There is a football awakening in the Republic of Ireland and it has little to do with the national team and even less with the Football Association of Ireland. Instead the flagbearers are Dundalk FC and their manager, Stephen Kenny, who has led the team to unprecedented success by cultivating flair and technique, shattering stereotypes and redefining Irish players’ potential. Now he is being acclaimed as an ideal future manager of a country whose football has not fully broken free of the mould imposed by Jack Charlton in the 1980s.
“The next few weeks will determine whether this is the most successful season in the history of Irish football or we actually win nothing,” Kenny tells the Guardian in advance of an intensive period during which Dundalk could win a third league title in a row, retain the FAI Cup and become the first Irish club to qualify from the Europa League’s group stage, having already become the first to win a match in it or even a point.
It is an extraordinary turnaround for a club that finished bottom of the league and was on the brink of extinction before new owners arrived and hired Kenny four years ago. But it is not merely results that have led to the praise for Kenny, it is the style with which they have been achieved.
On the same night that Feyenoord beat Manchester United last month, Dundalk drew at AZ Alkmaar with 10 men and the Dutch team’s manager, John van den Brom, admitted that Dundalk “were better than us with their short combinations”. The former Leeds United and Republic of Ireland midfielder Johnny Giles said last week that Kenny “has tapped into the true traditions of Irish football” by encouraging skill and wit rather than just brawn and guts.
“I don’t subscribe to this view that being Irish it’s in our DNA to play the direct physical route,” says Kenny. “It’s important not to have the mindset that because we’re from this part of the world we’re less skilful so we have to rely on physical attributes and determination and that’s it. That mindset has existed for a long time. It certainly hasn’t served our clubs well. There has to be another way. I do think we have very skilful players in Ireland and it’s about trying to get them to absolutely believe in themselves.
“Everyone has their own view but a lot of people who love the game want to come and watch teams play with flair, real composure and encouragement of individual skill, having players really express themselves. That excites people to see and if you’re a skilful player, that’s the environment you want to flourish in. You’re excited about the fact that you’re coming into train with, and play for, a team that has those values and helps you fulfil your potential.
“And that’s more important than winning to me. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not adverse to winning, but I do feel that the way the team plays is hugely important to us. We want skill to overcome any other thing.”
It has suddenly become relevant for fans and media to compare and contrast every Republic of Ireland performance with those of Kenny’s Dundalk. But Kenny is too smart and respectful to add his own voice to the suggestions that the national team would be better off in his hands.
“Martin O’Neill is an inspirational Irish manager,” he says. “He’s an iconic figure, somebody who’s won two European Cups as a player and then gone back and managed at the lowest level with Wycombe, then went on and had great success with Celtic and Leicester and brought Aston Villa to a top-six finish. He’s got great pedigree and has just signed a new contract and is going to be there for a long time.
“Me, I’m still learning. Every day I hope to get better. I’m really hungry to do well, very focused on what I’m doing. I’m not saying: ‘I’m in the running to be an international manager’ because that’s a dangerous way to think. There’s nothing wrong with having ambition but you have to go and make sure you do your task to hand extremely well. We have a very experienced international manager who has achieved a huge amount. For me, I have a lot to achieve myself and a lot to look forward to.”
His achievements so far suggest that he does indeed have a lot look forward to. The man who turns 45 later this month already has nearly two decades of mostly successful management under his belt, having become the youngest manager in League of Ireland history when he took charge of Longford Town at the age of 27.
He took Longford to new heights before winning the league with Bohemians and reviving the fortunes of Derry City, whom he saved from relegation and took on a memorable Uefa Cup run that ended with a narrow defeat by Paris Saint-Germain. Those achievements attracted the interest of Dunfermline Athletic, who were then adrift at the foot of the Scottish Premier League table. Kenny led them to the 2007 Scottish Cup final – beating Rangers, Hearts and Hibernian before losing 1-0 to Celtic – but he could not rescue them from relegation, nor prevent a slow start to the following season. He was sacked after a year.
“I was only 35 when I walked out alongside Gordon Strachan to 55,000 people at Hampden Park,” Kenny recalls. “[Managing in Scotland] was a great experience but it was nine years ago. I’m a different person now. You learn from experiences, good and bad. I know my own mind now. I’m very certain about what I want, the type of people and players I want to work with.”
He began demonstrating how much he had learned at Dunfermline when he returned to Derry City, who were beset by financial trouble and demoted to the second tier. Kenny won promotion by forming a skilful winning team with a tiny budget. Seven of the youngsters he signed went on to become senior internationals, including Niall McGinn and James McClean.
His thesis for the Uefa Pro Licence, which he was awarded in 2011, was on “building a club from nothing”. Dundalk’s owners knew what they were doing when they turned to him in their hour of greatest need four years ago.
Wins this season over teams such as Bate Borisov and Maccabi Tel Aviv have brought unprecedented attention to a domestic league that is often overlooked even by Irish football fans. “We’re competing against the English Premier League and also Gaelic games and rugby, all of which have a high profile here,” says Kenny.
“Going for a double double would not in itself capture the wider public in the way you’d hope but the European experience elevates it. Now everyone is rooting for us, even from different sporting codes. People keep saying, ‘we’re enjoying watching you play’ and we get letters and emails from schoolboy coaches all over Ireland.”
While others trumpet his suitability for even grander roles, Kenny is concentrating on a task that has become more difficult due to an infernal run-in. The down side to Dundalk’s success this season is a fixture pileup that is stretching the resources of a squad that features several players who combine football with day jobs.
On Saturday they suffered their heaviest home league defeat of Kenny’s reign, 3-0 to Sligo Rovers. That leaves them one point above Cork City at the top of the table with six league games to go – and they host Cork on Tuesday. That crunch match is the first of nine games in 27 days, including a Europa League double-header against Zenit St Petersburg. The run concludes with the FAI Cup final (also against Cork) three days after their assignment in Russia. Their last two Europa League group games are in what would normally be the off-season for Irish clubs.
“Obviously this is a challenging time for us and we have to maximise every resting opportunity between games but it’s been a brilliant experience so far,” says Kenny. “And we hope to get out of the group and extend our season into February.”
Kenny disagrees with suggestions that there is another potential down side to his team’s European run: that the money the club has earned from it – in excess of £6m so far, more than six times Dundalk’s annual budget – will distort competition in the League of Ireland and enable them to dominate for the foreseeable future.
“That’s easy to say but I don’t think it’s accurate,” says Kenny, whose team must stage their home European games in Dublin because their ground, Oriel Park, is ramshackle. “Our facilities are poor, to say the least, so I would imagine the vast majority [of the money] is earmarked for facilities,” says Kenny. “Also, several other teams are improving. Cork are pushing us hard all the way this season. The title is very much in the balance.” Whatever happens on Tuesday and over the next few weeks, Kenny has shown that he is a manager worth keeping an eye on.
