GIOVAGNOLI SCOURING EUROPE FOR PRO LICENCE

FILIPPO Giovagnoli has revealed that he is scouring Europe at the moment to get on a Pro Licence course.

The lack of a Pro Licence meant that the Italian was banned from the sidelines for the club’s recent Europa League matches with Dundalk hit with a €50,000 fine by UEFA for an offence deemed as ‘shadow coaching.’

While the severity of that fine has been appealed, Giovagnoli - who was confirmed last week as the club’s head coach on a full-time basis - is looking to rectify the issue.

With no course available here until 2022, the 50-year-old said he is looking around Europe to see can he get on one in the New Year.

‘This is outside of my power,’ he said when asked about doing a Pro Licence course.

‘If there’s a course I’ll start the course now. At this moment I’m checking around in Europe and there’s not many courses. In Italy there are invitation courses and I’m looking at that but it is what it is.

‘If we have to adjust to this situation then we’re going to adjust. It’s about being prepared. If we have time to prepare the team well during the year then the team will play with the principle that you apply and you don’t need to be there all the time on the sideline which I’m doing more now because during the game you have to adjust this and that because you don’t have time to prepare.

‘When you consolidate your job then you don’t need to talk as much on the sideline,’ said Giovagnoli.

Giovagnoli has tipped his side to challenge for the league title next season on the back of their strong finish to the season.

The Italian, who was officially confirmed as Vinny Perth’s successor on a full-time basis last week, returned to his home town of Apecchio on Friday following the end of the club’s season against Arsenal the night before.

He returned home with an FAI Cup medal in his bag on the back of his side’s 4-2 win over Shamrock Rovers five days earlier but reflecting on his first three and a half months in Ireland at the weekend, Giovagnoli said his time here would have been a success regardless of that famous win at the Aviva Stadium.

‘For sure, it was nice to come home with a medal but in my eyes the season was already successful because we arrived in a situation where we didn’t know anything. The club gave us a task that we achieved and the rest was just a plus.

‘Of course, if you’re on the outside you don’t know what is going on internally. There was a lot of criticism about our league form but with all due respect the league was completely secondary and I had to respect what the club was asking of me.

‘We struggled a little bit in the league but there were reasons for that. I’m pretty sure that if we had focused on the league then without doubt we’d have won the majority of the games. I have no doubt on that.

‘With the time to prepare, this team along with Shamrock Rovers are the strongest team in Ireland. It was just about priorities but we finished well with the Cup and showed Dundalk is still a top team in Ireland. Next year now we’ll compete again for the league.’

The 50-year-old hinted that the displays towards the end of the season were close to the style he wants to implement in 2021.

‘I was delighted with the performance against Arsenal because we did what we decided to do which was to play face to face, retain the ball and where possible show quality in possession without panic. This is our idea of football and this is what we will try to implement in the pre-season.

‘Of course, the FAI Cup final was different but in a final you play to win, you don’t play to play well. The only thing that counts is the victory and you have to get it in any way possible. I thought in that game we showed more desire, more strength and we deserved the win.’

Giovagnoli is already looking forward to getting going again in just a few weeks time.

The Lilywhites are expected to return to training in the first week of January, giving them less than a month off, but the manager said he couldn’t wait to have a pre-season to prepare the team for the new season.

‘It’ll depend on when the league is going to start but we’ll be back to work more or less in the first week of January,’ he said.

‘For the next three or four weeks I’ll be working from Italy, which is good as I get to spend time with my family. We won’t be training for the next few weeks because the players need to rest but if it was up to me I could re-start tomorrow. Working on the pitch is the good part of my job.’

Giovagnoli said having a pre-season would be hugely beneficial to him in terms of putting his own stamp on the team.

‘I think it was really clear that when we had time to prepare for games our team was different. You could see it.

‘When we had time we were a different team and when we didn’t have time we were just adjusting to tactical situations but adjusting is one thing and being prepared and consolidating a style is another thing.

‘The pre-season for me is the best time of the year to consolidate a style, work on principles, work on projects and get to know the players better. It’s a time to make mistakes because you learn from them. When we arrived none of this was possible. It was just compete, compete, compete but it is what it is. I think we adapted, did well and achieved all of the objectives that the club asked of us,’ he said.