Dundalk’s toughest battle yet
Managerial chaos and owner interference have taken Lilywhites to brink of disaster
DUNDALK have done more things right than most League of Ireland clubs. They were the first team outside of Dublin to win the League title and, while they’ve had their dips, they have, by some measure, been the most successful club of modern times.
Since 2014, they have won five titles, two FAI Cups and contested the group stages of the Europa League.
Why then, all of a sudden, are knowledgeable football people aghast at what’s going on behind the scenes at Oriel Park?
Because the club appears to be at a crossroads, overseen by a Florida-based chairman, Bill Hulsizer, whose views on the direction the club should take are not shared by football folk on the ground at the Border team.
As Hulsizer calls the shots, Dundalk have stalled and their season is in danger of entering freefall. What then, for the ambitious Americans?
A week ago, Dundalk were getting geared up for their Champions League duel against Celje in Hungary. They lost that game, 3-0 and since then have lost their manager, Vinny Perth, a crucial league game in Sligo, and a sense of purpose.
Where there was once so much order, now oozes chaos.
Approaches to Robbie Keane, as revealed by Sportsmail, and to Mark Kennedy, were rebuffed – either would have been a ‘name’ to follow Perth – prompting the club to turn to two Italians who have never managed an adult team in their lives.
Filippo Giovagnoli, 49, and Guiseppe Rossi, have a background at training kids in summer camps. Prepping for the bearpit of Turner’s Cross, or the Brandywell is not something they’ve experienced.
The Italians are known to Dundalk’s New York owners through their coaching since 2014 at the Met Oval academy in Queen’s, if not to anyone else. Giovagnoli was a defender who never rose higher than Serie C.
That the duo were back in Italy during Covid-19 has proved fortuitous for Dundalk as it meant there was no need for quarantine on their arrival in Ireland earlier this week. The two men were at Oriel yesterday where they pinned up a list of the do’s and don’ts on their watch.
From now on, it’s double training sessions, mornings and afternoons and no more Wednesdays off.
One can only imagine what the players think of such a strident regime. Then again, it could be argued Dundalk need to do something different because this season not a lot has worked.
Giovagnoli has referenced his new challenge as a ‘kamikaze mission’, yet he’s the fellah flying the aeroplane.
From the outside, the move for Giovagnoli as head coach is the latest bizarre aspect to a season that appears to be spiralling out of control for the champions.
Among the stories seeping out from the dressing room is that of outside interference from the owners’ side, along with wacky ideas.
One suggestion was that goalkeeper Gary Rogers should take corners as he’s the best kicker of the ball, and to let Brian Gartland take throw-ins as he’s a basketball coach.
Before a recent game, a team was submitted from the owners’ side of the club to Perth for consideration. It included 11 outfield players and no goalkeeper.
The players are aware of all these distractions, as was Perth, who had his own battles trying to unite the dressing room.
A decent football man, who helped deliver astonishing success to Dundalk, Perth deserved a stay of execution. Then again, perhaps he’s better away from the madness.
Dundalk have called a press conference for today to unveil their coaching ticket of Giovagnoli and Rossi. Trapattoni and Tardelli at the RDS in ‘08, it certainly ain’t.
As for what lies ahead, there is an Extra.ie FAI Cup tie on Sunday in Cobh, followed by the second-round draw for the Europa League on Monday, while Dundalk have yet to welcome Rovers and Bohs to Oriel.
Amid the chaos, there is much to strive for by a group of players, 18 of whom are out of contract at the end of the season.
In the past, this doughty Dundalk crew showed a stomach for every fight.
They will need to draw deeper from the well like never before.