Rebel Rover Honohan is hungry for success
THERE is no shortage of accents rattling around Kingswood these days. Amid the flat Dublin brogue, there is a flick of Galway, Derry, Kerry and Waterford, along with the central European inflections of Leon Pohls and Markus Poom.
Listen carefully, and you may pick up a distinctive Cork lilt, something that has been rarely heard at Shamrock Rovers over the years.
Josh Honohan, a strapping native of Carrigaline, is flying the Rebel flag amid the elite Hoops corps after signing from Cork City at the end of last season.
At 22, the final year UCC Commerce student is ready to learn from a unit of central defenders, Roberto (Pico) Lopes, Lee Grace, Dan Cleary and Seán Hoare, who have buttressed the four-in-a-row triumphs.
‘In this league, and I’m not just saying it because I’m here, Pico, Lee, Dan and Seán are four unbelievable defenders,’ said Honohan.
‘They’ve won the league the last four years in a row. They have great experience and they will pass that on to me.
‘Learning off them is really important, even it’s just small things that I think I can maybe add to my game.’
‘I just want to play. I’m one of those players who just loves to play. I played in back three for good bit of last year, played in back four. I don’t have a preference.’
Honohan was a stand-out player in a City team that struggled in 2023 and Stephen Bradley was impressed to the extent that he moved quickly at the end of the season.
When contact was made, Honohan didn’t hesitate before making makinge up his mind.
‘Once I knew Shamrock Rovers were interested, I knew I wanted to be here. I knew this was the club for me. They’ve won four in a row. Their reputation for developing players and making players better really appealed to me.
‘All my family and myself were on same page. I feel this is the next step. Hopefully, I can improve here, win the league, and more leagues in the future.
‘After a getting taste of the Premier last year with Cork, I definitely wanted to stay in it.’
Behind the banter at Kingswood, there is a serious side. This is a squad of serial winners. For them, second is nowhere and it is Bradley who sets the tone.
‘You sense everyone is ready to go again,’ said Honohan.
‘That’s why you play football. You want to be competitive, win games, and win trophies. We all have same objective. The lads want to win their fifth one. I want to win my first one.’
Honohan dipped his toe into the senior ranks with Cork City during 2020 before featuring more regularly in 2021 where his performances caught the eye of Jim Crawford, the Republic of Ireland Under 21 manager.
‘I was with the U21 squad that went to Montenegro, (October 2021). The panel got extended with League of Ireland players so for a player like me, who wasn’t on the scene at that moment, it was a good thing to go up and experience it.
‘It was different. You’re with the best Irish players of your age. Evan (Ferguson) was there.’
Jake (O’Brien) was there too. There were a couple I knew. It was a good experience.’
The season ahead should offer more of those ‘experiences’ as Bradley rarely signs a player he doesn’t intend to use.
Honohan’s ambitions with the Hoops are firmly aligned with how he plays, not how he sounds.
‘Hopefully, I never pick it (the Dublin accent) up. I’m happy with my Cork accent,’ he said.
ROBERTO Lopes and his fellow caped crusaders of Cape Verde yesterday marched into the quarter-finals of AFCON and are hot on the heels of the Republic of Ireland in the world rankings. A late penalty gave the Atlantic islanders a 1-0 win over Mauritania (left) and ensured a last eight meeting on Saturday against either Morocco or South Africa who play tonight. With the Shamrock Rovers skipper a rock in defence, Cape Verde have won three and drawn one of their four games at AFCON to jump from 73rd to 63rd in FIFA rankings — just three spots below Ireland.