This season he feels his squad is good enough to go up at the first time of asking. The additions he has made have been in key areas, a new goalkeeper in Alan Young from Bray Wanderers and Harps stalwart Jonathan Minnock who had a twelve-month sabbatical at Shelbourne. Young started out last season as Pat Devlin's number one but got injured after fifteen games. Devlin then signed an English goalkeeper on a three-year contract and found himself out of the first team. He is engaged to a Derry girl and has come to live in the Northwest.

Jonathan states that this is a key factor he takes in to account when looking to sign a player. If the player he is looking at is no better than a Northwest based player, he will sign the local man every time. It is simply because the player can train regularly with his team mates getting involved in set pieces and knowing what is required of him.

He does point out that his squad is a little short on strength in depth, but at the time of writing he qualified that by saying he was still talking to a couple of players with a view to bringing them in for the season. He also highlighted two young players who had the potential to become Senior players this season namely Ronan Coyle. who is returning to the club and Gary Crossan, who was with the under 21 squad last season.

He further continues that although automatic promotion is the aim, that Harps must be wary not to follow the likes of Athlone. Two season ago the Midlanders were in the promotion/relegation play-off and last season they had a miserable time and finished third bottom in the ten-man league. This season, with the expansion to twelve teams he acknowledges how difficult it is going to be to go one better, with more quality teams and anyone of helf a dozen sides capable of gaining promotion.

he does say, "Last season we were caught cold, we didn t know what to expect of the first division, we didn t know the teams and we didn't know the Division. It wasn' t until Neil Fitzhenry moved into midfield and plugged the gap. that we really began to compete." He also points to the signing of Declan Boyle as a turning point saying "He did a good job when he came in and the defence were a more solid unit as a result." He also paid tribute to "the immense contnbution made by Kevin McHugh" following up with "Kevin scored thirty one goals but with the chances created he could have had fifty. Any team that creates that many chances will have no problem scoring goals. Anybody who came regularly to Finn Park last season certainly got value for money last season."

Speak being a master striker himself was in an ideal man to comment on the Killea man "Kevin will score goals again this season, his movement off the ball improved greatly last season and he won't be beaten for pace by any central defender. All he needs is a good start to the season. If he can bang in a few early on in the season it will get his confidence up." Confidence he feels is the key to not only being a striker but also a good player, "Confidence is what it is all about from the goalkeeper to the defenders, through the midfield to the forwards."

When asked to comment whether or not he would be Kevin's strike partner he laughs, "Who knows? I have just finished pre-season training for the nineteenth time and will certainly look at playing." Harps have a number of regulars missing through suspension for the first couple of games of the new season at the moment playing himself is one of a number of options that he is considering When asked whether or not he could See himself doing a job as sweeper he again chuckles replying, "I always seem to end up playing in defence in training and am always kidding the lads that it is the easiest position that I have ever played in."

When asked about the switch to summer soccer he says he is sceptical, pointing out that the game will lose the atmosphere that playing under lights at night generates. He also makes a valid argument that the game will become a young man's game. "Pitches are going to be like concrete at the height of the season, how many men over the age of thirty are going to be able to sustain two games a week together with training on the hard surfaces without getting injured?" Also this season people are going to finish in January in the National League, what is to stop them signing for a club in the North to finish out the season. He then adds the kicker, that at least it shows people were willing to change things and that he is willing to give it a shot.

Moving along he singles out the current Harps board for praise, pointing out that they have not reduced his budget for the forthcoming season, enabling him to resign the bulk of the squad and also to bring in a couple of new faces. He also adds that although he has been involved in the negotiations with players, the board take over when it comes down to money issues and this has left him concentrating on the playing side of things.

When asked if money was no object and he could sign anybody in Ireland for Finn Park, he plumped for Peter Hutton of Deny City saying "Not only is he a Northwest player, his leadership qualities would go a long way towards winning League's and Cups."