Derry City target Stephen O'Donnell's potential Brandywell move 'parked up'

​It's understood the FAI Cup winners asked permission from Bohemians to open preliminary talks with Alan Reynolds' assistant manager earlier this week and regard O'Donnell as the perfect fit for the role.

O'Donnell [40], who is believed to be open to accepting the job, signed Derry's Director of Football Mark Connolly on loan from Dundee when managing Dundalk in January 2022 and has maintained a close relationship with the Clones man.

Connolly stepped back into his executive role at the club after guiding the Candy Stripes to a seventh FAI Cup win last Sunday as interim boss. It's understood the former defender is leading the managerial search and directly after Sunday's cup win at the Aviva said it was important the next man in the Brandywell hotseat could kick the club on.

“I’m trying to bring someone in that hopefully will move the club forward," he said. “Whoever it is coming in, they’re coming into an outstanding group of footballers, a team that’s going to be playing Europa League football next season and something to build on.

“There’s a lot of good things happening at the club, like infrastructure. It’s important that we kick on, it’s exciting times. “I don’t have a timeline. I can’t tell you it’s going to be exactly this week.

"Ideally, if the right person’s there and they want to take the job, we’ll do that. And if we have to take a week or two to do that, we’ll do it.”

O’Donnell won the FAI Cup in his first managerial job at St Patrick’s Athletic, beating Bohs in the final on penalties in 2021, before soon taking the reins at Dundalk where things turned sour despite a promising start.

​The former Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk midfielder left the Lilywhites in April 2024 after an eight-game winless run before linking up with Reynolds as his assistant in May.

O'Donnell who currently balances his duties as assistant at Dalymount Park and with the Republic of Ireland U21s, linked up with the Irish squad this week at the Sport Ireland campus in Dublin ahead of Friday's UEFA European Championship play-off against Finland in Tampere.

He is unlikely to make a decision on his future until after next Tuesday's second leg in Cork.

Ireland U21 boss Jim Crawford was questioned about his assistant coach being linked to the Derry job and insisted O'Donnell's full focus was on the Ireland team.

"Yeah, look, it's, you know, at the start of the week, there was a little bit of noise about it," Crawford said.

"In fairness to Stevie, he's professional enough now to park it. Stevie's been excellent since he's come in, he's a fantastic character.

"He loves the game, he's good company and he certainly has a lot to offer in football management, there's no doubt about it.

"I didn't really know Stevie, you know, until he's come in, and I think his work ethic is outstanding.

"Whatever he does, I don't twist anybody's arm with regards to where they want to go in football. "The good thing about Stevie is that it's parked up. We haven't spoken about it. When it got into the media, there was those obvious conversations of what's going on.

"But he's fully-focused on the Irish under-21s, the under-21s set up and this game tomorrow (Friday) evening, which is important for him too, because he's done a lot of groundwork to get this far. So we'll just see where that goes."

The vacant Derry managerial position has attracted significant interest following Tiernan Lynch's sacking last August after 19 months in charge.

It's understood the ideal candidate would be willing to live in the city - one of the pitfalls for the previous manager whose relationship with the fanbase quickly turned sour.

O’Donnell’s wife works in Dublin and their young kids are in school in the capital. Whether or not the Bohs assistant boss is willing to uproot his family or permanently base himself in the maiden city could be a major factor in his potential appointment.

However, O’Donnell is believed to be interested in taking one of the most sought-after positions in Irish football and already knows some of the key players at the club.

Indeed, O’Donnell handed FAI Cup hero Darragh Burns his first professional contract as a teenager at St Pat’s in 2020.

The Derry winger said he would be ‘forever grateful’ to O’Donnell for giving him his breakthrough.

“Stephen obviously gave me my first crack in senior football,” said Burns. “I have a really good connection with him. I kept in touch with him when I was in England and he always asked how I was getting on.

"He’s always someone I will be grateful for giving me my crack in a first team environment. I will always be forever grateful because I probably wouldn’t be here today without him.”

And of course O’Donnell played alongside Derry captain Mickey Duffy and Cameron Dummigan with Dundalk as part of a trophy-laden career.