So after weeks of speculation Dundalk have a new manager – kind of. As was expected Vinny Perth, who was Stephen Kenny’s assistant during his spell at Oriel Park, has been named as Head Coach. John Gill who previously managed the club before and led them to promotion in 2008 has been named as First Team Coach. Ruaidhri Higgins who was the opposition analyst under Kenny has named as Assistant Head Coach. Where it gets pedantic is that for Club Licencing purposes Gill is the manager as he has the UEFA Pro Licence and Perth doesn’t.
So when Dundalk play in the Champions League qualifiers it will be Gill who will be signing the team sheets. It will be interesting to see how this will work but for Dundalk they are just keen to have a smooth transition from the Kenny era. As I mentioned last week, winger Dylan Connolly has left Oriel Park. He finalised his move to Wimbledon for an undisclosed fee. He has the pace to make an impact in League One but just needs a little more composure on the ball at times.
Staying with the Champions and they also have announced that Fyffe’s have agreed to return as their main sponsor. They had said they were ending their sponsorship before Christmas meaning that the Lillywhites had no jersey on sale for the festive season. This would have cost them in terms of revenue. The deal is a two year one.
Former Crystal Palace defender Damien Delaney mightn’t have had the best of spells with his hometown club Cork City but he isn’t finished with the League yet. He signed for Waterford and will be a huge addition to them as they prepare for European football later in the season.
And yet, surprisingly that wasn’t the most eye-catching transfer of the week. No, that honour went to Shelbourne. The First Division side look to be going all out in their attempt to win promotion and this highlighted by their signing of Ciaran Kilduff. The striker has won the league with both Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk. He also played for both sides when they qualified for the group stages of the Europa League in 2011 and 2016 respectively.
At only 30 years of age his signing is a real capture for Shels as he is a Premier Division quality player. He was most recently playing in America with Jacksonville Armada in the NSPL.
Another First Division side who made a great signing were Galway United. They brought back Vinny Faherty for his fourth spell with the club. He had been playing in Cyprus with third division side Olympias Lympion. One player leaving the league is Northern Ireland U-21 international Alistair Roy. Like Nicky Low before him he has left Derry City to sign for a club in the Scottish Premiership. Low went to Queen of the South and Roy has now signed for Patrick Thistle.
