Newly-appointed Dundalk boss Ian Foster will immediately set about negotiating deals with players who were at the club last season who he wishes to see remain at Oriel Park next year. That, along with finalising his backroom staff including an assistant manager, is the 33-year-old’s priority over the course of the next seven days, with the former Galway United manager likely to set aside approaching other out-of-contract players until after he has spoken to members of the squad which helped the Lilywhites to their best league finish in 14 years last month.

Reduced budget
However, Foster warned that a reduced budget may see some of those players leave the club. “Over the next few hours and few days, I’ll sit down with the boys that were here last season,” he told dundalkfc.com. “It’s a reduced budget and therefore lads are going to have to take reduced contracts. One or two might not be happy to do that, and if they’re not then unfortunately they’ll have to move on. If players are, and they’re looking to how we want to do things and how we want to play, and how I like to work – if they’re for that and they want to play for Dundalk and do well for Dundalk, then I’m sure that we can negotiate contracts.

Youthful blend
“You’ve got to work off at least 16 players,” he added when asked what size of a squad he would be looking to assemble. “But I’ll sit down with individuals and I’ll have conversations with them. Ultimately, like every other manager, you’re dictated to by budgets, and if players can’t agree terms then you move on and get the next one. First and foremost, I think you’ve got to look at what is already there and you look at the young boys coming through, and assess those kind of lads and see if they can be part of the squad. Ideally, you would like to play off around 20 or 21 players, which gives you room for injuries, suspensions and loss of form. You’re looking for maybe around 16 players who have good quality, and then five or six young boys who can come and stake a claim to get into that 16, and improve, and improve the squad. I’m looking to the local boys who played for the A-Championship team last season and see if they can come in and help us next year.”

Galway influx?
Foster will also quickly look to appoint an assistant manager and backroom team, although he stated that it is highly unlikely that he will be bringing any of his staff from Galway. He, however, did not rule out the possibility of some players following him from Terryland Park. “With regards to an assistant manager, it’s something that I’ve given serious thought to,” he said. “It’s a huge appointment that you have to make, someone you have to work with day in, day out. I’ll have news on that within the next few days. The two lads I had working with me at Galway were local boys who have jobs in Galway, so it’s a probably-not on that score. But with regards to players, I think first and foremost I have to sit down with last season’s squad and try to negotiate deals with one or two of those boys, and then see what we’ve got after that.” One thing that the former Chester City, Hereford and Kidderminster Harriers player is certain about, though, is that he won’t be lining out for the Lilywhites next term. “I’ll see what the squad is like,” he quipped. “I’m coming in to manage. We’ll see if I get a squad number, but no.”

‘Bring it on’
When unveiled on Friday night, Foster straight away thanked the Board of Directors for handing him the reigns, before stating “bring it on”, as he looked ahead to the new season. “First and foremost, I’d like to thank the chairman and the Board of Directors for giving me the opportunity to manage a club steeped in history,” he said. “I’m thrilled at the appointment and I’m excited about getting my teeth into it. I’ve done my homework, I know what kind of football club Dundalk is, and about the town and the support they get, and, like I said, I’m really excited about getting started. It’s a difficult league, the 10-team format is tough – there’s no hiding place because everybody knows everybody else. I think it will be even more competitive with the additions to the league next season, but bring it on. It’s exciting times.”

Foster clear
Foster last month secured Galway’s Premier Division status in his first year in charge. That was his first job in management, after he was promoted to the hot-seat last January following the departure of Jeff Kenna to Saint Patrick’s Athletic. The Liverpool-born boss still had a year left to run on his contract at Terryland Park. However, he stated that it was “well within his rights” to talk to and join Dundalk. “The situation is I’ve acted professionally, and well within my rights to speak to Dundalk, and I was well within my rights to accept the position as Dundalk manager,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, Galway haven’t got a leg to stand on with regard to looking for compensation. I expected that to be the line they’d go ahead with – they’re disappointed that I’ve left. I don’t want to go into it in great detail, but, like I said, I was well within my rights to speak to Dundalk and well within my rights to accept the manager’s position.

Galway enjoyment
“I enjoyed it, I enjoyed every minute of it,” Foster added as he reflected on his time at Galway, particularly this year when he cut his management teeth with the Westerners. “At times in Galway, it was a little bit difficult, because we didn’t have a great fan base, it’s not a football city, and we were always battling against the wind really, if you like. It was difficult at times, but it was a great learning curve for me. Over the last 18 months, I’ve seen one or two things that would raise your eyebrows, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve got to go on record as saying I had a fabulous time in Galway – the fans were fantastic with me, the local press and the Board of Directors – I got on fabulously with everybody, and I would like to thank them for the 18 months that they’ve just given me.”

Continuity key
Foster will relocate to the town after signing a two-year full-time contract, a deal which he feels is important to give the club continuity going forward. “I’ll live locally,” he said. “I hate driving! My wife will move over. She teaches in England but she’s due with our first child on 1 February, so she’ll be over here. Hopefully, the baby doesn’t pick up the accent! I think what the club needs is a bit of stability and we need to establish ourselves as a very good, competitive Premier League team. We need to push on and first and foremost get teams up in Oriel Park and make sure that they don’t enjoy it.” Speaking on the artificial surface which he will personally experience for the first time, Foster said that his side must use it to their advantage. “It’s difficult, because I haven’t played on it myself, so I can’t really comment on it,” he said. “The surface is there so you’ve got to use it to your advantage. There’s no point in me saying I don’t like the surface or I don’t like playing on it. It’s our pitch and we’ll be used to it, and we’ll use that to our advantage. We’ll train on grass when we’re due to play away, and we’ll train on that when we’re due to play at home.”

Full-time squad
Foster also revealed that the squad will remain totally full-time, with the possible exception of one or two players. “There might be one or two exceptions, for young lads who may be studying or something like that,” he said. “It’s something which I had last season. One or two boys, if they have work commitments which doesn’t interfere too much into my time then we’ll look at that, and, like I said, maybe lads that are at University studying – I don’t have a problem with those boys missing one or two sessions, as long as it doesn’t encroach on their ability on a Friday night.” Talking about what he plans to bring to the job, Foster said fans can expect an entertaining style of football. “What I will bring is a brand of football that’s pleasing on the eye,” he said. “We’ll be very competitive and we’ll be enthusiastic. I would like to have a squad of players that want to play for Dundalk and ultimately wants to progress with Dundalk. Something I had last year were lads that worked incredibly hard for me, and hopefully I can bring that to Dundalk as well.”

Points target
Meanwhile, speaking on his overall aims and ambitions for next year, the 33-year-old said that he would give the squad specific targets, with the ultimate goal to surpass the 44-point mark which the club achieved this year. “Something I did last season and something I’ll do this season is give the players a points target to get to through every round of nine games,” he said. “It will be above what they finished on last year which was 44 points. You can see how tight the league was – from eighth to fifth it was two points. It’s going to be tight again, so every point counts. The players will have targets, and hopefully we can achieve those targets, and who knows where those points will take us.

Trust in youth
“Hopefully, the budget gives me a little bit more scope to go and get one or two experienced boys in, but there’ll be plenty of young lads around,” he added. “I like working with young players, because they don’t have that fear factor, they’re enthusiastic and they work hard at training. We’ll have to just assess what is out there, really, and ultimately how much you can get players on.” He also revealed that he has a number of targets around the league, which he will be pursuing in the coming weeks. “There’s a long list,” he said. “They’re players that I’ve admired over the last couple of years who have done well in the Premier League, and I’ll be trying to speak to these players over the next week or so, and see if they fancy coming to Dundalk.”

Newry escape!
Adding to his belief in youth, Foster admitted that he is very excited by the plans for a Youth Development Centre at the border venue. “That’s something which I spoke about in great detail to a couple of the (Board members),” he said. “The future is bright at Dundalk – if you can get it right on the pitch next year, and you can see the pool of talent that’s going to come through. It’s going to be exciting times for Dundalk.” More immediate worries for the Liverpudlian is to win over the club’s supporters, who he realises have huge expectations, although he has already planned a quick escape should results hit a downward spiral. “That’s why you want to be in management,” he said. “I’ve played for some decent clubs where if you don’t do well fans get on your back. If you do well, they love you. Football is a fickle world, I know all about that. If I’m not doing well, I’ll shop in Newry!”

Pre-season plans
However, before the real action gets underway, Dundalk will go through their pre-season preparations which are due to get underway next month. Foster has already put in place a plan for the squad’s warm-up to the league kick-off in March, although no opposition for friendly fixtures has yet been confirmed. “I’ll use the same pre-season that I used last season that I’ve worked very, very hard on,” he said. “We played seven pre-season games and that’s something I’ll be looking to do again, around that number. We got off to a flying start at Galway last season, and I think a lot of that was down to our preparations in pre-season. It’s something that I’ve got wrote out and planned. The only thing that isn’t on paper at the moment is obviously the opposition, but I’ll sit down with the chaps over the next couple of weeks and try to get fixtures nailed down.”

Stay tuned to dundalkfc.com over the coming days when we will have exclusive coverage of any new signings or any other breaking news from Oriel Park.