Mahon believes betting cases part of a wider problem

LEAGUE OF IRELAND NEWS:ST PATRICK'S Athletic manager Pete Mahon has said he believes the new disciplinary cases involving betting by a couple of Derry City players are just a small part of a much wider problem, with the Dubliner pointing to a small number of games over the course of last season which he regards as highly suspicious.

“I still think that it’s going on but it’s very hard to prove, you can get anyone to put a bet on for you and online betting is a very big thing these days” said Mahon, whose original call to his predecessor at Richmond Park, John McDonnell, led to Gary Dempsey’s admission he had bet against his own side in late 2008.

The sum involved on that occasion was small and the game in question, involving St Patrick’s Athletic and Galway, was paired with Manchester City in a double that was ultimately lost but Mahon is adamant firm action would need to be taken in the event that such a situation arose again.

“If it was found to be going on and proven,” he said, “then I’d expect to remove him from the club, although whether you can do that these days in terms of employment law and all the rest of it, I’m not so sure.

“The case going on at the moment (involving Gareth McGlynn) I’ve only read about in this morning’s papers,” he continued. “It’s disappointing that’s it’s happened but not really surprising. In terms of the wider situation, I would say it probably is going on. There’s certainly no shortage of rumours in this league of ours.”

Asked about whether he feels a locally-based manager might be handed the opportunity to succeed Don Givens with the Republic of Ireland Under-21 side, Mahon said that while he hopes so, he remains fairly pessimistic.

“It’s a very prestigious position, that under-21 manager’s job,” he said. “It would be a great job to get for anybody. I think Johnny McDonnell would be the ideal candidate. John knows his stuff. He’s a Uefa pro licence holder and he fits the bill.

“I think something like that would give the whole league here a boost, although I don’t think it will happen. I think they’ll go for somebody across the water again.”