OTB Football
STEPHEN KENNY: “I wouldn’t underestimate us for one moment” | Hopes & Aspirations for the new season | Summer Football | LOI 2026 Season Launch
28 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Word on the Street on Off the Ball.
Unfortunately, I think my word in the studio is just going to be nuance. Nuance?
Yeah, it's kind of good. That's just my word in the studio. Word on the Street, available now on Go Loud app. Off the Ball. All right, Stephen, new season coming around. What a way to start it. You get to go to the Aviva Stadium, the game against your rivals, Bowles, to kick things off. What a way to start.
Yeah, no, it is a new development, of course, over the last couple of years. And it's great to kick it off in the Aviva Stadium. It's great for the players, really, and supporters. So looking forward to that.
I always think it's a nice way to have it on weekend one, too, as well. Like, it's a reason to get into the home virus football, play a game. As you say, give the lads a chance to run out of the Aviva. Unless you get to the Cup final, you won't touch it for the rest of the season.
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Chapter 2: What are Stephen Kenny's hopes for the new season?
So it's been a nice development the last couple of years.
Yeah, it's an underutilised stadium from a football point of view, for sure. up to in the last decades only cup finals have been back there and it's only right so it's great that the league games are there.
It means we can get a much bigger attendance of course at the first game and it's something the players look forward to because the winter months starting on it because it's come back it used to be March and then come back a week every year and now it's Now it starts February the 6th, airs February the 8th, so you're in the midst of winter in your first game of the summer soccer season.
So it's always a test, so it's good that it's in a good venue like that and the pitch will be good, so that's excellent.
Do you like the fact the season starts a little bit earlier now? I know I've seen Bradley talk about this a few times and you were up to contend with last year as well. Do you like the way that window has kind of crept back a little bit?
Yeah, I don't mind. I don't mind at all.
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Chapter 3: How has the Aviva Stadium impacted the start of the season?
I think you want the fixtures to be reasonable over the season. You don't complain about it. When you are in Europe, you get those five games put back in, in two weeks, periods, twice. But listen, I've no complaints at all. Yeah, it's the way it should be.
If you don't mind me asking you about summer football generally, obviously it's very much in the conversation at the moment because of the idea of having a calendar year has now been kind of kicked down the road a little bit. What's your feeling on it for the teams that are further down the football pyramid and particularly for underage in this country?
Do you think an overall summer football scheme is the way to go or what's your feeling about it?
Yeah, and I've lived, like I've managed in the Midlands and Longford and I've obviously lived in the Inishowen Peninsula for over a decade. So I've lived in different parts. My kids have played with Alia on Inch Island. That's good. They've played in Derry. They've played in Dundalk.
for Key Celtic and Rock Celtic and Dundalk so you know we've played in different parts obviously managed clubs in Dublin and in Longford so I've a good feeling of Scuba clubs throughout the country yeah listen
just don't have the climate that you can play in in the winter and we just don't have the climate that gets any sort of quality we don't have the facilities to accommodate that so it it's only right that it would be from uh you know from through the summer months i know the two aspects are obviously always classes with the ga and if you're from
My kids played for Burt in Inishowen and played for Alia at that time. So you're Ferdinand children from one to the other. My wife mainly was Siobhan because I was obviously you know, busy with Dundalk at the time, but I think the, so it's, I do understand that and I do think that you will lose players and so forth.
People in rural areas, I wouldn't say it's an urban-rural thing because the DDSL were, They weren't in favour of it either last year, is that right? So it's complex. I know you can't say it's one size fits all either, but I think it is a complex situation because obviously summer holidays is a factor, but people are entitled to their summer holidays, but they can do that.
Young kids can go into summer holidays and come back and play at different times. I'm sure that can all be agreed.
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Chapter 4: What are the challenges of starting the season earlier?
I know you wish him all the best when he's in Spurs. We had him in studio back at Christmas. He seems a very, very level-headed young man.
Yeah, Mason's breath of fresh air. I think, obviously, he did put him in. He's a 16-year-old leading the line against Istanbul, Baskershire in the play-off and really doing brilliantly against them home and away. I've not come across that before, a 16-year-old doing that. So I think to be the main centre-forward in a
4-3-3 and lead the line like that that's quite unique so he did brilliantly it's amazing it's such a low scoring league now you know we know Shelbourne won the league the year before scoring 40 goals in 36 matches which In 2018, we scored 85 goals. The league has changed, it's become quite a defensive. 80% of the teams are playing back five. Mason was the top scorer from play last year with 13.
13 and 36, it's not remarkable, it doesn't sound remarkable, and yet it was for him, because I think Poggiama got 14 with a few penalties, and he had a great season also, but Mason got 13 from play in the league, and it doesn't seem such a feat.
To do that as a teenager is incredible.
It is, because the context of playing against back fives as a single centre-forward, coming in for a lot of punishment, complaining about nothing, getting up, getting on with it. Apart from his goals, leading the line, being able to stretch teams in behind, also play with his back to goal, which he developed. That was a big development over the year for him, I felt.
So that will stand him in good stead. Do you hope he goes out on loan for his own sake for the rest of this season?
I don't want to talk to Spurs.
Yeah, again, it depends. You'd have to be inside Tottenham to know what's best for them. Obviously, the competition for places is every centre-forward is an international player, so it's not easy. They have three or four there who are the number nines for a country, or in their squads at least. So, you know, you'll have to be patient.
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Chapter 5: What is Stephen Kenny's perspective on summer football?
You have to absolutely adapt. So Max is someone who... We got a high number of crosses in and he's obviously a strong aerial presence and very good attack crosses. He's a good player, intelligent player. Won the A-League with Auckland's hometown team which was amazing for him. He was on loan from Shrewsbury out there and won the league.
Obviously he was injured the second half of last season so hence the opportunity to get him because obviously he had a bad hamstring injury and so he indicated that he would be interested in coming back. It's a World Cup year for him so he wants to get back playing and putting himself in the conversation.
He wants to guarantee he's not Pico Lopes as the only League of Ireland player at the World Cup.
It's a huge opportunity, isn't it? Joseph at nine. Which is great, isn't it? Joseph is in pole position to be in the Ghana squad so Joseph has done brilliantly.
it's going to be fantastic hopefully all three of them get to play at some point during the World Cup for you then this season you talk about the challenges from last year and what you build on so is it kind of adding a bit of bite to the team because you've described them as a technical team but you need an honesty of effort what do you want to see from your team to propel you I think it's
Nine players have left now and I didn't make that many changes I came in for. So nine players have left. Good people have left the club for different reasons, you know. And one young player who's left as well was on loan, so ten altogether. and we've signed four, so less for squad. I think really the players who were injured last season missed a lot.
Romuald Palmer was injured for the whole season, Aidan Keane missed a large part of the season, so did Zach Albacete. Very good attacking players that I'm hopeful that can bring something to us this season for sure.
No more than Max has got a good pedigree within this league, Aidan's got a fantastic record in the Premier Division so you wanted him to maybe replicate that form again and to stay fit crucially.
Yes, he's determined to do well but we have to look at different ways of playing, sometimes playing with a front two and these are things that we have to adapt and look at that.
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