John Caulfield to take charge at struggling Galway United

John Caulfield has returned to League of Ireland management with the 55-year-old appointed to succeed Alan Murphy at Galway United.

Murphy departed this week after a poor start to the season and Caulfield, a title winner both as a player and a manager with Cork City, will take charge after Friday night's game against Bray Wanderers with Colin Fortune bridging the gap. United head into that match second from bottom of the First Division with just four points from seven games.

“Throughout my playing and managing career, I’ve always felt that Galway United were a massive club with huge potential,” said Caulfield in a statement. “It’s a club in a big provincial city with an excellent backing and fantastic facilities. The Comers have also been huge supporters of the club over the last few years.

“Right now, we’re not where we should be as a club, there is a massive job ahead and we’ll face challenges, but I’m hopeful that I can be the man to bring success to the club. I’ll be looking to get hands on, working closely with Colin Fortune and the rest of the staff. We will look to bring the confidence back into the squad and go on a run of results so that we can get into the play-offs, anything is possible if we all work hard and everyone puts their shoulder to the wheel.

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“We will put all of our energy and time into trying to make the play-offs now, along with putting structures in place for next season.”

Derry City say that they are preparing as if they will have a Europa League to play on Tuesday evening but still do not know if the tie against FK Riteriai will actually go ahead after the Lithuanian authorities imposed to a two-week quarantine requirement on anyone arriving into the country from Ireland.

Talks between Uefa and the hosts are ongoing and it remains possible that exemptions will be granted or that the match might be moved. Failing that, the Uefa regulations suggest that it is City who will progress as it is Riteriai’s government that has changed the regulatory situation.

“The plane is paid for,” said club chairman Philip O’Doherty, “we’ve done all of the Covid testing, we’ve done everything that we are supposed to but as things stand the Lithuanian government are saying that we would have to quarantine for 14 days; the team wouldn’t be able to go onto the football pitch.

“My feeling is that something will happen to break the deadlock but it’s a not a great situation and Declan [Devine] has to forget about all of the noise and say: ‘we have a game on Tuesday to prepare for’.

City, meanwhile, have signed 21-year-old Cameron McJanett until the end of the season. The defender had been with Stoke City prior to being released during the summer.

Shelbourne have signed former Barnet, Newport County and Gillingham player Mark Byrne. The midfielder, who left Dublin as a teenager to sign for Nottingham Forest in 2007, returns home having made almost 500 first-team appearances in England, around a third of them for Gillingham over the past four seasons.