Dundalk FC :: News

13 MARCH 2008 // POST MATCH REACTION: THE BOSS

It’s very, very pleasing all-round, but in saying that, it’s only one win - I’m not going to get carried away with it” - Gill

Dundalk manager John Gill saw his side go top of the eircom League of Ireland First Division on Thursday night, if only for 24 hours, and afterwards, the boss, though cautious, was quick to hail an excellent display. “I’m very happy with the performance,” Gill told dundalkfc.com. “I thought we were excellent; very professional. We went about our work at the right tempo, we created numerous chances, and I thought we were full value for our win.

“We tell the front players to chase everything down. I thought Robbie Martin was excellent. For a player who people kind of half doubted when he came here, you saw his quality there tonight - it was different gravy, I thought. He could have had a hat-trick - I thought he deserved one. I actually thought we should have had a couple more goals, to be honest, with the chances that we had. I thought we were excellent.

“The second goal was a great goal too. I thought Cassidy was immense again tonight as well - the whole lot of them were. I said to them down there that you’re only as good as your bench. You only have to look at what we had on the bench tonight, and who wasn’t even stripped. I keep saying it, in football, if you do the simple things well, individually and collectively, usually football is good to you, and that’s what we done tonight. I thought we looked penetrative all night.

“It’s very, very pleasing all-round, but in saying that, it’s only one win - I’m not going to get carried away with it. I wouldn’t have got carried away if we had lost either. It’s one win, we’re top of the table, albeit for a night. We’ve got to make this place like a fortress. It’s a good start for us, and we’re moving in the right direction. I keep saying it, I think this is a very fit bunch of players. They mightn’t be technically as good as some of the players we’ve had here in the last two years, but they’re very honest, they work their socks off, and I think when you do that and you have good organisation, it gives you a great stepping stone. Getting another clean-sheet tonight is also very pleasing.

“Part of your job as a manager, at times, I think, is to manage expectation - to manage the expectation from the fans and to manage the expectation from the group of players. That’s what I’ve got to try to do now - to keep everything on an even keel, and to keep us focussed. There’s a hungry bunch of players there. The group that we have takes very little managing, because they’re good players, and good players take very little maintenance - they nearly manage themselves, they drive themselves, and that’s what they done tonight.

“There’s a great buzz around the place now. You seen the new dressing-rooms there tonight. We keep talking about it, but this place is on the up. They say the road to perfection is never ending, but we’re on that road, both on and off the pitch.”

Dundalk make the trip to Longford Town next weekend now with four points in the bag from two games, with Gill well aware of the importance of the win over Monaghan following last week’s scoreless draw at Shelbourne. “I said before the game tonight that Tolka Park was gone, and that it was only going to be a good result if we went out and done our work tonight, and we done that, which makes the point in Tolka a very good one. We have another big game against Longford next. I’ll go down and watch them in Waterford tomorrow night. It’s going to be a tough game - they won their first game 5-1.”

For the match in the midlands, Dundalk will have to do without suspended right-back John Flanagan, however, Gill will have both goalkeeper Chris Bennion and captain Aidan Lynch back from one-match bans, leaving the manager with a welcome selection headache. “They’re the kind of headaches that I want. I want selection problems. I never thought I’d see the day here in my tenure that Paul Marney wouldn’t get into the side. Again, he done great when he came on tonight, just like last week, when he was smashing. There’s competition for places, and I think that it gives you confidence when you look around at your bench and you see a strong bench there, where you know you’ve got plenty of options.”

Gill also revealed that centre-half Ben Whelehan is likely to miss the trip to Longford next weekend, however, the 28-year-old should return for the League Cup tie with Monaghan the following Tuesday, 25 March. “We have to play Monaghan again in eleven days. It will give me a chance to get people game-time, not that I’m taking the League Cup lightly. But I think now whatever eleven I put out - with the squad that I have - will acquit themselves very, very well. We have a lot of good players, and a lot of versatile players.”