JOHN CAULFIELD has tipped Bohemians to challenge for the title but reckons Galway United need time to find their groove again.
The Tribesmen were well beaten by Bohs on Friday night and have won just two of their last 12 games.
Alan Reynolds’ side are still eight points adrift of Shamrock Rovers but Caulfield believes they are in the mix.
Caulfield said: “They are going for a league title. You can see their recruitment, you can see they have some fantastic players.
“They got Douglas James-Taylor up top and they paid top dollar for him, and fair play to them. He’ll get them goals and that could be the difference between them winning the league and not.
“I suppose the brilliant thing is everyone thought it was only Rovers, but now it’s Rovers, Derry and Bohs, and that’s great for the league.”
Bohs did not pay a fee for James-Taylor to Walsall. Galway got €60,000 from Phnom Penh Crown for their top scorer Moses Dyer whilst another regular, Cian Byrne, returned to Bohs after his loan spell ended.
And Caulfield believes it will take time for their reinforcements to show their best. On Friday Malcolm Shaw made his third start upfront, Aaron Bolger his first whilst Axel Piesold made his second appearance off the bench – but they signed after a period of inaction.
Caulfield said: “There have been a number of changes to our team and we are struggling to score a goal.
“I suppose we are asking Malcolm Shaw to get up to speed, he hasn’t played since November, he started last week.
“He has a lot about him, to be fair. We see him in training, we see him finishing and he just needs something to go in for him.
“But it is difficult. When it doesn’t happen, everyone keeps referring to Dyer. But to be fair to Malcolm, if he was here since January, with a full pre-season in him, I have no doubt that he would have a number of goals.
“He will score goals, I have no doubt about that.
“I’ve tried to push these guys. Obviously young Bolger came in for 70 minutes and was great for us. It’s a difficult time of year when some of your players go and you are bringing in players who haven’t played since May.
“Piesold came on and did OK.
“Hopefully we will get more in but it’s difficult mid-season, it’s hard for us to get players to Galway.
“The problem for us is a lot of them haven’t played since May. If we can get to the middle or end of August, fine, but it’s that conundrum where we are trying to rush boys in and you have lost players who have played the last six or eight months and who were flying fit.”
Caulfield is also looking for more from others. He did not point the finger at anyone in particular but ex-Ireland international Greg Cunningham struggled against James Clarke.
He said: “Maybe some of our more senior players are down on their confidence, going through a bit of a rocky patch. That happens and it’s up to us to try and turn it around.
“I don’t want to identify anyone. Overall, we didn’t track runners. But I think in the bigger picture it’s a situation where the second and third goals were too easy.”
