STEPHEN KENNY reckons ball boys could be his best summer signing as St Pat’s boss.
Kenny has brought in keeper Joseph Anang from West Ham on a 2½-year contract.
He would not be drawn on SunSport’s revelation that he was keen on Danny Mandroiu but confirmed, as we reported, the player was likely to stay in England.
The ex-Ireland boss views squad-building as a long-term process, which can be complicated by the proliferation of agents and get-out clauses.
But — ahead of tonight’s clash with Bohemians— Kenny has made one significant addition at Richmond Park.
Kenny said: “We introduced ball boys, because there weren’t any, so that was important for throw-ins to get the ball back quickly.
“It’s just something I noticed, particularly when you go behind in a game and the sense of frustration when you can’t get the game going quickly again.
“It has been something I noticed.
“And there’s a trend of goalkeepers going down as well of course, not just in the League of Ireland, but worldwide I suppose.”
As it happens, Bohs boss Alan Reynolds — who played under Kenny at Longford Town and worked with him at Derry City — has admitted he may be responsible for introducing that to the domestic game.
And Kenny said: “Taking time out of a game, there’s a lot of that, team meetings as the match is going on, to organise tactical discussions while the keeper is down, these are sort of trends.
“It brings a stop-start element to the rhythm of a game.”
However, he expects a better quality game than the 2-2 draw between the sides in Dalymount Park in May, which he said he did not enjoy.
And he also disclosed that he had not watched much of the European Championships, having been working in international football so recently.
He said: “It’s not an easy watch for me personally, for obvious reasons.”
But he also stressed his heavy workload was his primary reason for not tuning in, with a Europa Conference League tie with Vaduz and an FAI Cup clash with Derry City looming.
And he claimed squad changes would be gradual.
He explained: “We won’t see a lot of changes in this window but we’ll definitely add more players.”