'She'll have a lot of respect from the players already' - Stephanie Zambra set for Shamrock Rovers interim head coach bow
Waterford will be the opposition at Tallaght Stadium and it will be a landmark occasion for former Republic of Ireland forward Stephanie Zambra after her appointment as interim head coach of the Hoops over the weekend.
The 2014 FIFA Puskas Award runner-up has been on the coaching staff at Rovers since shortly after retiring as a player at the end of last year and her elevation to the head coach role at Shamrock Rovers is a real show of confidence, according to former international team-mate Rachel Graham.
"That probably (says a lot) about Steph. They'll know what she's like and her professionalism," the Shelbourne midfielder said on this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast.
"You can't achieve what she has done, all them caps for Ireland, without having a great level of professionalism; dedication to football and to training.
"So she's obviously shown that and I think because of that, she'll have a lot of respect from the players already.
"Sometimes that can be half the battle, just getting the players on your side. She's coaching as well at our under-17 international team, so she has been working a lot on the coaching side of her game since she has retired. The club is obviously backing her.
"It's someone you'd like to see do well. She's given so much service to women's football in Ireland. You'd love to see her do well. Waterford (tonight), I'm sure she's going to be nervous but it's probably one of the better games you could have hoped for for your first one."
Shamrock Rovers go into the match sixth in the table in what is their third season since their re-entry to the league.
When it comes to their future, Graham feels the route they have gone in with intergrating young players is the way forward.
"(O'Neill) was starting to bring through the young players and Rovers have a really good underage system, really good underage players. So it's probably the best route for them to go where they're just starting to bleed these players and maybe look at it more as a long-term plan," she said.
"They came in the first year (2023) and made a lot of noise and probably put too much pressure on themselves and I think they're going about it the right way now."
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The Irish Sun
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Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
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Mark Lynch is still the club's head of communications. He recalls: 'We didn't set out to own the club out of examinership, it just happened. 'So, we put in a bid and the judge accepted the package, and the rest is history.' Jonathan Roche was appointed chairman of the club he had supported all his life when the fans took over. He remembers how there were doubts that they would make it. 'At the end of examinership, I just remember Neil Hughes thinking it wasn't going to work,' says Roche. 'But we persuaded him, we managed to raise the money that convinced him we could do it.' (Left to right) Mark Lynch, Noel Byrne and Jonathan Roche (Image: INPHO/Aleksandar Djorovic) The 2005 season was in full swing at the time, so not only did the regular outgoings of a Premier Division campaign had to be paid, but money had to be found to satisfy the court that future commitments could be met. Raising the funds was a huge challenge. 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RTÉ News
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