Joey O'Brien: 'He made his call and then it was up to me to make my call and I did'

Irish Examiner

05-07-2025

Having been announced as Shelbourne boss on a permanent basis they day before Friday's 3-1 home against relegation battling Cork City, Joey O'Brien must have been thinking that this management business was handy as his side raced to a 2-0 lead after just six minutes, but the former Irish International laughed off any such suggestion: 'No, definitely not. I've been around long enough to know it's definitely not this easy.'
O'Brien had seen his side battle to two draws prior to Friday's victory and felt that his side got their rewards for a fast start, although Kitt Nelson threatened to make it less than comfortable as he netted on the stroke of half time.
'From a performance point of view I thought we were brilliant, I thought we should have won by more. The first-half started really well, we got the early goal, which helped, and then we got the second. We probably should have been three-up in the first-half, We're disappointed with the goal we gave away, a set-play.
'So that was disappointing, to come in at 2-1. But in the second half we still wanted to attack it and look to push on to get that third goal. Again, we probably looked like we weren't going to get it, so it looked like a nervous finish. But obviously getting a bit of luck with the third goal made the end of the game easy enough.'
It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks for the 39-year-old who saw one of his best friends depart the club, and gave an insight into just how it came about that he now finds himself at the helm of the reigning Champions.
'Listen, obviously after the manager left, it was such a quick turnaround, I suppose, to get into the Waterford and Galway games. After that it was put to me if I was interested in it and if I wanted to take it,' he said.
'I had a couple of days thinking about it. I didn't want to rush into it really. I just weighed it all up and just thought, yeah, I have had a great learning here under the manager, what he's built over the last number of years for me as a coach to improve and what I've learned from him, it's just been brilliant. That's ultimately where I was at. It is a fantastic squad of players. They are a massive part of it as well and that's the squad that has been built over the last few years.'
O'Brien joined the club in 2021 having hung up the playing boots at Shamrock Rovers, and admitted that he had his sights on management in the future but such life, you never know what is around the corner.
'I probably looked into it when my career ended as a player and I wanted to get involved in coaching and then leading into the management, but I don't think you can never make it out exactly how you want it to. The opportunity to work with the gaffer was obviously a huge part in me stopping playing football and I don't regret it for a second. What I learned, and the moments we had over the last three and a half years have been unbelievable. It happened. He made his call and then it was up to me to make my call and I did.
Beaming with pride, he added 'it was just so unexpected. I'd never thought about it. So that was my thinking about the whole situation. I just never thought of taking this job. So suddenly there was the news that the manager was leaving. It is a great football club that's been built and has great memories here. Hopefully we can write new memories again. With the players, we have a great squad. Great lads. That's why I wanted to hang around."