THERE ARE surely not too many jobs more immersive than that of a football manager.
To be successful, a degree of obsession is required.
Declan Devine, who has just been appointed as the new Bohemians boss, is well aware of the level of commitment required.
At 49, the former Glentoran and Derry City goalkeeper has already had a long career in coaching.
The Uefa pro licence holder started out as a first-team coach initially with Derry and then Dunfermline, working under current Ireland boss Stephen Kenny on both occasions.
He subsequently graduated to assistant and then manager of the Candystripes, guiding them to an FAI Cup final triumph and overseeing European qualification on three separate occasions.
There was a job managing Northern Ireland U16s before a second, less successful stint in charge at Derry.
After his most recent spell with the Candystripes ended, Devine was without a job for the first time in a long while.
“That was the first time in 26 years I’ve been out of work,” he tells reporters. “I left Derry previously and went straight into an international post and then left that and went straight into Derry so there was a bit of time to reflect. I’ve made mistakes in the past. But the circumstances behind that were very difficult. When I built a squad the last time I went in I built a squad on 40-week contracts with players like [Greg] Sloggett who was going to attract attention. [David] Parkhouse went and moved and Junior [Ogedi-Uzokwe] came in and did really well and moved.
“The 40-week contract thing was a real pain in the ass, to be honest, in terms of trying to build a squad and build [for] consecutive seasons. The following season was the pandemic and that was really difficult because I had to rebuild again and bring players in, and they couldn’t really get a feel for the place, because, after four games, they were sent packing and didn’t come back until the last 14 games.
“There was no continuity, there was no togetherness, people were arriving in cars, going to training and going back and locking themselves in the house. That was difficult to build anything.
“And then the following year, the remit at the club was completely different to what it is now. It was about getting young players on minimum contracts and giving them opportunities. That obviously didn’t go the way we wanted it to go and the club have gone a different line, and that’s fine, good luck to them.”
The Derry City Devine left was therefore very different to the club of today. Substantial funds have been ploughed into the team since Ruaidhrí Higgins’ arrival and they now sit second, while still being in with a chance of winning the title this year.
Devine says that he is not “bitter or twisted” at the way things panned out and says of his former side: “In the nicest possible way, it is not my concern anymore.”
He adds: “I feel I brought structures and brought good people to the club that they are benefitting from now. Ruaidhrí brought in Rene [Alan Reynolds], but everybody else I brought to the club is still there, and the majority of players I brought are still there. So I look back on it with pride, as much as I was hurt at the time.”
Before taking the Bohs job, Devine says he turned down four clubs — two in the North and two in the South — because “I didn’t feel I could win anything, they were clubs where you were just achieving things by staying in the division or trying to gain promotion”.
He did have a brief three-week stint in the Ulster Senior League with Letterkenny Rovers before the Dublin club unexpectedly came calling, in the process ending a more-than-a-month-long search for a manager with a variety of names including former Ireland international Richard Dunne and Wexford boss Ian Ryan linked with the then-vacant role.
“It’s an unbelievable change in my life, it’s one of the proudest moments in my life. I have been involved in the game for a long time, and to manage the two clubs that I have managed is great but I don’t look at it that way, I have to be successful.
“Driving up and down the road, a first-ever Derryman to manage Bohemian FC, yes that’s nice, but it’ll not mean anything if we don’t win football matches.”
The new role will require considerable sacrifices — Devine’s family will remain in Donegal while he is based in Dublin.
“I don’t want to be coming down here and finishing sixth. I’m not giving up my life. I’m not giving up my family. I have three kids and a beautiful wife. I’m not coming down here to see them maybe once a week or not even once a week to just come down and sit fourth, fifth, sixth spot.
“We want to come here and put a team together. Derry have come out of the blue. Yes, there’s been a huge investment but it can be done.
“The family are still in Donegal, always have been, my oldest boy is in university in Liverpool, and my other two are at home. I have barely spoken to them in a week.
“They know this is the job I am in, the profession I have been in all my life. I never had a normal working job. At 16, I moved to Ipswich and came back, it’s been football all my life. The last year and a half it’s been tough not having that smell of the changing room, that feeling of elation, of dejection, preparing for games.
“Going out to watch young players, doing reports, that’s grand. But it’s not the excitement of a match under lights and that’s what I want to get stuck into.”
Already, Devine has been busy in his new role. He attended last week’s 3-1 loss to St Patrick’s Athletic before officially taking the reins on Monday.
On Thursday, the returning Keith Buckley was announced as his first signing on a three-year deal, with the 30-year midfielder immediately appointed as the new club captain following a year abroad in Australia.
In addition, the incoming manager has already spoken to roughly “12 players” about potentially signing for the club.
Others on the books, meanwhile, face uncertain futures. Devine says there are “eight or nine” players tied to contracts for next season, but even they will have to “prove that they’re here for the right reasons”.
Highly rated goalkeeper James Talbot is one individual that the manager is keen to keep hold of, while he also cited James Clarke as “a fantastic young player to inherit”.
Bohs are sixth in the table as it stands, and with three games to go, unable to finish any higher than fifth. So the remaining fixtures are dead rubbers on the one hand, but Devine says they will also influence his thinking when it comes to putting together a squad for next season. And he admits certainly individuals are currently “borderline” in terms of whether they have a future with the Dalymount Park outfit
“The last time I came into Derry in 2019 there were players under contract who we moved on and I kept four players and built a squad from scratch. I’m not saying we’re going to keep four — everybody is up for discussion.
“I think the team lacks leadership, I think it lacks an identity at the minute. The team has been easily beaten over the last number of weeks and that has to change.
“James Talbot has been a huge loss. The midfield area has been a problem this year, in terms of the spine of the team. It hasn’t been what previous Bohemians teams have been and the bottom line is that we have been a bit soft in terms of the goals conceded and goals scored.”
On the backroom staff left over from the Keith Long era, Devine adds: “There are certainly people I want to be keeping. Obviously, there are people who have good jobs and moving to morning professional football is going to be difficult for people but every one that is here, I want them to stay in a capacity which will help improve the club.”
Some Dublin-born managers have had difficulty adapting to the culture at Derry City in the past and the opposite could also be a challenge for Devine. However, he will have learned from watching his old colleague Kenny thrive at the Candystripes while hoping to have a similar impact with the Gypsies.
“Connection is a huge part, I have to buy in, and I have bought in this week in terms of the ethos of the club. I love what this club stands for, and I love the work that’s going on behind the scenes. I will make myself available through Christmas, and over the next few weeks, I will get involved in every strand of the club. It has to be that, and there will be no shortcuts taken — I am here to work as hard as I can and as a manager, you have to set the tone.
“That’s what Stephen did, he bought into the community, and sacrificed his own life [outside of football] for everything that had to be done, not just on the football side of things but the personnel around clubs, meeting supporters — Stephen was brilliant at that, having a coffee and meeting supporters. I am coming down, giving it everything I can and am looking forward to it.”