New Dundalk boss Noel King says the only way for him to win over the Lilywhites faithful is to deliver victories as he looks to hit the ground running following his surprise appointment.
The 67-year-old had two spells at Oriel Park as a player in the 1977-78 and 1982-83 seasons.
King left his role as Shelbourne women's head coach last November after a successful three-year tenure, and had been working as senior women's manager/director of football at Dublin club Home Farm when he got a call from Dundalk owner Brian Ainscough.
Ainscough played under King as a schoolboy at Home Farm in the late 70s before emigrating to America. The pair kept in touch over the next few decades, and after Stephen O'Donnell was sacked earlier this month, Ainscough said King was immediately one of his "top targets" to take the reins.
King admits he was shocked to be offered the gig, but he's hungry to justify Ainscough's faith.
"I got a call from America from Brian Ainscough. He explained to me what the situation was. He asked me would I be interested; obviously I was more than interested even though it was a surprise.
"I had to check with the family and everybody was OK with that. About two seconds later I said, 'that's brilliant, let's go for it'.
"I used to coach him up in Home Farm. He was on that team, Under-16, Under-17s, a very successful team. He went away to America to become a successful businessman over there. He kept in touch to some degree. I was just surprised that the call came but delighted."
"The team, from what I can see, looks well capable of doing it."
The reaction to King's arrival has been mixed. He hasn't managed in the men's SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division since 2003, when he had a short stint at Finn Harps.
Dundalk, bottom of the league, badly need a rejuvenating force to help them get points on the board. And while King is aware sections of the fanbase are sceptical about whether he's the answer to their problems, he is confident he can harness the ability in the squad to get them moving in the right direction.
"There's nothing unusual about that," he said of the criticism he's endured.
"If you're in the game and you're out there, you will get criticised - and rightly so sometimes. That's the nature of the game. Genuinely, people want their club to do well. I want the club to do well. We're all aiming in the same way but sometimes it doesn't work out.
"There's only one way to win any fans over that I know, and I've had a lot of experience with groups of fans. The only way is to win.
"There's three points up for grabs in every game. There's plenty of time left to turn it around. The team, from what I can see, looks well capable of doing it.
"It is extraordinary (that they are bottom) when you look at the experience that's in the group, but these things happen in football. You get the highs, you get the lows, you get the bad patches at various different parts of the season. When you get one at the start of the season it makes things look more difficult.
"There's a lot of work being done here already. You're not going to come in and uproot the good stuff that's being done. You take a bit of time, see what's required, see where the issues are, where the problems are - if there are problems - and take it from there."
When asked how long his contract was for, King replied: "I'm certainly here till the end of the season please god, and hopefully next season as well. It's all results based, success based.
"To get the opportunity to come to Dundalk where I've played, where I've won things, where they've always been well known for winning things and can challenge, I'd be mad, I'd be doing my nut in if I didn't take it to be honest."
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