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The Ruaidhri Higgins quote is three years old, but it could be as relevant in the coming days as it was in January 2017.
New Republic of Ireland head coach Stephen Kenny wants Dundalk’s assistant head coach to continue a working relationship that started when Kenny was in charge of Derry City and Higgins was practicing as a midfielder, in two separate terms with Candystripes .
They then joined again at Dundalk, before Higgins went north to end his playing career.
“I was lucky that Stephen [Kenny] It offered me a very good opportunity, “said Higgins three years ago of his return to Dundalk, as an opposition analyst, when Kenny was at the helm.
It looks like another chance could take him to international football with ongoing talks between the FAI and the Irish League club, though he is expected to join Keith Andrews, Damien Duff and Alan Kelly as part of the staff at Kenny’s back room.
Dundalk has made no secret of his displeasure at the prospect of losing a key figure at the club.
“The way the approach was carried out is something I don’t like and I will leave it up to our board of directors and the FAI,” Vinny Perth said of the planned departure.
Higgins has built a good reputation since his playing days came to an end with Coleraine after helping Dundalk win a league and a cup in 2014.
When Gerry Spain stepped down as opposition scout in January 2017, Kenny turned to a player he had accomplished on three separate occasions (twice with Derry).
St Patrick’s Athletic coach Stephen O’Donnell saw Higgins up close as a teammate and in his team capacity from the back room, and had little doubt that he would excel in providing detailed but concise breakdowns of the opposition in both the country as in Europe.
“It was a smooth transition,” he told RTÉ Sport. “He showed his qualities immediately.
When it comes to your job, your professionalism is second to none and that’s what you want.
“Some guys like to think about the game as little as possible, but others are students of the game, and he would be one of them. He would have a deep understanding of the game. Dundalk would not have gotten someone as an opposition analyst lightly. “
O’Donnell was also a housemate with Higgins and the couple remain in regular contact. In addition to his technical skills, O’Donnell believes that the temperament and management of the 35-year-old is first-rate.
“He knows when to keep things light, but he is serious when it has to be. When it comes to his job, his professionalism is second to none and that’s what you want.”
Higgins is among a group of 20 coaches who have been accepted into the last FAI UEFA Pro License course and it’s not the first time that the inexperienced coach has attracted suitors, with Dundalk last summer rejecting the advances. from Coleraine as they sought to fill their vacant management.
“We couldn’t get on with this and, like us, we believe Dundalk clearly sees its potential,” the NIFL Premier League team said at the time after their two-week search for Higgins ended in failure.
It seems that Dundalk and Stephen Kenny also recognize the potential of a 35-year-old person with a great reputation.
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