Ellis keen to break the mould with Cork
THERE is absolutely no danger of John Caulfield getting carried away by the way Connor Ellis has taken to life with the Cork City first-team squad, but the Leesiders’ boss also shouldn’t worry that he will go the way of other promising young strikers who have shown potential at Turner’s Cross only to fall by the wayside.
The 19-year-old has already had to put up with not-so-subtle jibes about his decision to give up playing GAA to further his football career. Ellis lived in Birmingham with his English father and Irish mother until they returned to Bantry before he started secondary school.
‘I was playing for St Colum’s. I got a bit of stick from my mates for giving up my GAA days but if you want to make it, that’s what you have to do,’ he says. ‘I played GAA to keep me fit but I never really had the same passion as my mates.
‘It was tough in a sense as I’d already left them to play soccer in Cork, so leaving them in GAA as well, a few of them were saying “he thinks he’s too good for it”, but you’re always going to get that.’
With two goals in three games off the bench this season, Ellis has shown he is a more than capable understudy for the main man, Sean Maguire. Caulfield has had his fingers burned with up and coming attackers during his three years in charge — Chiedozie Ogbene decided to leave for Limerick in the winter while Rob Lehane and Danny Morrisey failed to properly make the breakthrough — so words of warning soften the praise for how Ellis has kicked on after his loan spell with First Division neighbours Cobh Ramblers.
‘He has a lot of talent and he’s a very good finisher,’ his boss explained. ‘He has the raw materials but we’ve had a lot of 19year-olds who have had an opportunity and didn’t take it.
‘Sometimes you need to be careful and he needs to keep his feet on the ground and work on the areas he’s not good at.
‘But let’s wait and see because I’ve had one or two in my time and they have drifted away.
‘Sometimes when you’re fresh and new, you get away with things and get a couple of goals. The key for him is to get stronger and better. But the attitude is the most important thing.’
Ellis set himself a modest target of five goals for the season and insists Cork have the strongest squad in the country having now spent time training up close with last season’s Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup winners.
‘I still have a long way to go but when you’re in training with the likes of Seanie Maguire every day and learning from him, it brings you on leaps and bounds,’ he added ahead of tonight’s clash with Shamrock Rovers.
‘The way I see it, we probably have the best squad in the country. I know Dundalk have had a good few years but I’d go as far as saying that. Training with the boys is great, the likes of Seanie, Greg Bolger and Alan Bennett who have been around the game for years and done everything really in Irish football, it’s a pleasure to play with them and learn from them.
‘When you’re a youth player coming through at one of the best clubs it nearly gives you more grit and determination. In one sense I had to bide my time a bit because if I was at a lesser team I might have got a few more opportunities last year but this is the club that I’ve seen myself wanting to be with for the last few years. I can only see myself getting better with these players and with the coaches too like [John] Caulfield, [John] Cotter. I’ve learned so much in a short space of time and sometimes you have to stop and take it all in.’
But Ellis knows Caulfield won’t tolerate him standing still.