John Giles was player-manager at Shamrock Rovers between 1977 and 1983.
Stephen Bradley has revealed how regular meetings with John Giles have helped shape Shamrock Rovers’ four-in-a-row bid. The 59-time capped Ireland legend has spent the past few years watching Rovers’ games, before passing on his feedback to Bradley over cups of tea.
Giles, who was player-manager at Rovers between 1977 and 1983, has even handed over one of his first ever Ireland jerseys to Josh Bradley, the son of the Hoops supremo, who is bravely battling leukaemia.His no-nonsense insights and sometimes critical comments - one which came in the middle of a long winning streak - have kept Bradley grounded.He was in his early-30s when he was appointed Ireland player-boss, before moving onto West Brom and then Rovers. Bradley, who was just 32 when he took charge of the Hoops in 2016, said: “I’m lucky that for the last two years, I’ve been meeting John quite regularly for chats. Maybe three years. “He flips between winning Champions Leagues or what was it called then, European Cups, and Premier Leagues, back to our game like that. “Some of the names he throws out you’re thinking, ‘f**king hell’, but it’s great to sit and talk to him, and pick his brains.” The pair were brought together by Rovers chairman Ciaran Medlar, a big name behind the scenes in Irish football. Medlar has negotiated on behalf of Vera Pauw, and also regarding bonuses to Ireland players ahead of their participation in major tournaments. He was also involved in landmark talks that led to the FAI becoming one of the first national associations to give equal match payments to the senior men’s and women’s players. Bradley continued: “I would have spoken to him about John quite some time back and he said ‘let’s set up a meeting’, and we just kept in touch. “He gave Josh one of his first Irish jerseys which is incredible, he has it hanging up in his wardrobe, he only had it on him the other day.His generosity towards young Josh has been reflected in his approach to Bradley senior, who explained: “The first time I met him, you’re told you probably have an hour with him. “ came in and said, ‘Right John, you have to go and do radio’... I think it was radio, and he was like, ‘no, no, no’, we ended up just sitting for three hours talking and having tea.“ is brilliant for me. There were times we were winning games and he had a go at me. “He said, ‘youse weren’t good’, and I thought, ‘f**king hell John’, so I had to reevaluate what we were doing and look at it. And he was right, our spacing was too big. “This was maybe two years ago, we were on a good run, I went in and met him for a friendly coffee and he said, ‘you’re on a really good run’. “I said, ‘yeah, yeah’, and he goes, ‘you’re lucky’, in the way that John does, and I thought, ‘f**king hell’, and he went on to explain it and I watched it back and he was right.“But we were on a run of games at that point, I think it was 10 or 12, and he had a go so look you have to take it, he was right.As for the fact that they were roughly the same age when they went into management, Bradley said: “That’s one of the things that came up… what he did really well and didn’t do so well. “Sometimes he was too headstrong in what he saw and felt, and that’s an area we definitely hit it off in. He could really relate to my age, and what he did and what I do.“Just the man’s knowledge; for example, he said to me earlier on, a manager is more insecure in his tenth year than his first year and he left that with me. “I was racking my brain for ages and I went to him and met him and said, ‘John, talk to me’, and he said in your first year, you are fresh, you don’t know anything, you don’t know the pitfalls, you don’t know, you’re just in the job, whereas in your tenth year you know all of the bad things.“His knowledge, and then he’d talk about Bremner or Stiles or Charlton, he’s telling you stories of how they do things and how they train and how they play.Bradley hopes to get Giles to Tallaght Stadium for their final home game of the season on Friday week against Sligo Rovers. “The next step, I think he said, he’s going to try and get here for Sligo. We’re trying to get him here. Please God we can get him here because like I said he’s been great for me,” he said.
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