No transfer fund for Foster
Credit:
THE transfer window will remain tightly sealed in the Galway United camp come July as dwindling crowds play havoc with finances in the cash-strapped club.
Manager Ian Foster confirmed after their 3-0 win against Bray Wanderers on Friday, to which just 867 people came through the turnstiles, that he had met midweek with the club’s board regarding transfer options come July and the news had not been good.
“I’ve had a conversation with members of the board this week about July and at the moment there’s no room for anybody because we’re struggling as it is with low attendances,” Foster said.
“I think we may be 500 down on last year, which is disappointing. I’m certainly not being told at the moment that I’ve got to get players out, but it will be difficult to bring players in.” United are currently fifth in the league and form at home has been decent, having notched three wins, a draw and two losses in league matches at Terryland Park and a further two home victories in the EA Sports Cup competition.
“I don’t think the lads can (do any more) to be perfectly honest,” Foster said. “We could have picked up two more points against Sligo, I don’t know. I think the home form’s been decent.
“I know it’s expensive, I know people are struggling, I know Nick’s come out this week with a rallying cry to get people through the turnstiles, but by the looks of things tonight it hasn’t really worked. It’s unfortunate, but I understand. I’m not going to shout my mouth off about fans not turning up. We can only do that on the pitch and hopefully one or two people watch us.”
The problem is hardly isolated to the western club, but just indicative of a league facing financial strain. It was the one blight on a positive evening for Galway, who were looking to bounce back from a poor loss to Dundalk last week and achieved it in style with goals to Jay O’Shea, Cian McBrien and Jason Molloy.
“I asked the players for the reaction,” Foster said. “We had the meeting on Monday night where we sat down with a management, sort of coaching session that we have where all the players get to have their say as well, it’s something we did last season and something we’ll continue to do this season.
“So everybody got things off their chest that they needed to. We all asked for a response and a reaction to last week’s performance and we got it.”
It is now another quick turnaround for United who host UCD in the quarter finals of the EA Sports Cup on Monday night and Foster has promised his standard no-holes-barred approach by fielding his strongest side possible. He said the only addition to Friday’s squad will be Derek O’Brien who missed the match through suspension.
“It’s a competition that I think we can win, it’s a competition that we all want to win,” Foster said.
“I don’t know how long it’s been since we’ve had some silverware at this football club, but it’s there for us really. It’s a quarter final at home against a very good UCD team who are playing well in the league at the moment and we’ll go and try and win the game.”
Manager Ian Foster confirmed after their 3-0 win against Bray Wanderers on Friday, to which just 867 people came through the turnstiles, that he had met midweek with the club’s board regarding transfer options come July and the news had not been good.
“I’ve had a conversation with members of the board this week about July and at the moment there’s no room for anybody because we’re struggling as it is with low attendances,” Foster said.
“I think we may be 500 down on last year, which is disappointing. I’m certainly not being told at the moment that I’ve got to get players out, but it will be difficult to bring players in.” United are currently fifth in the league and form at home has been decent, having notched three wins, a draw and two losses in league matches at Terryland Park and a further two home victories in the EA Sports Cup competition.
“I don’t think the lads can (do any more) to be perfectly honest,” Foster said. “We could have picked up two more points against Sligo, I don’t know. I think the home form’s been decent.
“I know it’s expensive, I know people are struggling, I know Nick’s come out this week with a rallying cry to get people through the turnstiles, but by the looks of things tonight it hasn’t really worked. It’s unfortunate, but I understand. I’m not going to shout my mouth off about fans not turning up. We can only do that on the pitch and hopefully one or two people watch us.”
The problem is hardly isolated to the western club, but just indicative of a league facing financial strain. It was the one blight on a positive evening for Galway, who were looking to bounce back from a poor loss to Dundalk last week and achieved it in style with goals to Jay O’Shea, Cian McBrien and Jason Molloy.
“I asked the players for the reaction,” Foster said. “We had the meeting on Monday night where we sat down with a management, sort of coaching session that we have where all the players get to have their say as well, it’s something we did last season and something we’ll continue to do this season.
“So everybody got things off their chest that they needed to. We all asked for a response and a reaction to last week’s performance and we got it.”
It is now another quick turnaround for United who host UCD in the quarter finals of the EA Sports Cup on Monday night and Foster has promised his standard no-holes-barred approach by fielding his strongest side possible. He said the only addition to Friday’s squad will be Derek O’Brien who missed the match through suspension.
“It’s a competition that I think we can win, it’s a competition that we all want to win,” Foster said.
“I don’t know how long it’s been since we’ve had some silverware at this football club, but it’s there for us really. It’s a quarter final at home against a very good UCD team who are playing well in the league at the moment and we’ll go and try and win the game.”
