Chance to learn in second tier
VETERAN defender Dave Mulcahy has encouraged Drogheda United’s youngsters to consider staying with the club next season despite their relegation to Division 1.
The much-travelled centre-half, who was signed by Pete Mahon during the summer, captained the Drogs at the tail end of the season and has seen enough of the squad - and of the First Division - to believe that the second tier would be a good learning environment for them.
‘The league doesn’t lie, but there’s great heart and they’re a great bunch of young lads and they’re improving. I’m sure a lot of them will take a lot of experience out of this, how tough this league is and what you need to do to become a serious player in this league and compete every year and play with the top clubs.
‘The club will rebuild next year and we’ll see what happens, and hopefully Pete can keep a lot of these young players and improve
again.’
Asked, would he encourage the likes of Thomas Byrne and Conor Kane to stay, Mulcahy responded: ‘Absolutely. I’ve seen it with Waterford earlier on in the season. They play good football and it’s not like the old First Division where it’s a lot of kicking.
‘The pitches are good and there’s good coaching, everyone’s trying to improve and you see that new breed of player now. They are all technically good because they’ve been taught early doors how to play football on the ground and move the ball.
‘This is a big club. It comes up, it goes down, but I’m sure a season or two would do no harm to rebuild and get a proper structure in place to maybe come back again in a couple of years.’
Mulcahy, who turns 40 in January and is the oldest player in the league, was under no illusions about the task ahead when he signed for Drogheda during the summer.
‘The club probably went up a season too early, and with three being relegated it was always going to be an uphill battle and it proved that way, with two part-time teams going down,’ he said.
‘I’ve enjoyed these past few months. That was the whole idea of the move, to get back enjoying football. It just didn’t work in Waterford - I thought it would but it didn’t. I got released, but there were no hard feelings. I moved on and wanted to get back in the Premier.
‘I knew it was going to be an uphill task here, but I came here to give a dig out to the young players and obviously Pete who I worked with before.
‘In most games we only got beaten by a goal since I came in and I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s about bringing players on and that’s why he brought me up as a captain, just to lead and see could we bring these players to the next level.
‘We weren’t going to survive, being realistic, but we gave it a go.’
Mulcahy hasn’t ruled out staying with Drogheda himself but says he intends to talk to another couple of clubs before making decisions about his future.