Troubled Premier Division outfit Drogheda United are hoping that yesterday's appointment of Martin Lawlor as manager will mark a turning point in the club's dismal close season.
Representatives of the club handed the 39-year-old the task of sorting out the playing side of things at United Park as they get on with the task of putting together a credible business plan before tomorrow's meeting with the national league in Dublin.
The new man took training with the club's current panel last night and he hopes to sort out a number of outstanding contractual matters with players before the first competitive match of the season, against Longford Town on Friday.
Lawlor's appointment follows the departure over the weekend of Liam Brien due to disagreements with the new committee at the club over how a much reduced budget was to be spent.
"I could take the cut in the budget as a whole," said Brien on Sunday, "but I couldn't agree to the other restrictions they were laying down. I felt that if they wanted to give me the money to spend as I saw fit then that was one thing but if they were going to tell me how to spend it as well, then there wasn't really a great of point in me hanging around."
The policy of the new 12-man committee appears to have shifted towards a Derry City style system under which all of the players at the club are played the same weekly wage. Brien, on the other hand, felt that in order to survive in the top flight that several experienced players would be essential and that, if necessary, these should be allocated a greater percentage of the resources.
On his first day at the helm, Lawlor said that he was happy enough with the conditions he had inherited. "Under the circumstances I'm comfortable with the restrictions because I know that the club has just been through a really terrible time and that there is a really solid crowd of people now trying to build for the future."
The former Shamrock Rovers, Dundalk and Galway United player who had a previous spell at United Park as assistant to Jim McLaughlin, says that he is to concentrate on his managerial duties over the coming months although, if needed to play "there's still a bit of energy left in the legs so I'll get out there."
A number of players at the club are believed to be out of contract but Lawlor expressed confidence that considerable progress would be made by the time tomorrow's meeting takes place adding that "our aim this season is to stay up and United will have a squad which we hope can achieve that in place very soon."
Dublin club Shelbourne, meanwhile, travel to Scotland this morning for Thursday's Cup Winners' Cup match against Kilmarnock with several key players back in contention to take some part in the first leg tie.
Stephen Geoghegan has made a good deal of progress since returning to training last Thursday and may well appear on the bench while Damien Richardson is hoping that Brian Flood and Dave Campbell will prove themselves fit enough over the next couple of days in training to earn themselves spots in the starting line up.
"If they come though all right then it would give me another couple of options. I'd like to play a couple of strikers but a lot will depend on who I have fit to play in other areas of the pitch," said Richardson last night.
Greg Costello and Tony McCarthy have also done well enough in the team's last couple of friendlies to secure their places on the plane leaving the manager with as close to a full strength squad as he could have hoped for in recent weeks - only long term absentees Dave Tilson, John O'Rourke and Pat Morley are out of the reckoning.
