Patrick Hoban: 'You're telling me that 18 games is winning a league? Come on'
Hoban marks a goal with his trademark 'one-eyed' celebration. Credit: Michael P Ryan (ETPhotos)
Dundalk striker Patrick Hoban has poured cold water on Shamrock Rovers’ title celebrations with the suggestion the Hoops’ 2020 triumph was not ‘a proper league.’
The enforced Coronavirus-related shutdown from March to July meant a truncated 18-game campaign was played out rather than the regular 36 games.
Stephen Bradley’s side ran out comfortable winners, sealing the title with four games to spare and going the entire league campaign without defeat.
Dundalk gained some revenge with an extra-time win in the FAI Cup final in November, though Hoban missed out after undergoing surgery after Dundalk’s quarter-final win over Bohemians.
Any regret at finishing a distant third is tempered, however, by the Galwayman’s insistence he wouldn’t have celebrated ‘like we had won the league’ even if they had topped the table.
“It’s a proper league [in 2021], isn’t it? You’re telling me that winning the league after 18 games is winning a league? It’s not,” Hoban told Dundalk’s official website.
“It’s like being top of the table in June and saying ‘we won the league’. Come on. Let’s be realistic here. Before we went into the games last summer I said it was ridiculous.
“I could not see myself, if we had won the 18-games last season, celebrating like we had won the league, especially after winning three before that. I just couldn’t do it.
“I saw last year’s league as a chance to win a Champions League spot and we didn’t do that. We finished third.
“Although we qualified for Europe, it was still disappointing, but this year we have to try and retain what’s ours which is a 36-game, proper league.”
Hoban is targeting a return to action when the Lilywhites kick off their league campaign away to Sligo Rovers on March 19th.
The league kick-off was delayed from the usual mid-February start in order to allow clubs to work out a financial package with the FAI and increase chances of getting fans back later in the season.
“If we had started this month, I probably would have pushed myself too much to try and get back and that could have led to a setback and me being out for even longer.
“Now, I have a bit more time to get ready which is good for me,” concluded Hoban.
