FULL-TIME IS THE ONLY WAY FORWARD FOR DROGS
THE recruitment back in December of Dave Robertson as Drogheda United’s director of football was met by as much surprise as rookie manager Tim Clancy’s appointment.
There were question marks about the need for someone in such a role, considering the financial constraints the club continues to operate under, but Robertson himself feels that his input can help Drogheda take the first steps towards returning to a full-time operation in the future.
That’s the ultimate goal and something that in Robertson’s view will have to happen if the club is to establish itself in the Premier Division on a long-term basis.
First, though, the former Royal Marine - originally from Essex but now based in Leitrim - has to get his feet properly under the table at United Park and that’s not something that will happen for a few more weeks even though he has attended some of their pre-season games.
Explaining his commitments, he said: ‘With the work I’m doing in England, the role [of director of football] is something that works quite well for me, but I have a really busy period at the moment doing club assessments in the Premiership, Championship, League 1 and League 2 and I have to report back to the Professional Game Board run by the Football League.
‘But after the first couple of months, with the way the English season runs differently to Ireland, I will be at every Drogheda game and this has to be a long-term project for everybody.
‘I bought into the football club and what they are setting out to do in terms of their vision and it has to go full-time.
‘You have to be realistic about where the club is at. It has the capacity to be successful in Division 1, but sustaining that in the Premier Division has not been successful in recent years and one of the things we’ll be looking to do is put structures in place to support the first team once they get there.
‘There’s a number of things that need to be done, and without giving away all our trade secrets we need to make sure there’s a group of players from the local area coming through. We will be looking at education projects, and there needs to be more indepth systems in place so that the financial structure and operational structure is there to support that.
‘I’ve experience as first-team manager of Peterborough and Sligo and as Academy manager [at Peterborough], but the other needs of a football club would probably be a strength of mine and if I can help take Drogheda back to the Premier and sustain it, it works for everybody.’
In the meantime Robertson is in regular touch with Clancy, who played for him at Sligo Rovers during his time in charge from 2015 to 2017, and their relationship has helped smooth the path for the Drogheda boss in the early days of his first management job.
‘My role would be more of an overview, primarily to support the first-team manager,’ Robertson explained. ‘The club have appointed a bright new manager in Tim Clancy. I’ve known him for quite a while and it will be good to give him support as and when he needs it. That’s in terms of recruitment, and to make sure the other areas of the club are linked in and moving in the same direction towards success on the pitch.
‘The most important thing is identifying players and making sure they fit the model of the club in what we’re trying to achieve. I speak regularly with Tim on that, but he has the final say because players have to fit iwhat he needs at that moment in time.’
And while Clancy is only taking his first steps in management, Robertson is fully behind the decision taken by Drogheda in opting for a youthful boss as successor to the veteran Pete Mahon.
‘One of the positives for me is that the club have done something different. Rather than go for the type of manager who is on the managerial merry-go-round I feel they have appointed a really bright young manager who has a real future.
‘Tim has a great awareness of the League and excellent man-management skills and the ability to get the best out of players and I think it bodes really well for the future.’