O'Brien - We've got to be competitive

St. Patrick’s Athletic captain Ger O’Brien has said his side must be competing right through 2016 if they are to improve on last season’s fourth place finish in the Premier Division.

Speaking at Wednesday’s launch of the 2016 SSE Airtricity League, the 31-year-old admitted that last year’s disappointing run-in in the league meant his side will be more motivated than ever before to compete with Dundalk and Cork City, who have dominated first and second positions over the last two seasons.

“You are always thinking at the start of the season that there are three teams that can realistically win the title – I think we were one of them last year and we fell short.

“We didn’t get ourselves in the mix even to compete which is disappointing, but that’s just the way it goes and you’ve got to get on with it. As players you don’t really have time to dwell on it, you’ve got to just get onto the next game. The cup competitions were a bit of a saving grace because it gave us the opportunity to earn some silverware, and as players you want to be winning things.”

His side have won every domestic honour available since manager Liam Buckley took charge in 2012, with the manager this season building a new-look squad that has witnessed the departure of senior mainstays Killian Brennan, Greg Bolger, James Chambers and Kenny Browne, with O’Brien recognising the task undertaken by his manager to re-work his squad to compete in 2016.

“We’ve been so used to sitting in the dressing room with Killian Brennan, Greg Bolger, Kenny Browne and James Chambers – they’re four massive players and they have moved on, so Liam has had a job to do”, he said.

“He has gone out and replaced them with what he feels are the best possible replacements. So only time will tell but it’s a younger group, we’re all looking forward to the season ahead and I think if we can do our best to hit the ground running we’ll be giving ourselves a good platform to start the season.”

Competing is the key issue that the Saints captain comes back to time over. His team will have been disappointed to finish in fourth spot last year – finishing 20 points off champions Dundalk – having been pipped by many to challenge Stephen Kenny’s side for a title run-in in 2015.

They recouped a season destined for anti-climax, winning the EA Sports Cup and qualifying for European football for a sixth consecutive year. However O’Brien insists that that crucial element of competitiveness is where St. Pats will be aiming to improve on for this coming season.

“There are four or five teams that would feel that they can go for the top spots and it’s important that we are one of them. Certainly we want to be successful but as I’ve said European football has to be our first target – there is huge money involved so if we can go and do well in Europe you never know where that can lead. Certainly we want to be at the right end of the table competing for as long as possible.”

Pre-season has been kind to the Saints and O’Brien alike. Three wins from three friendlies preceded their Leinster Senior Cup exit to Bray Wanderers, however fitness and freshness are crucial elements that St. Pats seem to have managed to attain over the winter break.

The Saints captain suffered throughout last year with persistent hamstring problems that also afflicted striker Christy Fagan. However both are fully fit going into next Friday’s league opener against Galway United. A game upon which St. Pats’ captain hopes they can build another successful, title-winning season.

“It was a little bit frustrating the fact that I got back from injury and then it happened again a few weeks later, but I still managed to play over 30 games last year which I was reasonably happy with.

“You’ve got to accept these things the older you get, I’m nearly 32 so you’ve got to accept that this is part-and-parcel of the game. It’s all about how you react to it, come back and to try and keep yourself in the best shape possible.”

“This is the time for everyone to be as optimistic as possible before a ball is kicked. There’s no pressure on you in pre-season, you just have to get in get your work done and get yourself as fit as possible.

“As soon as that whistle goes on the first night the pressure starts from then until the end of October. But we’re really looking forward to it, we have a lot of new players and I think there’s a lot of excitement in the group that we can push on and have a competitive season.”