Sense of optimism
THE start of the new League of Ireland season on Friday night when champions, Dundalk entertain a rejuvenated Derry City is being viewed with a new sense of optimism amongst the clubs involved mainly because the government has linked it’s €20m. bailout package for the FAI to progress in developing the League of Ireland.
Previously, as all followers of the domestic game are aware, the discredited former CEO of the Association, John Delaney branded the League as “a difficult child’.
Hopefully the view her been consigned to the dustbin of history, and the League can progress in a manner worthy of the stature of the game in this country.
For Dundalk followers there are mixed views about the approach of the new season, for while on one hand the owners Peak6 have shown real intent in investing in exciting new players, the down side is the failure to progress any plans for an improvement in spectator facilities at Oriel Park.
It may be that the owners have got their priorities right, for they clearly see the club’s European campaign as a means to earn the revenue to invest in the ground, and to achieve that objective it was essential to improve the quality of the squad at Vinny Perth’s disposal.
One of five players signed for the new season is a really exciting prospect, Stefan Colovic, a Serbian winger who was previously on the books of Atletico Madrid and who has the pedigree to provide an exciting dimension to the domestic league and give Dundalk a vital edge in Europe in achieving their objective.
According to some reports the player signed from FJ Proleter Novi Sad on a two-year contract, with an option to sign for a third season, will generate much interest, not just because of Colovic’s pedigree but also because of what he represents.
Many have long advocated the need for Dundalk, and other Irish clubs, to extend their search for new talent to eastern European clubs, where the players are more technically gifted and where there level of expectation, in terms of wages, is not as ambitious as players recruited from English and Scottish clubs.
Should this move work out - and it’s always a big if when you consider the question of whether a player can adjust to life in a new country - then Dundalk could revisit this region for further players.
The 25-year-old Serbian has long been a target for Dundalk, for they had him watched on many occasions, beginning last October, and intensified that interest in November.
It appears that the player choose Dundalk ahead of other offers, seemingly more lucrative options in South Korea, where many Serbs go to play, because Dundalk will open a shop window to higher profile leagues, either in England or elsewhere in Europe, with Champions League football also an attractive selling point to Colovic.