Perth still favourite to succeed Kenny
DUNDALK FC
DUNDALK FC’s pursuit of a new manager to replace Stephen Kenny is ongoing.
While club officials have remained virtually silent since the double-winning boss departed last week to take up the Republic of Ireland U-21 manager’s job, it is understood that players have been informed that Vinny Perth is the new man in charge at Oriel Park.
There were also unconfirmed reports that he met with a goalkeeping target last week to discuss a move to the champions.
Perth’s elevation should become evident this morning (Tuesday) when the players report back for light gym work ahead of the start of their full pre-season campaign in the New Year.
The issue with announcing the promotion of Kenny’s long-term assistant is that he does not hold a UEFA Pro Licence, which is a requirement for any Premier Division manager.
While the 42-year-old has applied to be on the next course, his application has yet to be accepted and it is no longer sufficient to be on the course to take up a job.
While it has been reported that Dundalk were set to seek special dispensation in order to appoint Perth, this is unlikely as the course takes 18 months to complete and there is concern on the FAI’s side about the potential can of worms bending the rules for one club could lead to down the line.
That means that the club will have to appoint a Pro Licence holder to work alongside Perth, who may end up having the title of manager.
Mick Neville, who currently coaches the club’s U-19 side, had been the hot favourite to step into the role but that is understood to have been kicked to touch by his failure to secure a career break from his daytime job as the FAI’s Coaching Development Officer for Louth.
That has led to other names entering the fray although the shortening of odds of former Republic of Ireland manager and Dundalk native Stephen Staunton is understood to be wide of the mark.
Another man linked to the job over the weekend is former Dundalk FC boss John Gill, who is known to be close to Perth having signed him for the club in what was his last year as a player in 2007.
His odds of becoming the club’s next DUNDALK boxer Amy Broadhurst has vowed to keep her head down and carry on as normal after a spat between the AIBA and the IOC heightened the prospect of no boxing taking place at the next Olympics.
The Dealgan BC lightweight looked destined to represent Ireland at Tokyo 2020, but the IOC Board revealed over the weekend that planning for the Olympic boxing tournament had been halted over a dispute relating to the election of controversial Uzbek businessman Gafur Rakhimov as the new head of the AIBA.
Speaking on RTÉ 2fm’s manager have tumbled from 66/1 on Sunday to 4/1 second favourite as of Monday afternoon but when contacted by The Argus, Gill – who admitted in a recent interview with this paper to crying when he was let go by the Lilywhites after guiding them to the First Division title 10 years ago – appeared to distance himself from the job.
He said he had been in Fuerteventura for the past 10 days and ‘hadn’t heard or been in touch with anyone regarding football.’
Local man Gerry Spain, who previously Game On, the Broadhurst said: ‘We have to keep going on as normal, keep training as normal and keep it going.
‘There’s no point in saying, ‘what if it’s not in the Olym-Olympics?’
‘If it’s not there it’s going to be a huge disappointment to all amateur boxers because that’s every amateur boxer’s dream: to go to the Olympics.
‘It’s not their fault that boxing held the role of Assistant Manager at the club under Kenny, remains a 25/1 outsider but again work issues are said to be hampering any potential deal there as he would be unlikely to give up his teaching role in Drogheda.
Meanwhile, the club’s Christmas shop will open this Wednesday at 10am in the Long Walk Shopping Centre with new 2019 training gear on sale as well as a special edition double winners’ jersey and a retro jersey. could be taken out of the Olympics; the boxers have done nothing wrong.’ Amy’s recent World Championship bid ended in controversy too when she lost out on a medal in India.
‘It’s very hard to keep going,’ she said in relation to her highly ques-questionable defeat to her Indian opponent. ‘After my quarter-final I was debating do I really I want to do this anymore because it’s not going to be the last time it happens to me or any other boxer but you just need to keep the big picture in mind – like where will you be in a couple of years’ time?
‘The way I look at it is that even though I had a bad experience, when I’m two or three years down the line there’s going to be a lot more success for me than disappointment so I just try and be positive.
‘As bad as it sounds, I’d much rather get a bad decision in the World Championships than in the Olympics because the Olympics is the biggest stage of all.’