Five young managers looking to make their mark in 2022

Over the last number of years, the age profile of players in the SSE Airtricity League has got considerably younger. The league is increasingly viewed as a good proving ground for young players emerging from the youth academies of clubs both domestically and abroad.

A similar change has been happening in managerial circles. Five years ago, the season began with just two managers under the age of 43. This season, six of the 10 are below this age.

In a copycat league, many boards will want to replicate the success Shamrock Rovers have had since they took the calculated gamble of giving Stephen Bradley their managerial job at then tender age of 31 and with no prior experience.

We have since seen early bloomers like Tim Clancy, Stephen O'Donnell and Ruaidhri Higgins get their first appointments aged 33, 33 and 36 respectively. Joining them this year with their first taste of Premier Division management are Kevin Doherty at 41 and Damien Duff at 42.

We have looked at these five managers and five key factors where their success could be determined this season.

Start: This is an area where Higgins has the advantage of already being with his club for most of last season. He managed them for 30 league games and in that time only Shamrock Rovers (42) had more than Derry's 36 points. He made a positive early impact by starting on a run of one loss in his first 11 which reversed a run of one win in 10 before. Making a good start in 2022 will be difficult, after facing old friends Dundalk on opening night their next two games are against two of the three teams to finish above them last year.

New signings: Derry made an early splash by bringing back former favourites Patrick McEleney, Michael Duffy and Will Patching. They will hope McEleney