IF IT CAN HAPPEN TO MAN U IT CAN HAPPEN TO PAT’S
Buckley warns Saints players: We CAN be relegated
LIAM BUCKLEY has warned that if Manchester United could once be relegated so too can St Pat’s Athletic. The Saints have played all their League of Ireland football in the top flight and, along with Bohemians, can boast of never having gone down. But today the 2013 champs are rock bottom of the Premier Division and are fighting for their life with three teams facing the chop this season. Buckley is the club’s most successful manager having won two league titles – in separate spells – an FAI Cup, two EA Sports Cups, a Leinster Senior Cup and President’s Cup. So he does not want to be remembered as the man who got the Saints relegated for the first time in their history. Friday’s 2-0 home defeat to Dundalk was their second in a costly week having suffered a shock 3-1 loss away to Finn Harps on Monday. Buckley said: “There’s no club that’s ever too big to go down. Manchester United got relegated in 1974 and they are one of the biggest clubs on the planet. “We’re not stupid and I’m not stupid either – I know the situation, I’m not blind, I can see the league table. It’s a concern that we’re at the bottom at this stage. “This club hasn’t been relegated before and I don’t want to be the first o n e to go down with them and I don’t think any of the lads do either. That’s why we have to stick together and stick at it. We have to review everything from our fitness, our organisation and how we’re playing to get enough points to get us out of trouble. “There are six or seven teams that will get dragged into trouble this year and we’re at the bottom so it’s a concern for us.” Buckley is actively scouring the transfer market and says he will strengthen his squad in the summer window. Centre-back Darren Dennehy is still wearing a protective boot and will be sidelined for another month, so defensive cover is obviously an immediate priority. “There’s not lot you can do, bearing in mind what’s floating around but we just have to look and see,” added Buckley. Buckley (inset) feels Saints problems are twofold – they are coughing up soft goals by making costly errors in defence while they are lacking bite in the final third. “The goals we gave away in Ballybofey, you couldn’t make them up,” he sighed. “We have to cut that out and get a bit of confidence in. “There’s very little between the teams. You just need the rub of the green and don’t give stupid goals away. We have to work harder on the chances we get. But I’ll be straight – I just want to win the next match. That’s as far as I’m looking.”