Pat Fenlon back in Dalymount for Heary tribute

On Sunday Pat Fenlon returns to the Dalymount dugout to glance an eye over Owen Heary one last time. Fenlon managed Heary at both Bohs and Shels and is delighted the veteran is getting the appreciation he deserves for such a brilliant career.
 

“It’s a massive weekend for him and one he deserves thoroughly. His contribution to League of Ireland football has been incredible when you think about it, he’s played that long, he’s won so many things – but it’s probably how he’s carried himself as a League of Ireland player that he deserves a lot of credit for.”

“We’ve had so many good times together, we played together in the first year at Shels and the double winning team , and then obviously as a manager of both Shels and Bohs we had great occasions – big days, league championships, FAI Cup finals, League Cup finals, Setanta Cup finals, I suppose we’ve done most of it – but probably Deportivo is the big one that stands out – him leading the team out in such a high profile game at the time will always be special.”

Fenlon’s time as manager of Hibs came to an end three weeks ago, but all the time during his spell across the Irish Sea he made sure to keep an eye on the league back home.

“I’ve watched the league on Extratime.ie and a few other things. I’ve seen what is going on over the last number of years and in fairness to Bohs they’ve done well to stay up – it was a difficult season for them, it’s a difficult period for the club as well because you know after being so successful for a while and then to go right down the other way is difficult. It was important that they stayed in the league this year and gave themselves a bit of breathing space.”

Taking Celtic out of the equation, Fenlon still thinks there is a big gap in quality between the league in Ireland and the Scottish league. “It’s a big difference, 6 or 7 years ago when a lot of teams were full time, there were a lot of really good players and I think you see that with a lot of them doing really well across the water. I think at the moment there are a lot of young players coming through which is good for the league – it will take a while for that to develop again but at the moment there’s a big gap between the two.”

Luke Byrne moved to Shamrock Rovers last week, but there had been whispers during the season that Hibernian may have been an interested party. Fenlon believes players in the league need to work on their strength to make sure they can compete at higher level.

“If you take the likes of Seamus Coleman from where he was at Sligo to where he is now it just shows you what can be done. He had a lot of talent but his ability and attitude is key and that’s where I think a lot of the younger players have to develop. Trying to develop them physically at a younger age a bit better would be a massive help for them – particularly when they made that step to go across the water and you talk to a lot of the younger ones they physically struggled.”

Now out of work, Fenlon hasn’t ruled out the possibility of working in Ireland again.

“You never know, football is a funny game and things change from day to day. Three weeks ago I was managing Hibs, this week I’m not doing anything. I never get set in things where you try plan in football because you can’t plan, it changes very regularly.”

“I’ll take a break at the moment and see what happens. If something happens short term then we’ll take a look and if something happens further down the road then we’ll wait and see.”

While at Hibs Fenlon witnessed the Edinburgh Derby first hand – he can draw comparisons to the Bohs and Shamrock Rovers derbies he was involved in as a player and a manager. “Rivalry is rivalry – the difference is the size of the rivalry. You’re talking 15,000 at a Hearts versus Hibs game, it’s a small city Edinburgh and there’s only two clubs in it – Dublin’s a big city and there’s a few clubs in it so it’s probably not as intense, but on the day its every bit as intense.  I’ve been to Bohs versus Rovers games as a supporter, as a player and a manager so I know what its bout but the Hearts and Hibs one is a big rivalry and its based on a few things and it can be very tasty.”

The title winning Bohemians team of 2009 will come up against the famous Shelbourne team of 2004 on Sunday. Wes Hoolahan, Glen Fitzpatrick and Dave Rogers are among the names that will try and rekindle the Shels romance nine years on from that night in Deportivo. The club is far from those glory nights now, but Fenlon knows they can bounce back.

“I’m desperately disappointed they got relegated to be honest because they got back into the league after a few years of fighting to get back into it. They’re in a poor situation – there’s good people there and you’re just hoping that it comes around and when you have good people running clubs you have genuine hope that they can turn it around and Johnny’s coming in at a difficult time. Initially he had the impact of getting good results, but then it leveled out a bit. It gives him a chance now to get his own squad together and he knows what it takes to get out of that division.”

But which one of Bohs or Shels gave him the better memories? “Linfield! No, I’ve had great times at both, when I was here at Bohs as a player it was a fabulous club and we were a bit unfortunate we didn’t win and league title, we lost one on a four way playoff – it was just madness after even finishing top on goal difference, that was probably one thing that stuck with me that I didn’t win a league here at Bohs as a player.”

On Sunday Heary will play a half for both Bohs and Shels – at some stage he might even come up against Fenlon, who says if all goes to plan he’ll get the boots on and show the young lads how its really done.