Quote:
Fenlon annoyed at 'mind games'
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SEÁN RYAN
TALKING to Pat Fenlon, the Shelbourne manager, on the lessons learned from 12 European matches in the past 12 months, he referred to the way "we treat visiting teams like royalty, but we don't get the same treatment in those countries, and maybe that's something we have to look at."
This was interesting territory. Was he declaring a fatwa on future Champions League visitors to Dublin, or was he simply still sore at the abuse the Shelbourne bench and players received in Bucharest last Wednesday?
Trying to draw him out, he proved less forthcoming. This was a matter for the club officials, he was only responsible for the football. Still, he alluded to "the mind games they play in these countries, like buses not arriving on time and no proper air conditioning," and the need for players to be aware of what to expect.
Fenlon and Shelbourne have a right to be sore about the abuse they endured last Wednesday, and especially the racist taunts directed at Curtis Fleming and Joseph Ndo. One can only hope that UEFA's response will be suitably punitive - and prompt.
The Shelbourne manager was on more familiar ground when it came to discussing the footballing lessons learned from what was an engrossing tie in the Ghencea Stadium - and from the other eleven European games Shels participated in between 2004 and 2005.
"We have made progress, but watching them at close quarters and the ability of their (Steaua's) players, we're far from taking them on over two legs. Our game plan was working until the third goal went in. If we had been able to get Wes (Hoolahan) and Joseph (Ndo) on while the score was still 2-1, we would have been able to have a go.
"We're always learning, and the players worked so hard, that it makes the silly mistakes which led to the first three goals harder to take. They were better than us, but not that much better than us on Wednesday night.
"People said that the bigger pitch would suit them, but it suited us more because we were able to get players on the ball, which we hadn't been able to do in Tolka."
Asking him to list the lessons learned, Fenlon pinpointed five areas that are vital for success in European football.
1 "You must avoid giving away sloppy goals. If you make a mistake at this level they will punish you." In this respect, he added: "You hope the players involved will learn from their mistakes and move on."
2 "You must keep the ball better. If we were able to take them on, we would have had Wes and Joseph on from the start, but we couldn't afford to do that - the game would have been too open."
3 "You must have a game plan that works in Europe. We had and everything was done well, the preparations were spot on. We have honest players who stuck to the plan and they haven't been beaten at home in six games in Europe against very good sides - Hadjuk Split, Deportivo La Coruna, Lille and Steaua."
4 "You need a little bit of luck in the draw."
5 "We need to be a little more clever, wiser. In that respect, the third goal was a kick in the goolies, because the players were keeping their discipline and shape and were in a position to make for a very interesting finish."
Fenlon also made reference to the play-acting by the Steaua players, trying to get their Shelbourne counterparts into trouble. "Our players knew they would try this, and they even tried to put this out at the press conference before the match, saying we had roughed them up in Tolka, even though the yellow card count in that game was 4-2 against them."
The manager also took pleasure in the fact that his team managed what clubs like Valencia and Anderlecht had failed to achieve in recent years, i.e., score in Bucharest.
With Shels so far off the pace in the Eircom League, I wondered if their European exploits had been a distraction? "No, in fact Europe has been a help because we have started to play well." And he hasn't written off the League yet. "We're only half-way through the season, we have Drogheda, Cork and Bohs in the next three weeks, three big games.
"The gloves are off."
