Monday, December 8, 2008

Revington names first squad

Paul Revington today named his first 26-man Irish panel in the wake of the Scotland series and 20 days before he takes office officially.

He said of his selection: "I am pleased to announce a very well balanced Irish men's hockey squad moving into 2009. It contains a healthy mix of youth and experience, experienced players in key areas of the field, exciting attacking and goal scoring options and high quality goalkeepers.

"It was selected through careful consultation with previous and current national coaching staff, and was solidified by way of me being fortunate enough to watch over 30 players during the recent series against Scotland .”

The new man also named 16 players to the Ireland ‘A’ side who he hopes will "form an integral part of the senior men's process. The Ireland ‘A’ squad will be the responsibility of the Irish senior team coaching staff with the aim of ensuring the respective players follow a path that eventually turns them into quality international hockey players."

Coach Revington, who is looking forward to viewing more players at the Senior Interpros in mid-March, has also announced his training schedule for next year up to the European Nations Trophy in August. His backroom staff (below) was also made known though this group will be subject to a review after his first year in charge.

Senior Squad:
David Harte (GK) (Pembroke Wanderers), Iain Walker (GK) (YMCA), Mark Ruddle (GK) (Cork C of I), Gareth Lennox (GK) (Banbridge), Ronan Gormley (Pembroke Wanderers), Tim Lewis (Pembroke Wanderers), Joe Brennan (Glenanne), John Jackson (Loughborough Students), Keith Black (Cookstown), Conor Harte (Pembroke Wanderers), Karl Burns (Cork C of I), John Jermyn (Cork C of I), Mark Black (Cork Harlequins), David Hobbs (Cork C of I), Graham Shaw (Glenanne), Stephen Butler (Glenanne), Andy McConnell (Three Rock Rovers), David Ames (Cookstown), Geoff McCabe (Banbridge), Phelie Maguire (Three Rock Rovers), Timmy Cockram (Lisnagarvey), Eugene Magee (Banbridge), Mitch Darling (Three Rock Rovers), Michael Watt (Grange, Scotland), Alan Sothern (Pembroke Wanderers), Mark Gleghorne (Instonians)

Management Team:
Head Coach: Paul Revington
Coach: Craig Fulton
Asst Coach: Arul Anthoni
Manager: Peter Jackson
Strategic Manager: Steven Hiles
Physio: Sinead Murphy
Video: Tristan Seaton Stedham
Fitness: Stephen Barry

Ireland A Squad
David Fitzgerald (GK) (Monkstown), Stephen O’Keeffe (GK) (UCD), Adam Pritchard (Cork C of I), Colin Donaldson (Cookstown), Paul Gleghorne (Loughborough Students), Steven Redpath (Annadale), David Robinson (YMCA), Jonny Quigley (Annadale), Simon Todd (Mossley), Stuart Smyth (Cookstown), Diamid Reay (Banbridge), Peter Blakeney (Three Rock Rovers), Peter Caruth (Annadale), Bruce McCandless (Banbridge), Jonny Bruton (Cork C of I), Jason Lynch (Lisnagarvey),

Management Team:
Team Leader: Craig Fulton
Coach: Turloch O Siochain
Manager: TBC
Physio: David Richards

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Head Coach, Coach & Assistant Coach! Strategic Manager? Team Leader! Any idea what's with the new titles?

Anonymous said...

revington read it in the latest cosmo magazine...apparently it's the new thing!!!

Anonymous said...

didnt see any of those positions advertised - how were these folks selected / interviewed; are they full time or part time roles etc... The joys of Irish political Hockey !

Anonymous said...

Jobs for the boys....

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Yep, throw in a couple more 'makieupy jobs' and you'll have a 'management team'(they just have to bring their sticks too)!!Hope this wasn't planned over a few Castles a year or two ago?

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Good to see that we are developing irish coaches. Apart from the money we spend on getting our coaches to an international level we will NOT give them a job with our Senior team.Makes sense some how.............Irish hockey plan
Develope irish players but do not develope irish coaches.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Can someone please explain why there are only 4 Leinster players on this Ireland 'A' squad. Of the current top 4 teams in the leinster league there is 1 representative from TRR. Surely some players from Glennane, Fingal, Pembroke etc. should be given a chance if this is an 'A' squad i.e. develop these players. It just does not make sense to me...??

Anonymous said...

did you ever think that the reason all those teams are top four teams is because they have the most players in the full international squad. For example pembroke have 5/6 in the senior squad, do you think it is fair to give players who maybe aren't up to "A" squad ability a chance because they are at a club full of internationals who are the reason behind their top four status?

Anonymous said...

maybe they aren't good enough??

top four isn't that big anachievement in leinster hockey, as there only is four realy teams. It would be a major schock for one one them to finish outside the top 4!!

Anonymous said...

to the previous anonymous, do you think the likes of paul glehorn adam prichard as an example would make rovers defence(no ireland a or full), pembrokes defence(2 fullirish) quite possible even the glens defence(one fullirish). they would be on the bench.

more players of quality should be involved in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

the top 3 teams in leinster are the top 3 teams in ireland, maybe COI are close but to say top 3 are not good enough is a rediculous statement. you probably an ulster player, get your own blog

Anonymous said...

we'll see who the top 3 teams in ireland are after the nationals in May - -won't be all from leinster.

Anonymous said...

oh we will see...

Anonymous said...

for that comment earlier...

of three rocks defenders:
peter mcconnell, neil lyons, ali haughton, alan bothwell and gary ringwood have all played senior interprovincials, with lyons, haughton and ringwood all having ireland 'a' caps.

richie shaw has also played senior leinster and ireland 'a'.

pembroke have three full international with stuart loughrey also being irish 18s.

Anonymous said...

What on earth is the selection process for this 'A' team.I am quite the competent player and have never heard of half these guys. There is a serious problem

Anonymous said...

Who cares if u are a competent player?If u have been watching underage Irish hockey over the past number of years you would know they are the best around, Also get rid of this Ireland A?? U21s is where it is at, it has to come back, good players are dropping off because they feel it is to big a stepping stone to ever reach the full squad. U21s would create competition for places at the highest level and keep the interest. All the top nations compete have u21s.

Anonymous said...

congrats to stephen o'keefe, well deserved place!

Anonymous said...

there is no way they will go back to the Under 21 competition because it will cost money and after all they have to pay for all the foreign coaches!!

Anonymous said...

good old racist ireland!foreign coaches are everywhere you look-soccer etc. Deal with it!

Anonymous said...

ye wise guy who do you think should be in its that left out?

Anonymous said...

stevo u probably should get rid of ignorant comments such as mr racist. there is no need for it on this blog!

Anonymous said...

i think david best and stephen sloan should have been given places in the ireland 'a' team. They were both absolutely outstanding today in the mccullough cup final & hav always playd consistently well for ireland underage teams

Anonymous said...

Are u basing that on their performance for their school team and ireland u16 and u18? come on this is one step away from senior u cant seriously argue that any player shud be included based on their school hockey performances.

Anonymous said...

I'm certain david ames' heroics for Cookstown High school was a big part in his selection For Ireland...... In the All- Ireland schools he was amazing throughout scoring two in the semi- final and two in the final. In the McCullough Cup final he equalised in the last minute with his second goal of the game and scored the winning stroke in the shootout. In the Burney Cup final he scored four goals including a last minute equaliser. But i'm sure this went unnoticed as- "come on this is one step away from senior u cant seriously argue that any player shud be included based on their school hockey performances".

Anonymous said...

as regards the make up of the irish national team why is it that they compete with difficulty in Europe while TRR succeed in being competitive at European level. One answer may be that only three of the TRR team are considered good enough for the Irish side.

Anonymous said...

To me this is not about the foreign coaches. It is about the development of Irish Coaches and very few are being brought forward at the moment.
This is not good for the development of a game which is having reduced numbers playing it on a year by year basis.
I also do not think that the coaches are not good enough i feel that TRR, Lisnagarvey, Cookstown, Banbridge, Annadale, C of I, H'Quins, are all quite capable as well as others i have missed all of these should be involved in some way as they are coaching at quite a high level. Every coach has their supporters and detractors.

It would be interesting to find out if Irish coaches now feel that it is a waste of time applying for an Irish position.

To me having so few Irish coaches at the higher level and involved just sends out the wrong message to Irish coaches.

Many of the senior club coaches are never even asked about their players even if they are in the Senior squad and how Ireland want them developed.

This again i feel sends the wrong message to Irish coaches.