Collins shows his footballing brain

He may have some way to go before he eclipses the career achievements of his rival of the past few months, but the fact that Bohemians have won the league they waited an awfully long time for suggests that, while Roddy Collins' mouth may be his most notorious asset, he's certainly not short of a footballing brain.

Collins' management style has not been to everyone's taste. His initial clearout at Dalymount involved the departure of several club stalwarts, one of whom subsequently observed that "Roddy didn't want to have any cuckoos about the place, so a few of us were shown the door".

Even amongst those who stayed on, or arrived after, there have often been dark mutterings regarding his handling of team affairs, while his preoccupation with engaging in boxing-style mind games has often damaged his image.

Nor, for that matter, has his ability to be dishonest with the journalists who contact him regularly done much for his standing. He may not be the only one to tell the odd porky about the fitness of some player of other, but telling a tabloid journalist that you have signed three little-known players from England to win a bet with three friends that he could get their names into the papers is not what you would expect from somebody with a genuine concern for the quantity or quality of the media's coverage of the league.

Then there is the painting of slogans on the walls of the visiting team's dressing-room ahead of an important league game, something else that might be less surprising in the world of boxing hype, a world he has never quite left behind. When Bohemians' challenge in the league ran out of steam last year, though, and Shelbourne then went on to beat them in the cup, Collins did surprise many observers with the graciousness with which he handled the disappointment.

In the aftermath of the cup replay defeat, he calmly observed that the team he had assembled had not been good enough to match their double-winning rivals, and so he would be spending the summer assembling a new and better one. Sure enough, he has been as good as his word.

In contrast, this year's title success in Kilkenny was followed with veiled threats to those within the club with whom he had not always seen eye to eye that, if he did not receive the sort of support to which he now feels entitled, he would leave. It was a disappointingly sour note from a man who had just shown how successfully he could let his team do the talking for him.

Assuming he does stay, the task ahead will again be tough, for a number of Bohemians players are either out of contract or on the verge of being sold, while others have hinted privately that they would they prefer to play for someone else.

Amongst those set to depart are Shaun Maher, who has interested a number of British clubs, Trevor Molloy, who is currently believed to be a target for Motherwell, and former under-21 international Mark Dempsey, whose long absence through injury this season has allowed others to establish themselves in Collins' first team.

Similarly, Shelbourne's Dermot Keely has some rebuilding to do if he remains at Tolka Park, with both Geoghegans and Pat Fenlon rumoured to among those who might be sacrificed in order to make way for new blood. Paul Doolin has retired, Richie Baker is out of contract and Pat Scully's future is up in the air after an internal dispute after what was supposed to pass for a practical joke on the then club skipper was not taken at all well.

With Cork City's Liam Murphy insisting he wants to keep all of his more experienced players on board, while adding more youngsters from the youth team; Pat Dolan possibly deciding to build on a strong second half to the season after the major upheaval endured 12 months ago (okay, the reality is probably a busload of players both coming and going); and Damien Richardson admitting that the development of Tallaght will leave few resources for player acquisitions, we could see a situation in which, amongst what are traditionally perceived as being the biggest clubs in the league, the strongest two are the ones where the real movement takes place.

That will mean another stern test of Collins' acumen in the marketplace. But, given he took over at Bohemians when the club was threatened with relegation and well may lead them to the second half of the double next weekend, that's unlikely to unduly worry those supporters who are currently enjoying the fruits of last year's wheeling and dealing.

As for the journalists who will be expected to report on the new arrivals . . . well, as you'd expect, they're a little more anxious.