Cork City manager John Caulfield has admitted he would have liked to opportunity to have managed the late Ryan McBride but knew he wouldn’t be tempted away from his beloved Derry City. The Candystripes captain sadly passed away on Sunday evening an
Cork City manager John Caulfield has admitted he would have liked to opportunity to have managed the late Ryan McBride but knew he wouldn’t be tempted away from his beloved Derry City.
The Candystripes captain sadly passed away on Sunday evening and speaking to reporters ahead of his sides League clash against Dundalk on Saturday afternoon, the City boss paid tribute to the centre back.
“I think he was a player every manager in this league would want but he was born in the Brandywell and was a Derry lad,” said Caulfield.
“It’s no different I suppose to the likes of the (Mark) McNultys and the Bennos (Alan Bennett) down here, whilst a lot of people may want them you couldn’t see them go up the country and playing somewhere else.
“Certainly if I thought I could have got him down here then I would have gladly taken him but his roots were there and he always wanted to play there.
“It’s a difficult situation particularly the type of player he was, he was their captain, a lot of the team were looking up to him you can only put it into context if it happens at your own club, it would be devastating.”
“We’re all stone mad about the football and we think it means everything but it’s all about this. There’s a lot more out there and I suppose the older you get you realise that you just look at his age and it’s just a tragedy.”
The Leesiders were often on the receiving end of a typical McBride towering header, none bigger than his goal in the 2015 FAI Cup Quarter final at his home stadium.
And Caulfield admitted that whenever the sides met, his players were warned about the talent of the 27 year old.
“He was everything good about the game, he was just a really hard centre back,” enthused the former Cork forward.
“He was really tough, in the modern era when you have a lot of people who are faking and diving all over the place, he was strong, aggressive, everything that any manger would want in a centre back.
“He was very strong in the air, attacked the ball brilliantly and got a lot of goals from set pieces, he would have been the key guy that we would always have identified from the Derry set pieces.
“He’s the guy you must stop, he’s there number one guy to pick up because he’s so dangerous from sets but overall he had massive leadership and was a good footballer.
“I think people could see he was a no nonsense, no messing player and the type of guy everyone would want in their team and that’s the biggest compliment you could pay him, there’s not many you could say that about.”
