By Andrew Rogers

Paul, when you came over from Ireland did you expect to one day be working on a US National Team program?

No, didn’t expect it. I recently moved to Texas, and in transition I went kayaking.  I flipped a kayak, my phone got soaked, I lost all my numbers and I had to rely upon people calling me but I didn’t get a new phone straight away.

(United States Under-17 men's national team head coach Wilmer) Cabrera tried to reach me and didn’t understand why I wasn’t calling him back and then I finally got a phone. I called to congratulate and he was like, I’ve been looking for you, I want you to come down here and work with me.  It’s an exciting opportunity.

Will you be renewing your training ground duals? You had a number of great battles as players on the training ground.

Ha! There were some much better football players than me, only except for intensity and concentration aspects maybe that is why Wilmer is bringing me.

You had a good record as a Irish youth international, at Bohemians, and experience in the Cup Winner’s Cup and Uefa Cup….

Well, I think my experience with the national team was fairly brief because it was the U 17 program, but I was part of a program which I feel had enough experiences which I can relate to players of the same age.  We were the first Irish team to beat England on a National Level, so that was an achievement. 

You played in the Uefa Cup as well?

Yeah, when Howard Kendall had the Everton team, we played them in a home and away leg, we tied 0-0 in Dublin and lost 1-0 at Goodison and I actually hit the bar, in the final minutes, it would have taken us through on away goals.

Were you a Gaelic footballer?

I played, but I wouldn’t call myself a Gaelic footballer, but it used to bore me a little bit. 

Part of your philosophy on soccer is very much in line with MLS and the development of street players.  As a youngster did you play with tennis balls and coal?

My philosophy is let the kids play, if you can find the better players just let them play together, solving problems is what it is all about.  When you put them in an environment where they are challenged on a daily basis with the best players in the country and are forced to solve problems they can’t help but to get better.

I have seen some great coaching and I have seen some over coaching, when you think about it great footballers do grow up on the street. When I started out if we didn’t have a ball we used a tennis ball, if we didn’t have a tennis ball we squashed a coke can, we were always kicking something around so we were forced to solve different problems, and that ultimately made a lot of guys the players that they are.

You have worked with U17 MNT players before such as Matthew Uy.

I have known Matt, but not on a personal level, he was on my team when I did ODP and State, Matt was also in the regional team, so I have seen him come up from when he was 10, he always stood out and being a leftie myself you appreciate that sort of player. 

He was always head and shoulders above the rest and he always had the talent where I felt that he could perform at that level, and it was just a matter of getting him into the right games and the right situations and seeing how he developed. He has slowly but surely brought himself up to a level where playing on a professional level is a reality for him.

What are your thoughts on the Irish League, a lot of players such as Shane Long and Kevin Doyle used it as a stepping stone to Europe’s bigger leagues’ can it work for US players?

At this point it could be an option if maybe as a stepping stone, because of the scouts who are over there.  There are some players on Reading’s first team squad from Ireland, so it could be an option if the intention was not to go to England straight away.  Obviously England is a bigger carrot because of the financial rewards that you get when you go. 

Even Jimmy Rooney went back to Ireland to play for Shelburne for a couple of years, so there could be a possibility of a scout seeing you there who might not see you over here, but being in the residency program I would find it hard that you would not be on the map already.