21 December 2015, 11am
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Alan Bennett, who put pen to paper on a two-year deal, told CorkCityFC.ie that he can’t wait for pre-season to start: “I’m very happy. I really enjoyed last year and I am really looking forward to next season. I’ve said loads of times how much the club means to me; that’s probably the basis of my decision and also dealing with John and what he has got planned for the year ahead. Once I spoke to John, I felt like I wanted to be part of it.”
“When I came in last year, I said I wanted us to do something good and we did, but next year I want to go a step further and win something. It’s up to the younger lads now to step up, push us those next few steps that we need to go and drive this club forward into the next few years.”
“You don’t want to look too far ahead. At the moment, it’s about staying fit, working on things physically and then going into pre-season. The sooner the games start, the better! I have really enjoyed the time off, but it’s not too long before you are itching to get back training so I am really looking forward to the season ahead and to getting pre-season underway as quickly as possible.”
City boss John Caulfield praised Bennett’s positive influence on the younger members of the squad, saying: “Alan has been instrumental since he came back. He is an absolutely fantastic guy to have, he was man of the match in the cup final and he is phenomenal around the place. I’m delighted to have him back because, not only is he a leader on the pitch, but around the training ground as well.”
“We have made a lot of changes in personnel; obviously we have kept the majority of our young players, but you need a few wise heads around the place too, and Benno was a no-brainer for me. He really wants to push the team on next year; he feels we are very close, which we all do, and he knows with the work we are doing in the close-season that we are making sure we will be better next year.”
“He’s an incredible player, a warrior, and he gets himself right for every game. We’ve had a great chat and he is buzzing to get started. You can’t beat it when people have that hunger when they are coming to the end of their career and it rubs off on the younger players.”
