Dundalk Add Baker to the Mix

Dundalk FC has on Wednesday announced their second signing in the space of just 24 hours with the arrival of striker Dessie Baker on-loan from Shamrock Rovers. With the transfer window closing at midnight on Thursday, Baker joins fellow new recruit Derek Doyle at Oriel Park, as the Lilywhites have swooped for two Premier Division players in the final hours before the conclusion of business./

Baker chose Dundalk over two other First Division clubs, and it will be the first time that the 30-year-old has ever played in the lower tier of League of Ireland football. An experienced and versatile player, Baker is a holder of two Premier League medals, three FAI Cup medals and a League Cup medal. The only domestic trophy that he has yet to win is the one which the Lilywhites are currently chasing, and Baker will add invaluable experience to the Louth club’s promotion push as he aims to capture this title at his first attempt.

“I’m just glad that I’ve got everything sorted out,” Baker told dundalkfc.com shortly after signing. “Myself and John have been on to each other trying to get this going for the past week and a half now. It’s just good to get everything signed up and, hopefully, I can take it on from here now. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I spoke to a couple of managers, mainly in the First Division and in the top three or four clubs, but it wasn’t a difficult choice in the end.

“We actually had agreed, during last week, to do it. John was the first person to get on to me about it. I had a couple of days to think about it last week and then I found out that there was a couple more interested. But, as I say, John and Dundalk are trying to do everything right and, hopefully, I’ve made the right decision in going there./

“After speaking to John, I believe that he has the players there and the support there is meant to be fantastic, so everything is going for us to go on now and win the league. That’s what I’m looking to do and it’s the reason that I chose Dundalk. I believe that they’ve got a great opportunity of winning the league and going up.

“I know a few of the players - David Crawley, Jamie Duffy, Ian Ryan, Robbie Martin. I went up to see them on Monday and I probably knew more than I thought. I’ve worked with a lot of them, I know what way they play, I know what John is trying to do and that’s why I’ve joined.

“I went to see them play Longford the other night. I only actually stayed for the first-half. I said it to John that it wasn’t a great game to watch in the first-half, but he said that he made a couple of switches and they came out in the second-half and did what they had to do. I suppose when you want to win titles, you don’t always play well. It’s all about picking points up and, at the end of the day, they comfortably won 3-0.”

Speaking about dropping to the First Division for the first time in his career, Baker insisted: “I don’t mind it at all. I said it to Pat (Scully) that things weren’t working out at Rovers - not just on the football side of it, but my travelling wasn’t working out with the club. That’s the main reason that I ended up dropping down to the First Division, to play regularly and to, hopefully, win something, and to accommodate my life at home as well so I can spend more time with the kids. That’s why I did it. I have no problem with it at all. John does everything professionally up there. The club is running itself and he told me how professional it is, and I told him that I wanted to be part of it. I was hoping that we could work a deal out and, thankfully, we did.”

Manager John Gill, meanwhile, has admitted that it has been difficult to tempt Dessie to Oriel Park, after the hitman was targeted by a number of other clubs. “It has been an awful lot of work,” Gill told dundalkfc.com. “I’ve been on to this one for three weeks now. It has taken an awful lot of meetings, phone calls, negotiations and patience. But I vowed to the Board and to the supporters that I wasn’t going to forsake quality for quantity. Dessie has a proven pedigree, he’s a tremendous professional and I think that we’re absolutely blessed to get him. We have a big club here. Dessie could have got more money elsewhere but he has decided to come to us for the potential that we show.”

Having missed out on at least seven players during the transfer window, Gill has completed a double capture in the space of just 24 hours - two pieces of business that he is delighted with. “I’m thrilled with the two that I’ve got in,” the boss admitted. “I also know that a few others have gone out today and brought in four or five players. That says to me that they weren’t particularly happy with their squad.

“I said all along that I was extremely happy with my squad and that it would only take special players to augment it. I think these two players are special players. I didn’t think that I needed five or six players. I’ve brought in two quality players and I think that, hopefully, these will give us the injection and a little bit of a push to kick-on in the right direction.

“As we stand, we’re doing well. But I keep going back to it - the problem now is trying to manage expectation. If you look at the results last night, this league has proven that nothing is easy. There are no easy games. There’s a long way to go and we’re guaranteed nothing. We need to improve in certain areas, but, if we keep going in the right way and keep believing in ourselves, there is no reason why we can’t achieve something unique here.”

Asked if either Doyle or Baker would feature in the Lilywhites’ crucial league clash with Wexford Youths on Thursday evening, Gill said: “It depends whether or not their registrations come through. I’m not inclined to throw two new guys into the starting eleven, because Derek only trained with the team last night and Dessie has yet to train with us. But, if their registrations come through in time, they will be involved in some capacity. But really, my focus is on getting three points first, and then we have a week and three or four training sessions to bed the two lads into the way that we do things.”