Shelbourne need a manager who has the mentality to win Premier Division titles and that’s why I like the idea of Damien Duff.
Yes, it would be a risk. Didn’t he shock everyone and walk away from his Ireland role in January just like that?
That’ll play on the minds of the Shels directors and I’ve no doubt Damien is thinking long and hard about whether it’s the right time - or club - to step up.
But at some stage in his coaching career, he’ll have to take the shackles off and I’d be delighted if it was with Shels.
I signed for Shelbourne because they were the most successful team in the country at the time - and the most professional.
Sure, their finances were in a mess but I didn’t sign for the money. I signed to win trophies and make inroads in Europe.
It was the highest level you could play at in Ireland - so what more did I want.
In Pat Fenlon, we had a manager who had just come out of playing and wanted to go to the next level and made no bones about it.
He was incredibly ambitious and the catalyst for that team breaking boundaries in Europe and winning leagues on a regular basis.
He didn’t get the support he needed from the club but it didn’t matter and he pushed everyone forward.
I love Shels and will always be a fan. But the club I’ve been looking at for the last decade is one feeling sorry for itself.
Yes, that’s harsh but winning First Divisions isn’t good enough yet there’s a mindset among some of the fans that it’s the best thing since sliced bread.
Well, it’s not. It’s the First Division!
This is not the club I recognise and that’s why it needs a manager that can drag it back into line.
And I mean no disrespect to outgoing boss Ian Morris there.
It takes a lot to get back on the horse and win the First Division after relegation, so don’t underestimate his achievement.
But he’s gone after tonight and Shels need a successor that can instill the hunger to win the Premier Division.
They need a leader who will get them back into a situation where they were 15/16 years ago because that’s not too long ago.
It’s a psychological shift as much as anything because the club has forgotten where it was.
Maybe they don’t want to big up those days because it puts too much pressure on the current squad, but I’m not having that.
The best thing you’ll ever have in your career is pressure, because that’s the difference between being an average player and a top player.
Damien Duff is not the only contender in the frame but he’s already on the inside as their Under-17s manager, so that helps.
If he took the top job, he’d bring to it everything he has learned as a Premier League winner and an Ireland centurion.
Shels would have to back him and they’d need a better budget because if he takes it on, he’ll want a good go at it. But directors shouldn’t be afraid of that.
Damien played through the John Delaney era and I’ve no doubt he has trust issues with Irish football.
There’s probably a reluctance to get too deep into it.
Will he be the next Shels manager? I honestly don’t know, but why not? At some stage he has to let go and release and so does the club.
ROVERS CAN GET OUT THE BRANDY AND CIGARS - BUT WHAT ABOUT THE REST?
Shamrock Rovers can win the league tonight and they deserve it. The champions elect have been in third gear all year.
It’s not their fault that we don’t have a competitive league.
You need four or five clubs in the mix, instead of one club investing in their team to win the league in order to qualify for the Champions League.
The rest are too tentative and afraid to go to the next level. But when you’ve a league where the prize money is insulting, you can’t blame them.
SSE Airtricity upped the pot to €600,000 at the start of the season - but that covers the Premier and First Division as well as the Women’s National League.
Dress it up whatever way you like, it’s a pittance. This is a professional sport - the biggest in the world! - and it’s not good enough.
The biggest global compnies - Google, Apple, the list is endless - are all located here but for some reason we can’t join the dots.
The men’s senior international team still doesn’t have a sponsor and teams in our top league are playing for buttons.
Explain to me where this is all going.
Fifteen years ago, I played in a Setanta Cup competition where the first prize was €250k. Rovers will pocket about half that if they win the league tonight.
Something has gone seriously wrong in this country and you pin it on ‘the crash’. We’re well past that.
We’re not thinking big enough and it concerns me. Public interest in the game is still on the floor.
We’re great at patting ourselves on the back when it comes to the League of Ireland. Clubs have done great things with very little resources.
But it’s a drop in the ocean compared to what’s achievable.
I was encouraged a few years ago by the All-Island League discussion and the State also seemed to be taking more interest in the domestic game.
But it’s gone quiet again. It’s not progressing at all and we have to take our head out of the sand as the whole movement to galvanise the game has hit a wall.
WE AV TO SELL GAME BETTER
It wouldn’t matter if the FAI Cup final was Tolka Rovers against Home Farm, there has to be a plan to promote the game and sell tickets.
There’s been good debate this week as to whether Pats-Bohs will attract 30,000 plus, or fall short on November 28.
But here’s hoping the FAI strategy to market the game amounts to more than just the usual word of mouth that tickets are cheap.
If it was Leinster-Munster in rugby, I’d be listening to southsiders droning on about it for months. There would be relentless advertising campaigns around it.
But we - the League of Ireland - don’t do this particularly well.
We don't know how to sell ourselves and it ties into the psychology that we don’t believe in ourselves enough, or that we feel we’re not good enough.
Changing that perception would be a good start.
WATER COUP KEEPING MARC
It’s a good thing that Waterford protected themselves by tying Marc Bircham to a new two-year deal back in August.
Because the job he's doing is remarkable.
He’s a great character and during the Cup semi-final defeat to Bohs, he would shout out to myself and the other RTE panelists as the game was going on.
We were situated just behind the dugouts and he’d turn around every now and then to see what we made of a certain call in the game.
His recruitment has been excellent and you can see why players want to play for him because he has that mix of being relaxed and serious.
What a coup he’s been for Waterford and if he’s not snapped up by a bigger outfit, the club has bright days ahead.
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