Exodus of players from Oriel leaves Dundalk fans downbeat about coming season

With just over seven weeks to go to the start of the league, many Dundalk fans are very downbeat about their side's prospects for the coming season. At the time of writing, Dundalk have yet to make one single new signing and have lost what I feel are some key members from last season's squad.

Add to this the fact that nine days from Christmas Day, there is still no sign of the new club jerseys going on sale and even the most optimistic person must have some sense of worry as to what lies ahead for the club in the coming season.

The Christmas market is usually the time when the club makes a lot of money from the sale of its merchandise. Even if the new jerseys are on sale today (Tuesday) it is very late. I have no idea what the hold up has been, but it is not a good image for the club to see no jersey on sale so late to Christmas. Again I stress they may be for sale today when you read this piece. But as I write this eight days from Christmas day it has yet to appear in the Oriel club shop.

But what worries me most is the loss of good players from last year's squad and no additions to it as of yet. It's deja vu all over again from last year's pre-season as Dundalk are being beaten to every player they show an interest in as well.
In fairness Dundalk are keeping on Cameron Elliott and Sam Durrant. Both were free to go at the end of last season. But I see these two as fringe players who will be used during games coming off the bench.

In his last home post match press conference of the season Stephen O'Donnell hit out at all of what he saw was the negativity surrounding the club.

He claimed that it was having an effect on his players and the club in general. But that was the same time when it emerged that striker Pat Hoban had seemingly been told he could find another club by the manager. It was huge news. Of course that would cause negativity.

Add to this, what's happening now at the lack of signings and the departure of good players that have either been in contract for next season or who should have been kept. There  is to be  a sense of huge uncertainty among supporters for next season. None of this is the fault of new owner Brian Ainscough. He has found himself in a storm I doubt he foresaw before he decided to take the club over. 

It's easy to point the finger at people and say who is to blame for the current mess. I am not blaming anybody.
It has just been a culmination of events that have come together that has left supporters to see that there is much to worry about. It's not the fault of the previous owners or the new owner Brian Ainscough.

It's not the fault of the employees who have been running the club on a daily basis. But it's just simply very worrying to see where the club is at present. How that changes will take the energy of all connected to the club to stop.

Manager Stephen O'Donnell and Brian Gartland were unable to re-negotiate contracts with players in recent times as it became clear the club was heading for new ownership. Thus through no fault of their own they have been late to the negotiating market for new and out of contract players.

However, the club knew what players were going to be out of contract now over a year ago. They should have been offered new contracts during the season to just kick in now. I do not know who decided not to do that. But the club has lost the talented John Martin as a result and looks certain to see Greg Sloggett go as well after four years at Oriel.

Then on Friday came the bombshell news that the in contract Darragh Leahy has left the club and joined newly promoted Waterford.

Darragh has had a tough year with injuries. But he has also had to contend with some poor performances on the pitch as well.

This mainly happened when he was played as a centre half. Darragh Leahy is no centre half. He is a full back and a damn good one at that.

Fair enough he may not have had the best of seasons last year, but he is a player Stephen O'Donnell should have kept.

Darragh's season all but came to an end when Galway knocked Dundalk out of the cup earlier last season.
As centre half he along with the other Dundalk defenders could just not cope with what Galway threw at them. Manager Stephen O'Donnell replaced Darragh within a half hour of the game starting as the team were three nil down.

Darragh hardly started for Dundalk after that for the rest of the season. He sat out the remaining league games on the bench. So in many ways it came as no surprise on Friday that Waterford were announcing him as a new signing.

Darragh is only 25. He is a former Republic of Ireland under 21 international.

The manager and Brian Gartland have made a mistake letting Darragh go to Waterford.
The manager himself made a serious error for that dreaded Galway game. He played the same back three against Galway in the cup as he did against Derry City a week before in the league in Oriel. Derry ripped that defence asunder in Oriel beating Dundalk 3-1. It was plain to see that there were serious gaps in that defence.

The manager said amazingly in a post match interview that Dundalk had played some of the best football in that game since he became manager the season before.

I could not believe what I heard O'Donnell saying at the time. I saw serious flaws in that Dundalk defence. I predicted that Galway would knock Dundalk out of the cup and they did in style seven days later. They hammered the Oriel Park side 4-0. Never before did I see three defenders being replaced within a half hour of the first half.

In fairness to the manager the move worked and Dundalk conceded no further goals. I feel that Stephen O'Donnell has made a serious error letting Leahy go. It's a move that only time will tell if I am right or wrong.

The speculation about Pat Hoban's future at the club also continues. Neither the manager nor his assistant Brian Gartland have made any comment on Hoban's claims that the manager told him to find a new club not long before the last home League game of the season.

New owner Brian Ainscough confirmed that there were no financial reasons as to why the Dundalk record scoring striker could not stay. That raised hopes that Pat Hoban might stay. But now I do not believe that Pat Hoban will ever again be seen in Oriel wearing a Dundalk jersey.

Whatever the difference is between the manager and the striker seems to be irreconcilable. Thus, it appears an in contract record goal scoring striker will be allowed to walk out of Oriel and go to another club.The favourites to swoop are Derry City. Dundalk to be fair, have not made any further comment on the Hoban situation since the new owner said that as far as he was concerned he saw no reason why Hoban would not be staying.

Nathan Sheppard has been offered a new contract by Dundalk. But whether or not it's much better than the one he has been on for the past two seasons is open to question.

Bohemians were chasing the Dundalk keeper. But it's believed that their interest is waning. Nathan is believed to be mulling over the idea of returning to the UK. He has been linked to Salford FC. Dundalk are looking at other goalkeeping options in the UK also. They need to get a number one keeper in straight away.

But Sheppard should have been given an extension to his contract at the beginning of last season when Dundalk were talking to him. They chose instead to see his contract out to the end of this season and it's only now they have come back to him with a contract. 

Greg Sloggett is another player who looks set on not coming back. Greg looks to be Linfield bound. He will be rejoining his old colleague Chris Shields who left the club two seasons ago.

Sloggett who has spent four seasons with Dundalk told the Irish Sun at the end of October that he found it frustrating that the club had yet to speak to out of contract players at that time.

Sloggett has been a real hit with the Dundalk fans. His contract should have been renewed during the middle of last season, as should all of the other players who Dundalk needed.

Instead there was no move for any of them by the previous owners. It was clear during his weekly interviews that Stephen O'Donnell when asked who he would be re-signing in 2024 that no action had been taken on  this. It was not O'Donnell's fault. It's obvious that the issue was just allowed to drift.

A major reason possibly was whether Dundalk would qualify for Europe. But that can't be used as an excuse.
Whether a club makes Europe or not they need to make pre contract deals during the season with their players, thus ensuring the team would remain strong for the following season. Instead  the club has seen an exodus of players they would need now.

It looks as if Stephen O'Donnell will have to delve into the UK market big time after Christmas to either sign players or get them in on loan. He looks as if he is in the exact same position as he was last season when he was forced to go to the UK to sign players. This is not the ideal situation.

Greg Sloggett told Sun Sport that the lack of not knowing about a contract can lead a player to having some anxiety. This is because there is so much uncertainty.

Greg told the Sun that it was part and parcel of football and contract work in general.
But he says that it would be nice for players to be spoken to ahead of time by their present club to be told if they feature in the plans for the following season. Greg says players deserve that.

He said that Dundalk are likely to lose valuable players as a result. This they have done as we know now. Greg was spot on.
He also says the club had seen it in the past when some of the best players at Oriel signed contracts with other clubs in the middle of the season. Greg says season 2023 was disappointing on the pitch. It was very disappointing. But the club must move on.

Dundalk defender Robbie McCourt has signed for Waterford. He was signed by Stephen O'Donnell in the middle of last season for a considerable transfer fee.

It just did not work out for Robbie at Oriel. His career here was marred by long spells of injury and some poor performances.
He was not retained by Dundalk at the end of the season and was a free agent.

As reported last week Dundalk lost a player they are believed to have wanted to keep. John Martin was certainly part of Stephen O'Donnell's plans for next season.

But John has moved up the road to Shelbournne. It's a great career move for him as Shelbourne are in Europe next season.
In another move Dundalk's reserve keeper Mark Byrne has signed for Irish  League Premier Division side Glenavon. It's a good move for Mark as he has not been getting any game time with Dundalk.

I have seen Mark play for Warrenpoint on many occasions. He is a very good keeper.
Ironically Dundalk man Stephen McDonnell was named the Irish League manager of the month with Glenavon. Stephen has really stamped his authority on the Irish League since he returned there two months ago to management.

There was some very positive news from Oriel this week when 16 year old Luke Mulligan signed a professional contract with Dundalk. Luke has been capped by the Republic Of Ireland at both under 15 and 16 level. He is a student at Ballybay Community College.

Dundalk were in for Cork City's Aaron Bolger during the week. But Pats beat them to it. Dundalk were also interested in signing Tommy Lonergan from Pat's. Bohemians beat them to it. Dundalk also failed to sign Drogheda United player Conor Keeley. He has chosen to move to Pat's.

Thus it's been a very bruising week for Dundalk on the recruitment front. Let us hope it's better news to come in the weeks ahead. The League fixtures were out last week with many supporters still mulling over them. Dundalk start with an away game against the champions Shamrock Rovers on Friday February 16th. Dundalk will play newly promoted Galway United the following Friday at Oriel.

The first Louth Derby in the League takes place at Oriel Park on 1st April. Dundalk will have a very tough finish to the season. They play Derry City and Shamrock Rovers in home games. The final game of the season is away to Drogheda. I hope that Dundalk have nothing at stake going into those final games.

The League will be so strong this season that I fear Dundalk are going to struggle. I just hope I am wrong. But imagine having to play Drogheda United away in the final game of the season with relegation a possibility. I do not want to even think about it. But the departure of so many players from Oriel at the end of the season really worries me.

Daniel Kelly going to Derry has played a part in that as well. And when you look at the fact that Pat Hoban is leaving, then my fear of next season just grows. Archie Davies returned to Oriel last  week for the beginning of pe-season training.

After a long season in 2023, Archie told the Dundalk official website Dundalkf.com that he was delighted to have a few weeks off after a long season in 2023. Archie says he is looking forward to a positive season for 2023.

It was great to see the other members of the team on the website putting their preparations in for the new season.
Dundalk are also showing interest in Newry City striker John McGovern. The news sparked many headlines last week. But the story has gone quiet since.

This usually happens when a team is chasing a player. Hopefully Dundalk get their man,  He could  be the one they are looking for. The coming weeks are crucial for Dundalk as they go in search of key players for next season.

To be fair to Stephen O'Donnell he never expected he would be in the situation of looking for players at this time of the year.
He had been hopeful of having all of his business done by the time December arrived. But his plans were thrown up in the air when the previous owners departed. But he must also not have expected to be losing out in the chase for some of the League of Ireland players he has been chasing this season.

Have a great Christmas. I hope everybody enjoys the holiday period. Please remember to look after each other and be careful out there.