Derry look to former Hearts manager

League of Ireland:Former Hearts and Livingston manager John Robertson was last night being linked with the vacant Derry City manager's job after Pat Dolan confirmed he would be staying in television and Dundalk declined permission for John Gill to be approached.

Dolan, who had watched the Derry squad train at the weekend and, it seemed, agreed terms with the club's board, said it had been "an extremely hard decision" to turn the post down but it had always seemed questionable whether he would walk away from his media work in order to return to club management.

Sure enough, news of his decision came in the form of a press release from Setanta Sports announcing that he had agreed a new three-year contract with the broadcaster.

"Setanta Sports is a great place to be right now," he said. "Derry City impressed me greatly with their approach and plans, and I found their offer very tempting. But I'm a football manager at heart, and while I will look to return to management in the future, I will only do it when it is right for me in all aspects.

"I'm still involved with Wexford Youths," he observed. "Mick (Wallace) has a very interesting project and I am helping him out as a friend. I'm keeping my hand in. Who knows what will happen in the future?"

Having missed out on the 39-year-old former Cork City and St Patrick's Athletic manager, Derry officials quickly turned their attention yesterday to Gill, who has performed impressively at Dublin City and Dundalk over the past few years.

The club's owner, Gerry Matthews, said, however, he had rebuffed a request that City be allowed to make an offer to Gill after talking with his manager.

"I received the approach from Derry City this morning," said Matthews. "I then had a discussion regarding the offer with John and I was delighted to hear him say that he intends to honour his contract with Dundalk FC.

"John is an honourable man who we think is doing a fantastic job at the club. I'm sure all Dundalk supporters will agree that we are delighted that John intends to stay at Oriel Park."

Gill had been asked about his position after last week's FAI Cup win over Athlone Town, when he firmly indicated he would not abandon the First Division leaders.

"Managers moan when they're sacked while under contract, and then other managers walk out on contracts," he said. "I don't; I believe in the validity of a contract. I'm going to honour the contract I have here and I would like to extend it, but that's not down to me. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, which is working very, very hard with a very honest bunch of players."

His position, and that of his employers, leaves Derry back at square one in their search for a replacement for Pat Fenlon at a time when their early-season title hopes have taken a battering.

Former Scottish international Robertson, who was dismissed by Livingston after a poor season in charge, is the latest one to be linked with the post. He did exceptionally well while in charge of Hearts, the club where he spent most of his playing career, and left only after falling victim to the club's internal politics, but his lack of experience of the Irish game would make his appointment something of a gamble for the Brandywell board.

St Patrick's Athletic, meanwhile, have announced the appointment of a new board as part of a substantial restructuring, which follows on from property developer Garrett Kelleher's purchase of the club.

Former Millwall and Ireland striker Richard Sadlier, accountants Gerardine Jones and Conor Gallagher, solicitor Jerry Sheehan, sports physiotherapist Mark McCabe and long-time St Patrick's director Philip Mooney will all serve on a board to be chaired by Kelleher himself.

"We have long-term ambitions for this football club which would establish it as a force in the European game," said Kelleher. "Following on the appointment of Brian Kerr as director of football and the excellent progress we have made in the early part of the season under his and Johnny McDonnell's stewardship, we can now set about making organisational change that will prepare us better for the realisation of the longer-term objective."