Mahon plays down talk of revolt

EUROPA LEAGUE THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND, SECOND LEG St Patrick's Ath (0) v Karpaty Lviv (2):AS IF having to make history in the Europa League tonight wasn't enough for Pete Mahon and his players, the St Patrick's Athletic manager felt obliged yesterday to dampen down talk of a player revolt in the build up to their second leg with Karpaty Lviv.

Mahon was in good spirits at his lunchtime press conference despite the slight sense of turmoil behind the scenes.

A dispute over payments for participation in European games that, in a handful of cases, has left players significantly out of pocket, has overshadowed the preparations for what he describes as a “very big game”.

The Dubliner, though, confidently dismissed suggestions members of his team would boycott this evening’s game, a position echoed privately by some players despite the more militant line being taken in public by their representatives.

“I think I know the players better than anyone,” he said when asked about the situation. “They’ve been very professional all along and I don’t see any reason why that would change now. The issue is between the PFAI and the board of directors. At this stage, I trust it will be resolved. Obviously any distraction is not helpful. This is a very important game and we have a lot riding on it and even in the normal course of events there are a lot of distractions.

“I’m very disappointed we find ourselves in this position but I’d be very surprised, I’d actually be shocked if our players didn’t play.”

Asked about the club’s league game against UCD this Sunday, however, he was far more equivocal. “That’s another kettle of fish,” he said. “I can’t give any guarantees regarding that.”

The dispute has its roots in the fact St Patrick’s inherited Sporting Fingal’s place in the Europa League. Almost all of the players had signed by then and nobody had seen any need to address the issues of bonuses or loss of earnings in relation to European games as they did not appear to arise and the club’s owner, property developer Garrett Kelleher, is not, to put it politely, as flush as he once was.

The players were paid a modest sum for the first-round game in Iceland but had, as of yesterday, been unable to reach agreement regarding either of the rounds since.

Nevertheless, Mahon insists the players were buzzing in training on Tuesday night and up for the task of delivering the two-goal winning margin they need against a side he reckons to be “probably better than Copenhagen”, at this particular time of the season but still “by no means unbeatable”.

History suggest they’d want to be up for the task for despite the dramatic improvement various League of Ireland sides have shown in Europe over the past decade or so, none has ever achieved what St Patrick’s must do in Tallaght this evening: overcome a two-goal deficit from a first leg played away.

St Patrick’s, as it happens, are the ones that came closest when they lost 2-0 in Gent in 2002 and then won the return match 3-1 but they still went out on away goals.

Then there is the fact that while the Dublin side has not lost a European tie actually played at home in Inchicore since their drubbing at the hands of Zimbru Chisinau in 1999, they have never won a home European game that has been staged outside of Richmond Park.

They will at least have Daryl Kavanagh and Stephen Bradley back from suspension tonight and both will go straight back into the starting line-up, while Mahon admits he has some thinking to do with regard to Dave Mulcahy, who is fully fit again, and Ian Daly, who, he says, has done well when he has started.

If only that was all that he had on his mind.