‘I am really enjoying my time with Pat’s’- Redmond

A SPOT in the 2024 PFAI Team of the Year would have looked a long way away for Joe Redmond back in May, reports James Ffrench.

His St Patrick’s Athletic side sat seventh in the league table with 20 points from their opening 19 games, 11 points off second place Derry City and eight off Shamrock Rovers in third.

For context, Pats beat every single side in the division in their last nine games, eclipsing their points total by seven compared to their first ten games.

Reflecting on the season, Redmond said, “On an individual note it was quite a slow start, it took me a couple of months to fully get going.”

“I got a little injury at the start but the back end of the season I really came into my own.

“As a team we had a slow start which makes it difficult the way the league is.”

It is fair to say the catalyst for the remarkable turnaround of fortunes in Inchicore came with the appointment of former Ireland manager Stephen Kenny from Tallaght.

“It was around May, we were in a tough position then we had Europe and that was huge for us because being around each other so much in hotels, you get that team bonding and we all really came together.”

“I think obviously the change was huge for us”, Redmond added.

“Since he’s came in the door, he has obviously lifted the standards and told us what we needed to do.”

“From an individual point of view he’s raised my game and others individually as well.

“It’s his knowledge of the game in particular, he’s been exceptional.”

The Kilnamanagh native most likely did not envision a return to Ireland when he left for Birmingham back in 2018.

He was part of a talented Birmingham City development side which featured then wonderkid and now Real Madrid and England superstar Jude Bellingham.

While his path in the game seems to have unfolded in the perfect manner, covid and the pandemic disrupted his Irish compatriot’s career as he joined Cork City temporarily in 2020 and eventually Drogheda United permanently a year later.

Inchicore became Redmond’s home in 2022 when Tim Clancy brought him to play for his boyhood club, and as club captain, doing so for the foreseeable future is all which remains on the 24-year-old’s mind currently.

“I think our aims will be that we finished third last season, but we have to improve on that and have a fast start and not wait until after the summer to get going”, Redmond remarked.

“To be quite honest I am really enjoying my time with Pat’s and putting everything into the club.

“You can see how good the league is, there is no rush to leave.”

“Compared to five years ago when I first came into the league, you see the difference in the standard and the sold out stadiums every week.

“We can see how big it’s getting and the traction it’s getting and hopefully it can continue that way.”