A message to managers: Embrace petty grievances to fuel season's finish

David Sneyd

NOW IS THE time for League of Ireland managers to batten down the hatches.

Find your angle of grievance and execute accordingly.

Any perceived slight, no matter how petty, will do at this stage of the season to somehow find an edge for your players.

Do what you must to take aim at what Doonbeg’s finest, US President Donald Trump, would deride as the “losers and haters.”

There are games this weekend, Monday and the following weekend before a break until 9 October for most.

A break at such an important time cannot allow for a sense of injustice or wrongdoing to dissipate. 

The Uefa coaching manuals have taken you all to this point of the campaign,and now you need something different, something more primal. Get into the weeds and cut those who go against your doctrine off at the knees.

Everyone is out to get you, everyone outside your dressing room doubts what you are capable of and what you can achieve. The naysayers rule supreme.

Use that anger and energy to inspire that feckless full back of yours to bother his arse and stop the cross.

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Hang whatever declarations of incompetence you must on the dressing room walls to ensure the head wrecker who is on set-pieces will finally beat the first man from a corner and give you a chance of nicking a goal.

Rally the troops by any means necessary at this stage. There is still a league title to be won – not for newly crowned First Division champions Cork City, although we’re not sure that tap of fear and loathing is so easily switched off in the Rebel County. It’s a constant stream between promotion and relegation.

A European places could still be up for grabs if newly-promoted Dundalk slip up in fourth place. Ciaran Kilduff and his players have earned rave reviews for how they’ve attacked this season – Daryl Horgan is in the mix for player of the year – but you can be sure if they hold firm in fourth it will be those pre-season predictions of struggle and woe that will be held up as a source of so much ire.

The FAI Cup semi-finals provide a chance for clubs starved of silverware to finally feast and the only fear for Waterford is that they have gone so deep into their siege mentality to break clear of relegation that they’ve already come out the other side and are already on the way to going soft again.

Prove us wrong, Graham Coughlan and Padraig Amond.

Prove. Us. Wrong.

Relegation is not yet confirmed but we will give Sligo Rovers a face for the dartboard and some fuel for free by declaring that the Bit O’Red are doomed, and it will be Drogheda United in the promotion/relegation play-off. You hear that Kevin Doherty, we’re telling you that you’ve nothing left to play for until next month. Are you gonna take that? Of course you won’t. Pin it up somewhere. You’re welcome.

That’s two for the price of one.

New Shelbourne boss John Russell is still looking for his first league win in charge and after an impressive performance in the 0-0 draw with Shamrock Rovers refused to be drawn on the situation of centre back Paddy Barrett.

The experienced defender appears to be banished as Russell attempts to lay down a marker. How the season ends will say much about how those in the dressing room are feeling.

One thing is for sure, Stephen Bradley is not having a bar of anyone saying he is feeling the heat or acting irrationally. Why would he? Rovers are St Patrick’s Athletic and Bohemians and enough doubts have been cast about the chasing pack’s ability to 

As noted by League of Ireland historian Karl Reilly this week, “Bradley this week became the longest reigning Shamrock Rovers manager of all time, a total of 3718 days since being made caretaker boss in July 2016. Paddy Coad got the job in November 1949 following the death of Jimmy Dunne and left to take over Waterford in January 1960.”

A tale as old as time is sticking by your players and in the aftermath of that draw with Shels last week an exchange between Bradley and RTÉ’s John Kenny was somewhat spikey. 

Don’t start talking about league title

Question: You made the point last week about how can people not believe in this group, or this squad of players, obviously a very emotional and very much backing your squad…

Bradley stopped him in his tracks.

Answer: It wasn’t emotional. It wasn’t emotional. It’s not emotional. That’s not emotional and it’s not about people believing it, it’s about respect, that’s what it about, for the group. That’s what it’s about, it’s not emotion speaking. It’s about respect for what they’ve done for the best part of a decade.

Q: And do you think some critics are losing that respect for you?

A: No, well that’s on them, but I’m not going to sit by and allow it to happen and not call it out.

If that’s just a teaser of a Golden Cleric speech to come should Rovers make it six titles in seven years then we can strap ourselves in for a blistering conclusion.