Brandywell king Kenny ready for battle ahead

SITTING in the Maldron Hotel, scene of the launch of the 2009 League of Ireland season and just the length of a kick-out from Shamrock Rovers’ new ground in Tallaght, Derry City supremo Stephen Kenny felt simultaneously at home and something of a stranger in a strange land.

At home, because Tallaght was where he grew up and took his first steps in football management.

“I do know this area well — the (Rovers) pitch itself, I think, was our school pitch,” he recalled. “I was with Tallaght Town as a player-manager with a view to getting Tallaght into the league quite a few years ago. That was my project at the time, then Shamrock Rovers took over that club.

“Rovers finally settling here is good news and the league needs good news. I wish them well, they’ve been through a lot. I don’t know how they survived, to be honest. It took a long time and it’s fantastic for them — but I still hope we beat them.”

The stranger in the strange land bit had to do with what he felt was the “flatness” of the new season launch he had just attended — especially when compared with what, for him, was the no less alien mix of hype and hope which had marked the equivalent event one year before. At that point, Kenny had not long returned to Irish football after his season in the SPL with Dunfermline, and the landscape spotlighted by the 2008 launch was one he barely recognised.

“It was a very hi-tech launch of the league,” he remembered. “All the journalists were up on stage and everyone was talking everyone up. There was money coming in, Arkaga, Garret Kelleher — Derry weren’t mentioned. We’d been denied the treble two years before on goal difference, we’d won the two cups, and we’d been in Europe. I’d only been away a year and we weren’t even being mentioned. I was looking around and it was like I was on the outside looking in. It was all a bit surreal.”

One year on, he felt the pendulum had swung to the other extreme, with “negativity” having taken the place of “something that was so optimistic”. This time, he felt it was “a bit of a recessionary launch, low key, not impressive. I know there is a recession but I was hoping it would be more optimistic”.

League Cup holders Derry City have been no more immune to the cold financial winds than anyone else but, even having had to surrender a couple of marquee names, Kenny remains positive about his team’s prospects.

“Yeah, we’ve lost a few good ones this year. We brought in half a million probably with (Pat) McCourt, (Niall) McGinn and (Conor) Sammon going to the SPL. And we lost (Kevin) McHugh to Linfield and a few others. But we’ve brought in a couple of good ones too. Liam Kearney has been a great one for us.

“I spoke to the players the other night about this — we don’t now have a McCourt or a McGinn, we don’t have a player in the squad who can beat three or four players. So we must compensate for that. We have a lot of really intelligent players like Gareth McGlynn and Liam Kearney. Not players with lightning place but clever, probing players with real intelligence and quality in their passing, crossing and shooting.”

Also, he notes, the home-grown heart of his side is still beating strongly

“A couple of years ago, when we beat Gothenburg home and away, the three midfielders then — three local lads who’d come through — were Ruairdhi Higgins, Barry Molloy and Kevin Deery, who were all 20, 21. Now they’re 24 and they’re maturing, so I’m optimistic about them, I rate them as players. They’re low-key in League terms, maybe they wouldn’t be rated with (Colin) Healy, (Joe) Gamble or (George) O’Callaghan as midfield players — but I like them.

“Last season, we were a bit experimental because I had to sign a good few players in a hurry after only coming in in January. This year we have a good side and I’m happy with it. But competing on five fronts — I don’t know how we’ll manage that. I think we can go a long way. But keeping key players fit is going to be important.”

As for the fitness of the Brandywell club as a going concern, Kenny hopes their traditionally loyal local support can help them ride out the tough times.

“There’s no significant investors in the club,” he points out. “It’s a community club, run by the people of Derry, and they run various events to raise money for it. What we’ve got is probably just about sustainable. There’s eight teams out of the 10 full time this year, despite what anyone tells you. The only two teams not full time are Drogheda and Bray. In my view, all the teams look strong. I think it’s going to be a very interesting league. And, over 36 games, I think it’s going to be a real battle of endurance.”