Games weekend 11th to 14th of October

[joey B]

Incredible really what Kenny has done to this Pats team. From literally being unable to get out of their own defensive third away to Sligo in Daly's last game to becoming the joint top scoring team in the league. Night and day stuff. Fair play to Devoy and Tierney last night doing what they were brought to Bohs to do, by being the difference makers to decide the game

I know Kenny has had some good signings but is Daly just not a good manager?

[Jack B]

I know Kenny has had some good signings but is Daly just not a good manager?

I think he's good at some aspects and not at others, rather than it being a black and white thing. Some Dundalk fans thought I was making excuses or something for Kenny initially, but my opinion on Daly remains the same that he's a decent, pragmatic coach in terms of being able to prepare a game-plan against a specific opposition, but his recruitment/general squad building has proved to be awful and that's an absolutely huge factor at this level.

He did well for Pats in 2023, but the first proper window he got in the winter proved to be a disaster. Some good signings on paper but once you saw how it was actually assembled come the start of the season the alarm bells were there. No depth at left back, the less said about right back and goalkeeper the better, no balance in attack in terms of all the wingers/attacking midfielders being left-footed, big money spent on the likes of Keating and Keeley off the back of essentially one good season each. Mixed in with those were weird signings from the UK that couldn't even get a sniff of minutes. Kenny came in and immediately sought to address several of these issues and here we are now.

Dundalk are admittedly a basket case at the moment so it'd be harsh not to afford him some leeway there, but my understanding is that some of the above can be applied to his time there also. Sticking with a disastrous keeper in Goddard for too long, bringing in lads from Scotland/England he's probably barely/not ever seen play based via contacts he has over there that have proceeded to barely get a look in. I really like the guy and did quite rate him last year, but if he's going to go on to have a good career then I don't think you can keep getting such an important part of the game so wrong.

[Nesta99]

When it comes to signings from abroad using contacts there are always risksm its scattergun and only a few will be worth it imo. But if I were at a lower league Scottish club and a LoI club came asking for players and I wanted rid of of dead weght Id offer those players or if a specific player was targeted id only let them go if I was indifferent either way. There is an element of trust but from what we've seen signed from Scotland this season the vast majority are benchwarmers, squad players and little real quality that you could see in a good squad. Maybe there was some desperation but the Irish signings in Dervin and Hakiki are the ones that have been worth signing. Loans were good but when loanees show good form and are getting games they are recalled and sent out on loand a level up again so trashes a load of squad integration. Loans should be squad players only and used to cover injuries if short on depth only. SK does know how to balance a squad and is very fussy on having say both right and left footed centre halfs and attacking fullbacks that can switch side on whether out and out wing play or narrowning things are needed. But it has been impressive how he had turned a very average looking Pats squad in to contenders quite quickly without a major overhaul.

[nigel-harps1954]

You'll find very, very few clubs willing to send a player out on loan to sit on the bench as cover. It makes a mockery of the very idea of sending a player out on loan to get game time and experience.

[Nesta99]

I agree, but for loan the club its too much of a risk for half a season. Unless there is a clause obligating games, loans should be padding a squad not core players that you lose in july. It was said by Dundalk, regarding Lincoln specifically, that they dont extend loans as poilcy, that they wait and see how their loan player gets on then take them back to loan out elsewhere. With this scenario then Dundalk should have stayed clear unless it was known that they had like for like quality due to cover the loss of that loan player. Didnt happen and Benson and a 17 year old had tp cover the full back position that loan players were 1st choice and gone. If wages are covered in full maybe parent clubs might want to create space in their own wage bill especially if the players are on the fringes. Its win win for the parent clubs in every way and Dundalk have over relied on this too much regardless.

[brendy_éire]

Is Hoban’s injury serious? Could be a big factor in league and cup if he’s out for a while…..

Hamstring maybe. Getting a scan today. Coll left in a leg brace too.

Sligo was good last night, and really should have won the game. They'd a dubious offside given against them too.
As for ourselves, same old story. It's a miracle we're second, and there's real danger we finish out of the top three now.

[da bishop]

Little bit of perspective though, Harps had a 16 year old, 17 year old, three 18 year olds, a 19 year old and a 21 year old out there tonight.

Nobody at the club expected us to be getting promoted this year, and there's something nice building away within the youth structures.

It's desperately disappointing not to make the playoffs after how we started the season. Things have really not gone our way off the pitch this season, some of the ridiculous scheduling has made a shambles of our season too. But it is what it is and we start to look forward to next year now with a good year under the belt for a very young squad.

But..But...cant be true... Tommy Barrett says we have the youngest squad in the league down at Treaty.Tbf some very good young talent coming through at Harps but some very inconsistent form this season.

[TonyD]

I think he's good at some aspects and not at others, rather than it being a black and white thing. Some Dundalk fans thought I was making excuses or something for Kenny initially, but my opinion on Daly remains the same that he's a decent, pragmatic coach in terms of being able to prepare a game-plan against a specific opposition, but his recruitment/general squad building has proved to be awful and that's an absolutely huge factor at this level.

He did well for Pats in 2023, but the first proper window he got in the winter proved to be a disaster. Some good signings on paper but once you saw how it was actually assembled come the start of the season the alarm bells were there. No depth at left back, the less said about right back and goalkeeper the better, no balance in attack in terms of all the wingers/attacking midfielders being left-footed, big money spent on the likes of Keating and Keeley off the back of essentially one good season each. Mixed in with those were weird signings from the UK that couldn't even get a sniff of minutes. Kenny came in and immediately sought to address several of these issues and here we are now.

Dundalk are admittedly a basket case at the moment so it'd be harsh not to afford him some leeway there, but my understanding is that some of the above can be applied to his time there also. Sticking with a disastrous keeper in Goddard for too long, bringing in lads from Scotland/England he's probably barely/not ever seen play based via contacts he has over there that have proceeded to barely get a look in. I really like the guy and did quite rate him last year, but if he's going to go on to have a good career then I don't think you can keep getting such an important part of the game so wrong.

I thought Daly did well last year too. In terms of recruitment, yeah Keating didn’t work out, but he looked a good signing at the time. Brandon Kavanagh has done well, and Roman Palmer has proved a good signing too. I’d cut Daly some slack in terms of the defence. Sjoberg and Grivosti both returning from injury has been a major factor in my view. The one area where I’d give Stephen Kenny huge credit is that he’s completely transformed Jake Mulraney, who looks like a different player now. The signing of Zak Elbouzedi has been important too.

[Jack B]

I thought Daly did well last year too. In terms of recruitment, yeah Keating didn’t work out, but he looked a good signing at the time. Brandon Kavanagh has done well, and Roman Palmer has proved a good signing too. I’d cut Daly some slack in terms of the defence. Sjoberg and Grivosti both returning from injury has been a major factor in my view. The one area where I’d give Stephen Kenny huge credit is that he’s completely transformed Jake Mulraney, who looks like a different player now. The signing of Zak Elbouzedi has been important too.

There's obviously some good ones in there, but for each of them there was also a Kieran Freeman, Pitaluga, Aaron Pettifer, Alfie Taylor etc that ranged from confusing to dreadful. It was more the make up of the squad rather than individuals anyway for me, at the start of the season I don't think you could have put out starting XI that wasn't unbalanced in some way and that's quite poor from a squad building perspective.

[dundalkfc10]

I know Kenny has had some good signings but is Daly just not a good manager?

Plenty of the lads I go to games with would say John Daly has been the worst of our 3 managers this season

His refusal to remove Goodard from goals for weeks and weeks cost us loads of points (Munro is not great but he dosnt give a goal or more away every game)