Pats ready to hit the ground running after rejuvenated Kenny's fact-finding trip to England

The Saints boss linked up with a couple of his former coaches, including Brentford manager, Keith Andrewa.

SAINTS ALIVE: St Patrick's Athletic manager Stephen Kenny and Joe Redmond at Whelan's in Dublin. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Some of the secrets to Keith Andrews’s success at Brentford are planned to revive ailing St Patrick’s Athletic by Stephen Kenny.

Andrews began his senior coaching career as assistant to Kenny, firstly as Ireland U21 boss and then for three-and-a-half years with the seniors.

The sidekick dabbled in the club scene at Sheffield United and then Brentford before being handed the ultimate job by the latter when Thomas Frank was headhunted by Tottenham Hotspur last summer.

Andrews has confounded his doubters by steering Brentford to eighth in the Premier League. Not bad for a rookie boss.

Kenny reunited with Andrews a few weeks after his season at the Pat’s helm suffered a limp conclusion last October.

They missed out on European qualification for the first time in five years. Arguably more disappointing was missing out on an FAI Cup final spot by losing emphatically to bottom side Cork City.

It constituted a spectacular failure to build on the positivity of 2024, when Kenny succeeded Jon Daly in May and snatched third spot with a searing sequence of victories on the run-in.

Kenny took stock, ditched the family vacation to visit a couple of his former assistants in England to absorb best practice.

Pat’s begin their quest to reestablish themselves as title contenders by facing Bohemians on Sunday week, February 8.

The opener will be staged at the Aviva Stadium, another one-off showcase fixture at the national stadium.

“We had to reevaluate, I went away at the end of the season and cancelled my holiday,” Kenny explained about reacting to finishing fifth.

“I travelled to Derby County for a week with John Eustice. I was around him from 7am to 7pm every day including training.

“Then I went to his match at the weekend.

“It was the same at Brentford – seven to seven with Keith – looking at what they were doing, just to make sure we improve all aspects of what we do.

“You don't manage 1,000 games if you don’t adapt. You must constantly evolve.

“We want to ensure we can do that with the constraints that we have. That is how we approached the season.”

Kenny feels he’s resolved some of last year’s deficits during the off-season, both in terms of personnel and approach. Gone are two primary attacking outlets, Mason Melia to Tottenham Hotspur and Jake Mulraney moving to rivals Shamrock Rovers.

Darragh Nugent has come the other way from Shamrock Rovers, another ex-Sligo Rovers marksman in Max Mata has arrived, Derry City’s Ronan Boyce, along with this week’s captures of Ryan Edmondson (Central Coast Mariners) and Glory Nzingo (Swansea City).

“Last season, we had quite a technical team that was outplaying opponents but physically and athletically we weren't the strongest of the teams,” he noted. 

“Our key attacking players last year were injured but Romal Palmer, Zack Elbouzedi and Aiden Keena are back. Hopefully we have these fit for the start of the season and they can have a bigger impact.” As for season targets, the former title-winner at Dundalk and Bohemians foresees low expectations from the outside.

“Last year a lot of people tipped us to win the league but I don't think anyone will tip us this year,” he outlined.

“But don’t underestimate us. I wouldn’t underestimate us because I think we will be very competitive.

“We have to train every single day. I was the fifth manager in five years when I was appointed.

“There hasn't been a culture like that and there hasn't really been a title attempt since the period Pat’s won the league in 2013.

“I've always been up the right hand of the table or generally been up the right hand of the table.

“There's a lot of work to do. We need a bit of stability now and to hit the ground running.”