French gets the boot as manager of Mervue Utd
November 26, 2010 - 7:00am
Club chairman says poor performance of the team behind reason
by STEPHEN GLENNON
MERVUE United begin the search for a new first team manager for the 2011 season following the sacking of Thomas French from the position late Wednesday night.
Citing the poor performance of the team – finishing second from bottom in the Airtricity First Division, with only five wins from 33 games – club chairman Declan McDonnell said the club felt vast improvement was needed for the coming season.
“There were a number of issues that came up,” said McDonnell. “The club was not happy with a couple of things and it made its decision. We wish Tom all the best; he is a guy who has served the club well, having worked with our underage structure previously.”
While a club statement paid tribute to French’s “huge contribution to the club over the past season and for his efforts in ensuring the club remained in the Airtricity First Division for next season”, McDonnell admitted that representatives on the Board believed that their League of Ireland side would benefit from a change in management.
“The club just felt that with League of Ireland football coming to Mervue, we needed to improve,” said McDonnell. “We are investing more than €80,000 in our grounds and we want to get better. I think Tom did a very good job in helping the club to stay up in the First Division, but, in the end, we only had five league wins last season.
“We want to do better. We want 10 wins; we want 15 wins, so, we are hoping that by bringing somebody new in, we can get more out of the players. As I said, Tom did his best last season, particularly as he
came in at such short notice, to keep us in the First Division. Now, though, since we are investing between €80,000 and €100,000, we need to push on.”
French – who was uncontactable yesterday – took over at the club following the resignation of Johnny Glynn in late January. With no budget, per se, it was an achievement in itself for the club to retain its
First Division status, particularly as, he claimed, most of the squad lacked League of Ireland experience. Indeed, in an interview with Tribune Sport earlier this month, French outlined his plans for the 2011 season, highlighting that he intended to reduce the size of the squad –he used more than 40 players throughout the course of the season – and that he wanted to instil a more professional approach in his players by addressing their “junior mentality”.
For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.
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