BRADLEY’S ON POINT FOR HOOPS
Finn tips Rovers boss for the top
AS Shamrock Rovers said ‘Ciao’ to Inter Milan-bound teenager Kevin Zefi, the club rolled a seasoned hand, Ronan Finn, to mark SSE Airtricity’s renewal of their League of Ireland sponsorship.
Surefoot on and off the pitch, at 33, Finn is more than twice the age of 15-year-old Zefi, yet his zest for the league remains undimmed even with a sackful of medals and feats.
As captain, Finn played every league game for the champions on their title march last season and ahead of his 17th season on the front-line still feels ‘there is a lot more to come’.
While helping out the Hoops U15s alongside Joey O’Brien, Finn hinted at going down the ‘business side of things’ rather than coaching when he finally hangs up his boots.
As it stands, Rovers have advertised for a CEO, a role he’d be tailor-made for down the road.
Articulate and affable, Finn has been a reassuring presence under Stephen Bradley’s Rovers rebuild, and arguably the key signing to the grand design of the head coach, whom he clearly admires.
‘I’ve played under a wealth of really good managers and genuinely the manager’s tactical knowledge is frightening for someone so young.
‘He’s very level-headed and works extremely hard. I would coach in the evenings one night a week, you’d go up to Roadstone and his car is still in the training ground from earlier that day.’
‘The amount of work he puts in is a testament to the man.
‘There are managers out there that understand football and would have a great knowledge but being able to portray it and tell players so they can understand is tough.’
After playing under Michael O’Neill and Stephen Kenny, who graduated from the League of Ireland to become international managers, could Bradley follow such a path?
‘He can go as far as he wants in the game,’ predicted Finn.
Under Bradley, Rovers have won the FAI Cup (2019), the League (2020), and also been pipped for an elusive double, while playing a free-flowing style on the back of a resourceful 3-4-3 formation.
‘It’s taken us three or four transfer windows to get where we want. He’s got us playing a style of football that’s very attractive but he’s also not afraid to hammer us. He’s got the utmost respect from all of the players in the group and he’s earned that.
‘The success we’ve had in the last few years is down to him and what he preached to me on day one, “This is where we want to get to and how we want to get there”, we’ve achieved that.
‘He’ll be the first to tell you that in a new season, you need to pick up from where you left off.’
Might clubs across the Irish Sea start taking notice of Bradley?
‘He’s in a great football club but that’s the way football is. Sometimes you’re a victim of your own success but I know I don’t want to see him going anywhere at the minute, put it that way,’ said Finn.
Looking ahead, Finn can’t ignore the challenge, and potential rewards, which Rovers will play for in European competition as the 100th Irish champions.
‘For everyone in the club, the league title of 2020 was huge. It was earmarked as a title we really needed to win because of the Champions League, and Europa League I and II (Europa Conference). You’ve got a chance of an extra competition that wasn’t around last season.
‘It will be difficult to get into Europa League II but there’s an opportunity to play more games. That creates more revenue and positivity around the league. When we played AC Milan, everyone was tuning in. ‘European football drives the interest and reaching the Europa League gives you a better chance of that.’
Good things are happening for Rovers right now and the departure of teenager Zefi to Serie A giants Inter Milan reflects the under-age props being put in place.
The winger, who turns 16 next month, follows Liam Brady and Robbie Keane in signing for the Nerazzurri. The Irish U15 international has relatives in Milan and his Albanian-born parents will move over there.
‘Kevin has unbelievable technical ability but football is more than that and you need to have the appetite, attitude and hunger to work hard,’ observed Finn.
‘He dipped his toe in with the first-team and he wasn’t afraid. We had to treat him as a man, we couldn’t be dancing around him. This is the environment he’s going to be in and if he wants to be a pro footballer he has to learn.’
‘Football is a very difficult industry and the competition at a powerhouse like Inter Milan will be very high.
‘But if Kevin backs himself and does the right things, like keeping his feet on the ground, hopefully we might have a future international.’
In the depths of a grim Covidstricken January, it’s not easy to be upbeat but the commitment of SSE Airtricity, coupled with Inter Milan interest in rising Irish starlets, gives grounds for optimism as Irish club football prepares to celebrate 100 years.
“He’s got us playing in a style that’s attractive”