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OFFICIAL DUNDALK FC MAGAZINE | ISSUE 4 - â‚¬3

DUNDALK v WATERFORD FC FRIDAY, AUGUST 14TH 2020

KICK-OFF 5.45PM

ACADEMY FOCUS

THE FUTURE’S BRIGHT!

Val Adedokun

As the club’s academy teams prepare for the restart of the National League season, Dundalk head of youth development director Mick Neville believes the hard work that’s being put in behind the scenes at Oriel Park is starting to bear fruit. Teenagers Val Adedokun, Jamie Wynne, Andrew Quinn and Mark Hanratty have all

signed professional deals with the Lilywhites over the past six months while the likes of Ronan Kilkenny, Christian Jones, Thomas Daly, Jack Kavanagh, Luke Hennessy, Jarlath Jones, Ebuka Kwele and Jeff Nwodo have also lined out with the first team in recent weeks. Adedokun is a product of the club’s link-up with Malahide United. Established back in 2015, it provides the North Dublin club’s platers with a 10

pathway to the League of Ireland. “Val is a very exciting prospect,” said Neville. “The U19s were playing a friendly last week and Val threw a dummy that even done me in the dugout! I don’t know how he did it! He’s brilliant on the ball and he’s really quick. He needs to physically mature because he’s still able to play at U17 level but that will come.” There was a further sign of

Clockwise from above: Luke Hennessy, Andrew Quinn, Jeff Nwodo and Thomas Daly

the quality coming through the ranks at Oriel Park when former Dundalk U19 midfielder Gabriel Adebambo signed a two-year deal with Stoke City last weekend. Adebambo spent 12 months at Oriel Park last season and Neville said he has all the tools required to make a mark with the Potters, especially after catching the eye of Stoke City manager Michael O’Neill in a trial match. “On the recommendation of former Dundalk Mick Kavanagh, who is now one of our scouts, I went to watch some lads from Home Farm play against Leixlip United and Gabriel, who was playing in midfield for Leixlip, really stood out,” explained Neville. “Three of the Leixlip players went over to England to try and find clubs but Gabriel wasn’t selected and he came home. Myself and Derek Boyle, the U19 manager at Dundalk, went down to meet the hierarchy in Leixlip and we managed to get Gabriel up to Oriel Park.” Adebambo was a regular in Dundalk’s U19 team last season. He was also part of the Leinster squad that won the interprovincial tournament

and last September he won his first cap for the Republic of Ireland’s U18 team. “Gabriel is very good technically,” said Neville. “He can play as a number six and he’s developing well physically but he needs to work on the defensive side of his game and he knows that. “When he went over to Stoke he had a trial at the Stoke academy. Michael O’Neill was a spectator at the match and wanted to know who the guy from Ireland was. They were raving about him and it went from there. We wish him all the best.” Adedokun, Andrew Quinn, Mark Hanratty and goalkeeper Jimmy Corcoran, who has been training with the first-team over the past month, were all included in an Irish U19 home-based training squad which met up last Sunday. Neville, who is part of Tom Mohan’s coaching team, took charge of the ‘northern’ side while former Cork City midfielder Colin Healy managed the ‘southern’ team as part of the preparations for the upcoming U19 Championships which will take place in Romania in 2021. The U19s have been drawn as the host country 11

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

INTO EUROPE! Dundalk FC will take part in the club’s 75th European tie when the Lilywhites travel to a neutral venue in Budapest, Hungary next week to face NK Celje in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. Regarded as something of an unknown quantity, we take a closer look at the Slovenian champions.

ogometni Klub Celje, simply known as NK Celje, was formed as SK Celje in the Pri Kroni Hotel on Christmas Day 1919. Nicknamed ‘The Counts’ after the medieval noble dynasty who occupied the Slovenian territory, they played against a team from the continent for the first time in 1920, losing 7-2 to Rapid Vienna. Slovenian clubs were disbanded and their property confiscated by the Nazis in World War II. A merger with Olimp, another team from the city, followed after the war ended in 1946 and after an initial slump, the new club, NK Kladivar, won the third tier Slovenian Republic League. Things went downhill after that

and at the end of the seventies, Kladivar were playing in the lower regional leagues. After breaking away from Yugoslavia, the club entered the newly formed Slovenian PrvaLiga in 1991. Together with Maribor, they are the only club that has participated in every season of the PrvaLiga since its 30

formation. Another name change - NK Publikum - followed when millionaire Darko Klaric became club president and results started to pick up on the pitch. In 1993, Publikum finished as runners-up in the Slovenian Cup and secured a place in the European Cup Winners Cup where they were beaten 1-0 by Odense in the qualifying round. A league and cup double just evaded them in 2003 but two years later they finally lifted their first trophy, defeating Gorica 1–0 in the Slovenia Cup final at their new stadium, the Arena Petrol, which now seats over 13,000 people. The club was renamed FK Celje in 2007 but a secondplace finish in 2014 was the highest they could muster until

LUKA KERIN

The 21-year-old chipped in with nine goals and eight assists in Celje’s title-winning campaign and was described by coach Dusan Kosic as one of his ’machines’. Brought through the ranks at NK Krso, he moved to Inter Milan as a 16-year-old in 2015. He returned home to Krso on a loan deal two years later before moving to Celje on a free transfer at the beginning of the 2018 campaign.

DARIO VIZINGER

Twenty-two year old Vizinger is the shining star of Celje’s forward line. He started his professional career with NK Varazdin (remember them?) and moved to Celje in January 2018. After scoring just 12 times in 44 appearances, he really found his feet last season, plundering 23 goals in 35 league games. Capped for Croatia at underage level, he has been linked with a move to Galatasaray.

MITJA LOTRIC

Slovenian born, Lotric made his top-flight debut as a 17-year-old back in 2012. He won the Slovenian Cup with Koper three years later and after a spell in Cyprus, he returned to his native country in January 2018, signing for Celje. He scored eight goals during the 2018/2019 campaign as the ‘The Counts’ finished fifth but he exploded into life last season, hitting 18 goals and contributing 11 assists to captain Celje to the title and earn himself the PrvaLiga Player of the Year gong.

ZAN BENEDICIC

Leeds United fans might recognise the 24-year-old midfielder from a brief loan spell at Elland Road back in 2014/15. Unfortunately for Benedicic, injury meant he played just one league game. Prior to that, he came through the youth ranks at AC Milan. He also had spells with Como and Ascoli before joining Leyton Orient on a free transfer. He lasted just four months there before joining Italian Serie C outfit Olbia. He signed for Celje in February 2018 and was a key member of their title-winning team.

COACH | DUŠAN KOSIČ

Dusan Kosic made over 420 appearances in the PrvaLiga as a player, the second-highest ever. Two hundred and thirty-four of those came with Olimpija Ljubljana - a club record - where he won three Slovenian Cups and one Slovenian Supercup. He also won the cup with Rudar Velenje in 1998. After finishing his playing career in 2006, he went on to coach ATUS Ferlach, Olimpija Ljubljana and Triglav Kranj. He moved to international football in 2013 and spent four years with the Slovenia U17 national team before taking the reins at the Stadion Z’dežele in August 2017. After a fifth-place finish in his first full season, he guided Celje to a historic title win. “Since we are newcomers to this competition, we want to respect every opponent, but on the other hand, we want to qualify for the next round so there is no doubt that we will prepare properly,” he said after the draw qas made. “At this level, everyone is beatable, but you can also lose to everyone. Given that we are newcomers, we still have something to learn. The public’s reactions after the draw are such that we can do some easy work but it definitely will not be easy. We want to go to the next round, but we will have to be perfect.”

MICO KUZMANOVIC

The 24 year-old Bosnian winger has yet to enjoy professional stability after first signing papers with Modrica in his homeland at the age of 16. Put pen to paper on a deal to join Celje from Rudar Velenje at the end of last season where he had scored 5 times in 27 appearances before his contract expired. Has featured in European qualification matches for Sarajevo and has also spent time in Belgium with Mouscron.

FILIP DANGUBIC

Croatian playmaker returns to Celje looking for a permanent home after a hefty batch of loan deals from Rijeka and Spartak Trnava. Largely hyped as a teenager, he gathered youth caps for his country but struggled for club form and after 8 goals in 20 appearances for Celje in the first half of the 2017/18 season, was brought back by coach Kosic on a permanent deal after failing to impress in Romania with Chindia Targoviste.

EXTRA TIME

THE SPECTATOR

Bruno Fernandes wins another penalty for Manchester United

he Spectator has a theory that we’re in the middle of an elaborate hoax. The Spectator is not suggesting the whole coronavirus brouhaha is a hoax, far from it, merely that this year’s League of Ireland season and football, in general, is in the midst of some sort of elaborate prank. From Stephen Kenny inheriting Ireland before the Euro 2020-2021 playoffs, to the bizarre Champions League mini-tournament in Germany, Manchester United’s quartercentury of penalties, artificial crowd noise, the relegation

of the League of Ireland to (shudder) a TV show, socially distanced trophy presentations in empty grounds, and random seemingly arbitrary lockdowns and national green lists becoming key components of European competition... it’s all just a bit.... surreal. Some sort of elaborate prank is the only plausible explanation for Dundalk’s, erm, underwhelming return to action. Five points were dropped at home to Pats and away to Bohs in performances that were the damp squib side of tepid. Unfortunately, it has had the effect of tipping the balance towards South Dublin County Council’s favourite tenants, the 50

hooped Minions of Beelzebub - something that the good folks at St Pat’s and Bohemians surely didn’t really intend. Perhaps it’s all part of a ploy to disconcert our European opponents. NK Celje must be confused by Ireland’s finest offering up sub-par fare in preparation for continental conflict. Heck, we even arranged to play the same team twice, at home, in four days, with (one might speculate) significantly different starting XIs to maximise confusion. Thankfully, Tuesday’s solid FAI Cup win over Waterford was Dundalk’s finest performance in a good five months.

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FROM STEPHEN KENNY INHERITING IRELAND BEFORE THE EURO 2020-2021 PLAYOFFS, TO THE BIZARRE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MINI-TOURNAMENT IN GERMANY, MANCHESTER UNITED’S QUARTER-CENTURY OF PENALTIES, ARTIFICIAL CROWD NOISE, THE RELEGATION OF THE LEAGUE OF IRELAND TO (SHUDDER) A TV SHOW, SOCIALLY DISTANCED TROPHY PRESENTATIONS IN EMPTY GROUNDS, AND RANDOM SEEMINGLY ARBITRARY LOCKDOWNS AND NATIONAL GREEN LISTS BECOMING KEY COMPONENTS OF EUROPEAN COMPETITION... IT’S ALL JUST A BIT.... SURREAL.

Champions League football, the 2020 version!

Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues to play havoc with what remains of the bastardised fixture list. Tonight’s match with Waterford was under threat at one stage when a couple of Blues players showed flu-like symptoms, but thankfully both tested negative. The potential for upheaval remains enormous and everpresent though. Linfield enjoyed - if that’s not too strong a word - the benefit of Kosovar opponents Drita having to withdraw from their Champions League preliminary round tie when two of their players tested positive. That piece of luck was worth over a quarter of a million euro to Linfield, plus half

a coefficient ranking point and a shot at Legia Warsaw (which might not be considered a slice of luck, I guess). And while not wishing misfortune on anyone, Dundalk may take some comfort in the fact that Celje have not been able to restart their league games just yet due to fresh coronavirus concerns in Slovenia. Celje’s first competitive match of the season will be next Wednesday against Dundalk. In Budapest, naturally. With everything that’s going on in the world the ‘luck of the draw’ became more significant than ever before so naturally Dundalk plucked the mankiest 51

possible draw out of the first round of the Champions League pot.... the somehow unseeded Slovenian champions, away leg only. There was some consolation in the second round draw which paired the winners with the relatively modest Norwegian champions Molde or Finland’s rather wonderfully named KuPS. We showed recently that we could compete with the best of the Norwegian league, going toe-to-toe with Rosenborg, perhaps with a bit of luck we could up our game for Celje... then Molde. In this crazy season, we could use every scrap of luck we can get.