Cliftonville boss Barry Gray talks to Brendan Crossan ahead of today's Irish Cup final with Coleraine and hopes his players can end the club's 39-year wait for the coveted silverware...
Brendan Crossan: Are you superstitious?
Barry Gray: Not particularly, no. I am particular in certain things. I suppose like everybody you have a couple of things that you do that you wouldn’t change on match day. One of those things, of recent times, I’ve been wearing a particular suit and jumper on the sideline and I 100 per cent know that our form has nothing to do with what I wear, but I’ll make sure I’m wearing it on Saturday.
BC: Are you not wearing a cup final suit like the rest of the squad?
BG: I am but I’ll change, unless I take a notion on the day.
BC: You have cup final suits, people looking tickets, press looking interviews. What is it like for the players and management in the lead up to the final?
BG: To be fair, everything is done. I was in Geneva Monday to Wednesday with the Pro Licence so that nearly forced us to have everything done prior to this week. It means everything is sorted in terms of arrangements and tickets so can concentrate on the match preparations.
BC: Was it good timing to be away in Geneva for a couple of days before the final for a bit of head space?
BG: I wouldn’t have done it by choice, that’s for sure. I only missed one night’s training this week and we were in three nights and maybe the players had a breather away from me!
BC: How do you assess your first full year in charge at Cliftonville?
BG: There have been ups and downs, nothing that we didn’t expect. It took longer for some players to settle in than what we expected.
We have the opportunity to finish off the season with a trophy and a guaranteed European place and it gives us a platform to build for next year. A lot of our work is still on-going. We’ve been in now for 12 months and we’ve three-quarters of a new panel. That takes time.
If we hadn’t the cup final I don’t think we’d be just as happy. To me, I always gauge what we’ve done against the top six. In the first period of the season, it was pretty much a disaster.
The second period of the season was slightly better and the third was better than that, and in the split games we’ve done really well.
You hold that as a measure of success. Then we had our Irish Cup run, which was against all Premiership teams bar Loughgall. I think there are lots to be positive about.
One of our strikers [Joe Gormley] is the top scorer and I think we’re the third best defensive record in the league and this has been done in what we’d class a transition year.
BC: Can a manager enjoy the build-up to the cup final?
BG: No. This is the first time that I’ve prepared for an Irish Cup and hopefully not the last. Any cup final that I would have been preparing for in the past were at junior level.
I don’t know if there’s any week in management that I enjoy it until the game is over.
I’ve been saying that to the players. We’re not here for a day out – everyone else is and that’s great. But if you want to stand and pat yourself on the back for getting to the final, for me, it loses the whole reason and focus as to why you’re there in the first place.
From the staff’s point of view, you start to enjoy it at five o’clock, providing we win of course.
BC: Is the ‘Spirit of ‘79’ a burden on the current crop of players or can it act as a motivation?
BG: It’s there and it’s around the club, there’s no doubt about that. I’m not a manager that plays this down. In-house, it’s massive for this team and players should enjoy the run-up to it. There is nothing normal about this week. It’s chaos. But it’s good chaos and I think everybody has to buy into that a wee bit.
Your family talk about it, you walk down the street and people are talking about it. (laughing) The supporters that were giving you dog’s abuse at the start of the season are now in your back pocket and telling you how great you are.
You go down the road and there’s red and white bunting. There are people supporting you that don’t get the chance to support you every week. So you have to embrace that and enjoy it. We have some boys in the panel who were lucky enough to be in a cup final before [2013, lost to Glentoran].
It’s 39 years since the club last won the Irish Cup. We might never win it again. The Spirit of ’79 – it is what it is – but there’s no pressure on the team.
The players of ’79 team are absolute legends of this club, heroes in Cliftonville, and always will be. This current group of players can be every bit as legendary as them.
It is just one game. All you need to do is win one more game.
Being part of that history is priceless and some of our players understand that history better than I do. It is not to be shied away from. There is a really good positive atmosphere surrounding the cup final.
BC: You’ve seen the good, bad and the ugly of Cliftonville supporters this season. Does the good outweigh the bad?
BG: No doubt. Everyone gets frustrated when their team is not doing well, but people don’t know what we’ve to do in the background.
The fans come to watch a match and they wear their heart on their sleeve…The support in general has been absolutely fantastic. You’ll always get a small contingent that will moan and groan.
That’s part and parcel of football. I suppose you want to go in and repay those fans that stuck up for you all year… It is not a case of proving people wrong in the cup final. It’s a case of repaying people’s support that they have given us all year.
BC: How close are you to your starting team in your head?
BG: My number two Harry Fay always believes you never pick your team on a Thursday night and we will continue weighing up our best team. That is linked to our analysis of Coleraine.
We obviously take into account our last few performances and the players who have played all year into account but at the end of the day, my job is not picking who deserves to play – because they all deserve to play – I don’t want to leave any of them out of the starting team for the final, and I don’t want to leave any of them out of the squad.
But I don’t want any of them picking up a loser’s medal either. We have to be clear in our heads about picking the right 11 on the day – and that doesn’t always mean your best 11 because you have to take into consideration how you might have to change games, how you might have to protect things and to have different options on the bench to counteract things.
So there are lots to consider. It’s never easy picking a team especially for a cup final. We’re all human and we all want to play in it.
The reality is somebody is going to be disappointed but that person who isn’t starting could get a nod 30 minutes in to come on and do something.
So everybody needs to be professional. The squad understands that and I’ve been fair and honest all season. There are a lot of positions nailed on but there are a couple of positions we need to make a final call on.
BC: Are you nervous before games?
BG: Generally not. I don’t panic. I don’t get caught up in the moment of things. I try not to do that. The players are used to seeing that [behaviour] and once you depart from that they will pick up on that very, very quickly.
The key focus for me is keeping everybody grounded.
There is an occasion there but I don’t want them to play that – I just want them to play the game. And that goes for me and my management team as well who play such a massive role in keeping the players focused. When you walk out in front of 10 or 15,000 people you have to be mentally focused. It’s very easy to lose the first 20 or 30 minutes of the game.
BC: Are the players among the squad who experienced losing the 2013 final important in the build-up?
BG: For some of them, an Irish Cup medal is the only one that they haven’t won. I think that plays an important role and the influence that those players can have on everybody in the lead-up to the day and in and around the changing room.
And if they’re lucky enough to be in the starting 11, they may have a wee bit more of an edge than maybe some of the others.
Some might say Coleraine have that right across their team after last year’s final defeat [to Linfield].
This is a brand new Cliftonville team, it’s a brand new era and we have a very different way of doing things.
It is not about righting wrongs of years past – it’s about getting success in year one. The players know that they didn’t give it everything in 2013 and it wasn’t until after it they realised that, and that’s me just speaking to them about their experiences.
They had doubts about how they prepared for the final because I know they won the league a few weeks earlier that year.
BC: Will the Irish Cup final be your proudest moment in football?
BG: If you’re looking in terms of achievement and winning it, this would be it.
There have been other Cliftonville managers that got to finals and never won them. I don’t want to be one of them.
If we win it, yes, it will be the biggest achievement that I’ve had in football but not just getting to the final.
I’ve no interest in being a losing manager in the cup final and patting ourselves on the back. You’ll only take the pats on the back if you win it.
BC: Who is the best team you have played this year?
BG: Good question (pause). Across all the fixtures probably Coleraine. They completely outdone us in the first game at their place.
The other games have been really nip and tuck against them. Coleraine and Glenavon are the two sides that we haven't beaten this season.
