They finished 13^th in their debut LoI season (16) but apart from that, Athlone Town have never finished outside the top 6 in any league they have been in. Will that consistency carry over to the LoI this time around?

• So a second crack of the whip at the LOI. Congratulations on a fantastic season. How does it feel to be back in the big time?

Well I'm really delighted to be back I felt I should have done better last time around and seeing how tough Division 2 is becoming I'm glad to be escaping. My team has a few decent home grown players who I think deserve to be plying their trade in the LOI.

• Your team looked very impressive this season. Any big changes we should know about?

No huge changes - bought a new MC as this is a position I really needed to improve.

Next move will be a decent DL once my prize money comes through.

• 95 goals scored (your best ever) and only 20 conceded (again, your best ever), clearly you are enjoying life with the new Match Engine. So what are your thoughts on the big ME change?

Well thanks to the bug at the start of the season the team were scoring at will and had some crazy results. By the looks of it the admins seemed to have fixed that :( but maybe that's for the best seeing as we'll be really up against it in the coming season. Key change to the game for me would be the new tactics selector which allows me to play OML and MR at the same time.

• Some superb individual performances from your lads this season. Who was your personal player of the season?

It has to be Noah O'Gorman yet again. He was available for every game this season, no player to date has been so reliable for the Reivers and at 24 I'm certain he'll be the key to the squad for many more seasons.

• Your B team also romped home to win their D5 group. How much emphasis are you placing on youth?

Bo (named in memory of that add years ago for vaccinations with the nun shouting bo in to the deaf child ear - really I didn't dream it! and also for my house mate who says that when she doesn't know wtf I'm ranting about)
They younger guys really came in to their own this season and gave me a good chance to see how some potential stars can perform. While my focus was on this it also gave me the opportunity to build up some routine for some back ups to the 1st team.

This season will see a massive clear out of my B team as I've got a lot of guys rated around the 14/15 mark who will never make the cut for me and I expect the results to suffer as a result.

• Are any of the B team stars ready to make the step up to the big time yet?

Unfortunately not this season. We've been cursed with late bloomers who will make the breakthrough but just not right now.

The coaching staff at the Reivers though have their eyes on James Duffy to be the future number 1 GK for the team and he seems to be coming along very nicely for a late bloomer with a TI of 30 since day one.

Also been quietly building up routine with Dean Murphy who will be a definite star when he's decided to bloom.

Other players I expect to be future stars are:
Craig Brennan
Kian O'Hagan
Tadhg Connolly

• You were unlucky to be relegated last time out (finishing 13th ), are you better equipped for the LoI this time round?

Yes I think my squad is good enough to stay up this time around and should come 12th realistically (fingers crossed). I've gotten rid of many of the squad from that season and brought on quite a few younger players who I'm happy with and have played well. Although many have low ASI they have the skills where they're needed and importantly few players are injury prone which can be a killer to weaker squads.

• With the standard of the lower leagues improving all the time, how hard will it be for new sides to reach the LoI in coming seasons (or will it be virtually impossible)?

There always seems to be a dark horse side which shoots up the divisions and I can't see any change in this. It is a worrying sign however that so many teams don't make the grade after promotion with a 50% fail rate for newly promoted teams to Div 2 and in turn Div 2 sides usually fighting for the scraps at the end of the LOI table. I can't see any change in the gap between the standard of the LOI and Div 2 which has remained constant but Div 3 is definitely falling behind in my opinion.

• Does it worry you that last season’s D2.3 winner became the LoI whipping boy? Or is their manager just really bad? (Be very careful with this one..... lol)

(ok re worded after double checking who! :D )
Honestly not really - My guys have been there before and have had many close losses, your team were unlucky to have lost more then I did last time around where my guys scraped a draw or scored the odd extra goal. This happens, many games are 50:50 and hopefully luck will be on my side.

• On the subject of D2... Which is the toughest Div 2 group and why…?

Can't really say - I don't pay much attention to the other groups as my focus is on my current opposition but there does seem to be a few consistent teams in each group who on their day could well do a job on anyone in the LOI.


• Who would you most like to beat next season?

hm tough question - only one team who I've never beaten in the LOI and that's KILKENNY CITY FC but Le Sharks dumped me out of the cup on penalties so would be nice to take some revenge. Other than them we've a long history playing against ROMERO FC but they've been more successful and I'm a bitter person so yes I want to beat them too.

• Will you be splashing out during the NT sales?

Haven't seen any Irish players worth the 100m for a position I need.

• Season 19 in the LoI... your predictions please (and best of luck!!) :)

Predictions, well I think this season will have the WOLFHOUNDS winning the league...sorry couldn't keep a straight face typing that - I think it'll be between him and one of the Div 2 teams for the 12th spot. I can see Cavan improving but realistically maybe only placing one position higher. I do think this time around more Div 2 teams will stay up compared to the past few seasons.

LOI winner is difficult to say Pirate Ninja Dinosaurs United could well improve and I wouldn't rule them out neither would I rule out ELLAND ROVERS in a season which I think will have a big shake up of the LOI.

Best of luck to everyone and looking forward to playing ye!