LOI Talk, Rumours, Gossip, Transfers etc 2018

Pighead

Awesomeness wrote: »

To be honest the players leaving seems like it couldnt be helped. If anything I am still more annoyed with the players we have resigned - namely Sava and in particular Rogers. That is an area we really should have been looking to improve

It's just very frustrating and one of the reasons why it's going to be so hard for an Irish team to ever reach the promised land that is the Champion's League group stages. In an ideal world the team Kenny built would have taken this season's European experience into next season where they would have had decent chance of making it to the group stages.

On the verge of doing something big and then BAM the team is town apart and you have to start again.

AgileMyth

doncarlos wrote: »

I know and not the way I thought we'd go either. I honestly thought we were going to go all out to keep best players and strengthen. Unless Kenny can work his magic again and sign some unknowns and get them to play above themselves it could be a frustrating couple of years. However the foundations will be there for our long term future

He's generally signed from within the league, don't recall many unknowns. That could be a problem with very few available within the league.

AgileMyth

Pighead wrote: »

It's just very frustrating and one of the reasons why it's going to be so hard for an Irish team to ever reach the promised land that is the Champion's League group stages. In an ideal world the team Kenny built would have taken this season's European experience into next season where they would have had decent chance of making it to the group stages.

On the verge of doing something big and then BAM the team is town apart and you have to start again.

Least ye managed a few years. Our league winning team of 2012 was being dismantled before the league ended

Oat23

AgileMyth wrote: »

Least ye managed a few years. Our league winning team of 2012 was being dismantled before the league ended

Partly our fault but also a lot to do with players wanting a lot more money to re-sign because they knew we'd be getting CL money. Happy we didn't give in even though a lot of our fans were annoyed, and I even remember other fans on here giving our board crap for letting half the team walk.

I'm sure Finn wanted a lot from Dundalk and he is on a boatload at Shams, so it looks like that spiel about investing in youth has gone out the window already and they are going to blow through this new investment they got faster than they did the Europa League money.

joeysoap

Undoubtably this was the best Dundalk team I have seen. But teams do change and sometimes it's necessary to change a few players. Between 1975 and 1981 Jim McLaughlin won 3 leagues , 3 cups and 2 league cups with Dundalk. He never retained the league but always managed to rebuild in such a manner that Dundalk always remained competitive and a trophy was never far away. Different times but he also took Dundalk to the last 16 in the European Cup,and narrowly missed out on the last 8 (beaten 3-2 on aggregate). It was phenomenal that Dundalk won 3 in a row, it's not often that such a magnificent team comes along but if Stephen has to start again, well so be it. I am grateful and thankful that I was around to enjoy it. And getting the foundations right for the future is important. (witness Bohs and Shels)

Hard Worker

Oat23 wrote: »

I'm sure Finn wanted a lot from Dundalk and he is on a boatload at Shams, so it looks like that spiel about investing in youth has gone out the window already and they are going to blow through this new investment they got faster than they did the Europa League money.

I think Rovers have 7 teenagers in the squad.

MD1990

It is often mentioned that Rovers have a great youth system.

But UCD,Pats,Galway & Cork had better u19 teams last season. Trevor Clarke is the only youngster I see becoming a regular at the club & he was developed in England. Boyd might be a squad player. The rest will not make it at Rovers. Aherne who was signed from Pats u19's is a good player too.

topmanamillion

Pighead wrote: »

It's just very frustrating and one of the reasons why it's going to be so hard for an Irish team to ever reach the promised land that is the Champion's League group stages. In an ideal world the team Kenny built would have taken this season's European experience into next season where they would have had decent chance of making it to the group stages.

On the verge of doing something big and then BAM the team is town apart and you have to start again.

It all comes down to money. I think the lowest budget a team has had in the Champions League Group was around E5M. It would have been revolutionary if Dundalk had gotten in with a 750K budget.
A E5M is the minimum a club would need to build and learn from near misses like the one Dundalk had this year.

rahenyrover

MD1990 wrote: »

It is often mentioned that Rovers have a great youth system.

But UCD,Pats,Galway & Cork had better u19 teams last season. Trevor Clarke is the only youngster I see becoming a regular at the club & he was developed in England. Boyd might be a squad player. The rest will not make it at Rovers. Aherne who was signed from Pats u19's is a good player too.

To be fair, when the top 6 or 7 of your U19 team are plying their trade in the first team it's pretty inevitable that you weaken your U19 team. Not suggesting the other teams wouldn't have been better anyway just that it's a pointless comparison. Clarke & Boyd the big success stories but also Heaney before them. Others with a lot of potential and will be good back up players rather than first teamers this year.

sligolad1

Any word from this meeting that was meant to be on today?

MD1990

rahenyrover wrote: »

To be fair, when the top 6 or 7 of your U19 team are plying their trade in the first team it's pretty inevitable that you weaken your U19 team. Not suggesting the other teams wouldn't have been better anyway just that it's a pointless comparison. Clarke & Boyd the big success stories but also Heaney before them. Others with a lot of potential and will be good back up players rather than first teamers this year.

Boyd played many u19 games as did the others who played in the 1st team except for Clarke.

sidcon

Bohemians have completed the signings of Keith Ward from Derry City and Oscar Brennan from Cabinteely.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10157857384310702&substory_index=0&id=20869165701

rahenyrover

MD1990 wrote: »

Boyd played many u19 games as did the others who played in the 1st team except for Clarke.

Boyd last played for the 19s at the start of July as far as I know but open to correction. The lads trained with the senior team most of the second half of the season and yes did play some games with the 19s but rarely all in the team together. As I said I'm not suggesting the other teams may not have been better just that it's an unfair comparison. They lost one game prior to Bradley promoting the youth to the senior team and 5 games after so it clearly had an impact.

Pighead

topmanamillion wrote: »

It all comes down to money. I think the lowest budget a team has had in the Champions League Group was around E5M. It would have been revolutionary if Dundalk had gotten in with a 750K budget.
A E5M is the minimum a club would need to build and learn from near misses like the one Dundalk had this year.

Or a decent draw. Surely Dundalk adventures this season showed you that it IS possible to get in with a budget lower than €5M. A manager who knows what he is doing trumps an extra couple of million in the budget.

topmanamillion

Pighead wrote: »

Or a decent draw. Surely Dundalk adventures this season showed you that it IS possible to get in with a budget lower than €5M. A manager who knows what he is doing trumps an extra couple of million in the budget.

But no team has done it so it remains impossible until a team does.

joeysoap

doncarlos wrote: »

I think Gannon is gone. I don't think he was a patch on the player he was in the first couple of seasons with us. If Keane stays and keeps injury free, ........

Only player I've heard us linked with is Graham Burke. Few whispers of Eoin Doyle and Jack Byrne but can't see either signing for a LOI club

Maybe a coincidence but I heard Dundalk were looking at players on the 'fringe' of English clubs and who were looking for competitive football for their players and Dundalk can offer Champions League football (however brief) Heard no names but Jack Byrne might fit that category.

MD1990

Graham Burke could be an option for Dundalk.

Bray are interested in O'Donnell is the latest rumour.

Interview with Kenny tonight

https://soundcloud.com/rte2fm/game-on-stephen-kenny

Corholio

Mark O'Sullivan gone to Waterford.

Sad to see him go, was an absolute warrior in his time here and I'm unlikely to ever see a player win so much in the air as he did. Scored some cracking goals as well in his time here.

dfx-

rahenyrover wrote: »

Boyd last played for the 19s at the start of July as far as I know but open to correction. The lads trained with the senior team most of the second half of the season and yes did play some games with the 19s but rarely all in the team together. As I said I'm not suggesting the other teams may not have been better just that it's an unfair comparison. They lost one game prior to Bradley promoting the youth to the senior team and 5 games after so it clearly had an impact.

there were more than a few people at the end of last season judging u19 success by winning the u19 league or cups at that level than playing senior level.

Boyd and the rest of them will get a lot more from the senior level experience than a trophy or competition at youth level. And most of them are in the 2017 squad too

doncarlos

Corholio wrote: »

Mark O'Sullivan gone to Waterford.

Sad to see him go, was an absolute warrior in his time here and I'm unlikely to ever see a player win so much in the air as he did. Scored some cracking goals as well in his time here.

An old fashioned centre forward. Not too many left in the league. I think he'll be a loss to Cork

CHealy

Disgusted to see Marky go but he has to look out for himself aswell, think he's going back to work while playing for Waterford. Not many strikers like him left anywhere in the world.

fullstop

Pighead wrote: »

Famous last words! If I recall correctly you weren't too bothered to see Horgan leave Cork either! It's unlikely Dooley will ever reach Horgan's level but Kenny could well improve him to make him a very important player for Dundalk.

CHealy wrote: »

Me personally? I was devastated when Horgan left us, everyone could see how good he was.

Pighead wrote: »

Haven't time to go digging but I remember you saying he was a bit of a headless chicken and you weren't too bothered to see him going.

Anyway, good news at last for Dundalk fans. Massey has confirmed he is staying. We'll have at least one player lining up for us next season anyway.

Hmm http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=87751899&postcount=7565

CHealy

fullstop wrote: »

Hmm http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=87751899&postcount=7565

To be fair I did say Id love to keep hold of him so i covered all bases.

johnnyryan89

So it looks like the Conroy report will be definitely be implemented from next season on, two divisions of ten teams. Three teams automatically relegated, as a Limerick fan we badly need a goal scorer and two defenders if we are to finish eight or higher.

overshoot

i dont think there will be any playoff so 9th will be survival.
just typical FAI to be seen to be doing something. moving the pieces back to where they were 5 years ago. In another few years we will have to change again as 4 rounds of games will make things monotonous.... or are they hoping for third time lucky?
Id love to know what clubs actually voted for it, Heard shams & Pats were the biggest advocates, Do Cork & Dundalk with fixture congestion this year want 3 more games? Limerick, Drogs, Harps, Bohs, and maybe Galway are hardly going to be rushing to increase their relegation chances. Cant see 2 more teams adding any glamour to D1... and reducing the chances of promotion/survival is hardly incentive to those clubs either.

topmanamillion

CHealy wrote: »

Disgusted to see Marky go but he has to look out for himself aswell, think he's going back to work while playing for Waterford. Not many strikers like him left anywhere in the world.

Campion is very much in that style. It was like for like. I was gutted to see him leave Rovers.

red sean

I would say the reasoning behind this is simple, they can't get teams to enter the 1st div. to make up the numbers so they add 2 teams from the Premier div. Junior clubs may be starting to see through them and looking for big financial incentives to join.
Just shifting the pieces around to make it look new.

Oat23

Oat23 wrote: »

Only place I have heard that is in this thread to be honest.

There's a forward in town to sign I have heard. Not a current LOI player so not O'Connor. Don't know who this foreigner is.

Adam Morgan is the player. Playing in the conference north at the minute. Ex-Liverpool youth & England U19 player.

Back in the UK now.

AgileMyth

Oat23 wrote: »

Adam Morgan is the player. Playing in the conference north at the minute. Ex-Liverpool youth & England U19 player.

Back in the UK now.

Remember when Elding was named on a public forum before we signed him and Limerick tried to swoop in and sign him..

Oat23

AgileMyth wrote: »

Remember when Elding was named on a public forum before we signed him and Limerick tried to swoop in and sign him..

As long as John Caulfield doesn't use boards, it'll be grand. Interest in Morgan has been known for a few weeks now.

Our gaffer probably shouldn't follow his targets on twitter either :pac:

AgileMyth

Our gaffer shouldn't be on Twitter full stop

MD1990

Oat23 wrote: »

Adam Morgan is the player. Playing in the conference north at the minute. Ex-Liverpool youth & England U19 player.

Back in the UK now.

That could be a very good signing.
Scored a lot of goals as a Youth at Liverpool & scored a hatrick in the FA Cup against Wimbledon recently. He would have played with Roddan at Liverpool.

overshoot

Oat23 wrote: »

Adam Morgan is the player. Playing in the conference north at the minute. Ex-Liverpool youth & England U19 player.

Back in the UK now.

I know its wiki... but has he really been with 4 clubs in 2016? 6 in the last 2 years (1loan), I thought there was limits on that!

SEANoftheDEAD

CONROY REPORT SUMMARY...

1. Creation of a 10 team, two division re-branded and re-launched League from 2018-2020.
Two divisions, 10 teams each.
Split the Premier Division season after 27 games with top six / bottom four.
Playoff match (home/away) for final Europa League place.
Round robin promotion/relegation play off with 8th and 9th in Premier Division and 2nd and 3rd in the First Division.
Winners of First Division promoted with the possibility of 2nd and 3rd also being promoted annually.

2. Re-vamping of League promotion / relegation in 2017 to accommodate 2018 -2020 season changes.
Three teams relegated; one or two teams promoted (subject to play off results).

3. Increase in prize money for Premier and First Divisions and redistribution across Premier Division.
Increase in the total prize funding to be in place for the new League in 2018, including an incremental increase in 2017.

4. Rebranding of the SSE Airtricity League from 2018
SSE Airtricity “Centenary League”

5. Appointment of a League Marketing “Champion” – who promotes and markets the League working with all clubs and sponsors.

6. Re-alignment of PR/Media activities – with one dedicated person for SSE Airtricity League.

7. Recruitment of SSE Airtricity League “Ambassadors”
Ex/current international or club players.
Working with clubs and FAI to raise profile of local clubs, local players in community.
Major emphasis on pre-season activity.

8. Supplement the existing Broadcast agreements with revenues accruing to clubs.
Target additional TV markets outside Ireland.
Develop a National and local radio strategy.
Create designated TV weekend blitzes with multiple games in the Aviva.

9. Pursue a dedicated League commercial sponsor focus for 2018 onwards.

10. Develop and run a full Club community programme on a pilot basis in conjunction with FAI and local agencies/authorities.

11. Host an annual FAI “Match” to fund club Ambassadors/community work.

12. Host a dedicated SSE Airtricity League awards night – recognition of players, coaches, managers, administrators.

MD1990

Only 27 games is a very bad move.
Off season is already too long.

gimmick

MD1990 wrote: »

Only 27 games is a very bad move.
Off season is already too long.

No, 27 games then a split - top 6, bottom 4. Hate that idea completely.

GLaDOS

How does a bottom 4 split work?

It's essentially just playoffs?

Completely against any sort of split myself.

johnnyryan89

MD1990 wrote: »

Only 27 games is a very bad move.
Off season is already too long.

Wouldn't be that bad, would cut out mid week games. Limerick played it's first game on March 5th and final game on October 15th which was only two weeks shorter than the premier with five games less.

MD1990

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Wouldn't be that bad, would cut out mid week games. Limerick played it's first game on March 5th and final game on October 15th which was only two weeks shorter than the premier with five games less.

Players need as many games as possible to improve.
We saw how rusty Dundalk were in the last 2 Europa games.

johnnyryan89

GLaDOS wrote: »

How does a bottom 4 split work?

It's essentially just playoffs?

Completely against any sort of split myself.

Don't think I know of anyone whose in favour of splits, would be totally unfair for the team in 7th who could be only a point behind 6th place and then win all their games in the split and 6th place to lose all theirs but still finish ahead of 7th with less points technically.

johnnyryan89

MD1990 wrote: »

Players need as many games as possible to improve.
We saw how rusty Dundalk were in the last 2 Europa games.

Well should we have five rounds of fixtures just to accommodate one team.

Captain Havoc

I don't think a league table can ever be unfair. It might be enough to get people interested. First off there's the race to make the cut and then every game would hopefully be a six pointer with an added Europa league place. Let's face it, something drastic has to be done even if it does seem a little American.

johnnyryan89

Captain Havoc wrote: »

I don't think a league table can ever be unfair. It might be enough to get people interested. First off there's the race to make the cut and then every game would hopefully be a six pointer with an added Europa league place. Let's face it, something drastic has to be done even if it does seem a little American.

If it was left at 12 teams could have done it the way Super League is run. Play your regular season and once that was over the top 8 would play each other once more home or away and after that round of fixtures whoever finishes first is given the league leaders shield and the top four then go to a play off to see who plays in the grand final.

Your bottom four teams go into a play off with the top four teams from the first division and each play each other once home and away with the top three teams guaranteed a spot in the premier division with 4th and 5th going into a one game play off.

SEANoftheDEAD

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

If it was left at 12 teams could have done it the way Super League is run. Play your regular season and once that was over the top 8 would play each other once more home or away and after that round of fixtures whoever finishes first is given the league leaders shield and the top four then go to a play off to see who plays in the grand final.

Your bottom four teams go into a play off with the top four teams from the first division and each play each other once home and away with the top three teams guaranteed a spot in the premier division with 4th and 5th going into a one game play off.

Ugh! No way...

Just have a 16 team Premier Division and be done with it!

AgileMyth

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

If it was left at 12 teams could have done it the way Super League is run. Play your regular season and once that was over the top 8 would play each other once more home or away and after that round of fixtures whoever finishes first is given the league leaders shield and the top four then go to a play off to see who plays in the grand final.

Your bottom four teams go into a play off with the top four teams from the first division and each play each other once home and away with the top three teams guaranteed a spot in the premier division with 4th and 5th going into a one game play off.

That sounds terrible. What is super league?

sligolad1

What's ciaran O'Connor like Dundalk fans?

johnnyryan89

AgileMyth wrote: »

That sounds terrible. What is super league?

Rugby league competition in England, it's actually not that bad when you watch it and are used to it but to put it out their as a suggestion for a new league format and it definitly sounds too wacky.

Ragnar Lothbrok

I'm not against the idea of a split. It seems to work OK in Scotland and elsewhere. The fine points need ironing out I suppose.

I like the idea of 8th & 9th in Premier League vs. 2nd & 3rd in First Division playoffs.

Ferris_Bueller

Sean Gannon signs a new deal at Dundalk.

doncarlos

sligolad1 wrote: »

What's ciaran O'Connor like Dundalk fans?

Would be a fantastic signing for Sligo. Strong, pacy, physical striker that can also play on the wing.
Should have got a lot more game time with Dundalk. Far superior to Kilduff