Kenny looks forward to Dundalk challenge

Stephen Kenny was today unveiled as the new manager of Dundalk FC. The former Shamrock Rovers boss has signed a two-year deal at Oriel Park and speaking to Extratime.ie, Kenny expressed his delight at becoming the manager of the Lilywhites and also acknowledged the challenge that lies ahead before outlining that he intends to ‘re-establish’ the club.

“Delighted to be here. It’s a big challenge, there’s no doubt. The demise of Monaghan United was a massive factor last season and the playoff in Waterford was a big result. It was important that they maintained their premier division status.

“It is a big challenge ahead. It’s to re-establish Dundalk as a main force in Irish football, it is a huge challenge, one that I have decided to take on because there are a lot of good things about Dundalk.”

Kenny admitted that it was a long time since that the club were a main force in the country however he believes that with the history and tradition of the club, it can be achieved.

“The stadium is old, it needs to be revamped, and the pitch is controversial but the club has a lot of history. You can’t ignore history. It is there. There’s a lot of tradition at the club. It is a footballing town and when things are going well there is a strong support. The club have a bigger support than most clubs in the country.

“It has been a long time though since that happened and it won’t happen overnight. You could say it is a long-term project but we are going to compete and it’s a challenge I am happy to take.”

Only two weeks ago Dundalk decided not to renew the contract of interim manager Darius Kierans but the board quickly made their mind up who they wanted to replace him and the 41 year-old explained Ciaran Bond (Dundalk chairman) came to his house!

“Yeah he came up to my house in Inishowen and basically said that the board weren’t interested in interviewing anyone else and I listened to that. It made up my mind so I was happy to go with that.”

Speaking on his plans for the new season, the former Derry City gaffer said he will be casting the net far and wide in a bid to secure players and also laid out his own personal plans.

“I’ll be moving to Dundalk to give it everything. The players will train in the evening and with me being in Dundalk, if some players want to train in the morning I’ll be here to help them with that. We’ll be training in Dundalk, it’s the centre of the football club. We’ll be training on grass mostly and on the artificial pitch when we need to.”

 “I know the Irish League very well from being manager of Derry City so I’ll be looking at players all over the place. I’m not just going to look to Dublin for players. I am looking to sign players who are fit to play in the top half of the Premier Division.”

Kenny spoke of the uncertainty of football saying ‘you don’t know what’s going to happen’ but spoke at length about his record as a manager, in particular his league record which he intends to carry on at Oriel Park.

“You really don’t know how it’s going to go. I don’t know if the Shamrock Rovers spell damaged my reputation, that’s not for me to say. Others can judge but almost every year I have been a manager, I have qualified for Europe. The only year was Derry in 2009 when we finished 4^th but there was a lot of different factors for that.

“There is a united board here and things are good so I will be looking to see how I can get Dundalk into Europe.”

The Dublin native, who had a spell at Scottish side Dunfermline, went onto say that no signings are in the pipeline and admitted he is hoping to create something special in Dundalk.

“There are no signings imminent. There are players I would like but I have to look and see. 

“Dundalk is a footballing town. There’s good passion, good support. People care whether you win or lose. We’ve got to create something. Get the community involved, get the supporters and everyone right behind us. We have to create a buzz on match nights. It won’t be easy and it’s a big challenge but it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to.”