Dolan puts cards on the table
Mahedy worked with Dolan at St. Patrick's Athletic and he has also helped train Limerick's hurling team, Limerick's soccer team and the Munster rugby team. Dolan said he was still involved in meeting with Cork City's staff and players and it was too early to say whether Mahedy would work with Cork for the season.
He said: "I would want him involved because he was critical to the success that St Pat's had. I have tremendous respect for him.
"His role with Cork will be as adviser to me. As a fitness person he is second to none and he is one of those guys who engenders respect.
Dolan was unequivocal in his assessment of Mahedy's ability and his admiration for him was obvious as he said: "Someone who travels up to Dublin several times a week (from Limerick) when you are as busy as Dave is and you have driven through the night and not ask for anything; I think that's rare."
Dolan admitted he was still trying to come to terms with the huge change in his life after 15 years at Richmond Park. And he was coming to appreciate the importance of the football club to Cork people.
He expressed a degree of surprise at the level of recognition he had found while going about his business.
He said he had spoken individually to almost everybody at Cork City and he said there was a role in the club for everybody who was involved last season if they wanted to assist him.
Pat Dolan is recognised as an outspoken fan of Irish football. His allegiance to Irish football and, indeed, Irish sport in general, stems from a strong sporting background that has its roots in Galway. When he was a young man growing up in London and playing for Arsenal, he had an uncle who was a selector with Galway hurling team and a cousin who was a member of the panel. His father was an enthusiastic fan of Galway hurling and also followed Wolves football team.
One of the things that attracted him to Cork was the old-fashioned values he recognised and he offered as an example the reaction he received when he met with his predecessor as manager, Liam Murphy, and his assistant, Patsy Freyne.
He said: "Liam is part of the staff. I spoke to Patsy and Liam and they said to me if Cork won a trophy they would cry, whether or not they were involved.
"It's probably old-fashioned isn't it ? It sounds like something a spin doctor would say. But I believe they are genuine in their emotions. And I don't think that ever goes out of fashion. I think it's classical and I think what's wrong with football is ... well, look at Juventus.
"I don't know anything about Juventus, but when I was in Turin they spoke of building a new stadium, but they didn't build it because the club had no money. And they had no money because they were paying huge money to players who didn't seem to care for the club.
"Liam and Patsy obviously care for Cork City and that's why I want them involved. Liam said to me, if you don't want me here I won't be here, even though he'd accepted this new position as technical director.
One of Dolan's first acts after signing his new contract with Cork was to watch the Collingwood Cup final in which UCC beat UCD 2-1 at the Mardyke. He revealed that several of the Cork players had impressed him and he had spoken to their goalkeeper, Brendan O'Connell. He said goalkeeping was one of the positions in which Cork City were well served and he had agreed a new contract with Noel Mooney, who was reserve last season to Michael Devine, and who was out of contract.
He said: "The goalkeeping situation is decent. We've signed young Mark McNulty who did very well in the U21 team who won their National League and with him, Michael Devine and Noel Mooney on board our goalkeeping situation is good."
His position on strengthening the squad of players was easily summed up: "Initially, to rule somebody out before I've got to know them, before I've worked with them, would not be sensible. But I will be looking to strengthen every position in the team."
His approach to the task of developing a team that will be strong enough to be competitive was outlined as he said: "I will look at people pre-season and in every area of the pitch would like to strengthen, I think every manager in the world would like to do that.
"I've got to get as familiar with football in Munster as I was with football in Leinster because in an ideal world if players are going to have the values that Cork City would want them to have, then I don't care where they're from but in an ideal world, firstly, it would be Cork people in a Cork jersey, then Munster people in a Cork jersey, then Irish people in a Cork jersey and then the rest of the world in a Cork jersey, not because I'm prejudiced but because that would make sense."
One of the tasks he faced in his first week in office was to visit potential training venues which Cork City will have to hire because they do not have a training facility. Cork chairman Brian Lennox is on record as wanting to find a 10-acre site suitable for development and Dolan stressed that this was a project that he would be pushing.
His well-known facility for taking an individual and very different attitude to the job of furthering Irish sport was illustrated again when he suggested the issue of developing a training facility should be of interest to people outside of the club.
He said: "Everybody has got a responsibility, everybody who cares about Cork City football club. It is not just the manager's responsibility, the players, the staff and the people who are running the club. Obviously we are more responsible that anybody else."
"I think they run side by side and obviously having control of a proper training facility is necessary if you are to have a team that is competitive."
Dolan spent more than an hour talking to the Cork media representatives over breakfast at Rochestown Park Hotel, where he reviewed his busy schedule since he accepted the position with Cork City on Friday. And he spoke again of the Dublin developer, Michael Wallace, who was reported to be ready to invest 500,000 euro in St Pat's. Wallace is a football enthusiast who coaches under-age teams in Wexford. He is about to develop a sports centre in Wexford that will have flood-lit all-weather pitch and grass playing pitches as well as indoor facilities. Dolan said that he intended to appoint Wallace as his assistant at Richmond Park had he stayed with St Pat's. While the geographic considerations were not in favour of Wallace becoming involved with Cork City, he said he was maintaining his relationship with him and it was his wish that he would get involved with Cork.
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