Progress off the pitch needs to be matched on it

IT’S hard to be positive about things at Dundalk FC right now, on the pitch at least.

Another weekend has come and gone without a win, or even a goal.

Admittedly, there was some slight improvement shown in Friday’s 0-0 draw at home to St Pat’s and again in Monday’s 1-0 defeat away to Bohemians but the fact there was just one shot on target in either of those games from the Lilywhites sums up the side’s struggles right now.

For much of the past decade, Dundalk fans have been used to their side setting new, positive records. However, the weekend just gone saw two new unwanted ones being set. Friday’s blank in the scoreless draw with Pat’s means it is five matches in-a-row now without a goal at Oriel Park – the first time that has happened in the club’s history.

Meanwhile, defeat to Bohs on Monday confirmed that this is the worst start to a season the club has ever had, surpassing the 1998/’99 campaign when that side won on matchday 10 with Lee Them and Shane Reddish on target in a 2-0 home win over UCD.

With no wins, no goals at home, just three scored all season and just four points from a possible 30 thus far, coupled with the sacking of a manager who will forever be held in high regard at Oriel Park, it’s easy to see why fans might not have a lot of cheer about them right now.

Yet Head of Football Operations Brian Gartland made a good point when facing the media for the first time on Friday about the strides that the club have been making off the field.

The announcement of a Golf Classic – due to be held in Dundalk Golf Club on June 20 – last week is hardly going to reinvent the wheel but is another small step in the right direction in terms of doing the simple things that weren’t being done before.

By all accounts, Aoife Burns – whose husband, Liam, is in interim charge of the first-team alongside Gartland at the moment – has made an impressive start to her role as the club’s new Football and Social Responsibility Officer.

With the hope of further investment on the way and plans drawn up to get the Youth Development Centre re-opened to the public, there has been a lot to applaud about the start to the year too from an off the field perspective.

Of course, it’s hard to overlook the on-field performance, as Gartland acknowledged, but that doesn’t mean the good work off it should be overshadowed.

“We haven’t been singing from the rooftops because the firstteam results haven’t been flying so nothing else really matters in the background,” he said.

“If results were going all right and we were sitting in mid-table or whatever everyone I think would be looking at the club in a different light because we’ve gone from having not even a handful of full-time staff operating the club to having a good infrastructure being put through the whole club.

“We’ve a commercial manager, CEO, a new business admin, an extra staffer hired in the office, we’ve an FSR doing work in the community, setting up two pilot schemes with 14 schools involved, we’ve got disability futsal, we’ve got other initiatives that we’re starting that Aoife has been brilliant with and she has only be going one to two months.

“We’ve got a couple of fundraisers on the go to sort of link the community together and bring back past players and different things. We’ve got a new facilities manager in and we’ve Gavin (McLaughlin) looking after media.

“It’s at least double or more of what this club has had before. I know on the pitch is the main concern for everyone but if we had a couple more results everyone would be saying things are really moving forward and that’s how I feel about the place.”

It’s definitely a positive to see all those things happening and long may it continue.

Of course, results on the field cannot be overlooked with the lack of goals the primary concern.

However, the situation isn’t insurmountable either. The right appointment can be massive. Brian Ainscough has got a lot right off the field since coming in, if he can land the right man to replace Stephen O’Donnell then Dundalk can still survive the drop.

The first win could lift everyone, as could a new appointment,

Whether that is made before then or not, let’s hope the situation on the field begins to change with first a win in Sligo on Friday to match the small wins the club has had off the field so in recent weeks and months.

BRIAN GARTLAND MADE A GOOD POINT WHEN FACING THE MEDIA FOR THE FIRST TIME