The midas touch of an interim manager

It is fast becoming a trend in the modern game, where a club turns to an interim manager to help steady the ship during turbulent times and those tasked with the job end up becoming the saviour.

Hunky Dorys Park is the latest venue to witness this craze after Darius Kierans was handed the reins at Drogheda United following Alan Mathews’ recent departure.

Since taking over, the Newstalk A Championship boss has steered the Boynesiders to a draw and a win – four points that could be crucial in helping to lift the club away from the foot of the Premier Division table.

Of course, it is still early in Kierans’ life as a top-flight manager (albeit with the interim tag still attached) and things could go horribly wrong with an FAI Ford Cup clash against UCD and a league meeting with Shamrock Rovers to come before the mid-season break.

However, if he were to reach that window having not lost a game then the rookie manager might find himself in the position as being the leading candidate to fill the role.

The Drogheda players have certainly responded well to his enthusiastic approach. If striker John Flood, who netted the winner in the recent 2-1 victory over St Patrick’s Athletic, is to be believed, then Kierans is the right man for the job.

“It’s all positive with him [Kierans], it’s brilliant,” Flood told Extratime after the St Pat’s game. “He’s given me confidence, he’s given the team confidence and we’re just working off that.”

Kierans will be fully aware of just how difficult it will be to turn Drogheda’s season around and ease them away from the choppy waters that have threatened to capsize them this season.

But going down the interim route could prove to be worthwhile for the County Louth club. It is a formula that has worked at several clubs in other countries and is going well so far for Kierans.

Across the water in the Coca-Cola Championship Reading had sunk into relegation fodder after a disastrous start under Brendan Rodgers. So they turned to coach Brian McDermott to take over on a temporary basis, but his impact proved to be so great that they didn’t need to look beyond him when appointing a new manager.

The same happened in the Scottish Premier League, where Peter Houston stepped in at Dundee United during a troubled period to eventually lead them to third place in the league and to victory in the Scottish Cup final.

Closer to home, Pete Mahon revived his managerial career when he did just enough last season in a short space of time to ensure that St Pat’s didn’t suffer relegation. And since getting the job on a full-time basis, he has shown that he was the right man for the job all along.

However, it should be noted that removing the interim tag is a risk. A club will ultimately be deciding to place their trust in someone who was not their first-choice option and, in a lot of cases, lacks experience.

But it can be a gamble worth taking as others have shown and the history of interim managers doing well once the job becomes theirs bodes well for Kierans’ chances.