'That's the bit I'm most nervous about' - Stephen Bradley in race to title decider in helicopter

The Hoops manager was full of praise for World Cup-bound Pico Lopes on a night that saw the title wait go on.

Sat, 18 Oct, 2025 - 11:13

Darryl Geraghty

Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley has confirmed he'll jump in a helicopter after next weekend's Dublin Marathon to get to a possible title decider against rivals Derry City.

The Hoops boss is running the race in aid of Oscar's Kids, a cancer charity with a mission close to his heart.

Last night he saw the title wait go on thanks to a defeat to St Pat's and a week which also features a Europa Conference League rematch with Celje on Thursday, will see Bradley try to get to the Brandywell on Sunday for his side's 3.00pm kick off as they look to finally wrap up the title.

"That's the bit I'm most nervous about, to be honest with you," Bradly said of the chopper ride. "The marathon will be that but I'm most nervous about getting in the helicopter. I think it's about 40-something minutes. I could be wrong.

“So we're going to go out with the early group. Obviously, we have to get in there in under four hours. And then I think it's 20 minutes out to the helicopter and then gone. So, I’d say we'll get there at 2.59!” he joked.

Needing only a point to wrap up the title, Stephen Bradley’s wait for a fifth league winners medal in six years rolled on yet again as he saw his side fall to another narrow defeat in a Dublin derby, this time at the hands of a stunner from former Shamrock Rovers man Simon Power.

But despite the defeat, the Hoops boss wasn’t too upset at his side's overall as a busy week both on and off the pitch took shape.

“I thought we were very good. I thought large parts of what we'd done was really good. Obviously the final bit just wasn't there tonight. I really liked a lot of what we'd done,” said Bradley.

“I think for large parts we were very, very good. Great chances. We had to be patient at times. Maybe could have been a little bit more aggressive in the first part of the second half. We were a little bit passive for that 15-20 minutes and Pat’s got a foothold on it. But overall I thought we were good. I thought we were very good. We just couldn't score.”

One notable absence for the double chasing side was skipper Roberto “Pico” Lopes whose incredible week became even more amazing as he welcomed the birth of his son just hours before kick-off. And having helped Cape Verde qualify for the World Cup to become the second smallest nation to do so at the time of writing, in typical Pico fashion, he expected to play in Inchicore but given the whirlwind week his manager saw sense, whilst wanting to reiterate just how far he has come.

“He's been absolutely incredible. What he's achieved in terms of going to the World Cup is special. It really is. To see the journey he's been on from when he came in to us, being part-time, being a midfielder, to the basics of Pico passing a ball, ten yards off a wall. That was his session for so long,” admitted the 40-year-old.

“That seems madness. But that's where he was and that's the level of professionalism you put into it. People would say I'm too good for that or I don't need to do it. He went back to basics and really worked in every aspect of his game. Committed himself to it in every way. He's getting his rewards. That's where you get good people. What you put into the game, you usually get out. Pico gives everything to the game. He deserves everything he gets.

“Thankfully, today went well. Leah is healthy. The baby is healthy. No complications. Incredible week for him. Now we just have to go and make an incredible year by doing and we can do what we can do domestically.”

He added: “We wanted him to play football. We could keep the ball. Pico was a box-to-box midfielder that kicked everything that moved. We needed to mould him into something different. But you can only do that if the person coming in wants to do that and is willing to leave their ego at the door and want to be improved. There's loads of other aspects he worked on. But that's just a little snippet of what has brought him to this level. It was never beneath him. He knew. If that's what's going to make me better, that's what I do. He's become the best centre-back in the country for a number of years. That's down to his professionalism and how he dedicates his life to the game.”

Lopes' journey to the promised land of the World Cup has gone viral since their 3-0 win against Eswatini, but his manager knows all the media attention won’t distract a consummate professional and actually wants it to be used to inspire the next generation.

“Yeah, he'll be fine,” he shrugged. “And the reason he's fine is a number of things. He is what he is as a person. He doesn't get too high and too low. He's very matter of fact in everything he does. Our experience on the pitch the last number of years in Europe and what we've done and what we've achieved brings a spotlight and brings media attention. He deals with that really well. I understand it will be magnified. And it was part of the reason we left him out tonight.

"Mentally, he's fatigued in terms of during the week, the baby, being in the hospital, sleeping there. Mentally, he's fatigued. So you have to be careful tonight. But going forward, it won't be an issue.

“Pico won't stretch himself too thin. He won't. If he feels something is going to affect his performance, he won't just say yeah to an interview just to say yeah. And we won't allow him to do that, to be honest with you, because he's getting all these rewards for what he does out on the pitch. So it's about staying focused on that, which he will. But it's also important that he does speak to people and share that experience and the feelings and emotions, and the highs and the lows of what he's achieving. I think it's important that he... Because there's some kid somewhere in Ireland looking at him and thinking ‘I can do that, and I want to do that’. That's what it's all about.

"And that's why he needs to talk. That's why he'll do interviews, because it's all about making the next generation better and having something to aspire to, and he will definitely be doing that. There's people in Crumlin, Kilnamanagh, where he lives now, Cape Verde, obviously, looking at him and thinking, ‘I can do that’. And, yeah, what a role model to have.”