Life at Waterford FC has begun for Ian Morris.
The former Shel's boss took up the mantle at the RSC - and fingers crossed for Blues fans - he will be the man to lead them back to the top table of the Premier Division.
Morris comes to the table with experience of challenges like this, having gained promotion with Shel's on no less than two occasions; albeit with the caveat of a bitter pill to swallow when they were relegated in between those promotion years.
The squad has been slowly building for the Blues with several key players signed on for the next 12 months - Phoenix Patterson, Brian Murphy, Niall O Keefe, Junior Quitirna, and Shane Griffin to name a few. Morris has confirmed that more signings can be expected in the coming days, but for the moment he remains tight-lipped on potential contracts.
"Obviously getting the team, the squad, and staff assembled over the Christmas period, it was a hectic time for me taking the job to getting into January 3rd which was when we started our first day of training. It's been good to have the lads in, the staff have been excellent. And the players have come back in good condition. So it's been a really positive two weeks, we just finished the end of week two this morning [Saturday 15th] so it's been really good."
Having had some time to get his bearings in Waterford, Morris seems to have settled in well.
"Yeah, it's been brilliant, I have to say everything from the people around the place. Even down the city when you're walking around, it's fantastic. People are welcoming. There's that bit of excitement building as well. So that was really impressive. It was really nice as well for me going in as the new manager to get that straight off the bat. So I'm really impressed with that."
While the incoming and returning players have been the point of focus for fans these past two weeks, the more recent revelation is that the backroom team has been set with David Breen and Gary Hunt returning to the senior setup.
"It's good that they know the lay of the land, they know the town, they know the club, they know everything that's down around the area. So that's good to have that knowledge for yourself. They both offer different pieces of a puzzle so to speak that that makes up the staff. That complements as well with Dirk's [Heinan] experience and knowledge."
We sit down every morning and we speak about what we're going to do. We're constantly around each other, constantly chatting about how to improve ourselves and how to improve the team. So it really has slipped in nicely. And everyone's slotted in and quickly.
While the "management" side of the gig has been taken care of to an extent, attention now turns to more pressing matters for Morris. The club are playing in a division that most would agree they shouldn't be in. A poor run to the finish line last season cost them dearly and off-field issues between the owner and the then-manager Marc Bircham added fuel to that fire which the players could have done without. For 2022, Morris has a very simple and clear goal in mind.
"Get up. Simple as that."
"We want to win the league and want to get promoted. That's the objective. I won't beat around the bushes on it. That's what we're going to try and do. That's the squad we're trying to assemble. That's the staff's vision. That's the player's vision. We've already spoken about it and it's full steam ahead. We're putting together a squad that hopefully can compete and kick on then in the Premier Division. That's that's what we have to aim for."
"Simple as that" - hard to know if it will be all that simple with such stiff competition in the first division this year, but the ambition is admirable, and hopefully it will be something he can achieve.
