Stephen Kenny’s gone but Brian Gartland says business as usual for Lilywhites

As Dundalk prepare for an opening night meeting with Sligo Rovers at Oriel Park on Friday, the question dominating the build-up to the new League of Ireland season is whether the team that Stephen Kenny built can continue to hit the heights without his inspirational presence.

For Lilywhites stalwart Brian Gartland, there are no doubts. With Kenny’s former assistant Vinny Perth taking over as head coach and John Gill coming in as first team coach, the centre-half expects nothing less than “business as usual” from the champions who, perhaps in a sign of what’s to come, have already added the 2019 President’s Cup to their heaving trophy cabinet.

Speaking at the launch of the SSE Airtricity League season at the Aviva Stadium yesterday, Gartland said he fully understood why the departure of Kenny for the Irish U21 job had hogged the close-season headlines.

“It was seen as a shock and such a massive thing but that’s what football is these days,” he said.

“It’s dramatic and nearly like a soap opera at times and people make so much of stuff because that’s what sells. But for us, we’ve just kept going every year. Everybody’s vital to it. It’s a unit. It’s not a one-person thing. And that’s showed with players and staff over the years.

“Our fitness coach went last year and before that he was being mentioned in articles as the brains behind the operation. We managed fine without him.

“Richie Towell went after scoring 20-odd goals — we managed fine without him. Same with Daryl Horgan, Andy Boyle, Dave McMillan. All top players, star players, but every time we’ve shown that we’re a collective and that it’s not just about one person.

“Yeah, players excel and we have star players but they’re made even better by what’s around them. The staff around them, the players around them, the whole environment.

That’s what we like to think it’s all about at the club. It’s never about one person and I suppose that’s what we hope to show this year.

“Maybe it’s just me, I’m quite pragmatic, but it’s just how I see the world: Shit happens, get on with it. Yeah, it was an end of an era in terms of what we’d gone through for the last six years. Obviously, it would have been ideal if it didn’t happen because you wanted things to just keep going along as they were.

“But these things happen. Nobody’s died. And, like I said, we have the same players and more added . And we have the same staff and more added. So it’s business as usual for us.”

After the formalities of yesterday’s launch — which was attended by Ireland manager Mick McCarthy — it was confirmed that there will be no increase in the League of Ireland prize fund of €475,500 this year.

Meanwhile, despite Bohemians having been forced to withdraw from the competition this year because of fixture congestion, FAI director of competitions Fran Gavin said he is confident that talks with the Scottish Professional Football League would facilitate continued Irish involvement in the Irn-Bru Cup.

“We said we’d have a look at next season’s competition and make sure that the dates are more suitable to make sure we can continue in the competition,” said Gavin.

“They want us in the competition, we want to be there, and I think that competition is going to grow over the next while. It’s important for those two teams just below the European places that there is something to play for. And there is prize money which is growing over the last few years which is welcome.”