JOSH HONOHAN savoured “one of the best feelings I’ve had in my career” and was circumspect on exit rumours following Shamrock Rovers’ FAI Cup final victory on Sunday.
The 2-0 win over Cork City, Honohan’s former team, is expected to be the last time the wing-back lines out for the Hoops domestically, as the player has been heavily linked with a move to League One outfit Lincoln City.
Following the cup final, when it was put to Honohan that it was probably his last game for Rovers in a domestic competition, he responded: “Yeah, look, I’m not sure. We’ll see what the future holds. I don’t think anyone knows. I think football is that kind of sport where it can change so quickly. I’m just buzzing to get over the line today.”
When pressed on whether he wanted to challenge himself abroad, the 24-year-old added: “I’ve always said since I’ve come here, since I kicked the ball here, I want to become the best player that I can be, and that’s always my goal. Football is an unpredictable game. We just have to see what the story is.”
While there is ambiguity on the question of where Honohan will be playing next year, the Corkonian will definitely not be lining out for Ireland in this month’s World Cup qualifiers.
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Despite the unavailability of several alternative options at left-back, Honohan was omitted from the squad announced last week, with another uncapped player, New York City FC’s Kevin O’Toole, selected instead.
The Rovers star’s absence from the 25-man panel, however, is the result of his injury problems rather than any issue national team manager Heimir Hallgrímsson has with his ability or form.
“I’ve been struggling with this for probably the last two or three months, and it’s just kind of the case of just kind of managing it,” he said.
“It’s just one of those things; it’s obviously frustrating. You never want to be injured, but it was kind of just the case of trying to give myself the best chance of [playing in the FAI Cup final]. I think Heimir has been brilliant with that, obviously. I’m struggling and he knows that, so obviously he’s got a great squad of players to pick from and that’s what he’s done.”
Asked to elaborate on the nature of the injury, Honohan added: “It’s just a bit of a knock. I’ve had it for a while. It’s just a case of managing it, and that’s why I wasn’t involved on Thursday [against AEK Athens] and just trying to get as well as I can for today. Is there a bit of pain? Look, we have a really good medical team here, they’ve taken good care of me with this, and helped me get through it.”
During Sunday’s game, the Rovers star was also on the receiving end of a nasty-looking challenge that resulted in the dismissal of Cork City’s Harry Nevin.
But Honohan refused to condemn the 21-year-old for his poor tackle.
“Look, he’s caught me high. I wouldn’t know him personally, but I know a bit of him, and I know enough that it’s not malicious or that he hasn’t gone out to hurt me. I think he’s just mistimed it. He’s just caught me under the shin guard, and he hasn’t done it on purpose.”
Stephen Bradley’s men now have a long break before their next competitive match — a Uefa Conference League tie against Shakhtar Donetsk in Tallaght on 27 November.
“I’ll be coming back to Cork for a couple of days and just relaxing and, to be honest, just looking forward to just forgetting about football altogether,” said Honohan.
“I might try and catch a bit of sun because the weather hasn’t been great here recently. So we’ve a couple of days off and we’re back in then and the attention will return to Shakhtar. We’ve another three big games left to go [in the Conference League].”
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Josh Honohan responds to Shamrock Rovers exit rumours
JOSH HONOHAN savoured “one of the best feelings I’ve had in my career” and was circumspect on exit rumours following Shamrock Rovers’ FAI Cup final victory on Sunday.
The 2-0 win over Cork City, Honohan’s former team, is expected to be the last time the wing-back lines out for the Hoops domestically, as the player has been heavily linked with a move to League One outfit Lincoln City.
Following the cup final, when it was put to Honohan that it was probably his last game for Rovers in a domestic competition, he responded: “Yeah, look, I’m not sure. We’ll see what the future holds. I don’t think anyone knows. I think football is that kind of sport where it can change so quickly. I’m just buzzing to get over the line today.”
When pressed on whether he wanted to challenge himself abroad, the 24-year-old added: “I’ve always said since I’ve come here, since I kicked the ball here, I want to become the best player that I can be, and that’s always my goal. Football is an unpredictable game. We just have to see what the story is.”
While there is ambiguity on the question of where Honohan will be playing next year, the Corkonian will definitely not be lining out for Ireland in this month’s World Cup qualifiers.
Despite the unavailability of several alternative options at left-back, Honohan was omitted from the squad announced last week, with another uncapped player, New York City FC’s Kevin O’Toole, selected instead.
The Rovers star’s absence from the 25-man panel, however, is the result of his injury problems rather than any issue national team manager Heimir Hallgrímsson has with his ability or form.
“I’ve been struggling with this for probably the last two or three months, and it’s just kind of the case of just kind of managing it,” he said.
“It’s just one of those things; it’s obviously frustrating. You never want to be injured, but it was kind of just the case of trying to give myself the best chance of [playing in the FAI Cup final]. I think Heimir has been brilliant with that, obviously. I’m struggling and he knows that, so obviously he’s got a great squad of players to pick from and that’s what he’s done.”
Asked to elaborate on the nature of the injury, Honohan added: “It’s just a bit of a knock. I’ve had it for a while. It’s just a case of managing it, and that’s why I wasn’t involved on Thursday [against AEK Athens] and just trying to get as well as I can for today. Is there a bit of pain? Look, we have a really good medical team here, they’ve taken good care of me with this, and helped me get through it.”
During Sunday’s game, the Rovers star was also on the receiving end of a nasty-looking challenge that resulted in the dismissal of Cork City’s Harry Nevin.
But Honohan refused to condemn the 21-year-old for his poor tackle.
“Look, he’s caught me high. I wouldn’t know him personally, but I know a bit of him, and I know enough that it’s not malicious or that he hasn’t gone out to hurt me. I think he’s just mistimed it. He’s just caught me under the shin guard, and he hasn’t done it on purpose.”
Stephen Bradley’s men now have a long break before their next competitive match — a Uefa Conference League tie against Shakhtar Donetsk in Tallaght on 27 November.
“I’ll be coming back to Cork for a couple of days and just relaxing and, to be honest, just looking forward to just forgetting about football altogether,” said Honohan.
“I might try and catch a bit of sun because the weather hasn’t been great here recently. So we’ve a couple of days off and we’re back in then and the attention will return to Shakhtar. We’ve another three big games left to go [in the Conference League].”
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