There is a lot to being a League of Ireland manager. The role often entails management, coaching, recruiting, organising facilities and fundraising and sometimes more.
One of the great gifts of any leader is an ability to put your message across simply. John Caulfield addresses the importance of what his group are doing with passion and directness.
“What are we doing it for? I always strip it back down. We all know in the recent history, the club has had mainly bad days. Bad news, bad crowds. Two or three hundred of a hardcore. Now you can sense in the last few years, you can see there is an appetite for a strong club. The structures are better. The team is better. The players interact with the supporters. You can feel that connection.
“The home games have been tremendous. The away support, I don’t know has it doubled or quadrupled. You can feel the rapport between the team and the supporters. That’s what football is all about.”
The basis of this is in pride and professionalism in the work. There is also a practicality that underscores his actions. Armchair pundits might have mused that an international break might have come at a bad time for an unbeaten side, but Caulfield focused on the more tangible benefits.
“We were quite happy with the break. We had a few days off. It gave us a chance. We had a few lads away for the international break, Evan, Max and Cillian. It gave time for lads with knocks. It gave Brendan Clarke an extra week. He’s back in action which is good. Ed McCarthy is back in. There are 12 games between now and the end of May. It’s going to be very hectic.”
The narrative around the game tomorrow will all be about Bohs. Their fans are unhappy with their start to the campaign. There is no denying it is a big game for Alan Reynolds. United’s gaffer offers a more measured take:
“I think the expectations [around Bohs] were inevitable for the team they have on paper. After winning 1-0 in the Aviva, the Bohs fans were probably thinking, this is going to be the start of a great season. It’s only early days but then losing the next three matches, people are saying turmoil or whatever. One thing Bohs have is a very big squad and a very good squad. It’s like everything else, if they turn around and win their next three games, they’ll probably be in the top two.
United have the only unbeaten start to the season and have done this without some key performers. Despite this, they have managed to get some key contributions off the bench this season.
“You have to have that strength coming off the bench. You see in some cases where teams become much stronger in the last half an hour because of lads coming in off the bench. Regan has come in to replace Bobby and vice versa.
“In the midfield area you’ve had Jimmy Keohane, David Hurley and Vince Borden have all come into the games at different stages and made impacts. Ed has been injured, but thankfully he’s back because we’ve missed him.
“Even Walshie has come off the bench. You need the guy from the bench to improve your team. Not only does he have the energy levels, but he has the knowhow. Even the last day against Waterford, Dave and Vince came off the bench and made the difference for the winning goal.
“Cian Byrne has been a good addition to us. The only disappointing thing is that he can’t play because of our loan agreement. People might have seen him as a centre-back.
"I’m always very open-minded with Ollie. Patrick Hickey came to us a centre-back and can play as a 10 and he’s scoring goals. Walshie played left-back.”
There is no arguing with any of that. Yet, the pragmatists will understand that the point made about Bohs could apply quite quickly to United. Five points separate first and ninth. A couple of poor results could paint a different picture. It is what makes this league thrilling.
Galway United Friends Co-Op are running a bus to Friday's Premier Division match at Dalymount Park, leaving from The Connacht Hotel at 4pm. Seats can be booked by contacting Micheál Murphy at 086 0829341 or Ronan Coleman at 087 6972823.
