Daly says he will be following Dundalk “from across the water”

After managing relegated Dundalk FC for the final time on Friday night, Jon Daly says a swift return to the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division is important for his successor.

On Saturday, the 41-year-old Dubliner flew back to Scotland to be with family after overseeing The Lilywhites’ 0-0 draw at Drogheda United – their 13th straight match without a victory, in what has been a challenging spell on and off the pitch for the club.

For owner John Temple, a quick appointment to replace Daly is preferred, with former Wexford and Bray Wanderers boss Ian Ryan believed to be among the leading contenders to step into the role before Dundalk begin life in the First Division next year.

“You need structures off the park,” replied Daly when asked by The Democrat what the club needed if they are to return to the Premier Division.

“The off the park stuff really does impact on the park. Once them structures are in place and you get the academy aligned with the first-team and everything like that, I think you’ve got an opportunity.

“Whether the club is in the First Division or the Premier Division, it’s a top club and it’s got a fantastic history. First and foremost, they need to find somebody they feel is the right man to take them forward.

“Once they do that, then they need to build a squad to go and compete. It’s important that they try and get back out of the First Division as quick as possible because there’s some big clubs that have languished down there for a few years.

“For whoever takes on the mantle, Dundalk are going to be expected to come back, so there is going to be that little bit of added pressure.

“It’s something that I feel, whoever it may be, will thrive on – and the players should embrace that challenge of being favourites next year. I’ll be definitely looking on from across the water and willing them on to do it and get themselves back to where they belong.”

The next Dundalk manager’s first games in charge will come next January in the PTSB Leinster Senior Cup when The Lilywhites play three Group B matches versus Shamrock Rovers (away), Usher Celtic (home) and Lucan United or Malahide United (away).

With wholesale changes to the playing squad expected to take place over the coming weeks and months, Dundalk look increasingly likely to lose hold of Ryan O’Kane, who is attracting interest from newly-crowned Premier Division champions Shelbourne.

Meanwhile, for Daly, his next venture will see him assist Dundalk CEO Peter Halpin with his company, Halpin Sport Sponsorship, on a consultancy basis – though a return to coaching or management in Scotland remains the long-term objective for the Dubliner.

“Peter has a business in terms of the sport sponsorship model, so it’s important that I can get an idea that down the line, if I’m ever looking at going into a directorship role or sporting director role or anything like that, it would really help me. It’s an opportunity for me in the short term to add another string to my bow, get an idea of how the other side of football works.

“My passion obviously is coaching, managing and helping players develop and improve. That’s something that in the medium to long term I still feel I can do, but whilst I’m looking for something closer to home, it’s something that I can sink my teeth into and to try and help Peter as well.

“He’s worked tirelessly hard day and night at Dundalk to try and make things successful for the club and he’s had to deal with a lot himself. It’s to try and help him get connections in Scotland – a part of the UK that he probably hasn’t tapped up yet.”

Reflecting on his own time in League of Ireland football, which he began as assistant manager at St Patrick’s Athletic in 2022, the ex-Rangers forward said the following:

“It’s been mostly up, to be honest. Every year at Pats, we qualified for Europe. This episode at Dundalk, as much as I’ve enjoyed it, it’s been disappointing that we couldn’t get the job done. The job was to try and stay in the league and unfortunately we’ve not managed to do that.

“It’s not been for the lack of effort or for the lack of trying. We’ve had a lot of close games and we haven’t managed to come out on top in quite a lot of them.

“That’s the disappointing thing for me, but I’ve enjoyed it, I’ve learned a lot and I’m sure that I’ll definitely take a lot from my time in the league.

“I didn’t know an awful lot about the league before I came into it, to be honest. It’s definitely a league that I’ll keep an eye on, and if I do get into a job elsewhere, I’ll certainly be trying to poach players out of it because there’s some real good talent in the league. It’s still an untapped league in that sense, so there’s definitely opportunities to try and prize players away from the league.”