Stephen Bradley has picked Stephen Kenny’s brain in the hope of unlocking some three-in-a-row secrets.
Shamrock Rovers are out to repeat their 2020 and 2021 titles successes and open their account against UCD tonight.
Ireland boss Kenny was the last manager to achieve three-in-a-row when he steered Dundalk to league glory in 2016, 2015 and 2014.
Rovers defender Lee Grace revealed yesterday that Bradley has spoken to his players about adding a second star above the club crest.
One star represents 10 league titles, but Rovers have a record 19 under their belt and are going all out for 20.
Grace said: “Three-in-a-row is in the back of our minds and it’s something that will be here forever if we manage to do it.
“It’s only the first game but that has to be the aim - to try and retain our title and with that comes a second star.”
And Hoops boss Bradley - who serves a touchline ban tonight - is leaving no stone unturned as he prepares for the campaign.
Bradley said: “I’ve spoken to managers that have done it and it’s obviously not easy.
“When you look at the groups that have done three-in-a-row, they’ve been really special groups.
“We’ve got a chance to do that this year, and hopefully we can.
“But it’s important to look at the history of who has done it, how they’ve done it and why they’ve done it.
“We’ve looked into that quite a bit in the off season. I had a good chat with a few managers who have done it and a few who've been close and not done it.
“It's been nice to pick their brains on where they felt they went wrong and where they went right, and see if it can help us.”
Bradley continued: “I had a good chat with Stephen (Kenny) and it was really interesting to see how they went about it at Dundalk.
“I spoke to Michael O’Neill about it here as he obviously did two (2010 and 2011). I spoke to them in quite some detail
“It's great to pick up little nuggets of information on why they were successful and, going into the third one, what drove them and what little changes they made.”
Meanwhile, Bradley feels Neil Farrugia is ready to kick on after finally putting his injury nightmare behind him.
Dogged by serious hamstring injuries that required surgery, the winger returned ahead of schedule in October and played a small part in the title win.
Farrugia is raring to go for the new season and Bradley said: “It looks like we got to the bottom of it. He’s done really well in pre-season and hasn’t missed anything.
“He was very good in the President’s Cup last week and showed real glimpses of quality. He can be very dangerous and gives us a different dynamic when he’s in that form.”
Patience paid off and Bradley added: “He’s not one of these that is a stone overweight or not living his life right.
“If that was the case, you wouldn’t have that patience. Neil is the opposite of that so it was always a case of trusting him as we got to the bottom of it.”
