LIMERICK FC manager Stuart Taylor says he will continue to give youth its fling while he is in charge of the club, believing that success and stability in the long run is more valuable than spending big for instant gratification.
The Limerick team which faced Dundalk at Oriel Park last Friday night had an average age of just 21, with injuries and suspension ruling out several of the club’s more experienced players.
Since he arrived on Shannonside in January 2013, Taylor has pledged to bring young local talent into the first team picture and, with the emergence of players such as Darragh Rainsford, Val Feeney, Shane Costelloe and James McGrath, he has been true to his word.
He continues to have an eye firmly fixed on the long-term, saying: “It is a result-based business, but since the first day I came in, I said my job was to look after the long-term future of the club and any decision I make will be based on that. I believe that if you do what’s right for the club in the long-term, it will work out to be right.
“I don’t believe in short-term success and going to spend all your money on players you can only sign for a season and end up going somewhere else. You’ve got nothing left after that and you put the club into financial difficulty.”
He was quite complimentary of the young players’ performances against Dundalk, despite seeing Limerick slip to a 2-1 defeat, and he very much believes that they will only improve when the squad’s elder statesmen return from injury.
“The young kids are inconsistent and that’s natural. That’s the way everywhere in life but we’ve got the right experienced players to blend with that. That will bring short-term success and, within reason, it will work. The problem we’ve got right now is that our experienced players are injured, so there’s only so much you can do on the training ground.
“When you cross the line, the experienced players will help the younger ones through it. Right now we don’t have enough experienced players fit to carry the younger ones. All credit to the younger ones on the night. They were great and they really did stand up and be counted.”
