Graham Gartland: Stephen O'Donnell's gamble to leave St Pat's for Dundalk hasn't paid off

Despite some promising signs earlier in his tenure at Dundalk, Stephen O'Donnell's risky call to leave St Patrick's Athletic two-and-a-half years ago has ultimately proved not to have been the right decision following confirmation of his sacking, according to former Drogheda United and Longford Town defender Graham Gartland.

Dundalk announced club legend O'Donnell's exit, along with his assistant Patrick Cregg, on Monday morning with the Lilywhites rooted to the bottom of the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division after a winless start to the campaign and it brings to two the number of managerial partings of way this season following Bohemians' decision to relieve Declan Devine of his duties last month.

The Galway native's stock was high when he decided to leave St Pat's after leading them to FAI Cup glory in November 2021 and having enjoyed stellar success as a player at Dundalk between 2013 and 2018, the temptation to revive their fortunes as a manager was something O'Donnell found alluring.

But ultimately, his time in charge of the Louth club did not come anywhere close to reanimating the glory days of recent past.

As his sacking was announced, Gartland was reviewing the latest round of League of Ireland action on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast and offered his immediate reaction to O'Donnell's exit.

Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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"I'm shocked by it. I think Stephen had done a really good job when he first went there," he