Fed-Up Irish Soccer Manager Repeatedly Insists ‘I Am Not an Electrician’

He wasn’t in a good mood after an electrical failure called off the game.

How many times have you heard a coach, when asked about a player’s injury, tell the press “I’m not a doctor”? Well, Irish soccer manager Eddie Gormley put a new spin on that cliché after an electrical failure caused his team’s match this weekend to be abandoned. 

Gormley’s Cabinteely side was leading 1–0 against Athlone Town in the second half on Saturday when the floodlights at the park went out. The referee decided to abandon the match, even though the sun hadn’t completely set. 

Here’s the video of the referee calling off @Cabinteely_FC vs @AthloneTownAFC with 23 mins left, my last video didn’t work for some reason. Generator blew, smoke coming from it, they couldn’t fix @SSEAirtricityLg @FAIreland pic.twitter.com/DfZ0RXDVwE

— Jamie Moore (@JamieMooreSport) April 28, 2018

After the match Gormley did an interview with Off The Ball’s Jamie Moore in which he was asked repeatedly about the power outage. But Gormley had no interest in discussing the lights and kept insisting, “I am not an electrician.”

A transcript, courtesy of Balls.ie, for those of us who can’t understand an Irish accent:

Moore: Eddie, what is your understanding of why the game has been called off tonight?

Gormley: The lights weren't working.

Moore: Any idea why?

Gormley: I'm not an electrician ... I don't know.

Gormley tried to change the subject but the reporter, god bless him, really wanted to get to the bottom of this whole business with the lights. 

Moore: We've heard that it is possible the generator wasn't working?

Gormley: Like I said, I'm focused on a game, I don't know what's going on. All I'm told is the lights aren't work, so the game was called.

Moore: If we can stick on the lights for now, because it's clearly another negative news story involving the league and a first division club. The lights did come on in the second half and went off again ...

Gormley: Listen Jamie, I'm a football manager, I'm not an electrician, if you want to talk about the lights, go and talk to somebody who knows something about generators. I don't know anything about generators. Speak to me about the match, I'm not speaking about the lights, it's got nothing to do with me.

That’s the kind of stuff you have to deal with when you’re coaching in Ireland’s second tier.