Out of contract Ronan Coughlan in no rush to decide next move

It may have been his coolly taken penalty that ultimately earned Waterford their place back in the top tier of Irish football, but Ronan Coughlan refuses to take all the credit.

Instead, the man who’s calmly converted spot kick deep into extra time decided the promotion/ relegation playoff against his former club Cork City would rather heap praise on the Blues’ coaching staff, in particular manager Keith Long and his assistant Alan Reynolds, who joined the club at the end of March and beginning of April respectively.

“We were blessed to have the two lads come in,” said Coughlan, who was named the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month for November.

“The pedigree the two of them had, playing in the Premier for so many years against Keith's Bohs and played against Rennie when he was at Waterford and when he was assistant at Derry, I know how highly rated he was at Derry.

“Having known some of the players up there, when he had gone, they felt there was a massive vacancy. You learn so much from the two lads; things that stick with you if I am going to onto coach or manage.

“I'm only 27, it's a good bit away now but definitely they had such an impact, in different ways interestingly enough.

“Rennie, from Waterford, he has that connection with the fans and that brought us together as a group.

“And then Keith, quote unquote being an outsider, his vast experience and how well he had done at Bohs, guiding them to the cup final and guiding them to title races when they shouldn't really have had a shout with that - and the player development he has done.

“They had a huge impact on the club and ultimately got us promoted. I'm very grateful to the two of them for what they have done for myself and ultimately the