My prediction is for Dundalk FC to make the promotion play-offs

The run up to Christmas has been a very busy time for Dundalk manager Ciaran Kilduff. Ciaran has had a massive job rebuilding a brand new squad for next season.

Dundalk had already made five new signings moving into December. These were Harry Groome, Dean Ebbe, Enda Minogue, Conor O'Keefe and Gbemi Arubi.

At the time of writing, it's all but certain that Eoin Kenny and Mayowa are staying with the club along with captain Daryl Horgan and vice-captain Aodh Dervan Sean Keogh is also staying. He was signed professionally last season.

Up to 18 members of last season's squad have moved on. But Ciaran is hoping to keep up to five more of last season's squad and have an additional five new signings by the weekend or Christmas week.

The squad is just beginning to take shape now. But if the new boss can get half as good a squad together from the effort he is putting into the rebuilding, then it's a very good sign.

Dundalk will begin life in Division One with a home game against Athlone Town. The Dundalk manager moved from Athlone in December having won the women's Premier Division title with the midlands club. Ciaran is really looking forward to the game.

The main thing we have to do is to win. Dundalk only won five games out of 36 for the entire season last year. Ciaran believes that Oriel must be made a fortress.

Then his team will build on that and hopefully produce winning form away from home also. Dundalk have won only five league games away from home in the past two seasons.

Last season their one and only away victory was against St Pats in Inchicore after Stephen Kenny had just taken over at Richmond Park. To have any chance of getting automatic promotion Kilduff knows that his team must also win most of their games away from home.

The new manager is not offering any guarantees that he can win promotion next season. How can he? But he is determined to do his best. That is all anybody can ask.

The Dundalk manager is also intending to fight for automatic promotion by winning the Division One title. The Athlone game starting the season will also see Enda Minogue and Dean Ebbe coming up against their old club.

It will also see new signing Leo Gaxha doing the same. Leo was signed last Thursday night. He is an ex-Sheffield United and Athlone player. He joined Athlone in the second half of last season.

The Friday Dundalk play Athlone is Saint Valentine's night. I am sure there will be plenty of chances of romance for players and supporters after the game. They will have to wait until after 10pm to celebrate the great festival.

But both supporters and players must concentrate on beating Athlone before the romantic celebrations can begin. The home game will also be the first time Dundalk have met Athlone in a competitive game since they beat the Midlanders 11-0 in the semi-final of the FAI Cup in October 2021.

It will also be Athlone's first visit to Oriel Park since February 2019 when the Midlanders shocked Vinny Perth's Dundalk in the Leinster Senior Cup. Dundalk did not lose any more competitive games after that at home in season 2019.

They went on to win their fifth league title in six seasons. They also won the League Cup and were beaten on penalties by Shamrock Rovers in the FAI Cup final. Dundalk came so close to winning a unique treble that season.

Dundalk's first away trip is against Finn Harps in Donegal. Ironically at a distance of around 105 miles, it will be one of the shortest trips for the Oriel Park club.

Dundalk will then make their longest journey ever for a league game when they travel to face Kerry at Mounthawk Park. This game is on Friday 28th February. Limerick's Treaty United will be the next visitor to Oriel Park on 7th March.

Dundalk's next game is away to Bray Wanderers on March 14th. They play Longford Town at Oriel on March 21st. The next game of the league will be against Wexford on March 28th.

Dundalk play UCD at Oriel on Friday, April 4th. The last game of round one will see Dundalk make a round trip of 480 miles to play Cobh Ramblers.

Dundalk will also finish the regular First Division season on 17th October against Cobh. If Dundalk make the playoffs the semi-finals are on Friday, October 24th and Tuesday, October 28th. The play-off final takes place on Tuesday, November 2nd.

The relegation promotion play-off final is on Friday 7th November. I would expect Dundalk to feature in the playoffs. Whether they can win the division outright is impossible to answer now.

Last season I predicted Dundalk would be relegated. That was last December. My prediction for the coming season is for Dundalk to make the promotion playoffs.

I will not make a judgement on automatic promotion until I see the squad that is assembled and the quality of the other teams in the Division. UCD will be a real threat to Dundalk's hopes of winning the league.

Bray Wanderers will also be a threat. Finn Harps have been back in the division for three seasons. They are now ready to make a challenge. Cobh Ramblers could be the surprise team. They are now managed by ex-Glentoran manager Mick McDermott.

They also have new owners. McDermott would not have decided to travel to Cobh unless he sees them as a team that can win promotion. Dundalk also always find it very very difficult to win in Cobh.

To sum up this Division, it's going to be very hard to get out of it. The games will be very competitive. If Ciaran Kilduff can build a good defence, a cohesive and hard-working midfield and a creative strike force, they can win promotion.

It's amazing in one way that 18 of last season's squad are gone. But Kilduff's team must build up momentum from the start. If they can do that they can get automatic promotion. But that is a big ask.

The side must also recognise that every team in the division will be out to beat Dundalk as they will look upon them as the big boys and one of the most successful clubs in the country.

Ciaran Kilduff is aware of this. He must not let them phase his side. Already as far as recruitment is concerned it's good to see Dundalk fishing in a pool for Irish players.

Recruitment at Oriel both last year and the year before was shocking. Last season Dundalk's signing of three different keepers was ridiculous. Two were made in pre-season and one was signed in the July window.

Dundalk fished for players in the Scottish pool last season as well. They were simply not good enough. The season before when Dundalk missed out on Europe by a whisker, they also concentrated on the UK market.

Dundalk in 2023 were poor and won very few games away from home. They used the system of taking on-loan players to Ireland, most of whom were below par.

I would hardly use many of these on loan or signed players by Dundalk over the seasons 2023 and seasons 2024 for Division One.

The manager must get his recruitment right from the start. From what I am seeing I think he is. I'm very impressed by Kilduff's desire to straight back up.

This is matched by the owner John Temple's desire for Dundalk to make a speedy return. With the manager and the owner singing off the hymn sheet, I think it boosts Dundalk's chances of getting out of the division.

But beware, this Division is like a quagmire and even the best of sides can get bogged down. The club will need owners, players and supporters to all be united this season. That will go a long way in helping Dundalk return to the promised land at the first time of asking.

Speaking at the club's Q and A session in Oriel last week Ciaran Kilduff said that the recent history of the club helps with recruitment. The players who are coming in to join Dundalk are looking at it as an opportunity.

''My biggest reason for signing new players and keeping some of last season's squad was because they want to be here. I did not want to convince any player to stay. It was the same as the staff. They had to be here for the right reasons. The unique selling point is the opportunity to play for Dundalk.

''I chose Daryl Horgan as captain as I know him really well. I played with him and of course, he has won over 20 caps for the Republic of Ireland senior team. Daryl is a real professional. He leads by example.

''Daryl was an obvious choice as captain at this stage of his career. Aodh Dervan will make an excellent vice-captain. I have sat down with him and spoken to Aodh, I am very impressed with him as a leader and a player.

''Daryl and Aodh will make a great combination in holding the team together. Both Daryl and Aodh are the obvious choices for their roles. The first home game against Athlone will be an emotional one here.

''It's a clear sign to all clubs that Dundalk are still here. Dundalk are alive. I think for you the supporters it will be a very special night.

''The players while realising the significance of the night will look after on-field matters. It's also going to be the proudest night for me in my career.

''I want to see things being done right. I am the type of manager who keeps his emotions in check. I want my players to see there is some kind of calm on the bench.

''I want us playing football the right way. I also want honest people in the building. I always tried my best as a player here. I will do the same as a manager''.

''I have full faith in the players who are staying from last season's squad. Promotion is a goal. Of course, I am going to try. Can I guarantee it no. We will have the firepower to do the job as a team and from the strikeforce we will have.

''But I have to stress there is no easy way out of this league. I helped Shelbourne get out of the First Division as a player. But they had struggled there for six years. That was only five years ago. Look at them now. This league will not be free-flowing.

''We are losing up to 18 players from last season. We are on reset. We are a brand new entity now. Of course,  I want to say that we will want to go straight back up, people will shout at me if I do not say that. The reality of it is that we are going to try.

''I think we can do it. I do not think we will be far away at the end of the season. Huge clubs have been in this division before Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk were in it at the same time in 2007.

''In fact, only Pats and Bohs are the only two clubs in the Premier Division who have never been relegated. We just have to roll our sleeves up and give this a good go.''

''We have some more exciting signings coming in. We also have to nail down some existing signings. But we are in a different players market now. We are not competing in the same player pool as the Premier Division clubs are fishing in.

''But Dundalk are the same club that Stephen Kenny managed and that I played for in the past. We are just at a different phase in our history.

''I use this statement to motivate the players we have signed and will do so again to motivate other players to sign. It feels like a different club now. But it's not. We have 123 years of history behind us. I took a risk when I became manager of this club.

''I took the job, knowing that it was not going to go out of business after being 123 years in existence and also knowing its illustrious history.

''I was 126 percent certain I had not made a mistake coming here, even though its future was so uncertain up to three weeks ago.

“I will leave this club in a better place at the end of my tenure. Hopefully, we can bring back the European nights too as we had in the Kenny era.

''But to be honest, if it's two years or ten years when I walk away from here, all I can do is to leave Dundalk FC in a better place than it is in now. How high we can go or how well we can do, we will find out soon.''

I found the new manager to be like a breath of fresh air. He makes no promises. But he is honest at what he is hoping he can do. That is what this club needs.

The new boss is a hit with the fans as a manager already. He is of course a club legend already as a player. Time after time the new boss told fans at the question and answer night about how proud he was of Dundalk. I believe him.

I could also see the gathered fans in the Lillywhite lounge also believed him. He even revealed that on his way up to Oriel Park from where he lives at the moment, he pulled his car into a safe location.

He sent a text to his wife telling her he was the manager of Dundalk. His wife knew of course he was the manager the day he got the job weeks before.

But Ciaran just texted her again last Monday on the way from home to Oriel because he was so excited that he had the job and because he was so proud of the club. This enthusiasm can and will rub off on Ciaran's team.

I was also so impressed with the new manager at the end of the two-hour-long Q and A when he and the vice-captain stood at the main exit and shook the hands of each supporter as they went out into the winter darkness.

But in that darkness, there was a shining light. It was not the Christmas star of Bethlehem. It was the confidence among supporters and the media that Dundalk have found a manager and a human being who can lead it from the darkness it is in at the moment back to the promised land of the Premier Division.

Ciaran Kilduff will need time to succeed. He needs to be given this time by supporters, owners and the local media to get that success. I hope everybody will work together with the new manager and give him the required space needed.

On Thursday former Dundalk striker Daniel Kelly signed for league champions Shelbourne. He had left the Derry City by mutual consent. He is the second Dundalk player to sign for the champs in two weeks.

Ryan O'Kane moved to Tolka two weeks ago. Former Dundalk centre-half Paddy Barrett also plays for Shelbourne as does Sean Gannon. Sean has won more league medals than any other player.

He won five with Dundalk, four with Shamrock Rovers and one with Shelbourne. John Martin also joined Shelbourne from Dundalk in 2024. He too picked up a league winners medal for the champions and scored some vital goals for Damian Duff.

Dundalk's signing of Gaxha is the club's ninth confirmed signing for 2025. As mentioned they have also signed Dean Ebbe, Enda Minogue, Conor O'Keefe, Sean Keogh, Aodh Dervin, Harry Groome, Daryl Horgan and Gbemi Aubi.

Mayowa is also expected to sign. It was rumoured he was off to Drogheda. That turned out not to be the case. Another former Dundalk great Richie Towell has left Shamrock Rovers.

He is out of contract with the Hoops. It's believed he is heading to Bohemians to link up with assistant manager Stephen O'Donnell.

The club lost a great supporter named Jimmy Fisher about two weeks ago. Jimmy was well-liked and in his time would never miss a game.

Jimmy was the father of the facilities manager at Oriel Stephen. The club has passed on its deepest condolences to Stephen, Jimmy's family and friends at this difficult time.

Dundalk have three pre-season games arranged so far. They will take on Shelbourne twice. The dates and venues for the games have yet to be finalised.

The annual Jim Malone Cup is being played on Friday, 31st January against Drogheda United. The game should have been played in United Park this year. But Drogheda have some difficulty with their pitch.

Thus Oriel Park will host the game for the second year in a row. The game is normally played a week before the start of the season.

But as Drogheda are playing in the President's Cup final this year after winning the FAI Cup, the Malone Cup game is being played the week before.

Drogheda have won the competition for the last two years in a row. It will be interesting to see how Dundalk compete with their neighbours on the last Friday in January.

Finally, the League of Ireland and Grinds 360 have launched a partnership to provide Academy players access to over 400,000 euro worth of educational services free of charge.

Established and operated by qualified teachers, Grinds 360 is an online service designed to provide 400,000 euro worth of student membership available free of charge for players to the platform.

Established and operated by 370 qualified teachers, Grinds 360 is an online service designed to provide on-demand content to students across Ireland to assist with their secondary school educations.

Have a very happy Christmas, I hope it is a peaceful one too. Please look after each other and remember to be careful out there.