Call to return home not easy one for O’Keeffe
CONOR O’Keeffe has taken plenty of trips to the airport over the past four years.
But today there will be no return flight.
The former Southern United captain is heading home to Ireland.
One of five Irishmen to sign with the club four years ago under former coach Paul O’Reilly, he has been key both as a player and in coaching in the club’s academy.
He knows it will be emotional. The decision to leave was not an easy one.
But he felt it was time to go. The uncertainty Covid19 has created around both football and being so far from family had been significant in that.
At the height of lockdown, he found himself wishing he was closer to home for the first time.
Seeing family again was what he was looking forward to most.
He will get to do plenty of that initially.
On arrival, O’Keeffe will compete a 14day selfisolation at his parents’ house in Mullingar — a small town an hour out of Dublin.
He will look to link with a team in the League of Ireland, which restarts on July 31.
Proving himself somewhere new is a challenge he is looking forward to.
He also hopes to fit in some coaching.
But there will be plenty to reflect on over the next few weeks too.
‘‘It’s been the best experience of my life by an absolute country mile,’’ the 26yearold said.
‘‘I’ve enjoyed it all.
‘‘There’s been lots of highs, lots of lows, lots of good experiences.
‘‘I learned things I didn’t realise I needed to learn, grew up here.
‘‘It’s had such an impact on my life and I’ll never forget it.
‘‘I’ve met loads of good people, coached and played football and lived an amazing lifestyle.’’
O’Keeffe was instrumental in building Southern into a competitive unit over the past four years.
Since his arrival in 2016, he missed just two games in making 68 appearances for the club.
He became captain in his second season and proved ever reliable, predominantly playing at right back.
He was ‘‘quite content’’ with the progress the club had made, both in its results and its academy setup.
His one disappointment was not to have cracked the top four.
He felt he had grown as both a player and a person since arriving.
A return to playing in Ireland would be ‘‘shock to the system’’ though.
Notably, he expected the pace of the game to be faster, being played in winter and at cooler temperatures.
O’Keeffe is not the only one leaving.
Key striker and fellow Irishman Garbhan Coughlan has shifted north to Christchurch to live with his partner.
❛ It’s been the best experience of my life by an absolute country
mile
LONDON: Chelsea might have produced an underwhelming performance in beating Norwich City 10 yesterday but manager Frank Lampard said all that mattered was taking the three points on offer.
The victory at Stamford Bridge over alreadyrelegated opposition consolidated Chelsea's third place in the English Premier League as it bids for a topfour finish and Champions League football again next season.
‘‘The game was OK but results are critical. We could have won by more. We could have been a bit better with our quality,’’ Lampard said after forward Olivier Giroud’s goal on the stroke of halftime took it four points clear of
Leicester City and Manchester
United.
‘‘It was OK, professional would be a word. I want more but that can wait. I think that where we are at the moment as a team and the position we are in, three points was everything tonight.’’
Lampard said there was plenty of room for improvement.
‘‘I believe in the group having more quality than we showed in those early stages. We need to move the ball quicker, not take too many touches and allow the opposition to be compact. We have to be more mobile in the way we play our rotations. We’ve done it before this season but if we want to really move up, longerterm, then it can be better.
‘‘But I don’t want to be too critical after three points at this stage [of the season].’’
Chelsea had lost 30 away at Sheffield United on Sunday.
Yet he stressed there was no guarantee of a topfour finish, with two tough games to complete its league campaign — away at champion Liverpool next Thursday and then home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on July 26. — Reuters