New Galway United manager John Caulfield wants to return Galway United back to the top flight.
The former Cork City boss was confirmed as Alan Murphy's successor at Eamonn Deacy Park on Friday.
Caulfield was the most interested observer of all on Friday night, as Galway played out a scoreless draw with Bray Wanderers.
The Tribesmen are second from bottom in the SSE Airtricity First Division, with each of their five points harvested from draws.
Three seasons mired in the First Division will almost certainly become four, but Caulfield's ambitions lie well above the second tier.
"I always felt during my playing career that Galway United were a huge club," Caulfield told the club's site, "Competing at the top of the Premier Division for many years in the late 80s and 90s.
"Obviously as we know in the last while since the club got relegated, it’s been very difficult to get back up, but there’s still enormous potential within the club, great facilities, a massive city, a great area.
"You look at the west of Ireland and all the good players that have come from Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Limerick and Clare. That’s a huge area and we need to develop a very strong local west of Ireland team down the road.
"Sligo have done that and Galway United always had that before, but it has dropped off and we haven’t been competitive for a long time, so it’s my aim to get back and make us a competitive team.
"It’s unfortunate that there aren’t crowds coming to games at the moment because I do know when Galway are challenging and very competitive, there’s great local support. Hopefully over the next 18 months that will happen."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASFWok3SmQ4
Caulfield will be assisted by one of Galway's favourite sons.
Johnny Glynn lived the dream for United, captaining the team and scoring the winner against Shamrock Rovers in the 1991 FAI Cup final.
He'll progress from Head of Youth Development to Caulfield's backroom team.
"I’m delighted that Colin Fortune has agreed to stay on with me," Caulfield said, "Johnny Glynn, who is head of our academy, has also agreed to come into the backroom staff of our first team, as well as continuing in his role with the academy.
"Over the next week, I will finalise one or two more, but I’m delighted with the quality of the lads that are around the club at the moment."
Caulfield's promised full commitment to the Galway gig, saying he'll be living in the city with his job at Eamonn Deacy Park requiring "100% commitment".
While he may have specific goals in mind, Caulfield is fully aware of the starting point at which he finds himself, "While people are talking about play-offs, we are a long way adrift, it’s hard to speak about that when the club haven’t won a league match this season.
"We have to get the team to play without fear, to show their ability, and go out and play with confidence.
"Most importantly, all of my teams have been about defending well, but of course we will love creating chances, winning the ball, getting at full-backs and scoring goals.
"Any team that I’ve been involved with, whether it’s Cork City or any of the amateur clubs I’ve managed, at the end of the season, we’ve always had a goal ratio of 2+ or 3+.
"I like to watch exciting teams, I like to watch my teams playing with a high intensity, really creating chances and scoring goals, that’s what we’ll be trying to do.
"We need to take it game by game, this week I’m looking forward to getting into training, meeting all the players, working hard on the training ground, developing the team and bringing out the confidence.
'We want to get the players to show what they can do, so they can have that courage to get on the ball, pass, move and show what we’re all about."
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