Shelbourne manager Damien Duff has a growing list of banned words at the club ahead of the start of the new season.
Duff leads his side into the 2025 campaign as defending champions, but he won't hear talk of Shelbourne being the favourites and has banned all mention of retaining or defending their title.
As for mentioning the Champions League, don’t even think about it.
With preparations for the new campaign building up and fresh faces settling into the squad, Duff is adamant that the achievements of last year count for little now and is eager to position Shels as underdogs again.
"I don't think we’re favourites, I wouldn't put us as favourites," he said at the launch of the new Shels away jersey. "We weren't favourites last year and I don't see us as favourites this year.
"Rovers will always be favourites. Derry have a very experienced football team. St Pat's are near on favourites because they won nine games in a row [at the end of last season].
"The only real pressure at this football club comes from the staff, and that comes every day.
"Retain and defend are words I don't like and we haven't been using them.
"Defending a title always feels to me like you're taking a backward step and you're just trying to protect something. So it's not about defending or retaining the title, it's about winning the title.
"That's what it's about for me."
When asked whether it is a privilege to have teams chasing them as the champions, Duff found another word to add to the list.
" Chasing? We're all on zero points. So, what did I say? Defend, and retain, and now chase.
"We all start off on a level par so for me it's forgotten about of course. It should give the boys confidence. But, as for chasing, it doesn't make sense to me, because we're all on zero points."
While all mention of last season’s achievements are being shut down by Duff, the rewards for their dramatic final day league triumph are not so easily ignored.
Shelbourne will be Ireland’s representatives in the Champions League, entering at the qualifying round, giving them a major boost in their hopes of playing European group stage football.
But with their European campaign not getting underway until July, Duff has found another term that won’t be discussed in his dressing room.
"God, I’m barring an awful lot of words," he said. " So it was retain, defend, being chased. You can add Champions League.
"The Champions League is not even on my radar.
"It’s a balance of course, you have to balance it when you get there, but it's all about having a serious squad and a competitive squad which you're going to have to chop and change.
"The FAI Cup will come around then but [right now] the Champions League is the absolute least of my worries.
"We’ve got Drogheda [in the President’s Cup], there’s silverware there. We’ve got two pre-season friendlies. That’s the worry for me and I worry about everything.
"It’s a time for people to be paranoid, both players and staff to ask 'are we doing enough’? Because the minute we get blasé, we get found out.
"Champions League just will not get mentioned anytime soon, within the players' room and my room. Outside the club, fine, but it's irrelevant to me at the minute."
While European football, particularly group stage qualification, can offer a major financial incentive for clubs, Duff is focused foremost on the ‘bread and butter’ of the domestic league.
"It's aim for the stars in every competition we're in, and the Champions League is a bonus. The FAI Cup is beautiful. It's the showcase. Do I want to get back to Aviva? Yes. But for me, the league is always your bread and butter, and we'll deal with that first.
"Champions League, great, it’ll be amazing, I’ll be proud for myself, the staff, the players and everybody involved with the club. But it's light years away to me, honestly."
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