Dublin University Association Football Club (DUAFC) have parted ways with their second manager in four months, sacking Head Coach, Adam Firych, after the first team failed to win a single league game since his appointment in October.
The first team, who play in the Leinster Senior League Sunday 1A division, are currently on an eight-match winless streak and have lost all of their last four games. Firych’s assistant manager, Adam Toal, who joined DUAFC at the same time, has also left the club.
In a text message to The University Times, DUAFC committee member, Raymond O’Malley, said the club were thankful to both Firych and Toal and “wish them well in the future”.
“Unfortunately results haven’t improved so a decision was made to let them go”, he said. Despite an encouraging start with a hard fought scoreless draw against Mt Merrion FC, Trinity have struggled to rack up positive results. The game with Mt Merrion was followed by a chastening 5-0 defeat to Sacred Heart, and the team has remained winless since October. Firych’s final game in charge was a 3-1 loss at home today to Edenderry Town.
Firych and Toal were appointed in October, following the dramatic resignation of previous DUAFC manager Adrian Fitzpatrick, who left citing his frustration with Trinity’s Department of Sport. Having worked with high-profile clubs such as Bohemians FC, the former PE teacher had high hopes for his tenure with the club. Firych declined to comment on his sacking, but in an interview with The University Times last year, he described his managerial style as uncompromising: “For me, everything is about respect.”
After arriving at the club, Firych introduced a rigid disciplinary system, with players instructed to notify him in advance if they are unavailable for training and to give five days notice if they plan to miss a game.
Toal and Firych had both worked together in the past and boasted a good working relationship as Toal looked after the administration side of the job. In an interview with The University Times last year Firych described their arrangement as “priceless” because it left him free to “tune in to the training side of things”.
O’Malley was sympathetic to the difficulties the coaching team faced: “Personally I’m very disappointed for them, they worked tirelessly for the players and the club. They took on a difficult task but just needed a win or two to get things moving but we couldn’t [get] it unfortunately.”
According to O’Malley, the club will appoint a caretaker manager in the next few days who will then remain with the club for the remainder of the season.
Jake O’Donnell contributed reporting to this piece.
