Doyle backs former Rovers team-mate Reynolds to succeed at Dalymount
He may be sitting in the stands for Friday’s Dublin derby as an ex-Shamrock Rovers player but Eoin Doyle believes his former Hoops team-mate Alan Reynolds will give Bohemians the boost they need to record a first league win in Tallaght in almost five years.
Following Declan Devine’s departure earlier this month, Reynolds is expected to be appointed as Bohemians’ new boss this week ahead of the club’s first clash of 2024 against Stephen Bradley’s champions.
The 49-year-old is currently assistant to Jim Crawford’s Ireland U-21 side, and to former Bohs boss Keith Long at Waterford, but he’s now set to take the reins at Dalymount Park and lead a Bohs side who have taken seven points from their opening five games this term.
Reynolds’ final season as a player coincided with Doyle’s first in senior football and the former striker feels the Waterford native is the type of character who players would rally behind.
“What a likeable character. There will be no issues there with players not running through brick walls for him. He’s got that aura about him. I’d be expecting Bohs to bounce alright,” said Doyle, speaking at the launch of Pieta’s Darkness into Light event which takes place on May 11.
“Going into the game and bringing a high intensity, I’d say they’ll have the new manager bounce. I can’t see Bohs going into that game and sitting off. Knowing Rennie, he’ll be very clever in how he sets them up.
“There’s no waffle with him. He wouldn’t be (saying), ‘We’re playing this way and that’s the end of it,’ he plays the strengths to the personnel he has there.
“I’m fairly certain when Rennie was at Rovers he had already been a manager. You can’t have a conversation with Rennie unless it’s about football. Every now and again you come across people in the football world and they’re just completely obsessed with it.
“They are successful in football because they commit themselves to it. So
at the time (while team-mates), I never had any doubt (he would go on to coach). When I saw the success he had as a coach it definitely didn’t surprise me.
“The best story I have about Rennie is when we were playing UCD. I think Andy Myler got tackled and we were defending.
“The next thing, I hear the whistle going, look over and it’s actually Rennie standing over the referee, blowing the whistle to stop the game himself. The referee was on the ground. I don’t know if he tripped or got a smack of something, but Rennie took it upon himself to stop the game. He’s a great character.”
Having retired last July after playing over 600 senior games across spells at
Bolton, Sligo Rovers and Chesterfield, among other clubs, Doyle admits he’s on a mission to shake off the extra kilos he has put on since hanging up his boots.
“Since I finished playing, for the first three months I didn’t do a tap and I put on nine kilos,” added the 36-year-old.
“I just got into a slump. Too much chocolate and too many pints, the usual stuff! Since then, I have changed everything. I’minMarlayParkeverymorning.That’s where I do my morning runs four or five days a week and it helps keep the weight off.”
On the upcoming Darkness into Light event, he added: “It’s a €26 sign-up fee. For every €26, that’s two phone calls to help people in need. It’s hugely important.”