JOHN CAULFIELD: 'It was obvious that we had to build a complete new team' | The 24/7 schedule of being a manager, and selling out home games
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Off the Ball, GAA. The names you mentioned there, they have a lot of medals and Howard, probably the standout of all of them. But there could be a bit of mind games too by Gerard Brennan in this as well. You can guarantee, we're all asking the question, who's he on about? And you can guarantee the players that are going to be at home going, is he on about me? And when they're turned up to training, probably tonight, maybe there's a bit more umph in them. Join in the obsession. Subscribe now at offtheball.com forward slash join.
John, staring down the barrel of yet another League of Ireland campaign. How are you feeling?
Yeah, good. We've had a good pre-season. We're back since probably the second week of December. Big changes, you know, a lot of changes in our management team, a lot of changes on the pitch. We have a complete new squad, really. and so big challenges to us but yeah looking forward to it we've had a number of games so far so yeah everyone is first home game you know to draw this so we're hoping for a full house and kick off from then Did you get much of a chance to rest after I suppose the final game of the season because you weren't sure if you were going to be in that relegation playoff position or not but after getting over that was it immediately eyes on to this season? Yeah, I suppose it was a number of things.
Obviously, a number of the players, you know, I suppose a lot of the players were being let go, players were leaving. So it was obvious that we were going to have to build a complete new team. Certainly, there was work going on and trying to recruit players before the end of the season for next season. So there was a lot of work on that. And since then, it's been really... recruiting and making plans for the off-season in terms of training in terms of the pre-season trip and uh so yeah so it was a lot of work and i suppose there's any football manager you know it's a it's it's a 24 7 job and you just get on with it and deal with it and uh i suppose the the downtime in terms of the fact that you know matches probably takes a little bit of pressure off but um
What are John Caulfield's feelings ahead of the new League of Ireland season?
At the same time, you're responsible for the signings and stuff. From that point of view, a lot of work has gone on.
Obviously, you mentioned a lot of players out, a lot of players in. Similar enough to the teams you were battling against near the end of the season, Sligo and Watford, they've pretty much adopted the same transfer approach. How do you think that'll pan out when you get into the season? Is it difficult to predict how you'll come up against those teams?
Yeah, that's always a challenge. I suppose, compared to other years, probably Sligo have much more a settled team base. They kept most of the players from last season. Yeah, obviously with Dundalk coming up, you know, Watford obviously with John taking charge, they seem to have a lot of changes as well. Ourselves, you just don't know, you know, you can bring in a lot of players, you need them to gel, you need to see how they perform under pressure.
What significant changes have occurred in Galway United's team this season?
It's one thing in training, it's another thing when you're in front of four or five thousand people and how you react. So, yeah, time will tell on that.
Obviously, John going over to Watford, he brings with him a lot of knowledge that you've obviously imparted on him. Do you think that'll make Watford an even more difficult challenge this season?
I think every game. We found in the last couple of seasons that the Premier Division has gone right to the wire in winning it and then who goes down. Very, very tight games and every team at their best can give everyone a game and you see that with the results. There's no real massive discrepancies in the scorelines. You know, I think we just have to wait and see how the first eight, nine games go and how things pan out. Obviously, you know, you'll have the same number at the top. You know, you expect Rovers, Derry, Shells, you know, Bowles, you know, and then Pats probably. And it's then up to the rest to see is there anyone out of that pack can come up and challenge, maybe draw that.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:49
2
What are John Caulfield's feelings ahead of the new League of Ireland season?
1:49–2:39
3
What significant changes have occurred in Galway United's team this season?
2:39–7:41
4
How does John Caulfield plan to build a new squad after player departures?
7:41–9:54
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from OTB Football
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