New Drogs boss Mathews starting from scratch

HARD to believe but it’s barely 18 months since that memor- able Friday night when Paul Doolin leaned against a wall outside the dressing room in United Park and, having just secured the title for Drogheda United, sought to play down giddy expectations that the club might go on to dominate the League of Ireland for some years to come.

And how right he was to be cautious, though not for the reasons he could have envisaged. Back then, Doolin was thinking only about how tough winning on the pitch can be but soon enough he would discover that winning off it can be even tougher.

Now, as the new season prepares to kick off, it’s all change on Boyneside – that championship-winning squad has scattered to the four corners, Doolin himself has gone south to Cork and, travelling in the opposite direction, Alan Mathews is the man charged with the unenviable task of proving that there is life after debt.

“It’s going to be very difficult,” the 44-year-old Dubliner concedes. “The immediate goal is to consolidate the team in the league. We had to start from scratch, get together a team as quickly as possible. We’ve done that, but we’re still a work in progress.

“Because we’re starting behind the eight ball, you’re looking at a very limited period of time to work with the players.”

It’s tempting to speak of “frying pan” and “fire”. Despite overseeing victory in the Setanta Cup, he still ended up losing his job at Turner’s Cross under new owner Tom Coughlan. And Mathews’ first job of management, at Longford, also ended with points deductions and a heroic if ultimately doomed battle against relegation. You have to wonder if the man is some kind of glutton for punishment.

“I don’t know, if you could tap into that, you might be able to help me with a lot of issues,” he smiles. “Football is part of my life for as long as I can remember. It’s an integral part of who you are, what you are, what you become as a kid, as a man, and as a father now.

“Cork was a very good experience, a very valuable experience. I loved working with the players, the supporters and the people at the club. I was let go because of a decision by one man. I didn’t feel any anger or bitterness towards Cork, it was just one man made a call and you’re out the door.

“The Drogheda job has come to me because of the circumstances. If Drogheda were still as affluent as they were, I doubt whether they would be coming knocking on my door.”

Mathews is still on the extended leave of absence from his job at the bank which allowed him to take on a full-time role in Cork, though it must be a moot point as to which sector – football or banking – is the more stable just now.

“League of Ireland, as a full-time occupation, is probably as hazardous as a land-mine sweeper/checker upper — with a blindfold on,” he laughs. “It’s a tricky one, but we all want to be involved in the game. Whether it’s working in it, writing about it, we all love it, we all have opinions on it. I love working with players in training and being involved.

“For some people when they finish playing, that’s it. When I finished playing, I went into coaching and managing, it’s just a follow on, it’s part of the drug that’s in you. You don’t know where it comes from but it’s part of who you are and what you are.”

Hence, he says that he didn’t have to think twice when the offer came from embattled Drogheda.

“I’m out of the bank for a couple of years,” he says, “so I’ve a capacity to throw my heart and soul into a football club like Drogheda. At this moment in time, it’s more than just a club, it’s a project, on the pitch, off the pitch. The commercial side of the club needs to be restructured. Any assistance I can bring to that, I have the time and capacity to do it. It’s given me a focus which I haven’t had since I was let go in December.”

At the League of Ireland 2009 season launch last week, Mathews was struck by how talk of finance, rather than football, seemed to dominate proceedings. He understands the reasons why better than most, of course, but the former player who won league and cup medals with Shamrock Rovers still can’t help but feel nostalgic for the way things used to be.

“I was brought up going to games with my father on a Sunday afternoon, I followed Rovers first and then Leeds, in that order,” he reflects. “Now they’re talking about a 65 percent cap, they’re talking about management strategies; there is no one talking about who is going to be the leading goal scorer, there is no one saying we hope to get a Dave Mooney through the system.”

So let’s talk football. With the season’s kick off just three days away, how does Alan Mathews assess the runners and riders in the 2009 title race?

“Pat’s have done great, they’ve let a few players go but they’ve strengthened as well. Derry are very strong. There are top quality players at Cork and last year I thought we were handicapped more by what happened off the pitch. When we went into examinership, I think we were joint second with Pats.

“But Bohs had a phenomenal year last year,” he concludes, “and Bohs will be the team to beat again.”