Home truths hit City boss Caulfield hard
WHILE the League squirms amid another shambolic chain of events back home, John Caulfield feels proud to be flying the flag further afield.
The Cork boss sends his Rebels into Champions League battle against Legia Warsaw tonight trailing 1-0 after the first leg.
If they fail to overturn the deficit at a venue where Dundalk and St Pat’s previously earned draws, they will still have a Europa League lifeline but Caulfield (inset) insists that is the last thing on his mind. You would also think the turmoil at Bray Wanderers would be off his radar on the eve of such a big game.
But circumstances mean he had to take an active interest in yesterday’s missed deadline of wages to Bray players for the seventh week running.
That’s because the Wanderers squad are threatening to strike for the game against the League of Ireland champions at the Carlisle Grounds on Friday week.
Caulfield said: “It’s very, very disappointing the whole Bray scenario and their players have been left without their wages.
“It shows where domestic Irish football is in the sense that we haven’t unfortunately got a strong football industry in our country.
“It’s a disappointing story and you feel sorry for the Bray players because ultimately they’re the guys who have to pay their bills.
“We’ll have to wait and see how it develops but certainly it’s not a good story for our domestic league.
“But that’s the way it’s been for 40 years. At some point you have to be serious and tackle it properly.
“On the plus side, Cork City are out here representing our country – in a fantastic country, a fantastic stadium – playing brilliant players.
“We’ve brilliant players ourselves and then other players around the league can’t even get their wages. That’s extremely disappointing.”
Karl Sheppard knows the score, having been through financial hardship during his time at Galway United. The City attacker said: “It’s a bad situation to be in and it doesn’t look great on the league.”
But the Rebels are keen to put the League of Ireland back in the spotlight for all the right reasons tonight by pulling off a shock result.
With Gearoid Morrissey and Conor Mccarthy injured and Mark Mcnulty a major doubt, their task is made all the more difficult.
But Caulfield said: “We’re here in Poland where football is a top sport, a serious industry and the players at this club are worth millions of pounds.
“You can see that with all their international players. We’re doing our best and we’ve won games in Europe over teams we wouldn’t have been expected to beat.
“The brilliance of sport is you must be prepared and we must believe we’ll get chances – we can create that shock.”