Dundalk FC :: News

05 March 2008: GILL CONFIDENT AHEAD OF ‘BATTLE OF TOLKA’

“I’m very, very confident in the bunch of players that I have that we can go up there and get a result. We’ll be going to win the game and we certainly won’t be going just to make up the numbers and to scrap a point.” - Gill

Officially beginning his third term as manager of Dundalk Football Club this week, John Gill knows it’s now make or break time in the Lilywhites’ quest for that belated ticket home. Denied a rightful promotion in his first year in the hotseat, Dundalk’s season imploded following a lightening start last year, and this Friday’s First Division kick-off signals the start of a critical year for the Louth club - their seventh season in the second tier. It’s an adventure, however, that Gill is fully confident him and his troops can make a special one.

This weekend, Gill, his team and their band of loyal but weary followers set out on yet another edition of Discover Ireland, when they make the short trip south to Dublin to face-off with Shelbourne - the pair both widely tipped to be among the main players for promotion come the season’s end in November. No tougher opening match could have awaited the Lilywhites, however, for Gill, like everyone around the border town, it’s a battle which can’t commence quick enough.

Speaking to dundalkfc.com about the match this week, an upbeat Gill admitted: “I’m looking forward to it. You can play all the friendlies you want and you can do all the training you want, but it’s when the real stuff starts that you have to really stand up and be counted. Pre-season, I have to say, has gone excellently - I’m really happy with it, especially with the attitude and the condition of the players. Now, it’s just down to how we perform on the night.”

Gill knows full well the task facing his side - Shels are so far unbeaten in six games in 2008 and boast many well-known League of Ireland stars. “We’re up against a very, very good team,” he admits, “who have spent a lot of money - but money doesn’t guarantee you anything in this life or in football. I’m very, very confident in the bunch of players that I have that we can go up there and get a result. We’ll be going to win the game and we certainly won’t be going just to make up the numbers and to scrap a point.

“We’ll be looking to go and win the game; we have a game-plan in mind, and I think if we play to our capabilities, we can beat any team and we’re a match for any team. It’s just what happens on the night. Again, if we win the game or whether we lose the game, it’s not going to be a defining moment in the season. It’s a game we want to win, as we do every game. We’ll work hard, and if we deserve to win the game, we’ll win it.”

Indeed, it’s not the first time in Gill’s tenure that Dundalk have been handed one of the most difficult fixtures on the calendar to begin with - their opening opponents in the last two seasons have both gone on to win promotion. “It has been pretty much the same since I’ve been at this football club,” Gill says. “The first year, we got Shamrock Rovers away and last year we got Finn Harps at home. Rovers went on to win the league, Finn Harps went on to get promoted. But there are no easy games in this division, no matter who you get. The only thing I would say is that I would have liked a home fixture; last year against Finn Harps was a special night - it was my highlight of the season last year; the result, the crowd, everything.

“It would have been nice to have Shelbourne here, but I think we’ll take a massive crowd up to Tolka. I’ve said it before, I think we have the best support in the league - I’m not just saying that to make up lip service - I think we actually have. I think we’ve grown our own support here; there’s a new, young support, as well as very knowledgeable older supporters here. It’s a unique place to come and play football, it’s a unique place to come and work, and I have to say, I think the nine new players who have come in are very, very impressed with the way the football club does its work.”

So, if offered a point from the match now, would Gill take it? “No,” he states clearly. “I want to win the game. Myself and Gerry (Scully) don’t prepare teams to go out and draw. You saw the way we trained tonight, it was all geared towards the way we want to play - attacking, offensive football. If that was the case, we’d be stringing the back four out there tonight and putting one in front of them, but we don’t train like that - we train to win every game, and that’s what we’ll be doing on Friday. Dermot (Keely) is a good friend of mine, but that goes out the window for ninety minutes when the game starts. I know a lot about his players, but he mightn’t know so much about mine.”

One player Keely knows well is ex-Dublin City star, centre-half Aidan Lynch. With a suspension still to be served from last year, it was feared the 30-year-old would miss this Friday’s clash, however, the FAI confirmed last weekend that the ban will not be enforced until next week - leaving the boss with yet another welcome selection headache. “It’s a boost,” Gill admits. “You’ve seen him - he’s been absolutely magnificent in pre-season, he really has.

“I’ve got a few tough decisions to make for Friday, but I know what I have to do, and it’ll be in the best interests of the team and the club. There is going to be a couple of very disappointed individuals, but I need every one of those focussed for a 36-game campaign. The team on Friday might not necessarily be the team that will start here against Monaghan, no matter what the result this weekend. I treat every individual game on its merits, and I pick a team to who we’re playing against and the conditions that we’re playing in.”

Dundalk enter the first game of the league having been installed as low as 6/5 in places to win the title. Favourites again, however, Gill isn’t concerned about that tag. “I’m not a betting man, and I can’t dictate what bookies do. We were favourites last year and look what happened. Talk is cheap - we’ve got to go out and do it on the pitch this year, and I’m fully convinced with the bunch of players that I have - even though it will be a long, hard, tough season - that come the end of it, we’ll be there or thereabouts.”