STEPHEN BRADLEY believes Stephen O’Donnell and Padge Cregg did not deserve to be sacked by Dundalk.
The Lilywhites parted company with the manager and his assistant after they failed to win any of their opening eight games.
The Shamrock Rovers boss goes way back with the pair as the trio were together at Arsenal as teenagers.
And Bradley believes O’Donnell’s achievements of winning the FAI Cup with St Pat’s and qualifying for Europe with Dundalk are a truer reflection of his ability than recent results.
Bradley said: “I spoke to him and Padge on Wednesday. We were exchanging messages, just on the human level of losing their job.
“But I know both really well and I know Stephen has a brilliant football brain in terms of how he thinks and sees the game.
“I think the world we live in now forgets all the good work that has happened in the past and they just look at yesterday or the last game.
“We’re eight games into the season and people make their mind up like that.
“For me personally, I would have looked at what he’s done for the last two years.
“No one can argue with what he’s done over the last two years.
“I have no doubt he will be back and I am nearly sure he’s had an offer already. Knowing Stephen he will take his time and will reflect and understand what he did well and what he did badly.
“And he will be better for it the next time but I have no doubt that he won’t be long out of the game, in whatever capacity he wants.”
The Galway man came under fire for walking out on Pat’s within days of leading them to the Cup in 2021 to return to Oriel Park, where he had enjoyed tremendous success as a player.
The manner of his exit prompted legal action from St Pat’s which is ongoing.
And his move from the stability of the Inchicore club to one which had just undergone what proved to be the second of three changes of ownership in six years suggested that all he had been promised was not delivered.
Bradley said: “I don’t know what he was told at St Pat’s or Dundalk, what the promises were.
“We have never spoken about that.
“I don’t know the internal battles that have gone on, the ins and outs of losing a player like Pat Hoban for instance.
“I don’t know the financial situation but, just from the outside looking in, I think we’re very quick to judge rather than looking at his body of work over a period of time.
“His body of work over a period of time stands up. Nobody can say anything different. They are the facts.
“You look at his time at St Pat’s and early spell with Dundalk.
“Would he have wanted to start better this year? I’m sure he would have but that’s football.
“For me, if I was making the decision, I would have looked at his work over a period of time rather than the six-week snapshot of this season.
“We didn’t win a game in six last year, I am sure there were people calling for us to be sacked but it is a long season.
“I don’t agree with that decision, not because he’s a friend and I know him but his body of work speaks for itself.”
Bradley survived calls for his head in 2018 during a run of just three wins in 16 games and led the club to FAI Cup success the following year and four successive league titles since.
But Bradley — whose side host Sligo Rovers, who backed John Russell after flirting with relegation last season — said that does not mean sticking with a manager is always the right call.
He said: “If it’s the wrong plan or process you are in trouble so you have to be careful what you are backing.
“If a manager has shown over a period of time that his work has been very good, I don’t understand why you would pull the plug.”