HE LET HIMSELF DOWN BRADLEY
THE Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen
Bradley admits the failure to fulfil his playing potential is driving him to excell as a manager.
Bradley retired at 27 from playing but has since amassed over 300 games in management, winning three league titles on the trot, as well as the FAI Cup.
He said: “I messed up my career when I was young.
“I didn’t work hard enough. I didn’t see the small detail.
“I don’t want to be like that as a manager.
“I have more focus and more desire, and things that happen in your life – losing my mam, my son Josh (being ill) – shapes that as well.
“Stuff like that really focuses you in terms of how you see life and how you see the game.”
And it means no one at Shamrock Rovers can ever rest easily, not on the coaching or playing staff.
“Our drive comes from everyday habits and the culture that we have tried to instill into the players over the years.
“We know that as soon as we take our eye off the ball and become sloppy in our detail that we will get punished.
“So we are sticklers for small details. That has become our culture. The players don’t go away from that and if they do then this is not the place for them.”
He paints a scenario to explain their thoroughness.
“So say Pico (Roberto Lopes) saw Jack (Byrne) walking in training, he’d correct him on that.
“And if Jack saw Pico walking or Graham (Burke) walking then there would be an argument.
“And I think that is healthy. That there is a healthy respect for each other.
“The day we accept people not working hard is the day we are in trouble. You have to be relentless and want more all the time.”