General
- Monday July 13th, 2009 @ 11:51
Valletta Manager On Europa Clash With Saints - Part II
Looking ahead to the match against St Pat's the Valletta manager reckons that they will once again be the underdogs “with our season only starting in August St Pat's hold a big advantage - they have already played twenty games, they are already in a rythm, have build up physical and fitness levels and that will be a big hurdle for us.
St Patrick's Athletic have the experience and they might be at a level too high for us but we will see”.
Of course Valletta have one or two players who are likely to cause Pat's problems including leading goal scorer Njongo Priso from Cameroon “Priso is a young very good technical player and can score easily under pressure as Jeff Kenna would have seen.
He is versatile, he can play in the 9,11, or 7 position and last season he scored 15 goals for us”.
Also in the Valletta team is former Shamrock Rovers player Luke Dimech – “I spoke to Luke before I came over and he told me that the ground was behind a row of houses and he remembered playing on the pitch.
He's looking forward to coming back and he is a real leader for us, very good in all areas”.
Probably the highest profile player in the team is ex-Manchester United player l Jordi Cruyff “Jordi is in his last years as an active player and he may well move into a coaching or managerial role in time.
Back when I was manager in the Ukraine we were both fellow countrymen in a strange world and we built up a good relationship.
When I was offered the role as Valletta manager we came as a package. We work as a team. He is a very important player –my kind of player, we have similar ideas about football and he is the connection with the team.
He can inspire young and old even the captain of the national side who plays in our team. I'm here in Dublin and he is taking training today”.
St Patrick's Athletic take on Valletta at 7.45pm on Thursday night at Richmond Park and match tickets are available from the club shop. Ticket prices are adult €15, student / OAP €10 and child with adult €5.
