Over the last number of years, the age profile of players in the SSE Airtricity League has got considerably younger. The league is increasingly viewed as a good proving ground for young players emerging from the youth academies of clubs both domestically and abroad.
A similar change has been happening in managerial circles. Five years ago, the season began with just two managers under the age of 43. This season, six of the 10 are below this age.
In a copycat league, many boards will want to replicate the success Shamrock Rovers have had since they took the calculated gamble of giving Stephen Bradley their managerial job at then tender age of 31 and with no prior experience.
We have since seen early bloomers like Tim Clancy, Stephen O'Donnell and Ruaidhri Higgins get their first appointments aged 33, 33 and 36 respectively. Joining them this year with their first taste of Premier Division management are Kevin Doherty at 41 and Damien Duff at 42.
We have looked at these five managers and five key factors where their success could be determined this season.
- Can they get off to a good start in a highly competitive league?
- What will their new signings bring?
- What have they lost in departing players?
- What strengths have their teams that they will wish to maintain?
- What weaknesses do their sides needs to improve on?
Derry City – Ruaidhri Higgins
Start: This is an area where Higgins has the advantage of already being with his club for most of last season. He managed them for 30 league games and in that time only Shamrock Rovers (42) had more than Derry's 36 points. He made a positive early impact by starting on a run of one loss in his first 11 which reversed a run of one win in 10 before. Making a good start in 2022 will be difficult, after facing old friends Dundalk on opening night their next two games are against two of the three teams to finish above them last year.
New signings: Derry made an early splash by bringing back former favourites Patrick McEleney, Michael Duffy and Will Patching. They will hope McEleney rediscovers the form he left behind in 2015. As a Derry player he averaged 3.3 goals in his five Premier Division seasons, a mark only passed once for Dundalk (2017). That’s largely due to limited playing time, his fewest appearances in a Premier Division season at Derry was 27, a total he never reached as a Lilywhite.
During Duffy’s five years at Oriel Park only Pat Hoban, Aaron Greene and Graham Burke have scored more goals on the league. But his four last year was his fewest since his first full season with Derry in 2013. His ability to create has continued unabated with 12 assists last year (one behind leader Dylan Watts) taking him to 51 over the last four campaigns, that is more than double the next most; 24 for Barry McNamee.
Squad departures: Derry have retained a large amount of last year’s squad which had the league’s fewest different players to start a game at 18. Only Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe’s six goals and Will Fitzgerald’s four assists could be missed but the arrivals should more than compensate.
Strengths: 12 times under Higgins were Derry behind going into the final 15 minutes of a game yet in only five of those did they lose. That’s a remarkable stat given that teams with the lead at this stage won 86% of the time last season. That will be hard to replicate but shows a resolve and level of fitness that Higgins will want to see continued.
Weaknesses: In 2021. Derry had the lowest percentage of goals scored from open play at just 51%. Much of this was early in the season with only three of their first 17 goals from play. But a team with this problem will often have issues opening up teams at home and securing comfortable wins. Only twice did they score more than two goals at home, and they were against Drogheda United and Longford Town with the final goals coming late. Only Dundalk and Longford manager to score more than two goals at home fewer times than Derry. As a result, they ended with six home wins, only once (2015) since 2004 have they had so few.
Drogheda United – Kevin Doherty
Start: Doherty takes over in similar circumstances to his previous job at Shelbourne where he was also assistant to a departing manager. His first season there in 2015 had a brief good start with seven points from a possible nine but that was followed by a run of one point from six games that left them in the bottom half of the table with slim hopes of promotion. Much of Drogheda’s good season was based on a good start. They had just six losses in the first half of the season but 10 in the second. This led to them falling from fourth at the end of May to seventh at season end.
New signings: No team has made more signings from within the league than Drogheda’s nine with Doherty putting his faith in the tried and tested. Though only four of those brought in were playing Premier Division football and that includes three on relegated Longford Town. The exception was Adam Foley. They will hope they see the Foley who scored eight in his first 17 games last year rather than one who drew a blank in the final 16.
Squad departures: Drogheda have been hit by departures at both ends of the pitch. Four of their defence who started 10 of the last 12 games together (James Brown, Conor Kane, Daniel O’Reilly and Joe Redmond) have all gone. At the other end, Mark Doyle contributed 29% of Drogheda’s league goals, the second-highest proportion for any individual after Georgie Kelly of Bohemians.
Strengths: Drogheda were one of the most lethal teams from dead ball situations and crosses to the box. They were second in goals scored from corners and second from set-pieces in general while also second in proportion of goals coming from crosses. Their 12 headers scored was the most in the league. These set play routines will need to come to the fore again in 2022.
Weaknesses: A half-time league table would place the Boynesiders second, just one point off top. A league-most 56% of their goals were in the first half (one of two teams with more in the first half than the second). They had just 10 goals conceded, a full five better than anyone else. But that did not last as games wore on. 30% of all their goals conceded were in the last 15 minutes costing them nine precious points in those late stages. Doherty must find a way for his team to stay the course better.
Dundalk – Stephen O’Donnell
Start: O’Donnell comes to the job as the most experienced in the Premier Division of the five with 61 games under his belt and an FAI Cup winners medal in his pocket while also returning to a club he knows intimately after six years as a player at Oriel Park. However, he will need to bring a better start than when with St Pat’s. There he had more losses than wins across his first 27 games with just 22 goals scored. Better will be expected.
New signings: O’Donnell has brought in four players who he has either played with or managed before in Robbie Benson, Keith Ward, Sam Bone and John Mountney. These known commodities will be expected to help him hit the ground running. On the other hand, he has also looked to the UK market where he will hope to replicate the success he had with the recruitment of Vitezslav Jaros and Alfie Lewis who were key parts of last year’s Pat’s squad.
Squad departures: The impact of Michael Duffy as both a scorer and creator of goals was mentioned above. It would be difficult to expect any individual to replace his numbers so several players will need to step up. Some of the players best placed to do so, Patrick McEleney, Sean Murray and Will Patching are also gone. Dundalk were 0.41 and 0.48 points per game better with McEleney and Murray in the team respectively so there are plenty of holes which need plugging around Oriel Park.
Strengths: In a chaotic year for the club, there were not a huge number of positives to be taken. But over the last ten games, Dundalk started to look more like their old selves. They took 20 points (two points per game would put you in title contention over a full season) with the only losses coming by a single goal to good Pat’s and Derry teams. They also recorded impressive wins over Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians. Maybe some momentum from that run can be carried into 2022.
Weaknesses: At both ends of the pitch, set-pieces caused headaches for whoever was calling the shots for Dundalk in 2021. They had the second-lowest proportion of their goals coming this way with 32% while conceding the second highest proportion at 48%. Problem is, the only team worse in both categories was Stephen O’Donnell’s St. Pat’s. This could continue to be an Achilles heel.
Shelbourne – Damien Duff
Start: Damien Duff comes in as the most unknown quantity having no previous managerial experience. There were three first time mangers in the league last year. Higgins performed well in turning a bad Derry start into European qualification while. At Waterford, Kevin Sheedy lasted just nine games with the team second from bottom, but his replacement Marc Bircham brought them to the brink of survival. In the last six years, promoted teams have a 50% survival rate. Four of the five who did survive won their opening game and had their second win by game five so a good start would be a major help.
New signings: Duff has brought in six players who played in the top-flight a year ago though all were with club’s who finished in the bottom four. Some extra quality may be sought from outside the league. Daniel Carr returns after scoring just three goals combined for the three teams he has played with since leaving Shamrock Rovers. With the Hoops, he had 16 goals over a season and a half so will hope a return to these shores brings back the goals.
Squad departures: Five players have left Tolka Park who missed a combined seven games in 2021 as Ally Gilchrist, Ryan Brennan, Dayle Rooney, Georgie Poynton and Michael O’Connor were all mainstays. This leaves them without 50% of the side to win promotion.
Strengths: Although no team was promoted as champions with a lower points per game total than Shels 2.11 since Athlone Town in 2013, it equals that of the 2020, 2018 and 2017 champions. However, their incredible 19-game unbeaten run to start the season left many of their later games less competitive with promotion virtually assured. They were at 2.33 per game before losing for the first time which would be the second best in the same time period as above. A similar stretch of results through spring would go a long way to survival.
Weaknesses: Despite being champions, UCD actually led the league in goalscoring with six more goals. Added to that, Shels four top scorers (Brennan – 15, O’Connor – 7, Poynton – 5 and Yoyo Mahdy – 4) have all left leaving Shelbourne needing to build from scratch. It was an issue that plagued them in their 2020 relegation season where they had 0.72 goals per game, the 12th worst of the summer era. They went down in 2013 also with that season’s worst scoring attack.
St. Patrick's Athletic – Tim Clancy
Start: Despite racking up 14 goals in his first two games as manager, Tim Clancy didn't have a major impact in his first season with Drogheda as they finished fourth in the First Division. But he gradually improved the team over the next two years to have them promoted in his third season and survive comfortably in year one at the higher level. His predecessor, Stephen O'Donnell, had a slow start to his career with Pat's. But after a second-place finish complimented by FAI cup success, expectations will be much higher at Richmond Park for 2022.
New signings: Clancy returned to Drogheda to have Mark Doyle and Joe Redmond join him which should help the transition. Doyle had an incredible season with his 13 goals the second most by a player for a promoted team in the last 10 years after Rodrigo Tosi’s 14 for Limerick in 2017. Add to that is Tunde Owalabi who had eight in his last 11 starts for Finn Harps. And if that wasn’t enough, they have added Eoin Doyle, who is his last season in Ireland became the first ever Sligo Rovers player to score 20 league goals in a season in 2011. Only Gary Twigg, Richie Towell, Pat Hoban and Georgie Kelly have bettered 20 goals since.
Departures: Going in the opposite direction has been plenty of experience. Robbie Benson and John Mountney have re-joined Stephen O’Donnell at Dundalk taking with them over 500 League of Ireland appearances of know how. Also gone is ironman Lee Desmond who ,along with Lee Grace has made the most starts over the last five seasons at 144.
Strengths: The Saints home record was exceptional; they ended the season with 12 wins. Only 19 teams have done so in the summer era and 10 of those were league champions. It could’ve been much more were it not for a disappointing run of one win from their last five. While an improvement in away form is needed to challenge Shamrock Rovers, they will need to maintain the home record that earned them just three points fewer than the champions.
Weaknesses: The set-piece weakness was highlighted before when looking at how Stephen O’Donnell might fare with his new Dundalk side. Major improvement is required at both ends. But fortunately, or wisely, they have appointed a manger in Clancy who had his Drogheda team delivering with the dead ball. Their 22 set play goals were the league’s second-most and nearly double Pat’s 13. At the other end, they had the lowest proportion of goals coming this way (31%) which compares very favourably to Pat’s 55%. The last month is likely to have seen Clancy look to impart much of his knowledge to improve Pat’s set-piece prowess.
The 2022 season is set up to be almost as exciting in the managerial dugout as on the pitch with all these young managers looking to make their name. What they will find is a ruthless industry and a competitive league where not everyone can have the success they want.
They will also find that wily veterans like Liam Buckley and Ollie Horgan will not let them have everything their own way. Not to mention Keith Long who, at a still sprightly 48, has accumulated over 250 games experience in the Premier Division.
Or will the original whizz kid Stephen Bradley, still just 37, prove he is still the boss of the bosses.
