Despite some promising signs earlier in his tenure at Dundalk, Stephen O'Donnell's risky call to leave St Patrick's Athletic two-and-a-half years ago has ultimately proved not to have been the right decision following confirmation of his sacking, according to former Drogheda United and Longford Town defender Graham Gartland.
Dundalk announced club legend O'Donnell's exit, along with his assistant Patrick Cregg, on Monday morning with the Lilywhites rooted to the bottom of the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division after a winless start to the campaign and it brings to two the number of managerial partings of way this season following Bohemians' decision to relieve Declan Devine of his duties last month.
The Galway native's stock was high when he decided to leave St Pat's after leading them to FAI Cup glory in November 2021 and having enjoyed stellar success as a player at Dundalk between 2013 and 2018, the temptation to revive their fortunes as a manager was something O'Donnell found alluring.
But ultimately, his time in charge of the Louth club did not come anywhere close to reanimating the glory days of recent past.
As his sacking was announced, Gartland was reviewing the latest round of League of Ireland action on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast and offered his immediate reaction to O'Donnell's exit.
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"I'm shocked by it. I think Stephen had done a really good job when he first went there," he said, referencing 2022's third-place league finish.
"Obviously leaving Pat's after winning the FAI Cup, he took a gamble in saying, 'I'm going back to Dundalk where I was'.
"I don't think the gamble has paid off. I think sometimes it's about picking who you work for rather than the other way around that they're going to come after you."
Gartland added that he felt that O'Donnell had left what was a stable situation under the ownership at St Pat's to a Dundalk, who under their previous owners, were on more uncertain ground.
"I think when you see (Garrett) Kelleher at Pat's, he's been around for the long haul, he's not going anywhere and if you build up that good relationship with him, he will back you.
"So yeah, I am shocked by it but (Dundalk) are basing it off results and I think it's the fact that they don't see improvement, that would be the thing."
O'Donnell's final match in charge was a 4-1 defeat to Derry City on Friday night and the balance sheet reads that Dundalk have drawn three and lost five of their fixtures this season, mustering just three goals and conceding a league-high 15, belying the promising signs from their opening game away at Shamrock Rovers when they impressed on route to earning a 1-1 draw at the reigning four-in-a-row champions.
"I thought they played okay the night in Tallaght when they drew 1-1 with Rovers. I thought, 'Okay, he's done really well again Stevie to patch this team together of loanees and players he's brought in from the UK," said Gartland.
"But I wouldn't say he's been given the resources he can to be as successful as he'd like to be and I think it's a case of they're saying, 'Let's move on and cut our losses'.
"Because I think when he came out with his statement of a week ago of 'Look what I walked away from to come here', I think probably the owners thought, 'Well, I think you're questioning us now and you're putting it all on us'. There's only one winner when it comes to things like that."
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