I hope cork win over the two legs and it takes their mind off the league :pQuote:
Richardson on the attack
Emmet Malone in Stockholm
Uefa Cup qualifying round, first leg/Djurgardens v Cork City, Rasunda Stadium, Kick-off: 6.0: As his players passed the afternoon touring the archipelago on which Stockholm is located by boat, Damien Richardson launched a somewhat unexpected broadside on the FAI and its technical department in the Swedish capital yesterday with the Cork City manager criticising the lack of support his and other Eircom League sides have received in their attempts to make progress on the European front.
At this final press conference before this evening's Uefa Cup second qualifying round game against Djurgardens, Richardson bemoaned the absence of significant support from the association for clubs competing in Europe and said he had been disappointed that the situation hadn't changed to any great extent as a result of Brian Kerr's growing influence in Merrion Square.
"I was one of those who fully backed Brian coming in," said Richardson. "Under Brian I thought there would have been a far greater coming together (between the association and the clubs) but there's really been no assistance whatsoever for clubs preparing for European competition. I'm sure it happens here in Sweden but it doesn't happen at all in Ireland."
Clubs like Cork City, he suggested, could do with all the help they can get as they prepare to take on better funded and more advanced outfits like this evening's opponents who have made staggering progress since being promoted to the Swedish top flight just five years ago.
"When the draw was made I wanted to get Dundee United and after that maybe one of the Norwegian teams," he said. "I honestly believe Djurgardens are the best team we could have come up against at this stage of the competition. They're a fine side who have become used to winning over the past few years and it will be extremely difficult.
"The fact is that the league here and in Norway is years ahead of where we are in Ireland but I like to think that Cork City are moving in the right direction and, win, lose or draw, this game will provide us with a measure of how far we have come."
The City manager, who insists his side will attempt to take the game to their hosts, has everyone bar the suspended George O'Callaghan to choose from and his only selection dilemma appears to be in midfield where he must choose two from Joe Gamble, Greg O'Halloran and Colin O'Brien for the central positions. The conditions, he said, will be a factor in his deliberations but O'Brien looks to be the most likely to lose out.
Richardson declined to be drawn on what scoreline he would consider settling for this evening and said that his priority is that City produce a strong performance which, he said, would give them a chance of progressing after the second leg.
Djurgardens's manager Kjell Jonevret, meanwhile, said that a goalless draw would do the Swedes well enough despite the fact that the local supporters are clearly expecting a little more than that.
"Obviously I'd prefer 6-0," joked Jonevret after his side's training session yesterday morning, "but nil-all wouldn't be a bad result for us at all because then all the pressure will be on Cork in the second game."
The match, though, is expected to attract well under 10,000 to the 30,000 capacity Rasunda Stadium this evening precisely because the club's fans believe victory can be more or less taken for granted.
The confidence is based in part on the fact that when the Swedes met Shamrock Rovers in this competition three years ago they won both legs for a 5-1 aggregate victory while the club's progress in domestic competition over the last few years has been phenomenal with two league titles as well as second and fourth place finishes in the last four years.
"Two years ago maybe 15 players left the club after the second title win for one reason or another so fourth place was a disappointment," said Jonevret, "but we are starting again with a new team and we hope first to get back to where we were and then to go further."
The team is made up almost exclusively of full internationals although one or two have only played at under-21 level. A run of just two points from their last four league games allowed IFK Gothenburg to overtake them by a point at the top of the table earlier this week.
PROBABLE TEAMS
CORK CITY: Devine; Horgan, Bennett, Murray, Murphy; O'Donovan, Gamble, O'Halloran, Kearney; Fenn, O'Flynn.
DJUGARDENS: Tourray; Concha, Kuivasto, Johannesson, Stenman; Arneng, Hysen, Barsom; Jonson, Kusi-Asare, Sjolund.
© The Irish Times
