LOI Talk, Rumours, Gossip, Transfers etc 2018

MD1990

ShamoBuc wrote: »

Who do people fancy to break up the top 2. Or are people 'resigned' to it being a battle for 3 rd?

I think Derry have huge potential with some brillant young players who will only improve further & one of the best finishers in Patterson. Rovers have signed very well. Finn is a huge signing for them.

I think those two teams especially are going to catch up with Dundalk & Cork.
Bray have a decent squad too & will be a difficult game for anyone. Pats still a good side keeping Fagan & signing Kurtis Byrne.
Sligo have a decent squad who many were new to the league last season. Going to be a very competitive league next season.

Cork haven't made that great of signings & Dundalk have a lot of work to do still. Wouldn't be surprised if one of them doesn't make the top 2.

wadacrack

I Expect Rovers to be very strong.

GK Canadian signing (good pedigree)

RB Madden
CB Lopez- Very strong and decent pace.
CB Webster.Good player
LB-Trevor Clarke- very good young player

RM Meenan or maybe Ryan Connolly
CM Corry-has been training since last summer. Unlucky with injuries in England
CM McAllister- Very good player by all accounts
CM Finn-Best player in the league
LM Miele-Very talented.

ST O'Connor or Shaw- O Connor looked very good for Ireland's u19 side. Might sign another upfront

doncarlos

wadacrack wrote: »

I Expect Rovers to be very strong.

GK Canadian signing (good pedigree)

RB Madden
CB Lopez- Very strong and decent pace.
CB Webster.Good player
LB-Trevor Clarke- very good young player

RM Meenan or maybe Ryan Connolly
CM Corry-has been training since last summer. Unlucky with injuries in England
CM McAllister- Very good player by all accounts
CM Finn-Best player in the league
LM Miele-Very talented.

ST O'Connor or Shaw- O Connor looked very good for Ireland's u19 side. Might sign another upfront

How many of that starting 11 would start for Dundalk or Cork? Finn and Miele for sure. Corry and McAllister are complete wild cards in my opinion, haven't played much over past couple of seasons and injury prone. Complete gambles but could come off.

fh041205

A lot of new players in that team. I'd be surprised if it didn't take them a while to get going.

ShamoBuc

Will Derry playing 'away' have much of an influence on them, I reckon it might.

joeysoap

Meehan great for set pieces, particularly when Hoban was with Dundalk (32 assists in 2014), but he was out of the first 11 (for various reasons by all accounts) long before the season ended. Surprised if gets more than 10 starts at Rovers, but maybe a change of club was what he needed (previous clubs :Finn Harps, Monaghan, UCD, Shelbourne, Sligo, Drogheda, UCD again, Pats and Dundalk) The 3 big losses are Finn, Boyle and Horgan. Dundalk only signed 2 players before the 2016 season, McEleney and Benson. SK doesn't appear to sign players for the sake of it. Fwiw I think Meenan would be better at Limerick.

joeysoap

Awesomeness wrote: »

Boyle, Horgan, Finn, Keane, Shiels, O Connor and Meenan. Whos the 8th gone from last year i cant remember

Don't think Mountney been signed yet or Ciaran O'Connor, afaik Georgie Poynton has signed.

Bateman

Poynton on loan to Bohs apparently

MD1990

Kinsella has been linked to Dundalk. Saw him for Pats against Rovers & then against Cobh in the cup & you could sense from the crowds reaction to him he was having an awful time.
But he is very young & maybe has some potential.

dfx-

wadacrack wrote: »

I Expect Rovers to be very strong.

There are a lot of gambles that no-one can tell yet. It could work out very well in midfield and upfront (with another experienced striker) if Corry and McAllister are not injury prone. The keeper no-one knows, it could go either way.

I'm not at all convinced in the back three/four options. The one positive is the calamitous Cornwall and DOC are not there.

AgileMyth

If Corry stays fit and the keeper is decent they'll do well. Otherwise it could be a long season.

CHealy

doncarlos wrote: »

However I'll say the same thing as I say every year, Caulfield is a poor manager and stifling their progress.

Would have agreed with you this time last year but last season Caulfield really showed he's capable of changing and while it wasnt a constant, we played some fantastic football at times. The away game against Genk, while we lost 1-0, was a fine moment for City as we controlled the majority of the game and had Maguire brought his shooting boots he would have had a couple.

He's only facing into his 4th year as a LOI manager, people forget that sometimes, big learning curve there yet.

dundalkfc10

wadacrack wrote: »

I Expect Rovers to be very strong.

GK Canadian signing (good pedigree)

RB Madden
CB Lopez- Very strong and decent pace.
CB Webster.Good player
LB-Trevor Clarke- very good young player

RM Meenan or maybe Ryan Connolly
CM Corry-has been training since last summer. Unlucky with injuries in England
CM McAllister- Very good player by all accounts
CM Finn-Best player in the league
LM Miele-Very talented.

ST O'Connor or Shaw- O Connor looked very good for Ireland's u19 side. Might sign another upfront

I think Bolger, Shields and Stevie O Donnell would have something to say about Finn being the best midfielder in the league never mind player.

In saying that, Rovers do look strong.

GLaDOS

Is Lopez expected to be first choice cb for Rovers?

CSF

I think Rovers would be a contender if they had a reliable goalscorer in the team up front. Surprised they haven't signed more in that respect.

CSF

I think Rovers would be a contender if they had a reliable goalscorer in the team up front. Surprised they haven't signed more in that respect.

topmanamillion

I reckon Bradley is the biggest gamble at Shamrock. He`s the accidental manager if ever I saw one.
Bar giving lots of U19s a run out and playing kamikaze 3 at the back football I cant see what he did differently to Fenlon. He probably would have fallen over the line into Europe too.

MD1990

topmanamillion wrote: »

I reckon Bradley is the biggest gamble at Shamrock. He`s the accidental manager if ever I saw one.
Bar giving lots of U19s a run out and playing kamikaze 3 at the back football I cant see what he did differently to Fenlon. He probably would have fallen over the line into Europe too.

Very surprised he got the job.
Came in took out some experienced players brought in youngsters & they were even worse during his time as they were under Fenlon last season.

At the end of the season he wasn't even doing any media because he didn't have the badges yet.
Rovers have signed well probably down to McPhail but Bradley as manager is a strange apointment.

The_Kew_Tour

Still time but im getting little worried about Cork still needing to sign 2-3 very good players still.

Or I least hope they think they do anyway

CHealy

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Still time but im getting little worried about Cork still needing to sign 2-3 very good players still.

Or I least hope they think they do anyway

JC has already come out and said that the squad will be smaller this year. Trimming wages like Turner, Holohan, D.Morrissey who offered nothing in turn for keeping onto the likes of Maguire and O'Connor is a risk but Im glad he's taking it.

This is the current confirmed squad:

1. Mark McNulty
2. Alan Smith
3. Steven Beattie
4. Alan Bennett
5. Garry Buckley
6. John Dunleavy
7. Gearoid Morrissey
8. Karl Sheppard
9. Jimmy Keohane
10. Achille Campion
11. Conor McCormack
12. Sean Maguire
13. Kevin O'Connor
14. Greg Bolger
15. Kenny Browne

You can expect John Kavanagh, Chedozie Ogbene and Stephen Dooley to be added to that list this week aswell. We definitely need a CB to cover for an aging Bennett but I hear thats a work in progress. Are we stronger than last season? Probably not on paper, but I think keeping our most important players is a huge coup, remember last season was a period of transition.

MD1990

https://twitter.com/noriordan/status/820929937427337216

civis_liberalis

Looks like something kidnappers would send along with ransom demands, where they have forced the victims to pose for a photo to prove they have them.

joeysoap

MD1990 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/noriordan/status/820929937427337216

:):)

hufpc8w3adnk65

CHealy wrote: »

JC has already come out and said that the squad will be smaller this year. Trimming wages like Turner, Holohan, D.Morrissey who offered nothing in turn for keeping onto the likes of Maguire and O'Connor is a risk but Im glad he's taking it.

This is the current confirmed squad:

1. Mark McNulty
2. Alan Smith
3. Steven Beattie
4. Alan Bennett
5. Garry Buckley
6. John Dunleavy
7. Gearoid Morrissey
8. Karl Sheppard
9. Jimmy Keohane
10. Achille Campion
11. Conor McCormack
12. Sean Maguire
13. Kevin O'Connor
14. Greg Bolger
15. Kenny Browne

You can expect John Kavanagh, Chedozie Ogbene and Stephen Dooley to be added to that list this week aswell. We definitely need a CB to cover for an aging Bennett but I hear thats a work in progress. Are we stronger than last season? Probably not on paper, but I think keeping our most important players is a huge coup, remember last season was a period of transition.

Is Dooley staying? Edozie will get plenty of chances this season hopefully he kicks on from last year

CHealy

MrMac84 wrote: »

Is Dooley staying? Edozie will get plenty of chances this season hopefully he kicks on from last year

Apparently so. Ogbene will be pushing him for that starting spot at some stage this year Id expect.

hufpc8w3adnk65

CHealy wrote: »

Apparently so. Ogbene will be pushing him for that starting spot at some stage this year Id expect.

When he hasn't signed at this point I was expecting him to go. Perhaps to Derry or somewhere like that closer to home. Has Cian Coleman been signed up to the first team yet?

joeysoap

Bateman wrote: »

Poynton on loan to Bohs apparently

Would have thought they need a few more in before deciding on that, unless he was guaranteed first team football at Bohs (unlikely) to give him experience. Dundalk loaned Michael O'Connor to Derry two years ago to get first team football experience and afaik he was first choice during the loan, but it didn't exactly work out great in the end (little first team appearances for Dundalk and released to Rovers) Rovers appear to have the largest squad by a mile signed up at the moment.

http://www.extratime.ie/articles/17769/2017-close-season-transfer-tracker/

CHealy

MrMac84 wrote: »

When he hasn't signed at this point I was expecting him to go. Perhaps to Derry or somewhere like that closer to home. Has Cian Coleman been signed up to the first team yet?

Same fella who told me he's staying told me Dooley has notions about how good he is and was waiting for offers from England. Could be and sounds like BS because every man and his dog could tell you he's no where near good enough for L1 or Championship.

gimmick

Dooley is currently on trial at Chesterfield. he is due back this week.

Awesomeness

Clifford to Dundalk confirmed. Will be interesting to see how he gets on

Pighead

Looks like Conor Clifford is about to be announced as our latest signing. Squad taking shape. Looking forward to seeing how he gets on.

doncarlos

Pighead wrote: »

Looks like Conor Clifford is about to be announced as our latest signing. Squad taking shape. Looking forward to seeing how he gets on.

Very hard to say. If anyone can get the best out of him it's Kenny but he's a bit of a gamble

doncarlos

gimmick wrote: »

Dooley is currently on trial at Chesterfield. he is due back this week.

You don't sound too confident of him being successful

Awesomeness

https://twitter.com/DundalkFC/status/821053064312483840

Maybe a mountney renewal?

wadacrack

Conor Clifford signs.. Huge signing for Dundalk

A_Sober_Paddy

wadacrack wrote: »

Conor Clifford signs.. Huge signing for Dundalk

Is it really huge, he was playing in the 5th or 6th tier in England. Dundalk is his 9th club I believe

Awesomeness

Dundalk should have good options in midfield still.

O'Donnell, Shields, Benson, Mceleney, Benson, Clifford, Mountney, Mcgrath signed.

Still rumors of another couple of midfielders too

wadacrack

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Is it really huge, he was playing in the 5th or 6th tier in England. Dundalk is his 9th club I believe

wadacrack

He was playing in the National League in England its a decent level.

MD1990

Clifford still only 25. Very interesting signing. Could be a great buy for Dundalk especially under Kenny who is a brillant man manger who could help him fulfill his talent.

ShamoBuc

wadacrack wrote: »

Some great goals, but how long ago? 6 years?

I would imagine he is still well capable of doing a fine job for Dundalk though .

topmanamillion

wadacrack wrote: »

He was playing in the National League in England its a decent level.

not particularly. A bit like the LOI in there are massive gulfs from top to bottom. Clifford was playing in front of crowds of about 500.

Awesomeness

Did he just have a loss of form that took him down the leagues or was there an attitude problem

joeysoap

topmanamillion wrote: »

not particularly. A bit like the LOI in there are massive gulfs from top to bottom. Clifford was playing in front of crowds of about 500.

Towell was with Bluebell, Hoban with Mervue, 500 would have been a full house for them. We can only wait and see if he's as good as SK thinks (or hopes) he is.

Extratime has Mountney re-signed.

Enough new blood to keep the hunger alive?

joeysoap

Reading between the lines it looks like Dundalk had to buy him,

http://www.borehamwoodfootballclub.co.uk/conor-returns-home/

CSF

If I was losing players of the quality to go over and start immediately in the Championship, I'd not be overly excited about signings coming in from Boreham Wood.

But as has been already said, good players can come from anywhere so you never really know. But nothing to get excited about for now.

Oat23

joeysoap wrote: »

Towell was with Bluebell

Only to keep fit until the LOI window opened, wasn't it?

UnleashTheBeast

Sligo Rovers fans - what is Ciaran Nugent like? He has signed for us (Galway United).

red sean

UnleashTheBeast wrote: »

Sligo Rovers fans - what is Ciaran Nugent like? He has signed for us (Galway United).

Very good keeper. Would have loved if he'd stayed.

joeysoap

UnleashTheBeast wrote: »

Sligo Rovers fans - what is Ciaran Nugent like? He has signed for us (Galway United).

Looked very good against Dundalk last year, took up great positions, limiting the number of saves he actually had to make.