Keely tries to fashion a new style

In tactical terms, the league here has long been the sort of place where, when things weren't broken, they simply didn't get fixed. And so, since straight 4-4-2 formations first became prominent in this part of the globe, there have been disappointingly few attempts to explore other ways of approaching the game.

Given the historical lack of variation, Shelbourne's recent decision to start tinkering with their title-winning defence seems particularly surprising. Over the course of last season's campaign Dermot Keely's side performed with remarkable consistency, even if they only occasionally found the sort of rhythm that would have set the pulse racing.

Now Keely admits that he worries about how his heart will cope at times, with his players adapting to a system in which formations rather than personnel are rotated.

While Shelbourne reverted to the old format in Galway on Friday evening for the latest in their long line of draws with Don O'Riordan's outfit, the most sustained flirtation since the summer has been with a 4-3-3 line-up that has looked well suited to the available talent at the club and has produced a couple of very exciting performances.

The emergence of young players like Davy Byrne and especially Richie Foran has been vital in terms of allowing the manager the flexibility to fiddle with his successful formula. The hope is that what we have seen to date will be the gateway to a far greater flexibility within an increasingly strong panel.

"We've looked at a lot of different ways of playing," says assistant manager Alan Matthews, "and I think Dermot sees the 43-3 as the first stage in getting players used to playing in different ways so that, eventually, we would be able to adapt to different situations over the course of individual matches."

Clearly the personnel available at any given time is a major factor. For instance, the loss of attacking pace represented by the enforced switch of Owen Heary to central defence at the weekend contributed significantly to Keely's overall approach to the game.

Likewise, the news yesterday of Avery John's arrival at Tolka Park, after a summer with the Boston Bulldogs, is another indication of Keely's recently discovered curiosity regarding new tricks.

The Trinidad and Tobago player operated in central defence, as a sweeper, at left full and on the left side of midfield for Bohemians during his spell at Dalymount Park and looked almost equally comfortable in each role. If you're aiming to achieve room for manoeuvre within a team, then he is just the sort of player you place high on your priority list.

Matthews insists that it is the hope of achieving this desired flexibility rather than any perceived need to replace one of the current centre backs that prompted the move. "We've worked hard for a few weeks on getting him here," says the Dubliner. "But it is simply because he gives you a whole new set of options. There's certainly no question of anybody being disappointed with either Tony (McCarthy) or Pat (Scully), both of whom have performed brilliantly for us over the past couple of seasons."

The thinking now is that Keely will be in a strong position to add a three-man defence to his rapidly expanding bag of tricks, although unless it becomes the new standard approach up in Drumcondra, John's arrival could produce periods of inactivity for one of his two more established club mates.

What's even stranger about Shelbourne's tactical evolution, though, is that it is the second successive time that league champions here have attempted to retain the title while employing a different system.

An important difference, of course, is that in the case of St Patrick's Athletic, Pat Dolan was in charge when the club won the championship the first time around and Liam Buckley masterminded the bulk of the defence.

Still, Buckley might easily have arrived at Richmond Park and decided all was well. Instead, he attempted to play three at the back, wing backs and two rather than the three forwards that Dolan liked to use whenever the opportunity arose.

Buckley's main managerial rival two seasons ago was Dave Barry, who attempted to play 3-5-2 at Cork for some time before ditching the formation in favour of a return to the more traditional approach.

Part of the problem for Barry was getting the most out of the talent available to him within a fairly tight squad. With Keely's panel this season much stronger than the one he had even six months ago, the Dubliner is clearly much less constrained.

At the moment all is going well for Keely, but having seen his side hit the top of the table much earlier in the campaign than last time around, he won't need to be told how difficult it will be to make the running all the way to next April. If he manages it, and his side are transformed into something IBEC can hold up as some sort of model of workplace flexibility along the way, then the achievement might even eclipse the championship Keely won at Dundalk with such spartan resources.