Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MISSING BROWN’S BOYS..
Rovers boss calm on Crewe trip despite losing influential players
SUPERSUB
Zane Brown came off the bench to score a fine goal for Tandragee
TANDRAGEE ROVERS’ new manager Simon Brown will approach tonight’s game at Crewe United in a fairly relaxed state of mind.
The former Dollingstown reserve team boss, who along with his assistant Chris Loney and goalkeeping coach Gavin O’neill, moved from Planters Park to take up the baton from Patsy Rowntree and Gary Magee, has a longterm plan in place for the Madden Road club.
And that means, f or the moment, competing with the top teams in Intermediate A on a level playing field is a while away yet.
“I would describe tonight’s game as a freebie as we’re not expected to beat teams such as the
Crewe Uniteds of this league, so there is no point getting too stressed about where we are at the moment,” said Brown.
“We’ve come to this club with a plan to first and foremost stabilise our position in the division and then build for the future.
“Tandragee Rovers are a great club and are well respected and well run, but over the past number of years a very good team has aged together and this has been reflected in their recent league positions.
“It is going to take time to rebuild and get us back to those levels and that’s the challenge that I came here for,” added Brown.
“I had a couple of opportunities to move from Dollingstown last
BALL PLAYERS Tandragee’s Brian Topley and Steven Monaghan battle for possession year but felt the timing wasn’t right as I was enjoying helping to push young lads on to first team football.
“I also liked working with and learned a lot from Scobie Uprichard so it was a hard decision to make to walk away from Planters Park.
“But this is the step up I wanted to make and while it brings with it more pressure and frustrations I’m well capable of handling them.”
Frustration rather than disappointment was to the fore for Brown at the weekend when Richhill
AFC knocked them out of the Bob Radcliffe Cup at the first time of asking at their
Madden Road home – a 4-1 defeat that was com
pounded by the loss of three players from their starting 11. Midfielder Robert Magill was sent off in the 71st minute of the game while Aaron Kehoe and skipper Mark Bicker had to be withdrawn.
“To be fair we didn’t play anywhere near the level we’ve shown in our league games, we were especially poor off the ball, but Richhill are a very effective team with a direct style of play that works for them,” admitted Brown. “The frustrating thing was that the game was already out of our reach when we lost Robert Magill to a red card minutes after our captain Mark Bicker came off injured.
“Mark fell awkwardly and ended up in A&E that night where they confirmed he’s fractured a few ribs and it looks like he could be out for up to six weeks which is a blow.
“We also had to withdraw our right-back Aaron Kehoe in the first half as he felt unwell but hopefully he may have recovered for Tuesday night’s game.”
Full-back Kehoe is one of several new faces at Tandragee, the f o r mer War re n p o i n t Tow n youngster just the type of player that Brown hopes to attract to the club.
“We can’t compete with the top clubs in this division so we’re going down the route of encouraging young players who have not made the breakthrough at Irish League level to give Tandragee
Rovers a go,” explained Brown. “In Chris Loney I have a superb coach and young players will certainly benefit from his knowledge as will any goalkeeper who works with Gavin O’neill.
“I’ve inherited a great club from Patsy and it is our aim to take them forward in the right way.
“There is a very good Academy set-up here and over the next number of years the aim is to see players progress through the ages right up to the first team.
“That will take patience and resolve but we are more than happy to quietly go about the business of making that happen.”
With the transfer window in the Mid-ulster League open until Christmas, the Rovers boss still hopes to add to his squad, an aim
that will be helped when the rest of football is up and running.
“From Saturday’s team, goalkeeper Craig Robinson, former Ambassadors skipper David Clarke, Adam Harrison and Neill Allen have all come on board with me and I’ve a lad Sammy Wright who will be an asset when he has recovered fr om injur y,” sai d Brown
“But like a number of managers I still want to add to my squad but that probably won’t happen until the Irish League’s three divisions are back in action and players are freed up.
“But as I’ve already said, it’s not about the here and now, it’s about the long term future of Tandragee Rovers that I’m interested in developing, that is what I’m about.”