STEPHEN KENNY ADMITTED St Patrick’s Athletic fell short of their expectations after their season limped to a disappointing fifth place finish that means they will miss out on European football in 2026.
The Saints needed to win at Tolka Park to have any hope of reaching the qualifiers next summer but failed to score in a stalemate with Shelbourne.
Kenny’s side scored just two goals in their final five Premier Division games and ended the campaign by keeping clean sheets in half of their 36 fixtures.
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“I think everyone’s just disappointed. That’s the reality. It was in our hands tonight. We couldn’t get over the line,” Kenny said.
“This year we’ve definitely fallen short of our expectations in that we would have certainly wanted to qualify for Europe. Had we won today, there’s a strong possibility we would have.
“But overall, we’ve dropped points we should never have dropped this season. And we’ve paid the price for that.
“I think you learn more from your defeats than your victories. We’ve learned a lot this season. It’s been a big learning curve this season.”
With Mason Melia heading for Tottenham Hotspur, Kenny accepted that they will have to bring in a striker to replace the teenager who netted 13 times this term.
The St Pat’s boss says he planned on building his team around midfielder Romal Palmer but was unable to call on him for almost all of the season because of a hamstring injury.
“We’ve got to reflect on how we play and I’ve got to look at all of that and obviously, it’s a period of reflection here and we’ve all got to do better for next season,” he said.
“It doesn’t sit well with me, I think apart from when there was a derogation against Derry, I’d qualified for Europe every single year of my career, from [a] full season. So this is the first time it happened, and I’m hugely disappointed with that. And I would have expected that we would have, but all the other teams are good teams, and we’ve no right to do it, no divine right to do it.
“All the other teams are ambitious, and they’ve all, you know, they’ve all got good resources, some more so, but I think you’ve got to earn it. And we just fell a bit short.”
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'We've definitely fallen short of our expectations' - Stephen Kenny on fifth-place finish
STEPHEN KENNY ADMITTED St Patrick’s Athletic fell short of their expectations after their season limped to a disappointing fifth place finish that means they will miss out on European football in 2026.
The Saints needed to win at Tolka Park to have any hope of reaching the qualifiers next summer but failed to score in a stalemate with Shelbourne.
Kenny’s side scored just two goals in their final five Premier Division games and ended the campaign by keeping clean sheets in half of their 36 fixtures.
“I think everyone’s just disappointed. That’s the reality. It was in our hands tonight. We couldn’t get over the line,” Kenny said.
“This year we’ve definitely fallen short of our expectations in that we would have certainly wanted to qualify for Europe. Had we won today, there’s a strong possibility we would have.
“But overall, we’ve dropped points we should never have dropped this season. And we’ve paid the price for that.
“I think you learn more from your defeats than your victories. We’ve learned a lot this season. It’s been a big learning curve this season.”
With Mason Melia heading for Tottenham Hotspur, Kenny accepted that they will have to bring in a striker to replace the teenager who netted 13 times this term.
The St Pat’s boss says he planned on building his team around midfielder Romal Palmer but was unable to call on him for almost all of the season because of a hamstring injury.
“We’ve got to reflect on how we play and I’ve got to look at all of that and obviously, it’s a period of reflection here and we’ve all got to do better for next season,” he said.
“It doesn’t sit well with me, I think apart from when there was a derogation against Derry, I’d qualified for Europe every single year of my career, from [a] full season. So this is the first time it happened, and I’m hugely disappointed with that. And I would have expected that we would have, but all the other teams are good teams, and we’ve no right to do it, no divine right to do it.
“All the other teams are ambitious, and they’ve all, you know, they’ve all got good resources, some more so, but I think you’ve got to earn it. And we just fell a bit short.”
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Fallout League of Ireland LOI Soccer St. Patrick's Athletic Stephen Kenny