Beckett back in business
Thursday, 28 August 2008
New Limavady United boss Liam Beckett, and his new number 2 Paul Gatson, presiding over Limavady’s first win of the season against Ballymoney on Tuesday night.
LIMAVADY UNITED have won their first IFA championship game of the season after appointing Liam Beckett to the managerial hot-seat and parting company with Ollie Mullan.
The Roesiders lost all four of their opening Championship fixtures under Mullan and have turned to former Institute boss Liam Beckett in a bid to kick-start their season, and they opened the Beckett era with a 2 -1 victory over Ballymoney at the Coleraine Showgrounds on Tuesday night.
Limavady United Chairman, David Young, told the Northern Constitution: " With results going the way they have over the last couple of weeks, we felt that the time was right to make a change.
“The Club would like to thank Ollie Mullan for all his hard work over the past year, he did well for us considering all the off-the-field goings on that surrounded the club at the time. Perhaps it is up to the players to have a look at themselves now, as I feel that we have a better squad here than we have had in a couple of years, yet the start they have produced is simply unacceptable."
Mullan's tenure in charge, which lasted just over a year, was plagued by troublesome off the pitch incidents from the get-go, these included having to build a team from scratch after a player contract fiasco last summer, and the failure to apply for a Invitational Premier league domestic licence, which could have seen the club remain in top tier football.
Mr. Young said of the new boss: " We are delighted to have Liam on board, we feel that his experience and motivational skills are more than enough to get our season back on track with a view to challenging for the playoffs. He is an appointment that will hopefully excite the Limavady public, and entice them through the turnstiles."
Former Cliftonville and Institute Manager, Beckett who won promotion with Limavady's Northwest neighbours in 2007, had been out of the game since March of this year after he decided to put football on the back-burner to tend to his Mother who has been bravely battling illness. This remains an issue for Beckett, but as he told the Northern Constitution, Limavady United are aware of this, and it was their willingness to accommodate this aspect of Liam's life that ultimately coaxed him back into management.
“The Chairman and the board did a great job of selling the club to me," he said, "not only that they accepted that I have other issues in my life right now and were more than happy to play this whole thing by ear, I might be here for ten months or ten years, but to know that the board would be flexible was a great incentive."
He continued: " On the pitch I know Limavady are in trouble, league tables don't lie, but in saying that, I would like on behalf of the club, to also thank Ollie Mullan for all his work. I know Ollie did his very best for the club, and perhaps one or two of the players let him down and will have to take a look at themselves. However, as always in football, it's the manager who takes the hit if targets aren't being met, the fact that Limavady are in the position they are in is certainly not 100 percent down to Ollie."
After such a poor start to life in the Championship, Beckett has put his new squad on notice, and has warned his players that they either shape up, our they will be shipped out, and also suggested that he will be bringing in some of his own players before the transfer window closes.
“I have no time for posers and primadonnas, anyone that fits that bill will be looking elsewhere for their football, it's all well and good having experience in this league or that league, but what matters is the league you are in, the players must understand this. I don't care where you have been, it's about where you are now and it's about honesty and commitment.
“So I will have to look at who I think is up to the challenge, and I have no doubt that there will be one or two comings and goings before September, but I told the players at a team meeting that the slate is wiped clean at the minute and they owe the club big time to get out of the mess they are in, so the Ballymoney game tonight (Tuesday) should go some ways to showing me what needs done."
