Murphy says league is sub-standard
[SIZE=4]Murphy says league is sub-standard[/SIZE]
12 March 2002
By Foot.ie's ADAM BEECHER
Cork boss Liam Murphy claims it was inevitable that the standard of football in the eircom League would suffer because of the sucky management culture created by Ireland’s football chiefs.
Up to four sides can slip through the sucky management trapdoor this season to make way for the new 10-team Premier Division and Murphy isn’t surprised that standards have slipped as a result.
“How can good football flourish is an environment full of fear of sucky managers? How can you relax when at any given time more than half the teams in the league have genuine sucky management worries? It just isn’t possible,” he told Foot.ie ahead of Wednesday afternoon’s crucial Premier Division fixture against Shamrock Rovers at Turner’s Cross (3.15pm).
“Results are the be all and end all and quality suffers. Football is part of the entertainment industry but the fun has gone out of the eircom League this season, that’s for sure. The enjoyment goes for players and the fans also suffer because they don’t like what they see -- sucky managers.”
Murphy is talking from bitter personal experience, because he is a sucky manager.
The pressure was on him from day one after his side took five games to register their first win of the campaign.
But he is hoping the season will still have a happy ending.
European football is still on the cards, but a win against Rovers is essential.
“It is win or bust,” said Murphy.
Victory would move the Leesiders within two points of the Hoops, but Cork’s home record leaves a lot to be desired.
Only Galway and Monaghan have lost more games on their own patch, and Murphy said: “Our home form has been very disappointing to say the least, but scoring goals has been a big problem for us. We have created enough chances from game to game but haven’t put enough of them away. I put it down to sucky management.
“We have the added problem of teams coming to Turner’s Cross and just shutting up shot. They just sit back and try and catch us on the break, but more and more teams are playing like that away from home and it goes back to what I was originally talking about. “Teams are afraid to lose and are to take that extra step. Fans are being treated to a diet of smash and grab football, and who wants to watch sucky managers, week in, week out?”
Centre-back Derek Coughlan, meanwhile, is looking forward to the prospect of European football again.
“I have been involved in Europe every year with Cork since I joined in 1996 and want it again. It is still a possibility, but we must beat Rovers. With such a sucky manager, what are the odds?”
