Cup shocks may be felt all season
YOU can be sure that Tim Clancy and John Russell endured restless nights following their FAI Cup exits on Sunday to First Division opposition.
For Waterford to win 3-2 at Richmond Park and Wexford to go all the way up to the Showgrounds and edge out Sligo Rovers 2-1 is a huge credit to both clubs, their managers and players.
But Clancy and Russell must face up to the fact that they were somewhat naive in rotating too many players as they became distracted with their Europa Conference League commitments.
Prepare
It’s perfectly understandable to want to prepare properly for this Thursday’s third qualifying round first legs away from home, with St Pat’s travelling to CSKA Sofia and Sligo taking on Viking Stavanger.
Yet when the curtain falls on the season next November what will the directors and fans ultimately measure success by?
Well, their teams’ campaigns will be judged on where they finished in the Premier Division table and how far they went in the FAI Cup.
Now, both clubs — holders St Pat’s and three-time winners since 2010 Sligo — are gone at the first hurdle.
As I’ve outlined before, Shamrock Rovers are the only side in Ireland currently capable of rotating their starting side without weakening it.
So the minute that St Pat’s and Sligo adjusted their first XI on Sunday, they were inviting potential trouble.
If they were both chasing the Hoops for the league title then I could understand resting players in the Blue Riband. They are not.
In fact, both teams now face a tough challenge to qualify for Europe next season due to their league positions.
It’s hard to imagine Dundalk and Derry City slipping from the current automatic Europa Conference League slots.
This means Sligo and St Pat’s are now hoping that they finish fourth and make the cut by virtue of one the of top three lifting the FAI Cup at the Aviva.
I don’t want to rain on their European parades because their wins over Mura (St Pat’s) and Motherwell (Sligo) were superb.
Aggregate
Back in 2000 when my Bohemians’s side beat Aberdeen on aggregate and then defeated Kaiserslautern away in Germany — although losing 3-2 on aggregate — I remember the feel-good factor and the praise coming in from all angles up at Dalymount Park.
But by November or December we were struggling in the league campaign and the highs of summer had been quickly forgotten by the supporters.
So I hope that neither Clancy nor Russell is bitten on the behind at the end of year by the weekend cup shocks.
Learn
Russell is only in charge at Sligo a few months while Clancy — although he was at Drogheda United for four years — is still relatively new in management so they will learn.
Both teams are up against it over the next ten days but their resilience on beating Mura and Motherwell respectively must be saluted. Both were outstanding victories.
The Hoops have a better chance to see off Shkupi of North Macedonia but this is no ‘gimme’ for Stephen Bradley’s men.
But after a poor start to the European campaigns, at least we’ve got three clubs in the third qualifying round which is encouraging.
St Pat’s and Sligo took their eyes off the ball