National League: There was a growing sense in both Scotland and on Foyleside last night that Stephen Kenny will leave Derry City to become manager of Scottish Premier Division strugglers Dunfermline after the FAI Cup final next month.
The Dubliner insists that nothing has been agreed but sources close to Dunfermline suggest that they believe Kenny will take over early next month while there were reports yesterday in Derry that he had met directors of the Brandywell outfit to confirm his desire to leave.
"There's been an offer and I have a decision to make," Kenny confirmed last night, "but nothing's been done, there's no agreement in place."
The 36-year-old former Longford Town and Bohemians boss insisted that he would remain in charge of City for the team's remaining league games this season and that he would still be at the club for the FAI Cup final against St Patrick's Athletic on December 3rd. Although he declined to elaborate on what would happen then, however, it looks increasingly as if his future might lie elsewhere.
It is believed that he travelled to Scotland at the weekend to meet Dunfermline officials and that they have made it clear to the local media that they believe they have found their man. It is also widely believed that he will bring his first-team coach Declan Devine, a former goalkeeper at Derry, Glentoran and Hull City, with him to his new job.
Dunfermline certainly appear willing too to wait until the second week in December to get Kenny despite the fact that they currently lie at the bottom of the Premier Division with just nine points, two less than Dundee United, from the 13 games they have played so far. With two years left on their manager's contract Derry would, of course, be hoping to receive compensation in the event that Kenny departs but he is believed to have a clause in his deal that allows him to depart in circumstances such as these. It is not clear, though, precisely what terms it specifies.
There are said to have been indirect contact between the two clubs yesterday and so ultimately it seems that a disagreement over money will not scupper any move assuming Kenny wants to go.
Before then, he has the opportunity to finish the season here on a relative high even if the league title does look to be beyond his side in the wake of Tuesday's disappointing 3-1 defeat in Drogheda. "I'm determined that we finish the season as strongly as we can over the last three games," he said. "The league's not in our hands anymore but the least we can do is to make sure we qualify for Europe and then see what happens elsewhere."
Shelbourne, he realises, would now have to more or less collapse for Derry's title aspirations to be revived and the championship could be settled as early as tomorrow night when Derry visit their cup final opponents in Inchicore and Pat Fenlon's side travels to Cork.
Understandably, however, he refuses to concede defeat and is determined that his side do their best to keep the pressure on their rivals.
Even if Derry fail to add to the League Cup they have already won this season, his already strong reputation has been hugely enhanced during his almost two and a half years or so at the Brandywell. He arrived at the club - in the wake of Bohemians' hasty decision to sack him - at a time when they were struggling and morale within the squad was low. Since then the team has won two league cups, missed out on a championship title on the last day of last season and made it to a cup final.
Dunfermline clearly hope that he can work a similar sort of transformation at East End Park and it is not entirely surprising that Kenny, though he insists he loves his current job, appears to be tempted by the challenge himself.
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Originally Posted by Luke O'Riordan
I'm sick of this nonsense that we were wrong to get rid of Kenny.
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