Big managerial appointment for Robesiders

Last Wednesday night Ballinrobe Town announced that renowned football coach Xavi Vazquez had been appointed manager of their Super League side, replacing Pat O’Sullivan - who led the Red and White on a magical journey over the last three seasons.

Xavi Vazquez is an eye-catching appointment by the Robesiders and no doubt it will be intriguing to see how they fare in the top tier of Mayo football during the 2024 season.

Vazquez is originally from Spain, but has lived and coached in Galway since 2018 and is the founder and head coach of XVAcademy. He started his journey as a coach in 2005 in Spain and has been coaching since then.

The Spanish native has coached all age groups, from U14s through to U19s and has also coached in the Galway United Academy at U13 level, and then two seasons as their U14 manager. Over the last five years Xavi has worked with a host of different football clubs around Galway, which includes Knocknacarra, Craughwell United, Galway Bohemians and Barna Furbo to name but a few.

Perhaps one of Xavi’s greatest ever achievement’s came in 2021 when he lead the Galway United U14 boys team to National League glory when they defeated Shamrock Rovers 2-0 in the final. The following season the Galway United U14’s were runners-up after being defeated 1-0 in the National Cup final against Shamrock Rovers.

The Catalonian also gleaned invaluable experience in high performance football academies in his native Spain where he was Head Coach in the academy year and the summer camps. In these aforementioned academies, Xavi coached top quality players from some of the best and famous clubs in Catalonia, including Barcelona, RCD Espanyol and Girona.

To finish with his football experience, he has done two football camps in Anantapur, India with the NGO Foundation Vicente Ferrer and his home club, CF Santvicentí, as a head coach. The camps in India in 2014 and 2015 were an experience that will stick with him for ever more.

Xavi met his new squad of players for the first time on Wednesday night last in the Tacú Centre, Ballinrobe, and afterwards the Western People got the views and ambitions of the man who will lead the Robesiders into top flight of Mayo football in 2024.

As to why he took on the role, Vasquez said: “I was interested in the job because of the desire, mentality, progressive mind-set, and the motivation of the people I met from the club. They have the same ideas as me and it is very important when you are working in a club that you are really wanted there. It gives me 100 per-cent motivation to take this challenge. The decision was very easy for me, and I am 100 per cent sure that I’m personally in the best place at this time” Xavi was full of positive vibes after meeting his new squad of players for the first time.

“If I could start tomorrow then I would do it. The players are excited as I am, and we think that we can do a good job this season together.

“We will work really hard starting from the first training session and try to start this project” What will the Catalonian bring to the club and will Ballinrobe’s style of play change?

“The first thing that I will bring is my 100 per-cent hard work and commitment and I will respect the values of the club. I will also bring the 20 years of experience that I have gained through my coaching career.

“My style of play will depend on the players that we have, but at the same time I want to see the same values that I have seen in my teams over the years. A team that is brave, not afraid to make mistakes, to score as many goals as possible, and we will try to be this type of team and a team that the club and supporters can be proud of”.

Xavi has a proven track record over the years, and he explained his background in the game, with a National title victory for the Galway United U14 boys team a special highlight for him.

“I am from a little town beside Barcelona and I coached there for 14 years before coming to Ireland. In Ireland I have coached in different schoolboy clubs in Galway, and two seasons as a manager with the U14 Galway United team.

“Everything is easier when you have very good players, and I was very lucky to have been involved with that team (Galway United) who won a National title. It was absolutely unbelievable and it is something that will remain with me forever”.

“I have coached in Galway Bohemians, Barna Furbo and many other clubs in Galway as that was part of the programme with the Galway United academy that I was coaching in the community”.

Having coached in Galway for a number of years, will Vazquez recruit players from that region?

“The first thing that I have to do is look at the players we have and see where we are. Just because I live in Galway doesn’t mean that I will be signing players from Galway. If we need players and I know players than can match the profile that we need, then of course, I will put all of my resources there to work for the club. But I think that it is very important at the moment to look at the players we have, as those players got promoted to the Super League and they deserve to be in the squad if they want, and then we will see what type of player that we need”.

Vazquez is already planning for next season in earnest and explained that he will try to find out as much information as possible regarding Ballinrobe Town’s opposition. He will also be finalising his backroom team over the coming weeks.

“This is one of the things that I have to work a little bit harder at, as due to my commitments in Galway I couldn’t watch that much local football. Even when I was coaching Galway United – they were my main concern and it was only National League football that I was watching. Now it is part of my job and responsibility to know everybody in the Mayo League and to know the teams and their players and to get as much information as possible for the upcoming season”.

“I have not finalised my backroom team yet. We have a bit of time, and we will have meetings over the coming weeks to sort out the various backroom team roles and who will fill them”.

He added: “At this moment it is difficult for me to set targets as I don’t know the standard of the other teams yet. I more or less know where we are, and the target is the same as the club – to try and remain in the Super League for the 2025 season. If we can have a better season then we won’t say no”.

“We are going to try and win every game that we play and if we don’t win then we will learn from it and be closer to winning the following match. We will try to be as competitive as possible and try to be that team that no one wants to play against”.

As to what Ballinrobe supporters can expect next season, Vasquez offered: “If you ask me now, they can expect a happy team, a team that is brave, will try to score as many goals as possible, that will be committed with the objective of the team and that they will be an example to the rest of the teams at Ballinrobe Town.

“But, as we know football is that beautiful sport that if you don’t score that goal, you don’t play well. What we will try and do is play the best football that we can play, and that supporters can go home being proud of the team and if we can get results playing like this then that is even better”.

Home form at The Green could be crucial for Ballinrobe next season and Vazquez concluded by saying his team will be brave next season.

“We want teams to have big concerns about playing against us, and that we are an uncomfortable team to play against. If we can achieve this then we will be going in the right direction.

We want to work on how we want to play, and try to be the team that we want to be.

“After meeting the players tonight I am convinced that the team will be that brave team that I would like to coach”.