Sean Boyd discusses ‘mental breakdown' after Damien Duff departed and how he will spend European bonuses
Shels
2
The 27-year-old enjoyed Shelbourne's 2-1 aggregate win over Linfield
2
Boyd was just as shocked as the rest of us with Damien Duff's departure
Overcoming that first hurdle makes group-stage football a more realistic target, even if Joey O'Brien's Reds are dumped out of the premier competition by Qarabag who are up next.
And Boyd admitted that it is the fortune as well as the fame which can help drive performance as
The striker said: 'It's great for the players, great for the club, great for everyone involved, really.
'The lads are probably coming out with a decent bonus at the end of it so for players you're probably looking at a deposit for your gaff or whatever.'
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That advice came from old hand Seán Gannon who — having made his 58th European appearance on Wednesday — is closing in on Ronan Finn's League of Ireland record of 63.
And it was particularly timely for Boyd who got engaged to Aimee — the couple have a small son, Jack, together — just two days after manager
He joked: 'We stayed in the K Club, it was always a plan to do it. And when he left, I was like, 'That f***er, like, what am I supposed to do?'
'It was a mad time. So, I was all over the place myself. It kind of probably distracted me a little bit. It's been all go.
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'It was probably an emotional Britney Spears moment, a mental breakdown. But my partner is brilliant, I love her to bits. It was just the next step. I was always planning to do it.
'She's already spent everything. I said, 'Potentially, if we get through, we get this'. And she's like, 'Oh, lovely, that will pay for the wedding'. We've to buy a house as well, so it's all coming at once.'
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How to make best use of the financial rewards that come with European success is not the only advice that Gannon can hand out.
He is the only member of the Shels squad to have come up against Qarabag before,
Boyd said: 'Ganno adds tax now to every single story. It was a news story at the time. He must have said it. He talks and he repeats the same stuff over again.'
On the pitch, the opposition is a force to be reckoned with, winning their domestic league in all but one of the last 16 seasons.
They have played in the group stage of one of the three European competitions for 11 years in a row.
But, while Shels' chances of toppling them may be remote, they will have further opportunities in the Europa League and Conference League, with Boyd determined to ensure they have more victories to celebrate.
He said: 'The gaffer in there, the lads, the players, you won't be happy with just going through one round.
'You've seen Rovers in the last few years, you want to progress and you want the group-stage football.
'And it's going to be very difficult, but we've given ourselves a chance, so I won't be like, 'Oh, happy days, we won a round', but now we have something to look forward to.
'That's what we wanted, to give ourselves a chance. Now we've got the play-off, at least. If we win one more round, it's the group stages. Hopefully we can go again and see where we go.'
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