Dungannon Swifts boss Dean Shiels freely admits the powers-that-be at Stangmore Park took a “risk” when they appointed him as a novice manager in March 2021.
But 15 months later and after a ninth-placed finish in the Danske Bank Premiership last season, the division’s youngest boss can reflect on a positive first full campaign at the helm.
Drill down into the stats and you’ll find a Dungannon side that amassed more than double the points (35 to 17) and goals (46 to 22) compared to the previous season.
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Yes, more goals were shipped than Shiels would have liked, but the fact progress was made playing expansive football and putting faith in young players hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“The Dungannon board knew what they were getting when they brought me in and that was a risk for them, to be fair,” said Shiels, who is still only 37 and in his first managerial post.
“Survival is always the goal, but I also want my teams to go and play on the front foot, press teams and play open football. There’s high risk with that but that’s the way I’ll continue to manage.
“To go from finishing six points adrift at the bottom of the table last year (when there was no relegation due to Covid) to finishing ninth this season was a massive achievement.
“Particularly when you consider we lost our captain Oisin Smyth to Oxford United and our vice captain Keith Cowan to Drogheda in the January transfer window. We also lost Darragh McBrien to injury.”
Across the campaign, no fewer than 11 players aged 22 or under played more than 15 games for Dungannon in the Danske Bank Premiership.
And the likes of McBrien (20), Ben Gallagher (20), Cahal McGinty (21), Adam Glenny (20), Ethan McGhee (19) and Terry Devlin (18) all enhanced their reputations.
“When I was appointed we had an older squad,” said Shiels. “This time last year we let 15 players go and we literally had to put down a piece of white paper and start again.
“I went with a lot of younger players because I believed in them. There’s a foundation there now and I believe those players can be huge for Dungannon at 22, 23 or 24.”
Does Shiels fear losing those younger stars to other Irish League clubs, particularly the full-time outfits who appear to have their pick of local talent these days?
“No,” he replied. “In terms of potentially moving on to better things, they’ll not move to other teams in the Irish League. They’ll go across the water, otherwise they’ll be staying with us.
“Every player we have is on a minimum two or three year contract, so there’s no need for us to sell. There’ll be none of them leaving unless we want them to leave.
“Terry Devlin recently signed a three-year deal, Rhys Campbell - our top scorer - signed a three-year deal, so we have protected our assets.
“If a club from England comes in for them, brilliant - we’ll keep pushing them across - but we want them to stay and develop with us.”
Shiels accepts the advent of full-time football has made life immeasurably tougher for those clubs scrapping for points and momentum in the lower half of the table.
“Is it a tougher job now compared to a few years back? One million percent,” he said.
“When you see how the league is going regarding finances and full-time football, the gap seems to be dramatically bigger.
“Speaking with the other managers in the bottom four, it is very difficult to compete.
“Look at Ballymena United and the money they spend, they can’t get in the top six. Glenavon too. They are big clubs, good clubs with good managers, but it’s hard.
“Coleraine had a tough season. Oran has done brilliantly over the years, but now you can see how difficult it is when you’re not a full-time club. It’s a challenge.”
Is Shiels, who played cross channel football with the likes of Hibs, Rangers and Kilmarnock, enjoying that challenge?
“You only enjoy it when you win,” said the former Northern Ireland forward. “Nobody enjoys losing games and if you’re in the bottom six, you’re going to lose games.
“But there is a satisfaction there of the achievement of the season we just had. That was pleasing, but it starts all over again in August and we’ll be on zero points again.
“It’ll be another tough challenge.”
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