Dundalk must make an early exit from the second tier

Making badly-needed progress at Oriel Park will be that much easier if the club’s flagship has the shortest possible stay in second-tier football.

Some semblance of order has been achieved by the new management. Word coming from the Carrick Road is that the rancour of the second half of last season has dissipated, and that the team management, players, and board members are eagerly looking towards the new season.

It’s good to be told that, but no matter how well it’s going in the committee room and on the training ground, what happens on the field is what matters most.

A Dundalk side is now absent from the Premier League for the first time since late in the opening decade of this century. A first visit there came in the late 1990s, and lasted just two seasons. But relegation again reared its ugly head in 2002.

A second stint among the wannabes lasted longer than the first one. When it ended, in 2009, there was relief. However, no-one could have imagined what was just around the corner.

The arrival of Stephen Kenny brought untold success, and when the Dub left for international duty, Vinny Perth was there to extend a glorious run even longer. Supporters were in dreamland.

Who would have thought that within less than a decade of the Premier League title coming to Oriel that the present situation would be arrived at?

No point in trawling over all that has gone wrong over the past few years. The club is where it is – yes, just one year after the season opened with an away draw with the champions, Shamrock Rovers, giving rise to hopes that the slump could be arrested. It didn’t happen.

It’s going to be second division league football for all of 2025, the Cup offering the only chance of renewing rivalry with one, or maybe more, of the top guns.

Promotion at the first time of asking is a must. To be back in the top flight would make meeting financial commitments that much easier, and also improve chances of finding answers to the constant problems surrounding Oriel.

In addition, it’s what supporters crave, the people whose loyalty is going to be tested over the coming months.

No pressure, Ciarán, and the group of players you have in your care.