The Commentary Box: Dundalk get game time behind them

Dundalk have at last been able to get some game time behind them, as the countdown to the start of the new season continues.

Last Sunday week, Dundalk began the defence of their Leinster Senior Cup campaign with a 5-1 defeat against non-league St. Peter's Athlone. Ciaran Kilduff decided to give his under-20 side a run-out against the Midlanders.

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One wonders why he did this. But I suppose it was a good idea to do, just to give everybody a run out before the start of the season. Ciaran Kilduff was busy in the transfermarket himself on the day Dundalk were in action for their first game.

It was revealed that the Dundalk boss bolstered his defence by signing former Bohemians defender Rob Cornwall. The day after, on the Monday, Dundalk announced that they had re-signed Eoin Kenny.

This was a great move and will bolster the Dundalk strike force for sure. Kenny played in Dundalk's Leinster Senior Cup game against Shelbourne at Muirhevnamor last Tuesday.

The young Blackrock man struck twice for Dundalk, with Danny Mullen also scoring. It was a good win despite the fact that the win was over the Shelbourne under-20 side.

Dundalk will play the senior Shelbourne team today at lunchtime in a friendly in north county Dublin at the AUL Grounds. It will be played behind closed doors. In the game against St. Peter's Athlone, Enda Minogue received two yellow cards.

He was duly sent off and was suspended for the game against Shelbourne under-20s two days later. First team keeper Conor Kearns would not have been able to play, as he is on loan from Shelbourne.

Thus, Dundalk will be without him for the four games they will play Shelbourne in the league in the season coming up. He would not have played in any case last week as he is still recovering from an injury.

He will be fit for the Jim Malone cup game against Drogheda United in Drogheda on 30th January. That game will kick off at 7.45pm.

Eoin Kenny was in terrific form for Dundalk against the Shelbourne under-20s in the Leinster Senior Cup last Tuesday. He got two excellent goals. Danny Mullen got the second goal. It was terrific to see the two strikers score.

It was also a much-added bonus to see Eoin Kenny starting where he finished last season, crashing in the goals. Dundalk were in action again on Friday night, taking on UCD at Belfield in another friendly.

Ciaran Kilduff's side went a goal behind, but came back with a five-goal salvo to win 5-1. Eoin Kenny was in fantastic form, scoring twice yet again.

Harvey Warren got Dundalk's equaliser. Danny Mullen was on the scoresheet again. Gbemi Arubi also scored, which is great news. All three Dundalk strikers were on song at Belfield.

On Saturday next,  Dundalk will play their final group game of the Leinster Senior Cup when they took on Athlone Town at Lissywollen.

Work continued on the new floodlighting system at Oriel. It's great to see the old pylons still being used. They were installed in Oriel in 1967.

There was a technical worry as to whether the pylons would suit the new lighting system. They do. I am really looking forward to seeing how the new system works out.

It was a week when Shelbourne broke the League of Ireland record, paying over 100,000 euros for Cliftonville's Odhran Casey. Odhran is a defender.

Before this, the record payment was made by Drogheda United to Bray Wanderers for striker Eamonn Zayed in 2006. They paid Bray Wanderers a fee of between 70,000 to 80,000 euros for the player.

The most ever paid to a League of Ireland club outside of the country was made by Spurs last season. They paid Stephen Kenny's Pats 2 million euros for striker Mason Melia.

I have said it over and over again that this is the minimum League of Ireland clubs should be getting for their players from Premier Division clubs in the UK. It should be two million. This figure is only chicken feed for the big UK clubs.

Most of the players they get from here, they pay little or nothing for them. That's when we look at the amount of money they have and how much they are worth.

For example, I was disappointed to see Sean Keogh moving from Dundalk to Brighton for just a six-figure sum. Sean is a highly talented player and is worth the two-million-euro benchmark figure, I believe, that should be paid.

To be fair, Dundalk, they had no choice but to get the best figure possible. The club needs as much money as possible. And if Sean Keogh was happy with the amount offered, Dundalk would have had no choice but to let him go.

They could not have stood in Sean's way or indeed of his future career. I have no idea what Sean's transfer fee was. However, if it was a high six-figure sum, then given everybody would be very happy with that.

Dundalk manager Ciaran Kilduff says he has been very busy. He says the recent games Dundalk have played have been a good workout.

"I got a chance to see a lot of the lads in action. It's been a matter of getting a chance to build the lads up. The game against the Shelbourne under-20s was the first time for me to see many of the first team in action.

"I know it was the Shels under 20 we played, but they have really excellent players. They won the double last season. A lot of their players are going to go on and have excellent careers in soccer. It was a proper test for us.

"I am happy enough to say that it gave me a proper chance to see some of the players we have. I was not exactly managing the team.

"It was about managing the players and ensuring they got at least 45 minutes of play. I had new players and others coming back from injury. It was not what you would call your full-blooded game.

"We had an excellent 5-1 win over UCD on Friday. Many of the players really stood out. Eoin Kenny stood out on Tuesday against the Shelbourne under-20s. He stood out again on Friday with two more goals.

"Gbemi Arubi was back. He got a great goal. And we also had a goal from our other striker Danny Mullen. Our strikers have been banging in the goals in the last two games.

"We play Shelbourne today at lunchtime today Tuesday, at their training ground at the AUL. This time we play their first team. This game will be of great assistance to us. And we have the Malone Cup against Drogheda in Drogheda on Friday week.

"This game will really help us prepare us for our opening game in the league, the following week against Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght.

"I was delighted to sign Eoin Kenny for the coming season. He is a fine player. I have said it numerous times. He is one of those players, you just forget how young he is. Eoin is not one for missing out on training.

"I have a great relationship with Eoin. It's open and honest throughout. I knew that if he was not going to go across the water, then he would be staying with us.

"We kind of knew there was always going to be a good chance that he would be returning to us. He then got his two goals against the Shelbourne under-20s last week.

"He got another two goals against UCD three days later. As we all know, he will be a great help to us in the coming season. It really is great to have him back in the building.

"Eoin getting off to such a start has given the younger players from last season a big lift. You can now see a coming together in the squad among the players.

"We will have a lot of competition for places among our three strikers. Eoin may be the last signing to come into the building at this point. But there may be still be one or two more.

"Rob Cornwall was a great signing for us. He has played with Shamrock Rovers and was the Bohemians vice-captain last season. He is still only 31. He played a lot of games for Bohemians last season.

"He will be a huge asset to the defence. I am really glad to get Rob into the building as well. He's a terrific person and is a natural leader. He was captain and vice captain at times for Bohemians last season when their squad was a little thin.

"Rob will give us the depth if some of our younger players are away on international duty. He did so well in the centre half position against the Shelbourne under-20s when Mayowa had to go off with an early injury.

"It's great to have more quality players pushing for places when they are needed. Rob will add to the competition for first-team players.

"He does have the experience behind him to hold down a place in our first team. Last season, our squad was a little bit thin when we had youngsters away on international duty.

"Rob gives us a huge depth. Conor Kearns was not able to play against Shelbourne last week, nor can he play this week, because he is on loan from Shelbourne. But he was not fit for either game as he is recovering from an injury.

"Conor has a hamstring injury. But he should be fit again within the week. He has spoken with the hamstring specialists along with our own medical team.

"We will be missing Conor in our four league games in the coming season against Shelbourne because he is on loan from them. But that is just one of those things. Conor has been doing full-time training since he arrived.

"We will be calling on both our goalkeepers to step in when Conor is unavailable for those league games against Shelbourne. We will also have some young goalkeepers coming in over the coming weeks to help out the academy as well.

"We will take each game at a time. But yes, Conor being unavailable for those four Shelbourne games is just something we will have to face. We would not be able to play him either if we were to get Shelbourne in the FAI Cup.

"Look, we will worry about that if and when it happens. Enda Minogue was suspended for the game against the Shelbourne under-20s, as he had been sent off for getting two yellow cards in the game against St. Peter's Athlone.

"I have not yet put numbers on Peter or Enda as to who will be my second and third keepers this season. Our whole goalkeeping unit has been excellent so far. There are ones and twos in all positions.

"I am taking one game at a time with this team in pre -season. Enda may be number two. I will have to see what Conor is like when he returns from injury. The game against the Shelbourne First team goes ahead today, Tuesday.

"It's a game we have been planning for a while. It's much better than any training session. It's at the AUL grounds at lunchtime. A date and time has been set for the Jim Malone Cup game.

"It will be in Drogheda on 30th January. It's Drogheda's year to host. It's their tie, it's their fixture. This game will be very competitive. It will be an advantage to both sides.

"It is probably the best pre-season game you could ask for. A week before the start of the season, it comes at a great time. Last season, it was played in Oriel, and it was great.

"This type of game just springboards your season. We had a good year after it last season, as did Drogheda. There is never such a thing as a friendly between either of the sides. It comes at the perfect time, just before the start of the season.

"I was aware of the fact early on that we would have to play our home game against Derry away. This was because of the work on the pitch and the lights. But these were imperative for us to get our licence.

"Shamrock Rovers away and Derry away and then a Louth Derby followed by Galway and Pats away, certainly makes life difficult to some extent. But it will level itself out as over the season.

"We will have a good run of home games at some stage. It's not perfect that we had to swap fixtures and venues with Derry. But we do not have an issue with it. I was forewarned that there would have to be a swap with Derry. It was the right decision.

"If there was bad weather and a delay in getting our pitch ready, there was always the possibility, God forbid, that we could have even lost the fixture or would have had to play it elsewhere. The best decision was just to flip the fixture with Derry.

"We were unbeaten in the league at home last season. We did not want to be going down the road of losing the fixture, even if it does mean that we play the fixture at Oriel a little later in the season. Oriel is our home. It is our fortress.

"We do not want to be giving a fixture away at any stage. Knocking it down the line and getting it back at Oriel is the best decision, as opposed to losing it as a home game altogether. I would rather play half the total games at Oriel, as we are supposed to, rather than play any of them elsewhere.

"We are all really looking forward to the season and how we can do. If you had told me we would be in this position 15 months ago, I might have bitten my own arm off. We might be the favourites to go down, as far as the bookies are concerned.

"But I think that we might surprise a few people. Cork were promoted and relegated straight back down over a season. I am confident that we can avoid that. We have a decent squad here. We can do it.

"Obviously, the odds are stacked against us. But there is a great motivation and confidence from the coaching staff to the players that we will stay up.

"We may have one of the lowest budgets in the Division. That will not affect our confidence that we can stay up." It was great to get an update from the manager.

The manager is well prepared for the new season. But he is aware that it's a massive challenge. Cork only managed to win one game in the league last season. Every day, you read about the top sides signing players who have great CVs and talent.

I used see the same when Dundalk were at the top. But many of the players they signed, particularly towards the end of the Peak6 period up to the time when they were relegated in 2024, were simply not worth it.

Money was squandered on players who were simply not good enough. The wealth the club built up over the Kenny/Perth era soon evaporated over a number of seasons due to it being spent needlessly.

So now Dundalk have one of the lowest budgets in the Premier Division. To be honest, I would much rather see it this way than having a lot of wealth and seeing it being squandered.

Ciaran Kilduff is the only manager since 1967 to see a new floodlighting system being installed. There have been other artificial pitches installed going back through the years at Oriel.

But both lighting and pitches never happened together. It's a huge pity that very little, if any, of the European money made in the past was ever spent on infrastructure.

This also takes into account the Kenny Perth era as well. Much of the money, to my mind, was wasted across many areas of the club. This was why the club nearly went bankrupt in 2024.

If Dundalk manage to stay up, they will be entitled to between 700,000 and 900,000 euros from UEFA Solidarity money. This will be so lucrative because they have been promoted and stayed up. That is a huge if. Should they go back down, they get around 65,000.

Former Dundalk midfielder John Mountney has moved to Glenavon, who are in the Premier Division of the Irish League. Dundalk's next game in the Leinster Senior Cup is next Saturday in Athlone. Kick off at 1.00pm.

So preparations continue for the new season. Have a great week. Look after yourselves and each other. And please be careful out there.