Stephen Bradley has unfinished business with Europe and if I were him, I wouldn’t have been rushing to take the Lincoln City job either.
The Shamrock Rovers boss has decided to stay in Tallaght and Group stage European football will enhance his CV no end.
Don’t forget, Stephen Kenny ultimately got his break in international football because of what he did in Europe with Dundalk.
Clearly there are pros and cons to taking a job in England's lower leagues. There’s a pathway to bigger clubs down the line and football is a proper industry in England, unlike here.
Lincoln have a bigger budget than Rovers and they seem to be run by ambitious people, all of which is enticing.
But making inroads in Europe was the gold star on Kenny and Pat Fenlon’s CVs and it can be the same for Bradley, particularly with Rovers seeded this summer.
If Lincoln didn't work out after six months what then? He’d be unemployed with little or no prospects in England.
Jack Byrne went to Cyprus and it didn’t work out. It was a year wasted but he’s back with Rovers and back in the shop window with Ireland.
Five or 10 years ago, I’d have said to Bradley - my old Drogheda United team-mate - ‘yeah, go for it’, but now I don’t see it that way.
He would have been leaving the best run club in the country - and one of the two clubs that can really make a difference to the game here.
People say he has achieved everything with Rovers, but that’s not true. He has unfinished business in Europe and that’s the biggest carrot of all.
Of course England could go great for him. Yes, it’s a risk - but life is about risk and reward. I understand all of that.
It’s just a gut feeling I have that cracking the group stages is on the cards and it will be better for his career to stay and achieve that.
We don’t know what Lincoln were saying to him, or what they promised financially.
I’m not saying money talks but managers and players in Ireland are not paid to the tune we would like them to be.
And if there’s an opportunity to secure your family financially, you couldn’t knock anyone for doing that.
I’m not surprised that clubs are targeting Bradley. We have excellent, young managers in the league and he’s at the top of the tree.
He’s at a huge club where there’s always politics at play, but he stays focused on what’s happening on the pitch.
And I’d say that was part of the attractiveness for Lincoln - they identified someone who can work under that pressure and avoid the sideshow.
His departure would have rocked the Rovers dressing room, you can bet your life on it.
That’s a dressing room that needs to be managed and he has done an incredible job keeping those egos in check.
A new manager could have had a detrimental effect on that squad and the title race.
But now that he is staying, it will galvanise the players going into those all-important European games.
Last Hoorah for Wes at Tolka Park is not cut & dried
I have a scoop for you. Wes Hoolahan is off to Dubai.
On holidays.
He’s a good pal, and I’m aware of the Shels rumours but, hand on heart, I've no idea what his plans are.
He left Cambridge United this week and is turning 40 in a fortnight. But he’s still in great shape and always said that once he was in good nick, he would play on.
Where that will be, I don’t know. But for the next few weeks, he’ll be on the beach.
Would I like to see him back in a Shels shirt? Of course. Who wouldn’t. People have such affection for him.
But does Wes need it? I don’t know.
He and his family are settled in England and it’s more complicated than just bringing a legend back home for one last hurrah.
Devo abuse is OTT but he let the fans win
Pat Devlin was getting dog’s abuse from some of the Bray Wanderers fans in Wexford.
But what was he trying to achieve by confronting them and taking photos?
It doesn’t matter who was right or wrong, that’s not how you deal with it.
The fans have won. They wanted to rile him, and they did.
But I will say this. There’s a nasty element creeping into grounds all around the country and I don’t like it.
Scoot off with yourself
Anyone else p****d off with these wannabe mad lads zipping around the place on their electric scooters?
I cycle to work every day and want to stick a boot out every time I know one is about to whizz past.
Unite Union.. it ended up a total farce
What a shambles the Unite the Union Cup nonsense was.
I’m sure the organisers will have all sorts of excuses but how difficult can it be to arrange three football matches?
And please, spare me the stuff about two leagues with different calendars. It’s not rocket science.
We don’t have the people with the skillset to move the game forward and I’ve said it many times.
There are too many still involved and calling the shots from the old John Delaney-era.
And I hope they’re embarrassed by what happened. And if not, they ought to be.
We’re like a rudderless ship floating in the Atlantic, heading for the Bermuda Triangle.
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