Season Preview 2017 - St Patrick's Athletic

Manager: Liam Buckley

Stadium: Richmond Park

Players in: Kurtis Byrne (Bohemians), Pat Cregg, Barry Murphy (Shamrock Rovers), Alex O’Hanlon (Free Agent), Gavin Peers (Sligo Rovers).

Players out: David Cawley (Galway United), Brendan Clarke (Limerick), Sean Hoare, Jamie McGrath (Dundalk), Dinny Corcoran (Bohemians), Mark Timlin (Derry City).

Extratime.ie Key Man: Christy Fagan

You really have to hand it to Liam Buckley and his negotiating skills. For the sixth straight year Christy Fagan will be playing the lead role for St. Pat’s in attack and this year the club will be reliant on him more than ever before.

In recent seasons the side have boasted the depth of Chris Forrester, Killian Brennan, Keith Fahey and the ever-present Conan Byrne for ingenuity and attacking precision to aid Fagan. Now, with the absence of European football and the funding it brings, the quality within the St. Pats squad has receded this season.

Add to that the departures of Jamie McGrath and Mark Timlin and the realisation hits that the goals which Fagan will bring in 2017 will be valued like gold-dust. The 27-year-old was the club’s top scorer in 2014 and 2016 and only trails Cork City’s Sean Maguire in the pre-season odds for this year’s golden boot.

The depth of Buckley’s squad is not what it has been up front. A litany of attacking experiments have come and gone over the years, including Mark Quigley, Ciaran Kilduff, Cyril Guedjé and Dinny Corcoran, with Kurtis Byrne the latest to try and forge a working relationship with Fagan, after Bray snapped up former Saints ace Anto Flood.

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind, however, that Fagan will once again be St. Pats' most prized possession this season as they try and return to European football and simultaneously attempt to reinforce their right to challenge at the top end of the table, in what Buckley himself has confessed is an extremely competitive league this season.

Many expected 2016 to be Fagan’s last at Richmond Park, with offers from all of Shamrock Rovers, Bray Wanderers and champions Dundalk simply not materialising. At full fitness Fagan is unquestionably the best striker in the Premier Division. The Saints need him now more than ever.

Extratime.ie One to Watch: Alex O’Hanlon

Speaking at the launch of the 2017 SSE Airtricity League last week, Liam Buckley admitted that one of his side’s key strengths this season could be the range of talent to be found in their younger players.

His side cannot boast the big names brought in by bigger money at Bray and Shamrock Rovers. But what Richmond Park can boast is a litany of younger talents which have proven capable of playing at the standard of the Premier Division.

One such player is 20-year-old Alex O’Hanlon, who has returned to Ireland following five years on Merseyside playing for Liverpool.

The player confessed that he may have made a mistake in not working his way up in England from a lower level, as seen in Chris Forrester and Daryl Horgan in League One and Championship. “Irish kids are better off joining a Championship club. In hindsight, that’s what I should have done”, he said.

However he maintains that he is dead-set to work his way back to the top — starting at St. Pat’s, which he describes as a shop window to get back to England.

The player is capable of playing in both defence and midfield, with his height and frame meaning he can contribute in both attacking and defensive setups.

He scored on his club debut in a 4-0 Leinster Senior Cup win against Bray Wanderers at the end of January and, alongside fellow prospect JJ Lunney, will blend youth with established midfield outlets in Graham Kelly, Pat Cregg and Keith Treacy.

How they did last season:

League: 7th

FAI Cup: Semi-finals

EA Sports Cup: Winners

What to expect this season:

St. Pat’s find themselves in a strange and unfamiliar position heading into 2017. The last four years have been the most successful in the club’s history, winning the league, FAI Cup, Leinster Senior Cup, President’s Cup and back-to-back EA Sports Cups.

However last season was the club’s worst league finish since 2009, finishing below mid-table in seventh.

This will also be the first season since 2010 that the Saints do not play in Europe, which is a hard pill to swallow both from a financial perspective and from a wider belief that the club should be competing for one of the league’s top three positions every year.

With three sides going down to the First Division this year, the prospect of being involved in a relegation battle cannot be completely batted aside for St. Pat’s. However there are far weaker sides than St. Pat’s to go down, even with a squad missing stalwarts such as Brendan Clarke and Sean Hoare.

To that extent Buckley has done well to rebuild his squad with a limited budget. Clarke out meant Barry Murphy in. David Cawley departed and was replaced by Cregg. Hoare moved further north and Gavin Peers has taken his place. Corcoran went to Dalymount and Kurtis Byrne went the other way.

As such, the Saints venture quiety assured into the unknown this season. But breaking into the top three will not be an easy task.

Bray have strengthened considerably under the guidance of Harry Kenny, the rebirth of Derry City under Kenny Shiels sees them in European competition this summer, as well as the usual dominance of Dundalk and Cork City for first, not to mention a Ronan Finn inspired Shamrock Rovers as outsiders for the title.

There will be at least three sides disappointed not to secure a European spot this season and it very well could be mid-table again for the Saints come November.

Title Odds: 33/1

First game: vs Bray Wanderers (H) 24th February 2017