Foster pulls no punches after defeat
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GALWAY United manager Ian Foster pulled no punches in his assessment of Friday’s 3-0 loss in which his side was completely outgunned and outdone by Dundalk at Terryland Park.
“I asked my players to go and win the battle and we didn’t,” Foster said. “We weren’t strong enough, we weren’t cute enough, we weren’t brave enough at times and we didn’t take responsibility. They were bigger and stronger and mentally more astute than us all over the pitch and we couldn’t deal with it.”
It was a frank admission from the United boss who was forced to put out a young and inexperienced squad with suspensions and injuries running rife. Heading the list of absentees was suspended captain Jay O’Shea, although the biggest loss was probably towering centre half Shane Guthrie, whose accumulation of yellow cards also left him sidelined.
“I think on the balance of things, looking at tonight’s game, you see how important Shane Guthrie is, he’s a mountain back there, he wins first balls, he wins second balls, he organises people and I thought we missed him massively tonight,” Foster said.
The 3-0 home loss was the ultimate crash back to earth for the side that had been buoyed by victory against St Patrick’s Athletic and former manager Jeff Kenna a week earlier. There had been major signs for concern for the squad who, prior to the Pats game, had gone six weeks without a league win, and they would have been hoping it would spark a fresh revival after a sluggish second round.
Foster is adamant a quick recovery is vital and they will travel to Bray next week in seventh place, but with a sense of desperation to get at least something from the match against the last-placed Seagulls who picked up three much-needed points against Drogheda on Friday.
“I don’t have to tell anybody how important next Friday is, it’s even more important now after not picking anything up at home,” Foster said.
“We went down there last time and put in a decent performance, gave away two penalties in the 90th and 91st minute I think and we were lucky to come away with a point and it’s obvious that we can’t put in a performance like that because we’ll come second.”
Derek O’Brien is likely to be available for the Bray game and may even play some part in Galway’s friendly against Millwall on Sunday with his hamstring almost recovered. Shane Fitzgerald sat on the bench on Friday night, but did not make an appearance, although may also be ready for his injury return. Guthrie, Michael McGrath, and O’Shea will all be back from suspension, although O’Shea has been under the watchful eye of English scouts and whether he is still at the club by the end of this week is unknown.
“I’d love to spend money and bring in players, I just haven’t got it. What I have got to do is get better performances out of the players I’ve got and I’ll be planning to do that next week,” Foster said. “Individually and collectively we just weren’t at it tonight. I don’t want to be too harsh on the players, it was a very, very young side and Alan Murphy, that was only his second start of the season, Mark O’Toole’s first start of the season, so I don’t want to be harsh on them.”`
“I asked my players to go and win the battle and we didn’t,” Foster said. “We weren’t strong enough, we weren’t cute enough, we weren’t brave enough at times and we didn’t take responsibility. They were bigger and stronger and mentally more astute than us all over the pitch and we couldn’t deal with it.”
It was a frank admission from the United boss who was forced to put out a young and inexperienced squad with suspensions and injuries running rife. Heading the list of absentees was suspended captain Jay O’Shea, although the biggest loss was probably towering centre half Shane Guthrie, whose accumulation of yellow cards also left him sidelined.
“I think on the balance of things, looking at tonight’s game, you see how important Shane Guthrie is, he’s a mountain back there, he wins first balls, he wins second balls, he organises people and I thought we missed him massively tonight,” Foster said.
The 3-0 home loss was the ultimate crash back to earth for the side that had been buoyed by victory against St Patrick’s Athletic and former manager Jeff Kenna a week earlier. There had been major signs for concern for the squad who, prior to the Pats game, had gone six weeks without a league win, and they would have been hoping it would spark a fresh revival after a sluggish second round.
Foster is adamant a quick recovery is vital and they will travel to Bray next week in seventh place, but with a sense of desperation to get at least something from the match against the last-placed Seagulls who picked up three much-needed points against Drogheda on Friday.
“I don’t have to tell anybody how important next Friday is, it’s even more important now after not picking anything up at home,” Foster said.
“We went down there last time and put in a decent performance, gave away two penalties in the 90th and 91st minute I think and we were lucky to come away with a point and it’s obvious that we can’t put in a performance like that because we’ll come second.”
Derek O’Brien is likely to be available for the Bray game and may even play some part in Galway’s friendly against Millwall on Sunday with his hamstring almost recovered. Shane Fitzgerald sat on the bench on Friday night, but did not make an appearance, although may also be ready for his injury return. Guthrie, Michael McGrath, and O’Shea will all be back from suspension, although O’Shea has been under the watchful eye of English scouts and whether he is still at the club by the end of this week is unknown.
“I’d love to spend money and bring in players, I just haven’t got it. What I have got to do is get better performances out of the players I’ve got and I’ll be planning to do that next week,” Foster said. “Individually and collectively we just weren’t at it tonight. I don’t want to be too harsh on the players, it was a very, very young side and Alan Murphy, that was only his second start of the season, Mark O’Toole’s first start of the season, so I don’t want to be harsh on them.”`
