Gerard Greene be warned – Ken Doherty is going to be in a really foul mood when he comes to Belfast next week.

With his beloved Dubs getting hammered by Tyrone in the All-Ireland Championship last weekend there’s a chance that he’s not going to be too enamoured with people from this part of the world.

It’s likely to a passing phase though for the likeable Doherty, the popular 1997 World Champion a frequent visitor to Belfast over the years, although he knows he will have his work cut out in the Northern Ireland Trophy.

Greene is based in Kent but the Belfast exile has a huge support from family and friends and that was certainly an inspiration for him in last season’s event where he reached the quarter-final only losing to Mark Allen.

If Doherty negotiates that hurdle then there is the small matter of facing a certain Mr. R. O’Sullivan in the second round, so it promises to be an eventful few days.

“It’s the first ranking tournament of the season, so everyone will be a bit rusty but I’m looking forward to it because it’s a good opportunity to get off the mark early,” he explained.

“If I win in the first round, then I have to play Ronnie O’Sullivan so that should be interesting, and that’s one I’ll certainly look forward to.”

Certainly after last year a rousing start is just what he needs and asked to sum up the 2007-08 season the man from the Liffey is typically honest.

“It was pretty crap to say the least,” he laughed.

“My ranking tournaments were pretty bad, and I was unlucky in the Masters when I lost 6-5 to Mark Selby in the semi-finals and in the final to Shaun Murphy in Malta, but the rest of the ranking tournaments were pretty crap.

“To be honest I ran into a lot of players who played really well against me.

“For instance the Chinese guy Liang Wenbo played brilliantly against me in the World Championships, so what do you do?

“I didn’t play to the standard that I’m capable of, so it’s my own fault and I have no cross to bear. I didn’t play well and I suffered because of it.”

But as Paul Caffrey leaves his job as coach of the Metropolitans it means a new era for Dublin GAA and a man who is no stranger to Hill 16 is ahead of the game in that regard.

He recognised that there were faults with his game and has ‘gone back to the drawing board’ to rectify them.

“To be honest it’s not for the lack of practice, whether I overdid it or not, I’m not quite sure but I can’t do the same this year as I did last year and expect results.

“It’s the first sign of madness when you keep doing the same things over and over again and aren’t getting anywhere, looking for different answers, so I’ll have to change and do something different and see what happens.

“I have to go back to the drawing board and work at something different with my game to try and compete with these guys because I’m not getting ay younger.

“There are a lot of guys breaking through and it’s getting tougher and tougher. It’s very easy to slide down if you throw in the towel, but I’m not one for doing that, I never was and I never will be.

“It’s a game I love and I’m just going to keep playing it as long as I can and keep enjoying it, that’s the main thing. I love the challenge, that’s why being out of the top 16 I know it’s going to be difficult but it’s a challenge.

“Other players have come out of it and gone back but if the likes of Dominic Dale and Marco Fu can win titles from outside the top 16, then so can I.”

So, Gerard, Ronnie at al you have been warned, here’s a Dub who’s up for a fight.

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