After 18 years in England, including in the Premier League with Crystal Palace, Damien Delaney spoke to Keith Andrews about his move back home to Cork City.
The former Ipswich man joined OTB to speak about his career, the importance of one's personal life and the World Cup.
"It was a great journey, I really enjoyed it. I’m really happy to be back at Cork City now," he said of his move back to his hometown club.
"I knew John when I was in the youth team at Cork and when he got the job, there’d be a lot of texting. We just stayed in touch through text. He phoned me and asked would I be interested. We decided it was in everyone’s interest to move home. John lives and breathes it. It’s the type of manager I like playing with.
Regular action is something he was keen on and is getting back into gear with.
"I didn’t play a lot last year. You can do as much running and going to the gym as you want, but nothing compares to going out on the pitch and playing. It was good for me to get 60 minutes on the pitch. Looking forward to cracking on. It’s been brilliant. If you’re happy in your environment, you will enjoy it. Moving home has been brilliant," he said, before touching on a less happy time in his career when he was at Ipswich.
"I wasn’t enjoying my football and my life off the pitch. Then I went to Crystal Palace and found a home there and it really clicked. Personal life is really important and it helps in playing on top form week in, week out. I only signed a three-month contract, I really enjoyed it, big characters there, good guys and good teammates who had a good fit, then the club just took off and I’m lucky to be a part of it."
He's also enjoying being involved in the current Cork City environment especially with the carrot of Champions League qualifier football to look forward to.
"The standard of Cork City, they’re trying to be a professional football team. It really has impressed me. It’s really refreshing to see twenty lads who are geared up to train as hard as they can. It’s been a breath of fresh air for me," he said.
Delaney also gave us his thoughts and predictions on the World Cup so far: "I’m struggling to get into it. The whining, the play-acting. I find myself getting frustrating watching it. It’s not enjoyable to watch. I don’t England are going to win it,they’re not good enough, maybe the semi finals. I think France are gonna go and win it."
Stephen Kierans
