Stephen O'Donnell's Dundalk and Tim Clancy's St Patrick's Athletic poised at head of LOI chasing pack

As the new SSE Airtricity League Premier Division season approaches, the general consensus is that either Shamrock Rovers will achieve the four-in-a-row or Derry City will use their FAI Cup success as a launchpad to even greater things over the course of a full campaign.

But what about the chasing pack? Third and fourth last season were Dundalk and St Patrick's Athletic respectively, with the former only losing out on the runner-up spot to Derry on goal difference.

Pat's were five points further back, well clear of fifth place and qualifying for Europe thanks to Derry's cup final win.

Those two clubs were inextricably linked in 2022 and not just by relative proximity in the table.

It was Stephen O'Donnell's move from Inchicore to Dundalk just after cup success with St Pat's in 2021 which sparked some managerial changes at other clubs before the start of last season, including Tim Clancy's switch from the Drogheda United hotseat to replace him at Richmond Park.

After a full season in their respective roles, both managers were in quietly confident mood when RTÉ Sport caught up with them at the launch of the 2023 League of Ireland season at Dublin's City Hall.

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Consistency is a tenet that St Pat's will be hoping to strictly adhere to and it was a notion that Clancy brought up unprompted as he assessed the main shortcoming from a 2022 of highs and lows domestically and in Europe.

"Inconsistent first half of the season and then a lot better the second half of the season was probably the