Lennon backs Saints to find right man as new boss hunt turns to Kenny
With gallows humour fitting for a club that’s in a slump, long-serving St Patrick’s Athletic midfielder Jamie Lennon is able to poke fun at himself and wonder why the club are embarking on yet another manager hunt.
“It’s not my first time. I think it’s my sixth manager in seven years, so maybe I’m the problem,” joked Lennon (above), who made his league debut for the Saints back in 2018, as he guides the younger players through a process that saw then play under interim manager Seán O’Connor in Friday’s 2-2 draw away to Shamrock Rovers.
Club owner Garrett Kelleher has been in talks with former Ireland boss – and one-time Pat’s U-21s coach – Stephen Kenny about the vacancy created by last week’s sacking of Jon Daly.
Rivals Bohemians made a push to hire Kenny in March, though the timing did not suit, and while Kenny’s preference is still to find a coaching position abroad, he may be tempted by the lure of Inchicore. Kenny was given the weekend to mull over the Saints offer.
Time is a factor as the slump in form has seen the Saints drop to seventh in the table and the run of games ahead – against the top two of Shelbourne and Derry City before a derby away to Bohs – means the table could have an even gloomier look by the end of May.
“I trust the club to get someone in quickly and they normally have in the past,” says Lennon, who made his debut under Liam Buckley and has since played under Harry Kenny, Stephen O’Donnell, Tim Clancy and Daly as well as caretakers Ger O’Brien and O’Connor.
Right
“I’m sure they will get the right man in. It’s not really up to us whether it happens quickly or in a couple of weeks down the line. We’re all familiar with Seánie and the lads coming in to give us a dig out. We just have to see what the club does and focus on ourselves with a few tough games coming up. There’s no real time to think about it.
“Ideally, you don’t want to be moving onto different managers every 18 months or whatever it’s been. You want stability and to enjoy playing your football under a manager. To be fair, every manager I have played under here I have enjoyed it, we’ve just been unfortunate the way it’s turned out.
“A couple of us are used to it, and some lads it’s for the first time but you just have to deal with it as players. We had a good reaction on Friday night but that’s all it is, a reaction. it’s about the hard work from now going forward and try to put performances in like that every week and try and climb the table.
“Football is mad. A couple of months ago with the cup final, you’re the hero and we’re all having a great time in November.
“Obviously we have lost some big players which is a part of it, but the squad in there is better than what we’ve shown this season and that’s on us as players. I enjoyed playing under Jon and the way we were trying to play, but as players on the pitch we were under performing. We have to look at ourselves and try to pick up.”