Foster getting set for new season
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
Ian Foster says he is looking forward to kicking off Dundalk’s 2011 season at Windsor Park with a Setanta Cup tie against Linfield on February 14th, despite seeing the Belfast-side score seven goals in their last two league games.
The Louth club face the northern Champions in a two-legged affair before the domestic season begins on March 4th, with the return game set to be played in Oriel Park on the 28th. And having seen the Blues’ last two games, he’s in no doubt that they’ll be a tough task to overcome. He witnessed David Jeffrey’s team blast Institute aside 5-1 before beating near-neighbours Glentoran 2-1 yesterday evening.
“I’ve been up to see them a couple of times,” the Lilywhites boss told extratime.ie. “I went to see them last Saturday against Institute in the cup and last night against Glentoran. They’ve scored seven goals in the two games and they’ve been impressive. It isn’t going to be easy for us and we couldn’t have asked for a tougher start playing the Champions of Northern Ireland.
“It’s going to be a tough encounter, bearing in mind that it’ll be our first competitive game. We’re looking forward to it because there’s a lot of prestige around the competition and both clubs in the respective leagues. Always when you go to Windsor Park and play in a national stadium it’s going to be a highlight for the players. We can’t wait for it to come about.”
Dundalk couldn’t have a tougher start to their league campaign either, with a trip to face 2010 winners Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght their first assignment. Still, barring injury, Foster sees the tussle with Linfield as a benefit before the season gets into full swing.
“It could very well be,” the 34 year-old says. “I don’t see it particularly hurting us, because the only way it would hurt us would be by picking up injuries, but we could also pick them up in friendlies as well. The one thing we’ll have over Rovers at the time will be that we will have played two competitive games.
“We might have a little edge over them there, but listen, Shamrock Rovers away is the toughest start to the season we could have had. The Champions away in their own back garden is going to be incredibly tough. They’re a fantastic unit but we’ll have to play them sometime so it’ll be good to get it out of the way early.”
The Oriel Park outfit returned to pre-season training last week and to date Foster is happy with the progress that’s been made so far, adding that the players returned from their break in good condition. “It’s gone very well,” he says. “In fairness to the players, they’ve looked after themselves over the close season and have come back in decent shape. They’ve worked incredibly hard over the past week and as we all know, it isn’t the players’ favourite part of the season. It has been enjoyable though and the players have done an awful lot of work so far."
Much has been made of Foster’s attacking acquisitions so far, with Jason Byrne and Mark Quigley signing-on at Oriel Park, and although he has previously commented on looking for the ‘right’ defender to come along, the Liverpudlian was also keen to express the difficulties in bringing in new faces.
“With the likes of Jason and Mark, they’ve been in enough dressing rooms to know how to conduct themselves and get on with players,” he says of his two impressive signings. “Our dressing room is always a welcoming place anyway and those two boys and Keith Ward have settled in really quickly. It’s been no problem for them at all to settle in. We’ve 14 in the first team squad at the minute, but we’ve got lads playing in the under-17s and part of the A championship squad last year, so we’ve got other squad players too.
“Its never easy [to sign new players]. We’ve got a list of players and we have identified who we like, so we now need to convince them that this is the right football club for them. It’s difficult at this stage of the season when all managers are in touch with players and you don’t want to get involved in an auction with other football clubs.
“We’re trying to find players who will improve us. That’s the easy part though: identifying them. Getting them across the line is a little bit more difficult,” added Foster, who also looks likely to add to his coaching staff later this week.
The Louth club face the northern Champions in a two-legged affair before the domestic season begins on March 4th, with the return game set to be played in Oriel Park on the 28th. And having seen the Blues’ last two games, he’s in no doubt that they’ll be a tough task to overcome. He witnessed David Jeffrey’s team blast Institute aside 5-1 before beating near-neighbours Glentoran 2-1 yesterday evening.
“I’ve been up to see them a couple of times,” the Lilywhites boss told extratime.ie. “I went to see them last Saturday against Institute in the cup and last night against Glentoran. They’ve scored seven goals in the two games and they’ve been impressive. It isn’t going to be easy for us and we couldn’t have asked for a tougher start playing the Champions of Northern Ireland.
“It’s going to be a tough encounter, bearing in mind that it’ll be our first competitive game. We’re looking forward to it because there’s a lot of prestige around the competition and both clubs in the respective leagues. Always when you go to Windsor Park and play in a national stadium it’s going to be a highlight for the players. We can’t wait for it to come about.”
Dundalk couldn’t have a tougher start to their league campaign either, with a trip to face 2010 winners Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght their first assignment. Still, barring injury, Foster sees the tussle with Linfield as a benefit before the season gets into full swing.
“It could very well be,” the 34 year-old says. “I don’t see it particularly hurting us, because the only way it would hurt us would be by picking up injuries, but we could also pick them up in friendlies as well. The one thing we’ll have over Rovers at the time will be that we will have played two competitive games.
“We might have a little edge over them there, but listen, Shamrock Rovers away is the toughest start to the season we could have had. The Champions away in their own back garden is going to be incredibly tough. They’re a fantastic unit but we’ll have to play them sometime so it’ll be good to get it out of the way early.”
The Oriel Park outfit returned to pre-season training last week and to date Foster is happy with the progress that’s been made so far, adding that the players returned from their break in good condition. “It’s gone very well,” he says. “In fairness to the players, they’ve looked after themselves over the close season and have come back in decent shape. They’ve worked incredibly hard over the past week and as we all know, it isn’t the players’ favourite part of the season. It has been enjoyable though and the players have done an awful lot of work so far."
Much has been made of Foster’s attacking acquisitions so far, with Jason Byrne and Mark Quigley signing-on at Oriel Park, and although he has previously commented on looking for the ‘right’ defender to come along, the Liverpudlian was also keen to express the difficulties in bringing in new faces.
“With the likes of Jason and Mark, they’ve been in enough dressing rooms to know how to conduct themselves and get on with players,” he says of his two impressive signings. “Our dressing room is always a welcoming place anyway and those two boys and Keith Ward have settled in really quickly. It’s been no problem for them at all to settle in. We’ve 14 in the first team squad at the minute, but we’ve got lads playing in the under-17s and part of the A championship squad last year, so we’ve got other squad players too.
“Its never easy [to sign new players]. We’ve got a list of players and we have identified who we like, so we now need to convince them that this is the right football club for them. It’s difficult at this stage of the season when all managers are in touch with players and you don’t want to get involved in an auction with other football clubs.
“We’re trying to find players who will improve us. That’s the easy part though: identifying them. Getting them across the line is a little bit more difficult,” added Foster, who also looks likely to add to his coaching staff later this week.
About Alan Smith
Alan Smith works as a sub-editor for the Guardian newspaper in London. Originally from Cork, he freelances for several other newspapers and websites. Follow him on twitter @alansmith90. View Full Profile