Cautious Mahon plays down title ambitions

23/10/01: Derry City manager Kevin Mahon today told ireland.com he believes his club have unearthed a player of "real star potential" in the form 19 year old Gareth McGlynn.

Mahon is happy to echo the huge praise McGlynn has won for his performances in recent weeks, but insists on adding a note of caution.

"Gareth is slightly built, but his attitude, his bravery and his fantastic ability mean he could become very successful in this game. But with all the hype from the media, the supporters, and everyone else, he’ll have to work hard to keep his feet on the ground."

Indeed, despite admitting McGlynn was "instrumental" in Derry’s recent victories over Bohemians and Cork City, Mahon had no qualms about dropping the midfielder for last Sunday’s visit to Monaghan.

"I told him I was leaving him out against Monaghan because he had just played two games in five days and I didn’t want him getting battered about - Monaghan was always going to be a very different type of game to the other ones and it wouldn’t really have suited him."

Mahon says he hasn’t yet decided whether McGlynn will be deployed in the Brandywell this Thursday, simply saying the youngster in is the match squad.

Even if McGlynn doesn’t start St Pat’s manager Pat Dolan knows his inform side will have their work cut out to come away from Derry with even a point since only UCD have managed a draw there this season. But if Derry’s home form is the main propeller behind their surge to second place Mahon is quick to point out their away from has been solid too.

"We’ve played very well away from home, with the exception of Longford where we were poor. Even though we lost away to Boh’s and St Pat’s we played very well and were unlucky."

While eager to praise his team and their commitments to "basic principles", Mahon isn’t quite so keen to agree with Shamrock Rovers boss Damien Richardson, amongst others, and declare Derry serious title contenders.

"It always makes me laugh to be honest the way, in any campaign, people see a string of good results and suddenly say they’re going to win the league.

"We’re a straight talking club and we know our limitations. We haven’t spent much money on players and we don’t have the resources of some of the other clubs where the players are earning fortunes compared to our players. That’s why, for example and regardless of what anyone else says, we couldn’t hold on to Peter Hutton (who moved to Shelbourne last summer).

"There’s some very strong teams in this league, particularly in Dublin, and with only 13 games gone we know that if we don’t stick to certain basic principles we could slip down the table."

Nonetheless Mahon says he is not surprised by his side’s strong showing so far though he does say "what has surprised me is that Bohemians and Shelbourne haven’t already started to run away with it."

>ireland.com