St Pat's captain Joe Redmond says players must take responsibility for Jon Daly sacking

St Pat's captain Joe Redmond believes Stephen Kenny would be a good appointment to succeed Jon Daly as manager.

But the injured centre-back doesn’t know if the former Ireland boss will be lured to Inchicore and insists the players must shoulder blame for Daly’s sacking.

Daly was axed on Tuesday, less than 24-hours after a 1-0 loss in Sligo - the Saints’ seventh defeat in 15 games this season.

Kenny, who began his coaching career with St Pat’s Under-21s back in 1997, has been approached about the vacancy.

But it remains unclear if he intends returning to League of Ireland management or bide his time and try his hand outside of the country.

Redmond said yesterday: “I’ve not spoken to anybody about who they’re talking to but Stephen has a lot of experience in the league and managed Ireland.

“That would be good but I’m not sure what’s happening. They haven’t spoken (to the players) about appointing a manager.

“When we were in today we spoke about Friday. The next game is so important that we can’t sulk or moan about anything.

“We’ve to be together in this situation to take anything from the game against Shamrock Rovers.”

Sean O’Connor, who was part of Daly’s staff, will be in caretaker charge of St Pat’s in Tallaght tomorrow night.

But Redmond feels the players must shoulder some of the blame for Daly losing his job just six months after guiding the Saints to FAI Cup final glory.

Redmond said: “The news that Jon was gone was tough. It is for any group to see your manager leave. As players, we take responsibility too as we weren’t good enough.

“Jon put in so much hard work, day in and day out, never left a stone unturned. He gave everything to the club.

Sports Direct and the PFAIreland have launched an initiative to provide all SSE Airtricity League Men's and Women's players with new football boots each season with a 200 voucher. In attendance at the announcement at FAI Headquarters in Abbottstown, Dublin, is Joe Redmond of St Patrick's Athletic.

“He put everything into us, made us believe again. He got us an FAI Cup in his short time at the club and I’ve the utmost respect for him.”

Redmond reached out to Daly on Tuesday, soon after the players were told that he was getting the sack.

“Obviously, he was disappointed. He wanted to take us to the next level. And he never stopped, right up to the last whistle of the Sligo game,” he continued.

“He tried to push us to get the most out of us, so he’ll be disappointed as he believed in the group. That’s one thing he instilled in us, to believe. And it was cut short.”

Redmond continued: “I thanked him for everything he did for me, how much trust and belief he put in me. Even when I was injured he kept my confidence high.

“He did a lot of good things for this group on the pitch and, off the pitch, he was someone you could talk to about personal problems.

“We thank him for that. Hopefully Jon goes on to have a great managerial career.”

Redmond is sidelined with an ankle ligament injury he shipped against Derry City on April 22, and is still waiting for clarity on when he might be back on the pitch.

“It’s a difficult one,” he said. “I‘ve had scans but it’s more down to pain threshold. When it’s on your good foot, you feel it all the time, when you pass, when you jump and land.

“It’s just about rest and recovery. We got it scanned and saw a specialist wondering if surgery was needed but no, that’s ruled out.

“I had to sleep with the boot on but didn’t have to walk around it. I missed Europe last year, coming back a week later, but I’ll be back for it this year.”

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PFA Ireland and Sports Direct have struck a €140,000 deal to provide professional League of Ireland players with new football boots.

The deal is worth €70,000 each year over the next two seasons and will see 350 pros - male and female - receive a €200 voucher towards new boots.

According to the PFA Ireland, players can go through three to four pairs of boots a season with the cost of each pair varying between €250 and €350.

The players will use the voucher in Sports Direct stores across the country, with all leading brands available to them.

PFAI boss Stephen McGuinness said: “We feel this is a fantastic initiative and one we’ve never had in the league before.”

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