Kilduff gives Dundalk players 13 days to prove they deserve to stay
Lilywhites manager Ciaran Kilduff delivered a blunt assessment of a performance that left him deeply frustrated following draw with Sligo
Several players have just 13 days to convince Ciaran Kilduff that they deserve to remain at Dundalk FC, with the manager vowing to fix his squad after a difficult run of form that has seen the Lilywhites win just once in their last 13 SSE Airtricity League Premier Division matches.
With two games remaining in the campaign, Dundalk have secured their top-flight status for another season thanks to a late point in Saturday night’s 1-1 draw with Sligo Rovers. Kilduff, however, was in no mood to celebrate, instead delivering a blunt assessment of a performance that left him deeply frustrated.
“Some of those players have 13 days to convince me that they want to be here, because I can’t stand over what I saw tonight,” he told the Dundalk Democrat.
The manager made no attempt to disguise his dissatisfaction with the team’s recent performances, insisting that while he knows what must be done to improve matters, the standards displayed against Sligo were nowhere near good enough.
“After what we saw tonight, you’d wonder how we got this far. That’s what frustrates me, and I have to call it as it is. I’m never going to come out here and tell you I’m happy with that.
“Far from it. I’m not happy with the last couple of months, but I know the answer. I’ll fix it. I know how to fix it. We need to get better.
“I know exactly what needs to be done. I’ve already had a meeting this week with the powers that be. We’re planning for next year, and there are things in the pipeline, but the season isn’t over.”
Kilduff was equally emphatic in reaffirming his commitment to the club, dismissing any suggestion that his frustrations might lead him to consider leaving before his contract expires at the end of next season.
“The club is in a difficult position, and I’ll be honest about that. I come out here and compartmentalise football, but there are still debts from the past that we’re paying off to keep the club alive.
“I love this club. I love it when things are going well, and I love it when they’re not. I can accept losing, but there’s also a way to lose. That wasn’t an acceptable way to draw tonight.
“The first half was worthy of a win. The second half was worthy of a defeat, and we can’t be such polar opposites. We can’t be so high and so low. We have to look like a Premier Division team all the time.”
The manager also acknowledged that a combination of summer departures, injuries and the time required for new arrivals to adapt had contributed to the team’s struggles, admitting that he had underestimated the challenge of integrating several players into the squad during the campaign.
“You could argue that we lost seven outfield players, and we brought in only three or four in the summer. Mid-season, I underestimated how difficult it would be to get those lads up to speed.
“It’s not on them; it’s on me. These were lads who came into the club wanting to hit the ground running, but it’s very difficult.
“They need a pre-season, and thankfully, we’re going to get a good pre-season because, if you compare the first half of the season with the second half, it was chalk and cheese.”
With Premier Division survival now mathematically secured, attention will turn increasingly towards assembling a squad capable of making a more convincing impression in 2027.
Aodh Dervin, Luke Mulligan and Shane Tracey have committed their futures to the club on new contracts, providing a foundation for the work ahead, but Kilduff indicated that considerable recruitment would be required to address the shortcomings exposed during the second half of the season.
“I have about 12 or 13 [players under contract]. There are a lot of things still progressing. Some of them are young players as well, but we’re also going to recruit strongly, and we need a lot.”