Maciej Tarnogrodzki hopeful of staying on as UCD boss following the Students relegation to the First Division

Andrew Dempsey reports from the UCD Bowl

UCD first-team manager Maciej Tarnogrodzki admits he is hopeful that he will remain as the Students boss next year after their relegation to the First Division was confirmed on Friday evening.

Tarnogrodzki could only watch on as last year’s First Division winners were unable to maintain their top-flight status with the most unlikely of survival attempts.

The Polish native noted after the game; “I hope so (to stay). I haven’t spoken because I was focused on the games and we’ll see.

“There’s still one game to play with Waterford next weekend and then we’ll see what’s going to happen.

“I think I have been ready for the first-team for a while now, but it was just about getting this opportunity.

“I wanted to move on a develop myself and it doesn’t happen that often in Ireland, or even in other leagues in Europe as the majority of youth coaches don’t progress to the first team.

“You can see that in the bigger leagues in Germany or Spain so, for my development I want to move on and work with the first team.”

While the former UCD under-19 boss is hopeful of staying on next year, the future of the likes of Liam Scales and Conor Kearns appear less certain – with Tarnogrodzki left unsure as to what may happen next

“I don’t know exactly (about the the future of the older players) because there’s going to be a couple of lads finishing college.  

“They will probably move on, but we will know more in the next couple of weeks or months for sure.”

However, while their fate was all but secured after the defeat to Cork City last week, the 44-year-old stressed that it was not difficult to lift his players ahead of the visit of Shamrock Rovers to the UCD Bowl.

“The message before the game was that every game is important. You play for yourself, the team, your development, people are watching you.

“So, there is no difference for me. It is the same every game for me as a coach. I prepare myself as it’s my last game so there was no big difference. That’s exactly what I told them.

“I thought we were on top for the first twenty minutes and then that happened with the second. The third was a bit of a fluke but soft goals have cost us.”