2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Stuart Byrne)
I’m probably putting the mockers on Kevin Doherty but what he’s achieved with Drogheda United is no fluke. You don’t win the FAI Cup and then follow up by leading the Premier Division a third of the way into the following season by chance. I saw Drogheda against Shelbourne in the President’s Cup back in February and I thought they were all over the place.
But it was clear they were trying something out ahead of their first league game at St Pat’s - a little bit of trial and error experimentation. Fast forward and Drogs continue to prove everyone wrong and they’re a team very much in the mold of Kevin himself. I played with Kev at Shelbourne, at a time when he had returned home from Liverpool after a very, very serious leg break.
I still remember one long chat we had about it in the changing room, and Kevin showing us the scar from the broken femur. That’s such a rare injury in football, and usually a career ending one, but Kevin showed tremendous mental strength and character to bounce back. I’d such admiration for him because of it and, on the pitch, there was always a quiet determination about how he played for us.
He was a strong and physical centre-back, but never dirty. It’s hard to explain but he had a very refreshing commitment to the cause. And off the pitch, he’s an absolute pleasure to be around and one of the best guys in this game.
Watching the FAI Cup final unfold at Aviva Stadium, I could see Kev’s stamp all over that Drogheda team. They never looked ruffled or panicked. They just got the job done.
How could you not be impressed by their work rate and worth ethic. It epitomises the manager. Did I expect them to be top of the table this season? No.
But I did think they’d be competitive and do well. Should we be surprised that they’re still top of the table? Again, no. They’re mirroring their manager’s approach to football, and to life.
I hope I’m not slapping him with the commentator's curse, but the spotlight is on Kev and his players, and he has to deal with it. Don’t forget this is Drogheda’s first year back as a full-time entity and Kevin is wasting no time showing everyone what he’s capable of doing. I’ve been critical of the modern, woke football manager or coach who doesn’t really get the game but pulls out the iPad to show you how it’s done.
I wouldn’t call Kevin old-school, but he’s of that generation where he’s a natural football man, born and bred in the game. His mam and dad followed Shels everywhere. I love chatting to Kev because he’s so refreshingly honest.
He doesn’t speak in this bull**** jargon that so many football managers feel the need to engage in. He wears his heart on his sleeve and is willing to make mistakes and get things wrong. Players aren’t stupid.
They quickly spot those qualities in a person and are immediately drawn to them. Those Drogheda lads have bought into him and will follow Kevin to the end of the earth if he asks them - and that’s why none of this is a fluke. Politics at play Dermott Desmond’s open letter to the Shamrock Rovers membership was a fascinating insight into the infighting behind the scenes at that club.
You’d want to have been living under a rock not to have known that all’s not rosy in the garden between the various strands controlling the club. With John Martin’s surprise announcement last week that he’s stepping down in the summer, the club are now looking for their fourth CEO in five years. It’s an unfortunate situation that’s going to unsettle the club even further, no two ways about it.
I’ve said many times that I don’t think Rovers are maximising their value commercially, considering the name they have in this country and abroad. They should be doing a lot more to monetise the football club considering their success over the last five years, historically and now across Europe. Rovers need only glance across the city to their arch rivals Bohemians to see how it should be done.
And Bohs are a club with no on-field success to boast about. In late 2023, Stephen Bradley addressed political issues at Rovers at a time when budgetary disagreements were to the fore. Yet Bradley has been successful despite what is clearly a conflicted workplace behind the scenes.
It’s interesting that Desmond has done this. From what I hear, he has no interest in taking over Rovers and is happy as a minority, 25% shareholder. He knows what he’s doing and the fact he issued a letter - that was always going to be leaked - suggests he wants to be open airing his gripes, so that issues are addressed.
Power battles at Rovers feel like a constant tug-of-war and, politically at least, it doesn’t sound like a great environment. It’ll be their downfall unless it’s sorted. Jack's back.
..now for an Ireland crack I was buzzing to see Jack Byrne turn in a man-of-the-match performance for Shamrock Rovers on Monday.
He scored a goal and provided two assists in the 4-1 rout of Cork City in Tallaght - and all in front of Heimir Hallgrimsson. The Ireland boss was in the stands and was surely impressed by the playmaker who has been dogged by all sorts of injuries over the last few years. I’ve been banging the drum for years that Ireland are crying out for a player of Jack’s ilk, and I love that he turned it on in front of the Ireland boss.
We’re sorely lacking a player like him and if Jack can stay fit, I hope he has ambitions of getting back into the Ireland squad. Jack is only 28 and his Ireland career should not be limited to the four senior caps he has. There’s more where that came from - if he wants it.
With the World Cup qualifiers to come in September, here’s hoping that Jack raises his game and that Hallgrimsson is there to see it. Coffee house gripes I’m turning into Victor Meldrew - the older I get, the grumpier I get. You know I like to rant in this column about little aspects of society that grind my gears.
Lads with mullets and crap ‘taches, wearing Bohs jerseys that are two sizes too small - that’s right up there. But my world is being taken over by two groups of people, because I met their female equivalent the other morning. I love my morning ritual of a 7.
45am coffee in town but the queue is being taken over by female professionals. They’re like a flock of sheep. All delighted with themselves in their oversized coats, their oversized trousers and that incessant rat-a-tat clicking of fake nails on their phones as they wait.
Who are they texting at that hour, and why do they all speak as if they’re from California? I feel like I’m at the mall, but all I want is a cup of coffee. Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts ..
