King gets unexpected LOI management return

League of Ireland fans knew that tenth placed Dundalk were on the hunt for a new manager as they had relieved former gaffer, Stephen O'Donnell, of his duties last Monday week with the side yet to pick up their first victory of the 2024 campaign.

There cannot have been many in the wider world of football though who thought that their next pick would be 67 year old Noel King, but following the recent speculation suggesting the former Ireland women's team gaffer and Under 21 head coach was top of their shortlist, he has now been officially unveiled and is preparing for his first game in charge on Friday evening as they face Bohemians.

It’s intriguing how unexpected appointments can shake things up, isn’t it? Just like in the world of online casinos at https://polskiesloty.com/kasyna-online/, where surprises can sometimes lead to big wins or unforeseen outcomes. Noel King stepping into the managerial role at Dundalk is akin to hitting the jackpot on a virtual slot machine - unexpected, yet full of potential.

With a decade in charge of the women's side, eight years as Under 21 gaffer, King most recently led Shelbourne's women to the double in 2022, but he now returns to the side that he had two spells with during his professional playing days.

His appointment has certainly set tongues wagging, and King knows both the size of the task ahead of him and the fact that he will need to hit the ground running to win over what seems to be the vast majority of those in The Lilywhites fan base, but it is a challenge that excites him and in his first meeting with the media, he acknowledged that he would probably have to show a 'nasty streak' to get a quicker reaction from the players.

He also insisted that he was extra motivated to succeed in the job purely from a personal point of view, as he felt that having a relegation on his CV as he looks to finish his career would be a 'horrendous' outcome.

The one thing that was clear from his opening words to the press, was that he is certainly not under estimating the challenge that lies ahead of him, and right now until he had taken the opportunity to get his feet under his desk and better assess the playing squad, he did not want to over promise what may, or may not, happen in the remaining months of the season - he much preferred to let any future actions dictate his actual words.

Dundalk owner, Brian Ainscough, certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons when he appointed King to his first League of Ireland men's team role in over 20 years, and over the weekend the 67 year old penned his new 18 month contract at Oriel Park.

Bohemians will be a tough opening task though, as their recent form has been pretty good and they are sat in fourth place in the Premier Division, trailing table toppers Shelbourne by just three points.

A good performance and a positive result would lift everyone though and King knows that the only way he will win over his doubters is by picking up victories and slowly, but surely, closing that gap to mid-table and beginning to see them move up through the places and away from that bottom spot.

Whilst the reaction to his appointment has been very mixed on social media, he clearly has a wealth of experience that he can tap into, and he confirmed that long term right hand man Joey Malone would be joining him in the dug out, but only once he had recovered from his current illness.

People will be watching on with interest to see what kind of effect he actually has over the coming weeks.