The 2008 National League with The Irish News Online

Collie Devlin has learned to deal with praise and criticism in equal measure in his short career with Derry’s seniors, but as the Ballinderry man tells Brendan Crossan, it’s time to shut both out and step up to the mark...

Devlin is not even slightly seduced by the praise. In his short career, the Shamrocks clubman has learned to deal with praise and criticism in equal measure. He’s also learned a thing or two about the fickleness of Derry supporters. He listened to the vitriolic cries from “over the wire” when Derry’s Ulster Championship campaign was spectacularly derailed by Monaghan at Casement Park. The day Derry re-emerged to face Armagh at Clones, he surveyed the tiny pockets of Oak Leaf jerseys in the crowd.
“We played terrible that day against Monaghan,” admits Devlin. “We didn’t even play that well against Antrim in the first round, but Monaghan beat us off the park and there was a lot of [negative] talk around the county.
“We drew Armagh in the Qualifiers and we thought: ‘typical’, but it ended up being a good draw for us. We took a week off, came back, had a bit of a meeting, a few things were said, and we went into the Armagh game with nothing to lose, and we played as if we’d nothing to lose. That result kick-started our year and gave us a bit of confidence.”
The criticism, though, stuck in the throats of manager and players. The knives were out for Crozier. The team’s backbone – or lack of one – was also questioned in every pub and club in the county after losing to Monaghan.
It all got a bit personal, and as a consequence the team retreated into itself for the remainder of the summer and played for themselves and the few hearty souls who supported them in Clones against Armagh.
“I think the criticism spurred us on a wee bit too because some of it was unjust,” said Devlin. “It’s not so bad being criticised by people who are there watching week in, week out. But we got criticised by people up and down the county that probably never went to a game in their lives and wouldn’t go and watch a match.
“We knew we were terrible. Every player and every team knows when they’ve played badly. You criticise yourself, but some of the things that were said about the management was unfair. They took the brunt of it – they got a bad deal.”
Ahead of their showdown with Armagh, Devlin recalled: “We knew there’d be hardly anybody there – about 200 supporters went. All these people criticising us wouldn’t come down and support us, so it made you more determined to go out and prove them wrong. You know there are ones over the wire just waiting for a mistake or two to get ridiculing, but you have to get on with it. I wouldn’t worry too much about what some people are saying about you. I’d say it’s the same with every county and every club.”
After beating Armagh, Mayo and Laois, Derry eventually fell to Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-finals. Devlin argues that the Dubs were not any better than them, but on the day crucial decisions went against the Ulstermen and Paul Caffrey’s side proved more clinical in front of the posts.
“It ended up a good year in some respects,” reflected Devlin, “especially after the way we started the year. In other ways, it could have been a lot better. But now there’s a wee bit of confidence about us and people in the county might believe in us a bit more. But more importantly, the players believe now that they can beat the bigger teams. After losing to Monaghan, we came out and beat Armagh, Mayo and Laois – three good teams and we were playing good stuff. And we could very easily have beaten Dublin in their own backyard.”
In terms of quality, there is not a lot needed for Derry to actually win some meaningful silverware this year. Crozier has players coming out of his ears and will have a tough job in downsizing the panel for the start of the NFL Division One next month.
That said, the Derry boss needs someone to reach the scoring heights Paddy Bradley scales year after year with Devlin admitting that the county’s over-reliance on the Glenullin ace has to end if they’re to be successful.
“There’s no point going out and thinking we’ll leave the scoring to Paddy Bradley today or leave it to some of the more senior players,” said Devlin. “It’s up to younger fellas to step up because we don’t want to be relying on the same fellas all the time and looking like a one-dimensional team.
“Now’s the time to have your say and get a place on the team because we definitely need more to step up this year.”
An injury-free Collie Devlin appears ready to step up to the next level.

(Provisional)
Paddy Bradley, Eoghan Bradley, James Conway, John Deighan, Colin Devlin, Fergal Doherty (right), Gavin Donaghy, Barry Gillis, Liam Hinphey, Joe Keenan, Enda Lynn, Michael McBride, Kevin McCloy, Niall McCusker, Francis McEldowney, Aidan McElhone, Sean Leo McGoldrick, Kevin McGuckin, Enda Muldoon, Ciaran Mullan, Paul O’Hea, Eunan O’Kane, Cathal O’Kane, Raymond Wilkinson

• Please note this is Derry’s Dr McKenna Cup squad. No NFL panel was available at the time of publication.

Devlin will treat the two imposters just the same

Collie Devlin has learned to deal with praise and criticism in equal measure in his short career with Derry’s seniors, but as the Ballinderry man tells Brendan Crossan, it’s time to shut both out and step up to the mark...