Refreshed Damien Delaney up for Waterford task after ‘hitting a brick wall’ at Cork City

Damien Delaney has started pre-season as a Waterford player determined to learn the lessons from a challenging six months at Cork City which saw the 37-year-old “hit a brick wall”, as he puts it, before eventually parting company with his hometown club in early December.

“At the end of the season, I really needed a break,” says the former Ireland international who, in a headline-grabbing summer move in the domestic game, had swapped the Premier League for the League of Ireland.

“It had been a long run for me after the whole season with Crystal Palace because, even though I didn’t play much, I was still training every day. Then John (Caulfield) rang me on the first of June, and I trained for a month before I was eligible to play for Cork on July 1.

“In hindsight, that was a huge mistake because one season running into another was just too much. It would probably have been too much for a young person if I’m being honest but for someone of my age, it was definitely too much.

“Another mistake I made was that I trained too much. John runs a tight ship in Cork and I didn’t miss a minute of training and that was probably my own stupidity. There was an element in my mind that I didn’t want to look like the guy who’s coming in from the Premier League and doesn’t want to put the work in. I wanted to set a good example so whenever I was asked if I wanted to do something it was a case of ‘yeah, yeah, no worries, John’. And that was a mistake on my part.

“Throw in a new baby into that mix as well and the effect that has on your sleep patterns and it was a whole slew of things coming together. And after the European games, come September, I hit a brick a wall and the whole thing seemed to culminate that night at Dalymount.”

This is a reference to the game which saw City’s defence of their title suffer a critical blow in a 4-2 defeat to Bohemians, during which a clearly struggling Delaney, who was just back from injury, first scored a slapstick own goal and then got caught in possession as Bohs went three-up, before he was put out of his misery by being taken off at half-time.

Despite his time with the club coming to a premature end, Delaney insists he has no regrets about his decision to return to Cork. The homecoming allowed him to set down family roots again with his wife Solmaz and his now six-month old son Bizhan while, on the pitch, he fulfilled an ambition to play in European competition with the then reigning league champions.

That experience is among the things he now hopes to be able to bring to bear with his new club Waterford on their long-awaited return to Europe this year. Delaney admits that, having finished the season at City with his mental and physical batteries drained, he was unsure if he would “get the feeling back that I would want to go again”.

But Waterford boss Alan Reynolds proved a persistent and persuasive suitor, and that badly needed post-season break did the rest.

“Look, I know that playing 40 games a season is behind me but I am hoping to play as much as I possibly can,” he says.

“I just need to be more honest really and not as stupid as I was. I want to contribute in whatever way I can, especially if I can be a help to the younger players. I like what Renny is doing, the brand of football they play and the way the club is going about things. And it’s something I want to be a part of.

“Last year, they finished fourth so I think the first goal this season would have to be to try to chase down the two in front of them, that’s Cork and Rovers. Dundalk are maybe still in a different place to everybody else, although with a new manager they might not have as consistent a season as they’ve had over the last few years.

“And if they do have a slip up or are not quite what they have been, well, you could be looking at the possibility of winning it. Why not? But closing that gap and having a good experience in Europe are definitely targets.”

As for himself, Damien Delaney dons the blue shirt armed with the hard-earned knowledge that you’re never too old to learn in football.

“I don’t mind making mistakes, everybody makes mistakes, but learning from them is what’s important,” he reflects.

“The time I had off over November and December was the biggest break I had in about the last 20 years and I thought a lot about what went wrong and what happened and I ironed out a lot of things in my mind.

“Hopefully, I can guard against those mistakes this time, contribute in a more positive way on and off the pitch and see where it takes me.”