Ganda Rogers has backed newly-appointed sports director Jim Magilton.

Former Northern Ireland midfielder Magilton began his role on Monday.

The Lily Whites have signed 18 players after the end of the season after defeating Shamrock Rovers in the FAI Cup Final. Sean Hoare went to Hoops, and the future of many other important men is uncertain.

Rogers, who retired after the FII Cup victory, acknowledged that his former club were at a real turning point, but he believes Magilton, along with boss Filippo Giovagnoli, has the potential to return to health.

“I think Jim would be a good meeting,” he told the RT Soccer podcast.

“A man with his knowledge and experience will definitely be an asset to Dundalk. It will be interesting to see how he arrives. His first few weeks are important.

“You look at the number of players out of contract … if you lose X players you have to bring in a lot of players. This will be an important period for him, but his experience, as well as his knowledge of our league, the Northern Irish League and his contacts in England, should be a good thing for him.”

“He can bring in players of the caliber the club needs to maintain the success we have achieved.

“I’m going to say one thing over the years – you can go back to Stephen Kenny – there was a great deal of continuity in Stephen’s squads.

“The next year he brought in Patrick McLenny and Robbie Benson, and the next year it was Sean Hower and Jamie McGrath, and there were no big or overall changes.

“There has always been a good continuum and a good core group. It will be interesting to see how this off-season goes for Dandalk in terms of the players they bring in and the players they release.”

Says Gary Rogers Adrian Ames 1 On the RTE Soccer podcast, Jim Magilton is said to be the ideal candidate to help lead Dantak into a new era of success. #RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/sKFrzziP60

– Soccer Republic (oc Sock Republic) December 14, 2020

Rogers had words of praise for Giovagnoli and his No. 2 Giuseppe Rossi. The Italian, who left Vinnie Perth last August as technical director of AC Milan’s junior camps and coaching director at the Metropolitan Oval Academy in New York, was completely anonymous on these shores.

However, after leading the club to the Europa League group stages and winning the cup, he was offered a job on a regular basis.

“There will always be strangers who are suspicious, but the work they do should be done in the shortest amount of time … this is going to show that coaching badges are not everything,” Rogers added.

“They were able to get into a completely foreign environment and turn it around. Qualifying for the group stages was not an easy thing to do and to win a cup, it’s going to show that they ‘have got the ability to work.

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