IN SPITE OF their status as reigning Premier Division and FAI Cup holders, Dundalk boss Vinny Perth feels his side have “something to prove” this season.
Perth’s first competitive outing in charge of the Lilywhites yielded silverware on Saturday evening, when they claimed the President’s Cup win a 2-1 win over Cork City at Turner’s Cross.
Having previously served as assistant manager to Stephen Kenny, Perth was installed as head coach in January following Kenny’s appointment to the Republic of Ireland U21 job.
After playing a key role in Dundalk’s success in recent years, Perth won’t attempt to reinvent the wheel at Oriel Park. Continuity is key for the new head coach, who selected the same side that started last November’s FAI Cup final for Saturday’s game in Cork.
The 42-year-old Dubliner is keen for his Dundalk players to receive the recognition he reckons they deserve, expressing the belief that their double-winning achievements of 2018 were overshadowed by Stephen Kenny’s sudden departure.
“The whole lot of us feel we have something to prove,” Perth said. “We’ve been left behind a little bit over the past couple of months in terms of what happened in the change in the club.
“Everybody feels we have something to prove. There’s a ‘we’ about us. It is about continuity, it is about people who have achieved so much over the last five/six years to say it’s our time to shine.”
Perth, who had worked alongside Kenny since 2013, elaborated: “I’m just making the point that we played a huge part in the success over the last five or six years as well. Some people have probably forgotten that a little bit.
“The previous manager hasn’t forgotten it but… I’m just making the point that we feel we have something to prove and show we can be successful on our own two feet.”
Dane Massey and Patrick Hoban both headed in first-half goals which were assisted by PFAI Player of the Year Michael Duffy against Cork City over the weekend. Kevin O’Connor’s second-half free-kick was spectacular, but not sufficient for City to complete a comeback.
In his first season since returning from England, Hoban flourished throughout the 2018 campaign. His hugely impressive tally of 29 league goals helped Dundalk to win the Premier Division title for the fourth time in five seasons.
“I think for someone to achieve what he achieved and not to be recognised at the back end of last season, that doesn’t sit well with me or with the whole group and we’ve made that point as a group,” Perth said of the former Oxford United and Mansfield Town striker.
“At the same time, he’s played and he’s won a double and that’s his recognition. But to achieve what he achieved as a player and not to get any individual awards off the back of it is very surprising, to say the least. If Pat needs any more motivation, he’ll certainly use that as a drive to get to the next level.”
Perth added: “I simply make the point that people have got into international squads for less goals in this league. I think it’s very close, it’s certainly a high enough standard at the moment in terms of fitness levels, that someone scores 29 goals and they are not really talked about as one of the greats.”
As a means of preparation for Friday night’s Premier Division opener against Sligo Rovers, Perth was mostly satisfied with his team’s outing on Leeside.
Dundalk dominated a first half during which their opponents failed to register a meaningful attempt on goal. While Cork City produced a much-improved second-half display as they sought to overturn the two-goal deficit, the outcome was difficult to dispute.
“It was a proper challenge,” said Perth. “There might not have been loads of free-flowing football but I still think it was a good game, a good spectacle.
“We’ve learned loads out of it ahead of Sligo and that was about continuity. We sort of stuck by what we believed. We’ve had a lot of people that have signed for the club chomping to get into the team, we gave the lads that are there their opportunity and the rest looked after itself.
“I’m a wee bit disappointed we weren’t more clinical in the first half and we weren’t better with the final ball. We probably spent the first three weeks of pre-season getting lads fit and ready, and the last two weeks focusing on football. There are areas of improvement there. I felt on the first 50 minutes we probably deserved it on the run of play.”
Dundalk brought in goalkeeper Aaron McCarey, midfielders Jordan Flores and Sean Murray, and winger Daniel Kelly over the winter, with several squad players having made way. Perth hasn’t ruled out the possibility of further new arrivals.
“The squad is still a bit light, believe it or not,” he said. “We have a lot of games potentially to play. We’re looking at one or two options before the window closes.
“We have lost a lot of players by choice and by people feeling they needed to move on. We do need to have enough strength to play what is a lot of games in the first half of the season.”
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here:
