It's time for Management Committee of Galway United to follow through

Date Published: {J}

Keith Kelly

GALWAY United need to arrest one run of consecutive defeats in order to end another when they host Shamrock Rovers in Terryland Park this Sunday (kick-off 6.30pm).

In what will be a blast from the past, United will play a regular league game in Terryland on a Sunday for the first time in close on two decades due to the fact Shamrock Rovers were in Europa League action against Partizan Belgrade last night.

United will hope Michael O’Neill’s side suffer a bit of a European hangover on Sunday in order to end a six-match losing run against the Hoops, which in turn would bring to an end the longest losing run in the almost 90 year history of the League of Ireland.

In fact, despite the shameful run of results, and the issuing of a Management Committee statement of no confidence in the manager, Sean Connor appears to be winning the PR battle as the Management Committee have refused to follow-up on that initial statement.

That led to the farcical situation at the home game with Derry City two weeks ago, when a group of 40 or so fans gathered in the old stand chanted “we want Connor out”, while at least three times that number applauded him as he made his way to the dugout.

He has said that, as manager, he accepts some responsibility for the team’s run of results – which began the week after he publicly berated them for their performance in a 1-1 draw away to Drogheda United – but says the main problem is the quality of the squad he has available, and says that the real football people of Galway understand the situation.

The problem with that is, as long as the Management Committee continue their ostrich-like approach to the matter, there is only one side of the story being put across. Members of the Management Committee argue that the most important thing is getting a team onto the pitch every week while trying to address the massive debt at the club, and have no interest in getting involved in a slanging match, but the fact is, they threw the first punch with their statement, and are now running away from the fight.

The club would not be in existence right now if a group of fans had not come together to run the club back at the start of the year, and there is no doubt they had no idea of the scale of the operation they were taking on, especially on the debt side of things – it is believed two five-figure debts have emerged this year, one which is owed to a hotel, and another to a clothing store which goes back a number of years.

However, the fact they are now running the club means there is an obligation on them to keep fans informed of the facts – such as the number of training sessions taken by the manager every week – and the defence that such information is available on the online fans’ forum, or at its weekly meetings, is simply puerile.

However, the club may be on its knees, but it continues to survive, and one of the reasons why is the hardcore of around 500 loyal fans who, despite defeat after defeat and performances you would berate a junior team for, continue their fortnightly pilgrimage to Terryland Park.The sensible money is on them suffering more pain on Sunday against a Rovers side right in the mix at the top of the table, and who have such strength in depth that last night’s European excursions won’t be a factor.

Both sides are missing a player through suspension, with United’s Laurence Gaughan and Rovers’ Pat Flynn both having a night off.