Stephen Kenny is beginning to mould St Patrick's Athletic in his image with Saints supporters hoping the arrivals of Zack Elbouzedi and Aidan Keena will sharpen their attacking edge.
However, their former midfielder Conan Byrne has warned against putting too much pressure on Keena in particular, who returns to the league after a spell at Cheltenham Town.
Kenny has turned to the 25-year-old in his search for greater potency up top.
Keena was at the Saints as a youngster, moving to Hearts in 2017, but it was at Sligo Rovers where he really enhanced his reputation.
The Mullingar man scored 18 goals in 32 games for the Bit O'Red in the 2022 campaign, and 21 in all competitions. He was the Premier Division's top scorer and earned a place in the PFAI Premier Division Team of the Year.
If he can recapture that sort of form, Pat's fans will have a new hero. But Byrne said expectations must be realistic about his potential impact.
"I think the last striker that Pat's fans will talk about is Christy Fagan, and that's nearly a decade ago now," Byrne said on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast.
"Pat's need a striker that can score goals. With Aidan, I don't want to put so much pressure on him either. There's been plenty of times where players have come in and you're expecting big things, a bit like Ruairí Keating.
"Aidan had a wonderful season at Sligo, he got the 18 goals when he came back. But apart from that, he hasn't scored too many goals at the clubs he's been with. He hasn't had many starts either. If you look at his stats I think he has 45 goals in 106 starts which is pretty impressive.
"Having said that, 18 goals is his biggest return for Sligo Rovers. There's a big drop then to his next biggest season. So I'm hoping that season wasn't a one-hit wonder. He's come to the League of Ireland, got 18 goals, come back again, let's see what he can do."
Byrne also aired his sympathy for Keating (above), who returns to First Division runaway leaders Cork City after a disappointing spell in Inchicore.
"I felt sorry for him if I'm being completely honest," he said. "I think he was completely isolated in those early parts of the season when the team and the squad, it was all about defending. Playing three at the back and a box in midfield... there were times when he was 20, 25 yards away from those two No 10s.
"I remember his goal in Derry that stands out more than anything, a long hopeful ball, he chased it down and it was an unbelievable finish past Brian Maher. I just felt at that time, 'right, is this going to be the start of it?'. But unfortunately it wasn't. He picked up an injury as well and has struggled since that.
"It's a great bit of business for Cork. They have their striker for next season in the Premier Division, that's exactly what Tim Clancy would have wanted.
"But yeah I felt sorry for Ruairí this season I have to say. I don't think we've seen the best of him because the players around him didn't feed him the ball and when they did they were nowhere near him so he could lay it off and get into the box."
Pat's take a 3-1 lead to Lithuanian outfit FC Vaduz on Thursday after a strong display in the first leg of their Europa Conference League second-round qualifier.
Byrne sees green shoots of improvement at the Saints, and he expects them to finish off the job against Vaduz.
"There's more attacking options now for St Pat's which they didn't have at the start of this season.
"I didn't see where the goals were going to come from with Pat's. I think too many players weren't playing particularly well, a lot of players out of form all over the pitch.
"I was delighted to see the reaction to the Derry defeat (in the FAI Cup), but it's important they don't sit on their laurels here. They are well capable of beating them. Vaduz aren't the team they were last year at all.
"It's a big opportunity for Pat's to get through."
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
