Youthful Town’s reality check in capital

playing career in Scotland where he played for Kilmarnock, Motherwell, St Johnstone and Hibernian, famously scoring for the Edinburgh club in a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park on one occasion.

‘When you’re young you think you’ll never stop playing,’ he said. ‘But a lot of players and managers and coaches said to me, get your badges done - your career could be over quicker than you think.’

With an A Licence qualification already in his pocket, Clancy already has plans to to embark on his Pro Licence. Nevertheless, he will work with a director of football, Dave Robertson, who he played under at Sligo Rovers last year.

The exact role of a director of football is often unclear and tension often arise when there is perceived interference, but far from looking over his shoulder, Clancy said he welcomed the appointment.

‘I’ve always looked at it in regards of, when I’ve finished playing to take that next step to stay in football and go on the other side of the fence, as they say. I’ve been looking for an opportunity to get into coaching and management and it’s probably come along a lot quicker than I thought.

‘Knowing the type of football man he is and the knowledge that he has, to have someone with Dave’s knowledge at the end of the phone and to have his ear to throw ideas at, and listen to his ideas and advice, it’s certainly a huge benefit to myself.

‘I’m delighted that he is on board. It will make things a lot more comfortable for myself and with that relationship there I think it’s ideal, to be honest.

‘I have spoken to him in regards to players already and he’ll throw some names at me and I’ll say what do you think of this, that and the other. I’ll be the one that will decide who comes in, but it will be with advice from himself and other people as well.

‘On match days I don’t think he’ll be involved. He won’t be on the bench and whatnot, I don’t think.

‘But when he’s here he will be visible. He’s going to look at the overall structure of the club as well. He’s a very knowledgeable man. He came from a background running the Peterborough academy and then he got the first team job there and then the Sligo job, so he’s got a wealth of experience.’

Developing proper structures to improve the conveyor belt of young talent coming up from the underage ranks is something Clancy is especially keen to accelerate.

‘When I sat down with Fiachra and Dermot they were looking for a long-term plan and a lot of the stuff that we discussed we agreed on in regards to the path of young players. They want to create a clear pathway to go into the first team and they were pushing and emphasising that local youngsters getting a chance is a big thing for the club.

‘When you show kids the success of bringing young lads through from the Under-19s into the first team it should generate more and more kids wanting to go to our Academy and playing because they can see they’ll be given the opportunity.’

Clancy’s views have been shaped by his own experience of English football and he feels that Drogheda could tap into some of the young players who have been forced to come home after unsuccessful spells across the water.

‘I experienced it myself, going as a young lad to Millwall,’ he recalled. ‘I think it’s only 3%, maybe even less, get a second contract in England. It’s seen as the Holy Grail - you get to be a big footballer and see all the lights and you hear the names of Ronaldo and Rooney and whoever else and that’s what people think football is about.

‘But for a lot of kids leaving this country who do go over, it doesn’t work out and then they come back and they’re lost. They’ve spent two or three years out of the country and then they get forgotten about.

‘There doesn’t seem to be a database that’s well heard of anyway in regards to when kids are getting released. A lot slip through the net.

‘So it’s even just looking for young lads coming back who may have lost their way, or getting young lads to stay here, educating themselves, getting into the first team here, doing well and then going over at a more mature age which gives them a better opportunity.’

Given that Drogheda don’t have a good track record in terms of keeping managers, talking with Clancy about longterm plans might seem, well, redundant, but he does have clear views on the way forward for the Boynesiders.

‘It’s the biggest town in the country, so it’s certainly got a selling point and long-term the ambition will be to get back up [to the Premier Division],’ he responded.

‘I think there is talk of off-field stuff in regards to relocating somewhere else, so if that’s the case and the structures are put in place for the facilities to have your 15s, 17s and 19s in the one area and have a base for training in the local community, that’s essential to build a stronger structure.

‘Then if you do go back up it’s a better situation for the club to be in and it will be something special for the area and for the town especially.

‘When you move north, Dundalk has a big area there and the success that they’ve had has been unbelievable, but it wasn’t too long ago that they were down fighting relegation playoffs, so it can turn around.’

Naturally, Clancy is hoping that Drogheda fans will be patient, but at the same time he doesn’t want his team to be struggling from day one when the new season begins in February.

‘We’ll be aiming to get results straightaway and what I want the fans to see is players on the pitch that are committed, welldrilled and know exactly what their jobs are. We want them competing and to understand what’s wanted of them, play as a team and play attractive football as well.

‘We do know that it’s a long-term project, but that’s no excuse to go out and not want to win games. Every game we play we want to win.

‘Obviously the fans pay their money to come in the gate and they are the life and soul of any football club and they’re allowed to express their worries or whatever else from the stand, but once they can see we’re trying our best and we’re committed and they can see progress, that’s the main thing.’

ST FRANCIS DROGHEDA TOWN 8 1

DROGHEDA Town suffered what manager Robbie Horgan described as ‘a bit of a reality check’ at Baldonnel last Thursday evening as his charges were soundly beaten by St Francis.

The Marian Park-based club had taken 10 points out of a possible 12 in recent weeks and they knew victory would move them to the top of the table in the Leinster Senior League’s Major Sunday division, but St Francis were themselves looking for a fourth straight win.

Two vastly experienced former League of Ireland players, namely Paul Caffrey and Aidan Price, lined out for the hosts, while Town were severely depleted once again and against such strong opposition they proved to be second best throughout.

A brace of goals in the first five minutes left Town with a mountain to climb even at that stage and by the end of the first quarter the Boynesiders trailed 4-0, having conceded more goals in 20 minutes than they had in their previous four matches.

The visitors did pull a goal back before half-time through newly signed striker Darren Kavanagh, a capture from Parkvilla, and for a short time Drogheda had a glimmer of hope.

But a fifth St Francis goal opened the floodgates once more and the final whistle couldn’t come soon enough after that.

Reflecting on the result, Horgan said: ‘We’re given notice of fixtures on the Monday and we’re told we’re playing St Francis away on Thursday. That’s fine, it’s the same as ourselves playing on Monday nights, but it’s tough to give guys three days notice to try and get time off work at this time of year.

‘We had nine players missing and from the match against Ballyfermot the previous Sunday there were six changes from that game.

‘But I’m not making excuses. We have a big squad, but we came up against a very good team and had a complete off night.’

That was Town’s final competitive fixture of 2017, but training will be continuing this week and Horgan is also attempting to arrange a friendly after a planned game against Swords Celtic had to be called off.

We’ll be aiming to get results straightaway and what I want the fans to see is players that are committed, well-drilled and know exactly what their jobs are.