Cooke "very confident" Bray's off-field issues are behind them

When Mick Cooke agreed to take the Bray Wanderers job following the resignation of Trevor Croly, he became the fifth person to oversee first-team affairs at the Carlisle Grounds in 2015.

The instability in the manager's office was a reflection of the general uncertainty surrounding the club as a number of off-the-field problems – ranging from delays in player payments to an apparent boardroom battle for control of Bray Wanderers – continued to upset the efforts of those on the football side.

It was too much for the man who started the season in charge, Alan Mathews. He resigned, along with his entire backroom team, after five league games. It was also too much for Mathews' eventual replacement, Trevor Croly, via caretaker stints by Maciej Tarnogrodski and skipper David Cassidy.

Former Shamrock Rovers boss Croly departed after just 52 days in the hotseat. In Croly's short stint at the helm, he oversaw a turnaround in fortunes on the pitch, one which Cooke has managed to maintain – Friday's 1-0 defeat to Dundalk by the seaside was his first defeat in five outings as Seagulls boss.

With former St. Patrick's Athletic majority shareholder Gerry Mulvey having agreed to come on board as a new investor at Bray, Cooke believes the problems which have dogged the club this season are firmly confined to the past.

“Very confident,” was the reply the 63 year old gave to the media after the Dundalk game when asked if he was confident that Bray are finally over their behind the scenes difficulties, adding that the players had received their latest due payment last Monday with no problems.

“The new investor and the people that are here, Denis O'Connor, they're fully behind making Bray a formidable force in football and I can tell you, only [for] I was given the guarantees of what I wanted, I wouldn't be here myself," said Cooke. "I sat down with Denis and Mr. Mulvey came in, he was an investor in St. Pat's before, so he knows what he's getting himself into and he's looking forward to next season once we survive this one.”

It remains to be seen what will happen next off the football pitch for Bray, but on it the club has experienced an incredible upturn in form, exemplified by the difference between their last two performances against Dundalk. Back in May, the Seagulls were hammered 8-1 in Oriel Park by the rampant champions. On Friday, they could count themselves unlucky not to have earned a share of the spoils.

“I know Dundalk probably had most of the ball, but I don't think they really hurt us," said Cooke in his post-match reflections. "The efforts they had were from distance and didn't really trouble Peter Cherrie. Okay, before half-time they hit the woodwork twice in the one move but that's what the woodwork is there for, to stop the ball going in. And I thought, great credit to the lads, going a goal down with 15 minutes to go – many a team would have subsided and God knows what they would have lost by, but great credit, we went chasing the equaliser.

“We almost got it, you know, and we created a couple of chances. Our play in the final third wasn't as good as it should be, but like I said to the players, if you go five games and only lose one from now until the end of the season, you win more than you lose. We've been on a good run, four cleansheets, and certainly tonight to hold Dundalk to one goal when you think of what happened a few months ago, it's a big turnaround.”

So much so that the former Pat's and Drogheda United boss is now talking about Bray finishing as high as fifth-place in the Premier Division table – a far cry from the relegation fears which haunted the club in the early stages of the season.

“Well, as I said, it's a cup final," said Cooke ahead of next week's home meeting with Drogs. "They lost tonight, I believe, to Shamrock Rovers and the teams all down the bottom were beaten by the top teams. I know Derry had a very, very good win beating Longford and that'll add another team to the group of teams midtable. 

"So there'll be swings and roundabouts between now and the end of the season and I think the games with the teams around us, they're the cup finals. It's a bonus if you pick up a point tonight [against Dundalk] or even three. We were unfortunate not to pick up one, but we can build on that performance tonight.”

Bray made three signings during the July transfer window, with former Lilywhite Peter Cherrie proving an instant success since returning from a spell at Cliftonville in Northern Ireland. Adam Wixted from Bohemians and former St. Patrick's Athletic, Monaghan United and Waterford United man Luke Fitzpatrick have also arrived at the Carlilse, with both players unused subs against Dundalk.

Meanwhile, skipper David Cassidy, who had been linked with a move to Cork City, is "happy to stay and build a team at Bray Wanderers" according to Cooke, with the Seagulls boss happy overall with his business during the window, though he was frustrated in his attempts to prise other players in the top flight from their clubs.

“We only got a couple in. I've made a lot of enquiries about players, believe me, in the last 72 hours," said Cooke. "Something might happen before midnight, I don't know. Players want to play, I was interested in bringing Billy Dennehy here and I rang about one or two players at other clubs but the managers weren't letting them go.

"It's great how these big clubs can have massive squads, you know! I would have liked to probably bring in two more. But no, I'm happy and the lads have shown me in the last three weeks that they're willing to work hard.”