King pins hopes on fans support
NOEL KING is determined to win over sceptical Dundalk fans starting against Bohemians tonight.
The 67-year-old was the rock bottom Lilywhites’ shock appointment as
Stephen O’Donnell’s successor.
Fans were stunned when the news broke last weekend, and so too were a number of people working inside the club.
King accepts there has been a mixed reaction to his appointment, considering he hasn’t managed a men’s team in the League of Ireland since Finn Harps in 2003.
And asked what reception he expects at Oriel
Park tonight,
King said:
“From the home crowd, I would imagine it will be mixed.
“I’d be shocked if they start booing you because I think anybody that wants the club to do well will say ‘give that man a chance’.
“Give him 90 minutes anyway or give him 45 and see how it goes. Or maybe 20 minutes, I don’t know.
“It’s like anything, you have to win.”
King, who was Shelbourne women’s boss until last year, continued: “If I was to lose the next two matches, then the pressure would come on hugely.
“But it wouldn’t alter the case that there are a lot of matches left to play. There’s a window
who believes the Dubliner still has something to offer.
“You always learn in football. You might think you know it all, and I thought I knew a fair bit at that stage. But I learned from Noel,” says O’Doherty.
“I’ve been very lucky with some of the people I’ve played under — learning from Noel, learning from Jim McLaughlin.
“Everybody brings something different and Noel was a magnificent coach. His stuff on the training ground was years ahead of its time.
“Jim was different. I remember sitting with Tommy McConville, God have mercy on him, and we were talking about Jim. Tommy summed it up. He said, you couldn’t say what Jim has, but you’d go through a wall for him.
“But Noel’s time was something else. They wrote songs about his time in Derry.
“I’d like to believe that when I did get my time as manager (of Derry City in 1993/94), which I never really wanted, because I just liked coaching, that I brought a lot of Noel’s stuff with me. to come, there’s an exchange of players in and players out.
“That’s part and parcel of the game. So it’s all to play for, absolutely all to play for and if I don’t do it I’ll be more than disappointed.”
Bohs are ticking along nicely under new boss Alan Reynolds (inset), lurking just three points behind leaders Shelbourne in fourth spot - and with a game in hand.
Strong
Sizing up the Gypsies, King said: “It’s a tough game. I have all the videos and I have the clips cut and that’s what we will be talking about.
“Reynolds has done a good job. I know Alan well and all his teams will be tough, they’ll be strong.”
Bohs only beat Dundalk 1-0 at Dalymount Park 11 days ago in a rescheduled game and Reynolds wants to make it four wins on the spin.
“We’ve had an opportunity to look at most of the players now over the past few weeks in games. You take a gamble doing that, but I felt it was important.
“I felt after the week we played Rovers, Galway and Waterford that it was necessary too as we lacked a little bit of energy, and we needed to freshen up and make changes.”
“Noel brought the continental stuff to training here. In those days it was all running around the pitch. But I based all my stuff on Noel, the small-sided games.
“We came in for hours — twoa-side, three-a-side, four-a-side, five-a-side. I learned all that from him. He was way ahead of his time.
Surprised
“It’s going to be very interesting with him going back to Dundalk. Obviously I was surprised. I think most fans in the league were surprised.
“But football, it’s in your blood. I would imagine when they came calling, he would have found it hard to say no.”
O’Doherty, who these days is a director at Derry, adds: “I’ll be sponsoring the match when he comes here on August 9. It’s pure coincidence. I didn’t realise Noel would be coming back.
“As much as I am very fond of Noel, I definitely do not want him leaving here with three points, if he doesn’t mind! Get your three points elsewhere.”