Drogheda manager may well be on the move as O'Donnell rumours intensify
It looks like Trim man Timmy Clancy could be about to make the move from Drogheda Utd, the club he helped transform from a struggling First Division side to a top-flight outfit.
It is understood St Patrick's Athletic have been given permission to speak to Clancy as the Saints' head coach Stephen O'Donnell looks set to take charge at Dundalk.
Speculation is rife that O'Donnell has informed St Patrick's Athletic owner Garret Kelleher of his desire to move to Dundalk, the club he enjoyed considerable success with as a player.
Talk of O'Donnell's move to Oriel Park began to intensify hours after St Pat's defeated Bohemians 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out in Sunday's FAI Cup final at the Aviva.
It was announced yesterday Vinny Perth will be leaving Dundalk for the second time thus leaving the way open for O'Donnell to move to the Co Louth club - and Clancy to switch from the Wee County to Inchicore.
Clancy's loss would be a huge blow for Drogheda Utd. He has just completed his fourth season at the helm of the club guiding them to safety in the highly competitive Premier Division - and all done with very limited resources.
He guided the Louth back to the Premier following a three-year stint in the First Division.
Three seasons and two near misses were all forgotten about at Stradbrook in October 2020 as the Trim man guided Drogheda Utd back to the top flight for 2021.
Clancy took the reins at the Louth club late in 2017 after they were relegated to the First Division. With a small squad and very limited budget he took the Louth men to the promotion play-offs in 2018 where they lost out to Finn Harps.
In 2019 Clancy took Drogheda a step further, to the play-off final, but once again they lost out to Harps in the two-legged play-off final with the Donegal side winning 2-1 in extra-time in the second leg at Finn Park. It seemed another golden chance was missed.
In 2020 Drogheda finally closed out the deal clinching an automatic promotion place defeating Cabinteely with second-half goals from James Brown and Meath man Luke Heeney sealing a 2-0 win.
Clancy had a lengthy career with clubs in England, including Millwall and non-league Weymouth, as well as Scotland where he had stints with Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Hibs and St Johnstone. His career was also dogged by injury.
During his time with Kilmarnock he memorably scored a goal against Celtic at Parkhead.
Back home he played briefly in the League of Ireland for Shamrock Rovers, Sligo Rovers and Bray Wanderers before taking the reins at Drogheda Utd when he was 33.
A family man Clancy combined the Drogheda Utd job with working shift-work with Musgraves the main distributor for all the SuperValu and Centra stores.
He's had a varied career so far. Now it looks like he could be on the move again.