them

00:37:37 that much, they had a few wee chances, Patching they didn't make it up across the six yard box

00:37:41 in the cutback. But it was just getting the tempo going. You can't complain then, it's what 62

00:37:47 seconds in the second half, Owen Boyce, Curls on the top corner, that just got everything going.

00:37:52 It's going to take six or seven matches, you'll start seeing the league then just pan out,

00:37:57 what way it's going to be. It's going to take a while, and there's no doubt about that.

00:38:03 As I say, first match, as Rory alluded to, it's the first victory in a number of years in

00:38:08 the opening night they've got the victory. 25 years apparently. 25 years exactly.

00:38:11 That was their first home match in 25 years. That's insane, it's just getting that victory,

00:38:17 moving on. You look at the rest of the league, it's all tight. There's a lot of draws in there,

00:38:23 obviously Shelbourne's moving Waterford, Galway were disappointed they lose at home,

00:38:28 the pats looked an awful night. I haven't seen the highlights of Galway and the pitch didn't

00:38:33 look the best. Waterford too looked an awful night. You then had Dundalk getting a point

00:38:39 down at Tallah, didn't look an awful night, looked like a boulder table and looked like a great

00:38:43 pitch and whatever else, but it's going to be at Tallah. And then you had Bowes last minute

00:38:47 getting an equaliser against Sligo 2-2. I think he'll not be happy because the second goal,

00:38:53 they hurt him and people are going "he's messy this, messy that". He is skinning boys,

00:38:58 but there's any chance he's put the tackle in. But they got the equaliser too, but it just tells

00:39:03 you how we all expect it in Derry 2-1. We've always said this year could be the most competitive

00:39:09 and I think they go over the first night, sort of backing that argument up. I can't remember who

00:39:14 says it, I know Pat Hibben said it, I think Paul Higgerday actually says it too. If you keep

00:39:22 the Derry squad fit, all your main men, you wouldn't swap that squad for any other,

00:39:26 would you? I know Rovers are what they are and they're the best of the best here too, but I fancy

00:39:32 Derry, I really do. The fact that there was no fats last night, we were all worried. He said in

00:39:38 today's forum as well that it's just a minor groin strain and he could be back for the Sligo game if

00:39:47 they feel like they need him. Mark Connolly, we're not too sure. He's going for a scan,

00:39:52 he was saying. He's going for a scan, so that'll be later in the week before they find out and see

00:39:56 how he is. The aloe we know about for a couple of months, but in good health at the moment. You

00:40:02 keep these guys all fat and healthy and they have a real chance. Definitely, and you mentioned about

00:40:08 Collie Whelan, he's probably the longest out of the injured players, probably the longest

00:40:13 before he's back. Ciarán Harkin, Jaggie, talking about getting games maybe in the under 20s this

00:40:18 year. You can play a few older players, so I think in the case of getting him six or seven games

00:40:23 before you even think about getting in around the first team squad. Probably the best, I would

00:40:27 assume that's what Rory's plans would be, because Rory knows himself, he's been through a lot with

00:40:32 injuries to try and get him back at it. But that's healthy, having Ciarán Harkin around the squad and

00:40:38 training every day and that bubbly character, it's good to have him on around there.

00:40:42 Talking about bubbly characters, seamless link, hey we're wasted on this.

00:40:48 We are, 100% like that now.

00:40:49 He's like self-posed.

00:40:53 That's a yellow thing, you're not going to view.

00:40:55 Well, we were, look you ruined the link, because I was beautiful under Nicky Lowe.

00:41:02 Nicky Lowe, we had met, well I met him at the brandy, we had arranged to meet him and do the

00:41:09 podcast with him, that was before Kevin got his hands on him.

00:41:13 I met him in the rocker before the game, I was on a pre-match meeting, so you can imagine.

00:41:21 Pre-match meeting.

00:41:21 I definitely scrambled egg and toast in the rocker.

00:41:24 Half late.

00:41:26 Exactly, got him a pint. I was disappointed Dan Dumbles wasn't working there. When I say

00:41:31 disappointed, I wasn't shocked. Dan wasn't, it just doesn't happen. But that's where I was,

00:41:35 then we got Nicky a pint and he came down to the match and watched it. It was good to

00:41:41 have a wee chat with him.

00:41:42 Well, let's hear what Nicky had to say, he was glad to be back.

00:41:46 Well, we're just after Derry's Big One, opening day of the season, 2-1 against

00:41:59 Drogheda and we're here with an old Brandywell favourite, can we call you that there, Nicky

00:42:04 Lowe?

00:42:05 A few years ago I'd say aye, but no it was a good win time and obviously it was hard

00:42:10 fought, obviously they're all a bit physical, they play long balls, fight for second, but

00:42:15 them and top, a lot of possession, stuff that I felt probably, watching the game back and

00:42:18 thinking about it, and the final third they can create a lot more chances to be honest,

00:42:22 because they get up there well, but obviously going forward I'm sure they'd want to have

00:42:26 more chances in the game, but it's a great three points to start the season.

00:42:29 I'm going to have to introduce Kae McLaughlin here, because he was going to get on to me

00:42:32 for pretending he's not here every week.

00:42:34 Like every week, he's like a wee man show.

00:42:36 Kae McLaughlin's here and you've already met apparently before the match.

00:42:39 Well, we did, yes I went for a bite to eat before the game, Nicky did the same, but the

00:42:46 man also had a wee beverage on the way, and Nicky fair play, I did buy you a pint, so

00:42:51 that's, you know what I mean.

00:42:52 Not like him.

00:42:52 Yes, I will give him that, he did buy me a pint, but he said make sure you buy me one

00:42:56 back as well.

00:42:58 No, to be fair, he bought me a pint back, he got me a pint, sorry, so I'll own one back.

00:43:02 Well, it's good they see you Nick, I'm sure, has it been a while since you were back?

00:43:06 It's the first time since I left, and obviously I've been dying to come for years, but obviously

00:43:11 I still play myself, so every Saturday it's tough to get here, and I'd actually want to

00:43:16 move here once I retire, so I'm trying to get a wife, aye, I love the place.

00:43:20 A lot of friends here, Nicky, haven't you?

00:43:22 A lot of friends, and fans like me, but not only the fans like me, I love the place, and

00:43:26 just going out day to day basis, going for something to eat, or whatever, just living

00:43:29 here, on a general basis, I love it, so I'm trying to get a missus, once I retire, hopefully

00:43:34 I'll come and move here and buy a house somewhere.

00:43:36 Well, I see she's like carrying the bag of balls and everything, I see it on your social

00:43:40 media, so you must have her wrapped I think, like you do.

00:43:43 Exactly, I know, the old coaching business is going well, so I'm trying to expand, so

00:43:46 I said, listen, if you want to earn your keep, you need to start carrying the balls and getting

00:43:50 them cleaned.

00:43:51 You may hope she's not, but I'll sort of do this.

00:43:52 No, absolutely not, she didn't make my dinner last night.

00:43:55 But there's a lot of hype around Derry, I'm sure you keep a close eye from over in Scotland,

00:44:03 you know, and you see what's happening, what Rory's building here, like what have you thought

00:44:07 of it?

00:44:07 I watch every game since I've been, because I was a player Saturday, I watch every Friday

00:44:11 night game, and last year I thought they ran out of steam to be honest, towards the end,

00:44:15 as I say, same as tonight, I think he built up defensively, so in the middle of the park

00:44:19 they're looking after the ball well, and in the final third, for me, it's only one game,

00:44:22 but on the base of last year, they need to create more chances, whereas that wide man

00:44:26 from the opposite side get in the box, vice versa, which I thought tonight, Holman holds

00:44:30 the ball well, so you've got to trust them, I don't know if it was last year that they

00:44:33 trusted Stryker, I know when I play, I think, Gordon Strachan said this to Paul Hartley,

00:44:37 when Paul Hartley's my manager, your Stryker is the biggest part of your team, because

00:44:42 see if it goes up to Stryker, and you try and go and support it, see if it gets a break

00:44:45 and down, you're not going to make any runs, whereas watching tonight, compared to last

00:44:49 year, I think Holman links it up well, so I think he'll be massive going forward, but

00:44:53 I think Derry will be right up there, and I watched Rovers a lot last year as well, and

00:44:56 they're good if they set plays, good team, good individuals, but I think the difference

00:45:00 for me was last year, Rovers won it, when in fact I set plays and see when they're not

00:45:04 playing well, they win it early, late at night, I don't think Derry were brilliant, they were

00:45:08 better and drawier, and they deserved to win, so that's the difference, can you win when

00:45:11 it gets ugly, but I think Derry will be right up there this season.

00:45:15 That's part of what brings that, knowing how you won those games.

00:45:20 He scored what Derry were probably missing last year, and that's no disrespect to Jamie

00:45:23 McGonagall or Keane, is that poacher in the six yard box, come back off the keeper, touch

00:45:29 goal, and that's what Derry's been missing, and you know yourself, playing at that level,

00:45:33 you need an out and out goal scorer to just get you goals.

00:45:36 100%, I totally agree, and that's what I watched last year, and that's what I'm based on a

00:45:39 minute ago, that's what I've seen from watching on, I'm not here live and it's maybe different,

00:45:44 but watching Jamie running in channels, not for me, watching from afar, but hoping he's

00:45:49 that different, he's that presence, he's been there, he's done it, he gets respect, because

00:45:53 I remember playing against him myself, and as far as the Alliance defenders, they don't

00:45:57 like playing against him, and that's for sure, and I've seen him, he went to press one time,

00:46:01 it was the first half, and I'm sitting on the far side, and he got on to his teammates,

00:46:04 get up with me, if I'm going, if you see me running, get up behind my back, so I liked

00:46:08 that about him to end, if there's any wee niggles, any wee fighting on, he's going to

00:46:11 back you up, so he'll add that from experience to his team, and hopefully it'll go and kick on.

00:46:15 And from your point of view, as you were saying, you're talking about your

00:46:18 repowerment, you're still playing away, and you're up challenging two,

00:46:21 wee bit of honours, two fees?

00:46:22 No, we're doing well just now, obviously the last two games we've actually lost,

00:46:25 two big games, which has made it hard for us, we've got nine games to go,

00:46:29 all because we're at AstroTurf, which we're always on, but our team's had maybe 15 games,

00:46:34 so if they win they can go four clear, which is still right saying they need to win them, so

00:46:38 this game's in hand, but obviously they're playing at Grasse Park, and they've got to play

00:46:41 Saturday Wednesday, so junior, you know, it's like people's working and stuff, so

00:46:45 I decided to take a step back, because I'm doing coaching now, so my missus,

00:46:48 once I had my second kid, she's like, get close at the end, why he's kind of

00:46:51 dropped in the leagues, but I really enjoy it to be honest, and obviously

00:46:53 Paul Cummins, who comes to a lot of derby runs as well, he's a big bankie,

00:46:57 so he always said, hopefully you go and derm it, I'll buy you a beer, I'm still waiting on that.

00:47:01 I'll derm it, 100%, I know Paul was down at the Kop Finale a couple of years ago,

00:47:05 we actually picked him up at the airport, so I know Paul well, and you're right, he's a big

00:47:10 Clydebank man, as you say, just keep things ticking over, and always follow the results

00:47:14 for yourselves, and as you say, the two big defeats, yes, but you're still enjoying your football.

00:47:19 Absolutely, that's the main thing for me now, obviously I was at Abroath a year previously,

00:47:23 we nearly got a premiership, we got beat last day of season against Kilmarnock, when

00:47:27 I think they assigned Kyle Lafferty in January, and he won him the league basically,

00:47:31 we thought we were going to win it, we were only part time team in the league,

00:47:34 so it was like a big hang on Scottish football, I don't know if he's not fair far, but we nearly

00:47:38 won it and got beat last game of the season, so obviously after that I was a wee bit disappointed,

00:47:42 I just thought, you know what, I win the day, and I spoke to the missus, had another kid,

00:47:46 she's like, no, you're coming, she kind of took it in my hands, she's like, you've been moving close,

00:47:50 I got a good deal, decent dough at Clydebank, I really enjoy it, so,

00:47:54 no I'm enjoying it, and hopefully we can get promoted, but it's a long way to go.

00:47:57 You mentioned AstroTurf, you know, that's a big talking point here,

00:48:02 probably keeping the club back, keeping that team back slightly, what's your take on it,

00:48:07 because when you came here, that was just the start of things, the new stand,

00:48:12 and we were just coming back to the branding mill at the time, and at that stage it was the thing.

00:48:17 Probably a billiard table.

00:48:18 Aye, what are you making of it? You played on it?

00:48:21 You can't beat, a good grass park is the best, but there's pros and cons, see like tonight,

00:48:28 it's a bit wet out here, the surface moves well, so it's steady when they pass and move the ball,

00:48:32 because it's a slick surface, it's fast paced, see if you go to a grass drive

00:48:36 pitch and it's bobbly, I don't think that suits the other team to be honest with you,

00:48:39 but then as your cons is, you get injuries on it and stuff, there's a lot of injuries,

00:48:44 but I always think a grass park you can't beat if it's good, which in this league,

00:48:48 when I was here, because it's a summer league, you always get good parks, you know what I mean,

00:48:52 sometimes it's dry, and you always want that wee sit to it, but no, you want a grass park to be

00:48:57 honest, there's a lot of injuries on AstroTurf, when it can be it, and I'm actually off training.

00:49:02 Yeah, there's a few Scotsmen here as well, do you know them, Paul McMillan obviously,

00:49:07 and Danny Mullen as well, you know those guys?

00:49:11 I know of them, yeah, obviously I think Paul's father, if I'm not wrong, was Jerry Dock,

00:49:16 who's my physio at Dundee, and obviously at Dundee, that's where my career went down the

00:49:20 hill, because I ended up injured, came here, and I wasn't too bad here, but my groin from there

00:49:25 went down the hill, but that's football, and I know Danny, Danny was a young boy at Aberdeen

00:49:29 when I was there, I can't forget you, he's a wee few years younger than me, so I know of him,

00:49:32 and obviously Ben's still here.

00:49:34 There's always that connection, the Scots connection, even going way back, you know what I mean?

00:49:39 Yeah, it's kind of a good idea, his location is a local, for me, my local team is Greenock

00:49:44 Morton, and Stuart, I used to go to a Morton game when I was young, so I love Stuart, he was a

00:49:48 commanding centre-half, so having big Peter Wilson was my favourite Morton player, so not much,

00:49:52 and obviously I scored the win and goal I think in the FA Cup, is that right?

00:49:55 I thought you scored a header, an equaliser, yeah, that's right.

00:49:57 That's good knowledge, yeah.

00:49:58 I did do my homework for a game in Sydney a few years ago, not just there, a few years ago.

00:50:04 Just for the podcast, Niggie?

00:50:05 Yes, yes, that's how much it means to me to go on the podcast.

00:50:08 Well, talk us a wee bit about your time when you were here, Niggie, because obviously it wasn't

00:50:16 like it is now, everybody, it's just the expectation levels are through the roof now,

00:50:20 it was, obviously Kenny Sheeds was a real character as well, you got on well with Kenny,

00:50:25 and it probably wasn't Kenny's fault for the way things went on in the pitch and stuff like that,

00:50:31 and the fact that he had to sign a lot of players because there wasn't that sort of

00:50:35 long-term vision at the time, wasn't it, Nick?

00:50:36 Yeah, that was the thinking.

00:50:38 But now there is, but talk us a wee bit about that time, because it was a good time personally

00:50:43 for you, wasn't it?

00:50:44 Aye, obviously I just touched on it a minute ago, when I was at Dundee I was injured a lot,

00:50:48 so it kind of got to the stage where Ancestor Field, Barnet and stuff,

00:50:51 wanted me in England League 2, and I kind of watched, I said to my agent,

00:50:56 watch videos for me to see what we were playing, they went a lot of long ball,

00:51:00 and I said to myself, if I'm going to England I know there's a lot of big boys here,

00:51:03 I'm not going to win second balls, you better put me on the bench, and I've always said that,

00:51:06 any manager who wants to kick the ball in my head, I'm better, that's not my game,

00:51:09 I'm good at getting on the ball and I'll keep the ball all day, I don't really lose the ball,

00:51:13 that's what I like to think, so when I came here, before I came I spoke to my agent, I said,

00:51:16 listen, I need somebody to play football, and he's like, listen, I know Kenny Shields,

00:51:20 Fibonacci, I thought, let's speak to Kenny, let me go over to pre-season and try,

00:51:25 if it's decent I'll sign, if not I'll leave and I'll find somewhere else that suits me,

00:51:29 so I came over and I really, really enjoyed it, and obviously I thought I did well for the club,

00:51:33 sometimes there was a few injuries, before the cup final against Cope I had a hernia which I

00:51:38 missed 14 games, but I loved it here, but as you said, with Kenny it's not as good a club as it was,

00:51:43 back then it was not as good as it is now I don't think, because back then Kenny was signing

00:51:48 players for their length, basically they made a job for six months, whereas I always said,

00:51:52 me and Ger, we were always focused on vision, but as now, actually I mean players, sometimes people

00:51:57 are signing, like you, to videos, they're not going to sign any bad bits, and I think we probably

00:52:01 signed some players from that which didn't go well, obviously sometimes training wasn't great

00:52:06 to be honest, and I lost the plot a wee bit sometimes because I wasn't good standards.

00:52:09 A lot of people thought it was mercenaries coming over just for a pay day, because it was,

00:52:15 Kenny's hands were tied in terms of, he just had to get people on quick.

00:52:19 Of course that's what it is, I mean maybe back then I don't know what money people was on and

00:52:24 what his budget was, but he made it in players so he thought he had to go and do that, you know

00:52:28 what I mean, whereas for a player playing in that scenario, when people come in and I don't think

00:52:31 they were good enough, I would let them know, I'm training and stuff, I'm not here to just pick up

00:52:35 a wage, I'm here to do well for the city, and obviously especially when you, long as you stay

00:52:39 here and you meet people and you live in a city and people come and talk to you, you've got to

00:52:43 even do better for them, which for me at the time, we didn't do, to be honest, especially towards

00:52:49 the end of my tenure. Obviously you just talking with Gerard Norther, you're a big mupper with Gerard,

00:52:54 you're a big mupper, but still quite a few of the squad and you keep in touch?

00:52:58 Yeah, obviously I always like to think I'm a good team mate, everywhere I've been I think,

00:53:03 I always speak in contact, I still in contact with the boys from 10 years ago as well,

00:53:07 I've always mean Gerard got on really well and he's always kept in touch as I've been away,

00:53:11 every month or so, a few texts back and forth and he was brilliant, especially at the end as I said,

00:53:17 he was being a proper captain about this place because it wasn't, it was a wee bit of poison to

00:53:22 be honest, fans maybe wanted Kenny to go and stuff, Kenny didn't know what he was doing,

00:53:26 and the weekend I tried to keep the place running as best as we can to make sure the

00:53:30 club stayed division and stuff and try and win games for the fans who were coming, but we always

00:53:34 knew like, for Derek to kick on, obviously there was a wee kind of revamp, which I'm happy to see now at Scott.

00:53:40 That's just what they say, even though them bad times was going on, you could see the sort of

00:53:45 potential of the club and it was there and just unfortunately from your time, it just

00:53:50 doesn't happen then but you could always see the potential.

00:53:53 Absolutely, it's spot on obviously, when you come to a club and you don't know it and you're starting afresh,

00:53:58 you don't really know, but my first few months walking about the city myself, you speak to people,

00:54:03 you're getting stopped every five minutes and I was like myself, you realise like this is a big club,

00:54:08 looking back to here from obviously it was at McGinn Park we were playing at the first season,

00:54:12 looking back to here at Brandywell when it was such a buzz and obviously we'd all let the fans down,

00:54:16 Hings Afford Park now obviously affected that, but obviously I could always say when I was here

00:54:20 I tried my best and obviously I feel as if I did decent enough for the club.

00:54:25 And playing in Europe too was a big thing, I know you were at Aberdeen, you were in Europe weren't you?

00:54:29 Yeah, but coming here I know the Michelin game sort of sticks with us, probably why do you want

00:54:35 to forget does it? But it was still nice to be playing in Europe in those days?

00:54:40 Absolutely, playing in Europe is one of your pinnacle in your career, you know what I mean?

00:54:43 I was at Aberdeen, albeit I was a young boy then, so I was on the bench, I'd come against Real

00:54:49 Solskjaer, I'd come off the bench first leg, second leg and all that stuff, which is very nice, but

00:54:53 when you're not starting the games, I was part of that, but you still don't feel like I've properly

00:54:58 done my bit, so then we obviously played the Michelin stuff, it was good to start games,

00:55:02 but obviously we got a bit of doing, and I've looked at the players and I say to all my mates now,

00:55:07 this is where they've been wanting to go, look at their careers, I'm thinking, alright we didn't go

00:55:10 as bad. That was a young side too, remember? Considering how young we were, you know what I mean?

00:55:16 To go and play there, and there's actually, we conceded right away a set piece I think for

00:55:19 wide free kick away from home. Slago wasn't it?

00:55:23 No, no, it definitely wasn't.

00:55:24 Away from home first, you come across the front, the boy flicked in, I could be wrong here,

00:55:29 then after that we had a few chances, I think I played Curtis and a few times in between

00:55:33 full back and centre half, I think I made a good three or four passes, so Curtis if you're listening,

00:55:37 I got you a move after that, and I think a few Swedish teams wanted you after that.

00:55:43 That's right, that's right.

00:55:43 With bad passes.

00:55:44 My grandfather was in.

00:55:46 And you've still not paid me a...

00:55:47 Foster sons, wasn't it?

00:55:48 You've not even bought me a fiver for a pint or whatever, so I'll hold you to that boy.

00:55:51 That man has it too, like I say.

00:55:53 That man has it now with a mind picture running.

00:55:55 Wombled him, eh?

00:55:56 Exactly, I remember they wanted him and obviously it kind of got knocked back of it,

00:55:59 but then he went to Portsmouth, so I'll hold him to a pint for sure.

00:56:02 Wee Josh was on that team too, Josh Daniels.

00:56:05 We were both, the both of them were playing a wheel team, I know.

00:56:07 Some talent, like in terms of you being young.

00:56:09 Yeah, obviously been stuffed there actually, I just watched young Josh and Rory play against

00:56:14 Falcook on BBC Alba, they were playing in the, I don't know what you call them in Scotland,

00:56:19 Caramell Waver Cup, it keeps getting changed, but I watched them, it was that semi-final,

00:56:23 I went to Falcook who are flying in Scotland, so I thought Falcook would have enough to

00:56:27 take care of them, but no, they did really well, I think Josh was winged back then, Rory

00:56:30 played in Mirley Park and got on the ball and looked after it well.

00:56:32 But they are young boys when I was here who you could tell had potential and went on and

00:56:37 did well, which is good because you want to see good guys do well in football to be honest.

00:56:40 Obviously a lot's changed, you know, after Feeding Through, since you've got the two

00:56:46 young girls now as well too, and then how's fatherhood and things like that been like,

00:56:51 and you know, you still want to play the football, you still want to go out for your pints I'm

00:56:54 sure, but you're a family man.

00:56:56 When I left here, the reason I left, I was a bit injured before the season I left, it

00:57:03 was a couple of months ago, I think two months, but my house collapsed down in Scotland, and

00:57:06 obviously a lot of people probably know this, I had a bus pipe, so all I had was beams,

00:57:12 my roof, my walls collapsed and everything, so I had to go back, start a new house, and

00:57:16 obviously after a few weeks of being back, they said to me "I'm pregnant", so that

00:57:21 kind of ruled coming back to the city out.

00:57:23 It only grew up when Dek got the job, so just before Dek left to go to Baymans, I was in

00:57:28 talks about his sign actually to come back, and he misses it at the last minute, changed

00:57:32 their mind.

00:57:33 So it's weird how football works, but obviously after the fact, life's really good, I've

00:57:37 got two kids now, I've got my own coaching, I'm doing really well with that, and I'm

00:57:41 still playing, so I can't really complain, life's good for me.

00:57:45 The way you still got that draw to Derry though, and if you're serious, potentially playing

00:57:50 yourself loving here again, it would be fantastic.

00:57:53 No, absolutely, I love the place, and I was only here for two years, some people think

00:57:57 it's crazy, but actually I call it a second home, and obviously I get in the taxi, and

00:58:01 I text my phone, and after I got off the airport, I text my missus, and I was in a taxi, and

00:58:06 I was like "I'm emotional", and she's like "why?"

00:58:08 I was like "I don't know, I feel amazing to be back, it's the first time since I

00:58:11 left, so it's going to be emotional, but obviously I love the place, everybody looked

00:58:15 after me here, and obviously I got on well, I'm one of the guys I think I'd like to

00:58:19 think people say he's a nice guy and gets on with people, so no, hopefully my missus

00:58:22 will come round to Vananna Tyre and I'll manage to love here one day, and maybe bring

00:58:26 coaching to Derry.

00:58:28 Well on that note, we'll just say we'll let you go and get your cup of tea now.

00:58:32 Exactly, three cups of tea and then get your bed early.

00:58:35 Exactly, is your missus listening?

00:58:36 I hope she is.

00:58:37 For the last thing, thank you very much.

00:58:40 Cheers.

00:58:41 [Music]

00:58:45 Well there we are, and it also alludes that I did buy him a pint, you on the other hand

00:58:51 bought nothing, as usual, you could even have brought him a packet of Christmas on or a

00:58:54 burger at half time, but nothing.

00:58:56 We kept him waiting for a while.

00:58:57 We did, we did, well you certainly did, I came out and went "seriously, stop asking

00:59:00 another question of Kevin Dornie".

00:59:02 He says he was hungover by the time we did it, it's not a sales.

00:59:05 100%, he was 100%, he was sober and hungover by the time you'd finished with Kevin Dornie,

00:59:10 but no, he was top form.

00:59:12 Just tells you, we talked about how much Derry, he loves it.

00:59:17 I mean really, last year we were saying this on the rails about Derry people really love

00:59:21 Derry.

00:59:22 We like returning to Gaelow, the Scotsman absolutely loves Derry.

00:59:25 He really does, and he was at a time, as we were chatting about, it wasn't an easy time

00:59:29 for the club, obviously they won the league cup, but he's built a lot of good relationships

00:59:36 here as well too, and he's trying to get the missus over.

00:59:38 Exactly.

00:59:39 You know, but obviously it was great to chat to him again, and he watches them steady as

00:59:45 well as I said there, so he's got big hopes for Derry this year as well too.

00:59:49 No, that's, like it is a case where, even talking about when he got here, getting the

00:59:54 taxi in, he was just feeling a bit emotional, and speaking to his wife and all, and saying

00:59:57 that there and all.

00:59:58 We always lightly laugh and joke about it, but players they got, just sort of tells you,

01:00:04 the Scottish connection with Derry has been very good down the years, they haven't been

01:00:07 that many where you think, "Nah, he hasn't put it in."

01:00:10 They've all come over and given their all, like he's just joined that brigade I suppose.

01:00:15 I guess so, hopefully those come back and advances the missus, they maybe practically

01:00:19 made in City here.

01:00:20 But I suppose we'll finish off and chat about the Sligo game, because obviously Mr Max

01:00:28 Malla's back, it was a big shock wasn't it?

01:00:31 Well, unbelievable signing for Sligo, to be fair, their top end in the pitch and the bottom

01:00:36 end in the pitch is decent again, no disrespect to them, but Ed McGinty's a top signing getting

01:00:41 him back, and obviously getting Max Madda back, that's a great coup, John Russell getting

01:00:45 that.

01:00:46 I had watched him a couple of weeks ago against Van Herpst in a pre-season friendly, and first

01:00:50 20 minutes they started like a house out there, and were superb.

01:00:53 Now, you can imagine the volleyball fade pitch was absolutely like a builder table nut, but

01:00:59 they were brilliant the first 20 minutes, they just couldn't get a goal, and then you

01:01:03 sort of add Max Madda nowadays, I think if they create chances he'll get eagle, we know

01:01:08 he'll get the goals.

01:01:09 So look, they're going to be a lot tougher than people may have thought, but no disrespect,

01:01:16 if I'm very higgins, I just need to say, just in training this week and then at the pre-match,

01:01:23 we played down here twice last year, and actually we came down here twice last year, we didn't

01:01:29 play exactly.

01:01:30 Aye, because that was two tough nights, and you wonder, because that was the first, that

01:01:35 was where he, that was his first game in charge for the A, wasn't it?

01:01:40 So first one down there, but it's a tough place to go, I mean people are writing him

01:01:45 off as well too, and they've got one of the smaller squads, but you mentioned those games

01:01:49 at Hartman as well too, these guys are quality players, and you do have to be on it, as Pat

01:01:56 Hoodman was saying afterwards too, you have to be prepared to stand up and battle here

01:02:00 when you're down at the Sugarhorns.

01:02:02 That's the biggie, that's what happened the two times last year, and there's also a chance,

01:02:08 similar to last year, playing on the Saturday night, Sean McRovers, Pat's, they're all

01:02:13 playing the night before, everybody else is playing the Friday night, you have Shelbourne

01:02:16 playing Rovers, could be a wee bit tisty, you might have Rovers okay on four points,

01:02:21 they might be on one point, there's so many ifs and buts, but you have to work with yourself

01:02:28 at the end of the day, and because you're playing 24 hours later, you're going to know

01:02:31 what's happened the night before, so this is what happened last year, they had a chance

01:02:35 last year to open up a seven point gap, and instead they lost to Sligo, and it was still

01:02:39 four, so it's the same wee things.

01:02:40 I don't know, they fresh my head too, don't they?

01:02:42 Exactly, that's exactly it, well if it's not I've just done that, but I know I don't care.

01:02:47 Well, you've just got to keep it going, and then you never know what's going to happen

01:02:51 here, because they've got a couple of tough games coming up, Pat's game, and then the

01:02:55 Rovers game, the Friday and the Monday, so you want to go on there, we waste six points

01:03:00 on the board, as Fáil Mhudóirda kept telling them, they were top of the league, so he doesn't

01:03:06 want anything to change, but in terms of predictions, what would you, because we were both, I wasn't

01:03:14 too far out in terms of, you said three didn't you?

01:03:17 I did say three, yeah.

01:03:18 I said three-one, didn't I?

01:03:20 No, you said one chance answer, you said that, I'm not even biting you, but I did.

01:03:24 No, I think this week's going to be equally as tough, I think Sligo getting Mata in, getting

01:03:30 that, they'll be gutted that they didn't make those, because then the Rebs are 94th

01:03:34 man equaliser, so they'll be a bit gutted they didn't get that result down there, so

01:03:38 they're going to come, pack showgrounds first game this season as far as they're concerned,

01:03:42 it's going to be a tight one, we're no two ways about it, I can see, I'm going to say

01:03:48 probably two-one, Derry, they snatch it, but it could be a Ronan Boyce special, the last

01:03:54 time they won was a last minute wonder goal, you know, he sort of got, I think it's going

01:03:58 to be a wee bit tight, I think it's going to be another tight one, but I think Derry

01:04:02 might nick it two-one.

01:04:03 I would agree with you, just a one goal difference, one-null, there's never too many goals down

01:04:08 there, so I would say one-null, I'm going to give it to the Hoobinator again, like the

01:04:12 way he was explaining, I didn't know that, did you know the reason?

01:04:16 No, I didn't know.

01:04:17 I was going to ask him, but I didn't want to ask him in front of everybody.

01:04:19 No, sorry, what are you doing?

01:04:21 What's the crack of the hand, the fizz?

01:04:23 Well, I think, to be fair, we're all a bit stupid when you think it, because I remember

01:04:27 when Dundalk tweeted that, they would sort of put the Hoobinator, and that's when you

01:04:31 go, oh right, that now makes complete sense.

01:04:34 You're more of a 70s sort of, I mean, I was, what?

01:04:42 So hopefully we see that celebration a few more times.

01:04:44 Exactly.

01:04:45 Well, we'll wrap it up with that, folks, hope you enjoyed this week's episode, and

01:04:50 we're always going to enjoy it when Derry are winning, I suppose, I mean, we've plenty

01:04:54 to talk about.

01:04:54 We've plenty to talk about.

01:04:55 No real annoying, anybody.

01:04:56 No depression, and we're already rocking along.

01:04:59 So next week, if you want to give a wee exclusive here, what we're going to have next week.

01:05:05 Next week, we've, Michael, the heart of the Derry City goalkeeping coach has now come

01:05:10 in as a full-time to the club.

01:05:13 He's running the academy goalkeeping coaches, and obviously the first team affairs, so we

01:05:18 have a sit-down with you, Michael, and a lot of positive, that's why we keep talking about

01:05:22 things behind the scenes going on that maybe not everybody knows about, but Michael's

01:05:26 just another addition to the sort of full-time aspect of the club that they're trying to

01:05:29 do.

01:05:30 So that's an interesting interview with Michael.

01:05:32 Excellent, looking forward to that.

01:05:33 Cheers, folks.

01:05:34 As I said, get in touch whatever way you can.

01:05:37 If you have anything that you want us to put to the club, or put to any of the players,

01:05:42 or the manager, or whoever the guests we have on to, make sure you get in touch just the

01:05:46 usual ways.

01:05:47 Cheers, folks.

01:05:48 See you next week.

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