Ian Foster insists Dundalk will be “ready to go” for the Premier Division kick-off on 5 March and that the Lilywhites will have a competitive squad in place when they go to battle in just over a month’s time, dispelling supporters’ fears that the squad is taking time to shape up. In a revealing interview, Foster also stated that during his squad-building process he has missed out on Derry City trio Mark Farren, Ciarán Martyn and Barry Molloy, due to travelling concerns, while he ruled out signing Galway United midfielder John Russell until the July transfer window at the earliest, after the 24-year-old suffered a stress fracture to the tibia.
Foster confident
“Absolutely, yes, we’ll be ready,” Foster exclusively told dundalkfc.com when asked if he is confident that he will have a good panel in place for the start of the league. “We’ll be ready come 5 March. I’ll take responsibility for that. We’ll be sharp, we’ll be ready, we’ll be focussed, we’ll be organised and I’ll have a squad that will be competitive in this league. Last week was a positive week in training. There is no way of getting around fitness issues. You’ve got to work hard. They worked hard last week and they have continued to do so this week. We’ll get as much physical work into them as we possibly can and then we’ll get the match fitness through playing matches. There’ll be a lot of physical work this week and a lot of ball work as well – everything we do is geared to football. It’s not a case of just running them for an hour – it’s nothing like that. Everything is football related; all our sessions are geared towards the way we play. It’s hard work; it’s a different kind of training, pre-season. The lads will be swimming this afternoon (Tuesday) just to get them doing non-weight bearing exercises to get off their legs for an afternoon. They’re working really hard, they’re doing a couple of sessions a day, and they’re looking really bright.
Identifying talent
“I’m pleased with the acquisitions that we’ve made so far,” Foster added, commenting on the seven-man squad that is currently assembled at Oriel Park. “I think there has been a lot of talk recently about the fact that we’ve not made many signings, but, in fairness, we’ve made as many as other managers have made. It’s just that we had one player at the beginning of pre-season, rather the nine or ten that other managers have had. I think we’re going along nicely. We’re talking to plenty of prospective players, agents and managers, which you have to do. We’re identifying players that we think can come into the squad and do a decent job for Dundalk this season. At the moment, we’ve got Simon Kelly, Garry Breen, Michael Coburn, Michael Synnott and Stephen Maher – all these boys are training with us at the moment with a view to signing permanently, and hopefully we can get one or two across the line this week.”
McDonnell chance
Another player who arrived for training this week is former Celtic youngster Stephen McDonnell, a local midfielder who previously played for Quay Celtic in the town, who was recently released by the Glasgow giants. However, McDonnell is due to travel to the UK shortly for a trial before deciding on his future. “Stephen, obviously, has come to a mutual agreement at the end of his contract with Celtic,” Ian said. “He’s a local boy, he has come in and trained with us this week and if there’s an opportunity for us to take Stephen then we will do. I’ve had a decent conversation with Stephen regarding his future. He has got one or two opportunities to go back to the UK on trial, at a decent level, with a view to getting into clubs’ academies, and we’ll give him that opportunity. If it doesn’t work out for him in the UK then we’ll take him.”
Derry trio
Foster has been in talks with a number of players over recent weeks, including aforementioned Derry trio Farren, Martyn and Molloy, Dundalk missing out on the latter in the past few days. “I wouldn’t say we’ve missed out, we’ve identified players and it’s a case of can you get them across the line,” the 33-year-old said. “It might just be for one reason or another, for argument’s sake, I wanted to bring in a few lads from Derry, but the travelling was the issue. It’s not about wanting to play for Dundalk or we couldn’t agree terms – everything was agreed but the travelling was an issue for the boys. The likes of Farren, Martyn and Molloy, three boys that I would have liked to bring in, didn’t materialise, and you have to move on.”
Molloy decision
The most recent of those was Molloy, who Foster revealed was very close to signing before deciding at the weekend to stay with his native Derry. “We were very close to getting Barry,” he said. “The stumbling block for Barry was travelling. I totally understand that – it’s a long, long way from Derry to Dundalk. He’s got a young family up there and it wasn’t easy for him to up sticks and move, and he just told us at the end of the day that travelling would cause him a problem. And if it does, I’d rather know now than in the middle of May and the kid doesn’t want to be here. I wish Barry the best of luck, I think he’s going to stay in Derry and try to win the First Division with Derry. We’ll move on and we’ll try to get one of our next targets.”
Russell blow
Russell, who played under Foster at Galway last year, was also a target of the Liverpudlian but the midfielder has sustained a stress fracture of his tibia which will sideline him for up to four months, ruling him out of an immediate arrival at Oriel Park. However, Foster did not rule out Russell coming to the club when the July transfer window opens. “John is another lad who I identified as someone that I’d like to bring in,” the former striker said. “Unfortunately for John, he has got a stress fracture of his tibia, and he’ll be out of action for the next 12-14 weeks. We’re going to have a small enough squad and we wouldn’t be able to take anybody on, on that basis. He wouldn’t pass a medical and therefore we have to look elsewhere. It could be an option in July. He could sign for somebody in the meantime if someone wants to take a punt on him – we just can’t do that at the moment with a small squad. He’s not going to play for 12-14 weeks, if everything goes well. John has not got a great history with his ankle. He’s already had surgery on it, this time last year, so it’s a recurrence of that, and at the moment we wouldn’t be willing to do anything with regards to signing him.”
Youths involved
A number of trialists have been training with the club over the past week, and Foster has been happy with their form since he returned to the training ground on Monday. “The trialists have looked sharp in training,” he said. “Obviously, they have got a week behind them, they had a very good week last week working on their fitness, and you can see that that they’ve worked hard. Their levels of fitness are decent at the moment, and we’ll get these players involved in the coming games against Athlone and Shelbourne. We’ll see if they fit into our way of playing, and if they’re good enough to get into the squad then we’ll make them offers.” Some of the Youths and U20s team have also taken part in training since the squad started pre-season training last Monday week, and Foster says that they will be involved in the first-team setup this year if they’re good enough. “The first-team squad is not going to be huge and there’s an opportunity there for young players to be involved,” he said. “They’ll have the U20s League and the A-Championship, and we’ll get to watch a lot of these young boys in those games and training games, and a lot of pre-season games some of them will get involved in. There’s a fantastic opportunity for young, local players to play Premier Division football this year.”
Danish connection
Foster went on to reveal that the club are exploring the possibility of taking players in on loan deals, while he also said that he is still looking at the option of Denmark-based players coming to the town. “We’re looking into (loan deals),” he said. “Again, it’s down to availability. Things will move a little bit easier now that the transfer window in the UK has come to an end. We’ve got different irons in different fires, I can’t really say too much on that at the moment, but yes we are looking to go down the loan route with one or two players. The Danish thing is still an option. It could prove to be a little bit too expensive because these lads need accommodation, and unfortunately accommodation is going to have to come out of my budget, and our budget is tight enough at the moment. It’s still an option, however, as I said, we have irons in different fires.”
Dundalk family
Foster was absent for training last week as he had to rush back to England after his wife, Portia, gave birth to the couple’s first child, Jude, a baby boy. The pair are in good health and Foster expects them to arrive in Dundalk within the next two weeks, with the manager unlikely to have to travel abroad again before the start of the season. “Everything is good,” he said. “The little fella is now ruling the roost, he’s keeping everyone awake. It won’t be long before they both move over. Once the baby has had injections and everything else that goes with it, we’ll be a family in Dundalk. Hopefully, that will happen in the next ten days to two weeks. I’ll be here now as much as I possibly can be.”
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