Quotevery good article on foster.cant wait to read our report on why Gareth Cronin quit.. It should be out soon!
www.galwaynews.ie
Midfielder O’Brien says club must move on as
McGee and French become early front-runners
BY KEITH KELLY
As the dust settles on the sudden departure of Ian Foster as manager of Galway United on Friday, it is emerging that things were not as rosy as many believed during his short tenure at the club. Foster is being lauded by the majority of United fans for steering the club clear of relegation in the season just ended with a young and inexperienced squad and an almost non-existent budget, but while it appears he will be missed by the majority on the terraces, it seems the dressing room is a different matter. United players confirmed yesterday to Sentinel Sport that relations between Foster and his squad were fractious for a large part of the season, with one player claiming the manager had “lost the dressingroom” during the Summer, a claim backed up by another player.
Foster is believed to have had heated arguments at different times with a number of the more senior players in the squad, and while the players contacted yesterday did not want to go into detail, it is believed that Foster’s tactics were one of the main causes of friction between him and the players. “There were massive arguments with what I would call certain key players, and yes, I think it is fair to say he did lose the dressingroom during the season. That said, he did keep us up, so you have to hand it to him, but relations weren’t good with him,” said one player yesterday.
Another player confirmed the allegations about serious arguments, but said that “what’s done is done, we’re not going to dwell on it, and we have to look to the future and get the right manager in at the club”. One player who did speak on the record was Derek O’Brien, and he said that while he was surprised that Foster left the club, he thinks it was the wrong decision. “United took a chance on him, he came here as a physio, he wasn’t an assistant manager, he was Jeff Kenna’s friend. He became an assistant to Jeff, and then got the manager’s job, United gave him his chance and I think he owed it to the club to at least see out his contract,” O’Brien said.
When asked what impact Foster’s departure would have on the club, O’Brien preferred to focus on the positives, saying the club moved on following the departure of Kenna, and would do so again. “It will be difficult in terms of continuity, and in a way he will be missed – he got the results and it is all about results, so there is that. That said, we moved on without Jeff, and we’ll do the same after Ian,” he said.
O’Brien said Foster’s departure would not mean a lot to players in terms of contracts – all of United’s players from the 2009 season are out of contract – as he said that while players have to wait for a new manager to be appointed before contract negotiations can open with any of them, it would have been the same if Foster was still in place. “If he was still here, we’d be waiting until the new year anyway until a budget was sorted out and we were approached with contracts, so in that sense it doesn’t make much difference,” said O’Brien.
The majority of the players Sentinel Sport spoke to said their preference for manager would be someone based in Galway as they would know the workings at United, as well as being aware of the talent out there on the local junior scene. One person who is flagging his credentials in this area is United legend and former Irish international Paul ‘Ski’ McGee, one of the two people who confirmed their interest in the job when contacted by Sentinel Sport yesterday.
McGee – who had a spell as player/manager of the club from August 1989 to April 1990 and is United’s all-time top scorer with 97 goals (74 in the league, 18 in the League Cup, one in both the UEFA Cup and FAI Cup, and three in the now defunct First Division Shield) – said his role in the FAI U21 win with Salthill Devon a couple of seasons ago is proof of his established links with the local soccer scene. “If Galway United want a winner, they should look my way. Of course I would be interested in the job at United, as they are a Premier Division club looking to go in the right direction.
“I am living locally and I am very proud of what I achieved as a player with United, as well as a manager [in 1989/90 when United finished eighth in the 12-team Premier Division, a comfortable 11 points clear of relegation]. I have the experience having managed Limerick, as well as United, and as assistant at Cork City. I haven’t been approached, but I will be applying for the job,” said McGee, who won 16 caps for the Republic of Ireland, scoring four goals in that time. Another confirmed applicant for the position is Tom French, who was Foster’s assistant in the 2009 season. French is believed to be very popular in the United dressing room, and sees the job as manager as a natural progression in his career.
“I joined the club as trainer [under Tony Cousins] and was assistant manager last year, so I think it is a natural progression for me. If I wasn’t to apply, I would see it as a desire not to move on, and that is not the case, so yes, I will be putting my name forward,” he said. McGee and French were two of a number of potential candidates contacted by Sentinel Sport yesterday, and they were very much the exception to the rule as the majority of the rest all ruled themselves out of the equation.
Former managers Stephen Lally and Jim Noone said they had no interest in returning to the post, while Mervue United manager Johnny Glynn and his assistant Mark Herrick – both highly regarded former players who guided Mervue through their first season as a League of Ireland outfit – also ruled themselves out of a run for the United job.
“I am in discussions with Mervue United about next season, about the need to strengthen the squad and questioning what we have learned from this season. The club needs to look at the long term, it lost a lot of money this year despite the fact not one player got paid, so there is a lot to think about and work on,” he said. Glynn and Herrick both comfortably fit into the ‘legend’ bracket when it comes to United, as does Derek Rogers, but he has also ruled himself out of the running, preferring instead to concentrate on his work with NUI Galway’s football set-up. Efforts to contact Billy Clery – who stepped in as caretaker for four games between the sacking of Tony Cousins and the appointment of Jeff Kenna in April 2008 – were unsuccessful.
Attempts were also made to contact another former United manager, Tony Mannion, but he was travelling to Holland as part of his job with the FAI as a Coach Educator, which involves delivering coaching courses for aspiring coaches and managers.
Given his position with the FAI, he would be prohibited from commenting on the vacancy at United, but it is thought he would be reluctant to return for what would be a fourth spell as United manager, having served in the role from September 1985 to April 1988; January 1992 to November 1995, and from October 2001 to January 2005. One ‘outside’ name that is popping up is Mike Kerley, the former manager of Limerick. United advertised the position last night, with a deadline of Monday December 21, after which suitable candidates will be interviewed, with an appointment to be made in early 2010.
Last edited by A face; 10/12/2009 at 8:21 PM. Reason: Paragraphs
Nobody knows us, we don't care
very good article on foster.cant wait to read our report on why Gareth Cronin quit.. It should be out soon!
Gary Cronin is he the right man to manage Longford Town?
There was no need to start a new thread on this as it was all brought up in the "new Dundalk manager" thread!
Also the "Ian Foster lost the dressing room" thread title, and your subheading are somewhat misleading, as O'Brien says he's sorry to see Foster leave and he's the one player willing to speak on record.
I said it before and I'll say it again. Its the training ground that Galway lost not the dressing room.
On a saparate matter its in today's paper it says Drogheda United owes its players money. I would have expected Celdrog to have given us the low down by now as he's always very quick to highlight problems at other clubs.
Last edited by SMorgan; 10/12/2009 at 8:31 PM.
Neale Fenn on retiring: 'I think once you finish you might as well finish rather than making all sorts of comebacks.'
The club had offered the players a bonus if they avoid relegation , the players refused it then changed there minds .The club were in talks with the players and the matter has been resolved .You happy now
Have you any idea why the players refused this bonus offer in the first place?Originally Posted by ndrog
The club had offered the players a bonus if they avoid relegation , the players refused it then changed there minds .The club were in talks with the players and the matter has been resolved .You happy now
What paper is that?
It was offered mid season as some sort of incentive and the players didnt feel they deserved it .They changed there minds when they acheived the goal of staying up .
Thats abit scabby to say the least.
That would make it a 'non-runner' of a story then if its something the players refused. Surely if it was refused then thats the players loss and they cannot start looking for it now. Its not money owed.
I would have thought Drogheda was one place unlikely to be in a position to offer incentives but that said I can't imagine how players would even consider refusing it. Its very commendable of them if indeed they did state 'they didn't feel they deserved it'.
Anyhow thats slightly off topic on Foster. If indeed he lost the dressing room in the summer then he did really really well to not only move then clear of relegation but to finish so strongly.
Typical back-stabbing whenever a manager leaves, probably quite the opposite, I thought Ian Foster was one of the better things that happen in the LOI last season, considering the bereavement in his family IMO he did a very good job keeping Galway in Premier league for 2010.
I am sure majority of players and staff were behind Ian as were the fans.
Thats precisely what I thought as well as severl others. It really just sounds like sour grapes from the Galway board cause O'Brien is the only name mentioned and is actually saying Foster did a decent job.
Pardon? We won one of our last 6 games and finished in the relegation spot, only for the shenanigans in Derry to save us. Hardly a strong finish in anyone's book. His stats are that we won 12 out of 36 games in the 2009 season, a return of 33% - hardly brilliant, I think most will agree.
I think there were times he had us playing the best football we've played in a number of years, but people forget the God-awful tactis of playing one up front against fellow strugglers, the 5-0 tonking by Bohs and the 4-0 hammering by Drogheda, a formation without any wingers leaving us horribly exposed out wide. We also finished with the worst defensive record in the league.
"Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins."
"Homer Simpson, smiling politely."
Thanks very much for the compliment but I wasn't aware of it.
What paper was is in?
If Foster did lose the dressing room was that the time when Galway went into freefall?
Hunky Dorys Park - could be worse, we could be going to Old Trafford every other week
Oops I didn't realise the seasons end was so dramatic. I didn't catch much of the friday night action in the last third of the season but seem to recall Galway Utd having something of a resurgence under Foster.
Foster is a dope. After one poor game last season, he called the players in 1 by 1 to talk to them after training. At the end of the talk, he told each one to put their hand out, and then he smudged a red mark onto theirs hands with a big fat permanent marker. It was supposed to be some psychological trick but most of the players thought it was ridiculous. No wonder he lost the dressingroom later in the season ...
bhs
What are you going on about!
We did quite well during the middle third of the season and we were hovering just around or below mid-table for a fair chunk of the campaign but finished poorly and ended up in the play-off positions on the last day. The calamity in Derry saved us from a potential play-off encounter against Drogheda who only a couple weeks earlier had stuffed us 4-0 so that was hardly a gimme. And to be honest either ourselves or Drogheda would probably have had our hands full with Fingal so it certainly wasn't beyond the realms of possibility that only for the meltdown in Derry we could have easily gone down.
United did play some good stuff under Foster and scored goals but that was offset by having the worst defensive record in the league.
Last edited by Maroon 7; 11/12/2009 at 3:00 PM.
Ye would of had home advantage if Derry didnt go belly up in that relegation playoff so whos to say ye wouldnt have beaten them on your patch!
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