‘Cup runs have put Crawley on the map’
It is the great leveller, the weekend when those from all levels of England’s football structure are forced together. The mix, of course, has produced momentous results. And, on a wider level, few reflect that better than the drastically different careers of these Irish players. From four distinct corners of the third-round draw, they each reflect a different aspect of the day and the type of backgrounds, histories and struggles that make it so intriguing. As virtually all said in some variation of the phrase, “you never know what can happen...”
ALAN BENNETT
Cheltenham Town vEverton
When it comes to preparing for unusually big games, many in sport preach making everything as routine as possible in order to keep players focused. On the eve of their FA Cup tie with Tottenham last season, though, Cheltenham Town manager Mark Yates quickly realised that was futile. As he started to do his usual of listing the opposition players and what to look out for, he stopped — and started laughing. His captain, Alan Bennett, takes up the story.
“He began and then just went, ‘Look, you know as much as I do about these players. There’s no point me trying to tell you about Jermain Defoe, you see him every week’.”
This week, of course, the Cheltenham players will have seen what Everton’s Leighton Baines is capable of after his rocket against Newcastle United. So Yates will know what to do — or, rather, what not to do. And, at the least, the one advantage Cheltenham have over Everton is that they are on surer ground in this regard. In fact, unlike last year with Spurs, they’re on their own ground.
“I think the main focus this year will just be about us and staying in the game and keeping it solid,” Bennett says.
When people think of Cheltenham, however, they don’t necessarily think of football — let alone upsets. Bennett knows this too well given the amount of requests he gets from relatives in Cork to stay over for the racing every March. In truth, though, Monday’s fixture against Everton pretty much represents the quintessential third-round tie: an in-form League Two team fancying their chances as they host big opposition.
“It’s a horse place and you’ve Gloucester rugby over the road but, in the town itself, it’s the biggest thing.
“This is what the cup is all about, a big team coming. The town is buzzing. Like, last year, we had Spurs away and there was hype but definitely not as much as this.
“They’re coming to our place, to our natural surroundings, to see what lower-league football is all about.”
Bennett certainly knows what it’s all about. A winner of two Ireland friendly caps while at Reading as well as a league title with Cork City in 2005, he has used those experiences to build a very solid reputation in the lower divisions for captaining both Brentford and Wycombe to promotion from League Two. With Cheltenham a point off the automatic spots, he hopes they will be the third. It is already no mean feat. For all the cliches at cup time about this level, the otherwise affable centre-half is well placed to talk about the absolutely brutal nature of League Two. Everton will have to adjust to it, just as Bennett has.
“It’s cut-throat, I’m not going to lie. In terms of physicality on the pitch, off the pitch. I’ve learnt to stand up for myself a lot more in the dressing-room.”
Bennett puts that necessity down to the simple insecurity of the level, which hardens players in a number of ways.
“The majority of lads will be on a one-year contract, maybe two, three if you’re really lucky. I was never one of those guys who would hammer another player for my benefit. That goes on. I’ve seen it. I will stand up for myself because you have to. You’ll just get pushed aside. It’s happened. It happened at Brentford. One day you’re there, I was captain, everything going well then one or two bad games and there’s a loan player. You’re contract runs out, you’re out and wondering how the hell did that happen.
“You would probably have a bit more time to grow up in Ireland. That team in Cork [in 2005], local lads so it’s that bit more personal. In England, lads are from everywhere and looking to have a profession, to try and make a career and survive and that’s why it’s such a results business. Everyone’s looking over their shoulders.”
On Monday, Everton are going to face that hunger head on. Unlike Cheltenham, though, they may not be fully aware of what they’re in for.
GARY DICKER
Brighton v Newcastle United
As a number of Premier League teams will find out first-hand this weekend, the lower leagues can be notoriously volatile. Clubs can suddenly find themselves plummeting or climbing divisions drastically; players can quickly encounter stark changes to their status. A single decision can have disproportionate effects on a campaign or even career.
Gary Dicker is the perfect example. Back in 2008-09, the Dubliner was in a Stockport team who seemed to be challenging for promotion to the Championship. As such, moving to a Brighton side at the other end of League One seemed unwise.
It didn’t work out that way.
Stockport are now close to the relegation zone of the Conference; Brighton are building towards the Premier League.
The difference, however, is down to the other defining reality of the lower divisions: the constant struggle with finance and trying to structure a club to make the most of it. That wasn’t the case at Stockport, but was the reason Dicker eventually had to move.
“It was a bit of a risk,” the 26-year-old says. “But I came on loan to Brighton when Stockport went into administration. I hadn’t got paid for two months or so.
“It was crazy. We’d no tables or chairs in the canteen. They had started to get taken away. We didn’t know whether we’d have training kit, whether we’d have money to stay the night for a game far away. So, yeah, it gets bad pretty quickly at a football club.”
And, initially, it wasn’t great at Brighton. “We were still playing at Withdean and getting around 4,000 a week.” The players, meanwhile, had to wash their own kit.
That was one of the many things that changed, though, when Gus Poyet arrived. In fact, the choice of such a manager reflected a new direction at the club overall, underscored by more prudent financial management and signified by the 27,000-seater Amex stadium. At ninth in the Championship at present, the next step would be promotion. In fact, it all only emphasises the sense of fortuitousness about Dicker’s initial decision.
“I came on loan and we stayed up. A few months later, the gaffer got the job and I don’t think the club has looked back since.”
Indeed, Poyet also looked at different ways of doing things. Not only does the passing style go against the more direct approach of the Championship, it also suited Dicker’s play perfectly.
“Even when we were struggling, he wanted us to pass the ball. I think that’s one of the reasons I’ve fitted in so well. At UCD, we got the ball down and passed it. He’s brought my game on. I’m involved a hell of a lot more than I would have been. It’s worked out for me.”
It’s even more intriguing, in fact, to think that a midfielder who was recently playing in as modest an outfit as UCD now shares a dressing room with a hugely diverse squad and a player who has been involved in a Champions League final like Vicente. Dicker, however, feels that remaining in Ireland that bit longer was another of the decisions that had another unexpectedly positive long-term effect.
“I was able to grow up pretty quick, playing against men really. It helped me a lot.”
Dicker does hope to return to Dublin, but in a different capacity: as an international.
“Definitely. I just hope they get a few more scouts out to watch a few more games. There’s a big queue of players wanting to impress. It would be a dream come true to play for Ireland but you’ve just got to keep doing well for your club.”
Influencing another win against Newcastle, who Brighton actually beat in the FA Cup last season, would undoubtedly aid any such selection decision.
BILLY CLARKE
Crawley Town v Reading
For Billy Clarke, there’s usually a distinct moment in any cup game where you can suddenly feel an upset is on. It’ll often be early in a match, when the touch of a notionally superior player is too soft, the challenge of a lower-level defender disconcertingly firm.
“You can do, definitely,” the Corkman says. “Usually five, 10 minutes into the game. It’s how you start as well.
“Momentum is obviously key. If a team does get on top, it is quite tough to turn it back around.”
Crawley Town may not have too much experience of the football league, but they have plenty of experience of defeating some of its better teams.
In fact, since getting promoted to League Two for the first time ever in 2011, Crawley have actually accumulated more wins than losses against higher-division opposition.
Clarke, who joined the club a year ago and is now enjoying the best form of his career, was involved in the most recent of them.
Back in August, Crawley beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1 in the League Cup and the forward points to an interesting push and pull in the dynamic of such games.
“When we did come up against Bolton, because we played well, it obviously affected how they played. But, also, I’m sure a couple of their players had an off-day.
“We’ve always beaten teams in higher leagues. If we play 100% and Reading have a slightly off-day [today], we think we can win.”
Clarke, though, really should have been coming up against Premier League opposition much more regularly and much earlier in his career.
The forward was an important member of Blackpool’s 2009-10 promotion side, only to suffer a serious knee injury just weeks before the following season began that kept him out of the entire campaign.
“It was heartbreaking. Any footballer dreams of playing in the Premier League and, when it’s taken from you, it’s fairly tough to take. I’ve had to move on.
“It’s made me maybe appreciate things a bit more and I’ve got a bit stronger but I’ve got to move on now and do as well as I can for Crawley.”
That has certainly been the case. Thanks in part to Clarke’s influence, Crawley were immediately promoted to League One last season and are now a point off the play-off places.
After the ructions caused by his injury, it also marks a welcome period of stability — even improvement — in the 25-year-old’s career. Since signing a first professional contract for Ipswich Town in 2005, he has played for nine different clubs, seven of them on loan.
“I went up to Scotland with Falkirk, to Darlington, to London [with Brentford], been everywhere really. I didn’t have many ties back then. It was just pack my suitcase and I could be gone by the Monday. It’s changed now and I need to put my family first.”
A further change, though, has been playing for a club who have no real history. One thing has helped alter that, though.
“Cup runs have put Crawley on the map.”
Clarke should know what direction today’s game is going fairly early on.
SEAN MURRAY
Manchester City vWatford
Had Sean Murray been a little more susceptible to the bright lights, the highly talented young attacker could have been a Manchester City player today rather than a Watford one.
The very fact he will actually be in Gianfranco Zola’s squad for the tie at Eastlands, though, as opposed to on loan or on the fringes, is one of the reasons he ultimately decided against leaving Vicarage Road.
“[City] were interested in signing me when I was 16 but I think I definitely made the right decision staying at Watford, the games I’ve played, what I’ve learned certainly.
“It was always in the back of your mind to play for Man City but I think the people around me helped me realise what was more important at the time and that was playing football.”
It’s also testament to the club’s approach to youth players. Because, for all the barbs Watford have received for the ownership of the Pozzo family at the top of the club, the infrastructure underneath it is an example to every other side in these islands. At present, the club have a unique partnership with the Harefield Academy, a secondary school just down the road from the club that specialises in almost Spanish-style education of young sports people. Not only does it produce superior players but also more rounded individuals.
Murray is the ultimate proof of that, for both his excellent technique and the fact he so sharply thinks and talks about the game at just 19 years of age.
That is revealed when the young midfielder offers his analysis of why the Irish U19 team found it so difficult against Spain in the 2011 European Championships.
“If the player in the Spanish team is under pressure, he’ll just give it short and then get the ball back in a different angle but I feel over here we just get it as far up the pitch as we can. It’s the way they’ve been playing since a young age.”
It’s also, however, how he has been playing. And, while Watford fans are understandably proud of a young player they talk about being “one of our own”, he is definitively one of our own too.
“My grandparents are from Cabra in Dublin on my father’s side. They’ve always wanted me to play for Ireland and I’m happy with that.”
Manager Gianfranco Zola is also extremely happy with his progress. Often playing in an attacking midfield role of a 3-5-2, Murray has made 29 league appearances for Watford over the last season and a half, and scored eight goals.
“I’ve probably learnt as much as I could from him rather than any other manager because he understands the way the attacking players play. When he’s training, he’s fully involved... he’s still up there with the best players in the team!”
He isn’t, of course, the only manager that joins in.There’s also Zola’s direct opponent today — Roberto Mancini. Murray couldn’t but notice the furore with Mario Balotelli.
“It’s crazy but all the better for us if that’s happening at the club.
“Seeing stuff like that does make us think they’re not really ready for the game.”
Because of his tutelage at Watford, Murray himself is more than ready.
