New St Patrick's Athletic manager Stephen Kenny has said timing was the key to his surprise return to the League of Ireland this morning.
The former Republic of Ireland manager confirmed a return to club management with the Saints, before his successor has even been appointed in the international team.
Bohemians and Dundalk were known to have sought the services of Kenny, with the pull of his trophy-laden spell in Oriel a particular incentive.
But a strong push from Pat’s owner Garrett Kelleher won the services of the 52-year-old when it was believed he was keen to pursue opportunities abroad and leave his options open in the coming months.
Speaking hours after signing a five and-a-half year contract, Kenny said: "It was just a matter of timing really. Timing can be critical in life. Garrett Kelleher's vision, where he wants to take it, with plans for a new stadium and just generally for the club going forward, I was impressed with.
"I have never been out of work for more than couple of months in the 25 years. I'm anxious to get back on the grass, it's great to be able to go out and coach every day. It's a privilege.
"I didn't think I would be here so quickly if I'm honest. I had certain opportunities and they weren't right for me. and there were other opportunities I would have sought that weren't possible.
"Everyone's personal circumstance change. Mine did change in that time. I've decided to lead this club. There's a great academy here. A load of players have come through it and we're in European competition in a few weeks.
"What they would like long-term is a new stadium here, to try to be successful domestically and in Europe and that is the ambition. I've decided to take that opportunity to lead it.
"It's a long contract. That is what I was offered and I decided to sign it. Bohemians, obviously I had a great time there, the timing wasn't right. Dundalk, likewise. My personal circumstances have changed in the last few weeks regarding family. I had to make a decision.
"Bohemians is a great club, Dundalk is an amazing club and I still live there. My son plays for Dundalk. I had an amazing time there, it was a special part of history, it's hard to recreate it when you go back in."
We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Kenny’s dramatic return to the league has created a massive stir. From a position of gloom comes a new light for Pat's, but Kenny has stressed that it will not be straight-forward.
Expectation and pressure will follow everywhere he goes, including his first match in the Richmond Park dugout against Derry City.
With eight points between the teams, he will be keen to start brightly and build momentum with a squad filled with potential.
He said: "It's going to be a tough job because at the moment we're closer to the bottom of the table than the top. Results-wise we're fourth in Dublin even. But that can change quickly. We have three tough games in a week. It's good to be back amongst it.
"I just need to work on getting the team better. There's some great coaches in the league currently, great young coaches, who will go a long way in the game. From my point of view I have to make the team better, make us exciting to watch."
Kenny will meet his former opposition analyst with Ireland, Ruaidhri Higgins, on Friday night, and their association also goes back to his Dundalk and Derry City time.
There will also be a clash with Damien Duff and Shelbourne on Monday – again a manager he knows from his Ireland days.
A few days later a meeting with Bohemians will see him lock horns with Alan Reynolds – another coach who worked under him.
"We have to go against Ruaidhri, Damien and Alan and they'll be very good games.
"There is a lot of players in the league with really high technical level at the moment and a lot of coaches with really good philosophies on the game and tactically astute.
"At one stage there was five managers in the league who worked as my assistants, and I learned from them. I’ve learned a lot from them. It will be strange, but that is the way it is."
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
