Season of humiliation hits a new low for Utd
Date Published: {J}
Sligo Rovers 8
Keith Kelly
A season of humiliation reached a new low on Friday night as Galway United suffered their heaviest-ever home defeat in the league when they were utterly out-classed by a rampant Sligo Rovers.
It wasn’t the club’s biggest-ever defeat – that came back in October 1989 when United lost 9-1 to Derry City in the Brandywell – but in many ways Friday was worse, given the fact the defeat was at home, and in a derby game.
Your heart has to go out to the fans who took over the day-to-day running of the club earlier this year as they have been left with a club that is in a complete shambles, both on and off the pitch. Debts are mounting, players have had to be released, and then came Friday, which saw United’s losing run stretch to 17 games in the league, and 18 in all competitions if you throw in the 4-1 defeat to Dundalk in the FAI Cup.
Given such a wretched run of results, the manager’s position would come under serious scrutiny, but that doesn’t look like an option for the Management Committee – former CEO Nick Leeson had given Connor a new three year deal before he stepped down in January, and as a result there is no way the club can afford to sack Connor, and he certainly doesn’t look like walking away.
Speaking at the open fans meeting last Wednesday, Connor had a swipe at the media for the negative headlines and reports, and suggested more effort should be made to highlight the positives.
United haven’t taken a point in the league since the night when Connor publicly lashed his players for their display in a 1-1 draw with Drogheda back on April 8 – hardly a positive intervention – and the side has conceded an average of 3.5 goals per game since that night. Maybe he needs to concentrate on his own message, rather than what is being said by others.
While his hands are tied in terms of team selection, given the shortage of players in his squad, and the lack of experience most of them have, his decision-making in terms of tactics and a game plan on Friday night was not up to scratch.
United started with five men in midfield to try and stifle the visitors, and speaking after the game, Connor lamented the fact that Eduardo Dusi’s stupid sending off in the 36th minute meant he couldn’t switch to a 4-4-2 formation at the break. However it was apparent long before Dusi’s dismissal that the five-man midfield wasn’t working and it should have been changed after the first 15 minutes, never mind at half-time.
Connor switched Paul Sinnott and Stephen Walsh midway through the second-half, but Walsh was having an absolute nightmare all night at centre-back, and again, that change could – and should – have been made sooner.
For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.