John Caulfield is one of those fortunate enough to get to work at what he loves. The passion and positivity that oozes out of him in early January would be unnerving in most workplaces. However, the feel-good factor from last season seems to have carried over.
The Galway United manager has reasons for unseasonable cheer, as he: reported good health and fitness in his camp; confirmed the coming three weeks of pre-season activity for his side and; hinted at the imminence of new arrivals.
The early pre-season was laid out without much fuss. “We play Treaty [United] this Friday at 7pm in Ennis. We play UCD on Friday week in Dublin. The following Saturday, we play Sligo [Rovers] in Westport in a charity match that we have played the last two seasons.
Reflecting on the pre-season to date, he even found positivity in January weather in the west of Ireland. “It’s been good. We haven’t been hampered by the weather, which is unusual for Galway! We have been able to have full training sessions.
“Obviously, in the first week, fellows get to know each other. We have the bulk of last year’s squad back, but at the same time we have a number of new players in on trial. They’re all on trial for the first 7 to 10 days.
“Training has been good, it’s been lively. We’ve been very impressed with some of the players who have come in. We plan to sign some of them. Obviously, there will be a couple that we won’t sign as well.”
Caulfield did intimate that some of these signings would be imminent. To date, all news has related to the retention of the current crop, but management is aware of the need for reinforcements.
“We hope that Greg will be back on the pitch taking full part in about four weeks. Other than that, everyone has come back in full health. They’ve all come back in great condition because, effectively, they have been working on a programme since the 2nd of December.
“The market is much slower than in previous years. We’re trying to bring in the right type of person first. That is always our golden rule. Certainly, we want to address the forward areas, across the forward line at centre-forward and out wide. They’re the areas we’ve been really trying to address. Ollie and myself have done a lot of travelling and a lot of looking at guys.
“We brought in the two Americans, [Patrick] Hickey and Vince [Borden]. Everyone knows them. We are looking probably outside of Ireland to bring in some players. I would imagine it will be ongoing for the month of January. I don’t see that everything will be done in the next few days. I think there will be some players in and then we will do a bit more over the month. Possibly there will be some loan deals.”
There has been some eye-catching business in the league, dating back to the mid-season window in 2024, when Stephen Kenny’s St. Pat’s made a big splash. Caulfield senses a widening chasm.
“The four clubs in Dublin, plus Derry, financially they have moved to a totally different level. Ourselves, Waterford, Cork, Sligo and Drogheda are probably financially different. If you base it on finances, the table is halved. There are five that have gone to a totally different level with the money they have invested. At the same time, that was there last year and it’s up to us to raise our game and try to perform better.
“People might say that last year, people underestimated you or that you came in and you weren’t given the credit, that people thought you’d be down near the bottom. Also, this year, the surprise will be gone.
“We know what we have to do. We know we need to score more goals. We did create chances but we didn’t score enough. Walshy was outstanding for us but he was more or less on his own. I suppose the challenge is, can we bring in a couple of players that will help him and spread the goals around.
“If we do that, we can be extremely competitive. Everyone thinks that St.Pat’s will be number one, Shamrock Rovers number two and of course Shelbourne because they won the league. There’s still talk about the five or six teams who can challenge, Cork might have an outside chance, there’s a bit of talk around that.
“We are already put in the bracket that we are going to be down in that bottom section anyway, so it is no different than last year in terms of predictions. But it is up to us to make sure we get our house in order. If we can bring in some forward players that can help Stephen, that might turn some of the games for us this season.”
The diagnosis is fair, the prescription is intriguing but only time will tell if the cure has been found.
