Greatest League in the World 2024 [new thread available]

If the rumour is to be believed it's quite serious and surprising it didn't come up already.

I've since seen rumours of it elsewhere, vague enough too though.

Nice article on Treaty on the BBC.

Celtic are a poor choice for any promising young player. Luca Connel was getting game time at Bolton in the Championship at 18 when Celtic paid £350,000 for him. 2 years later he's stagnated to the point the best loan he could get was at Scottish third tier side!

Kenny would have been better off at Hibs or a lower league English side than that. Chances are he'll be thrown into Celtics reserves and forgotten about.

Player development doesn't work like that. The next few years are crucial and he's going to be playing Berwick Rangers in the lowland league. I hope Rodgers has been smart enough to get them to agree to loan him out in the summer. The Scottish 5th tier is a daft level for him to drop down to even considering the improvements in coaching and training facilities he'll have available to him.

There were a few offers on the table for him in Scotland and Europe but he decided on Celtic. Development wise it's probably the option that gives him the lowest odds of success and Rovers the lowest odds of getting any more than the crap fee up front but I wish him the best. Hopefully he overcomes the odds.

Scales was completely different, as you say he was 5 years older. He was also an Ireland U21 International and had played regular European football. Kenny has none of that in his favour and will have to be the standout player in their U23s/reserves and hope the Celtic manager gives him a chance which he might not.

Celtic are a selling/feeder club and they play a numbers game. They bring in as many players as they can for as little as they can and hope 1 or 2 come good.

It would not surprise me if Celtic looked to loan out Kenny in the short term. If Hibernian wanted to sign him as well maybe another spfl club will be interested in a loan deal for him that would be the ideal scenario for next year or so I would think.

All of the players mentioned in the two posts above were out of contract. Kenny wasn't out of contract. They aren't the same situations at all. It's not like Celtic, Hibs and the other teams only became interested after he signed his new deal on November 3rd. Rovers knew there were teams sniffing around wanting him this month since the summer.

We shot ourselves in the foot signing him to a new deal when he was likely leaving. Teams now lining up to pay the €150k no questions asked (more than just Hibs & Celtic by the way) is proof of that. The new contract was of zero benefit to the club and gave his agent and the interested teams more power.

Niall McGinn to Derry...possibly.

No offence lads, but a decent young prospect and Welsh u21 cap should have better offers from his own leagues if he's good enough.

There are exceptions though I accept.

Again, no offence chaps but the lad who stood out last season with Pats (Lewis?)has gone to Plymouth.

Lots of other examples too. How many have come over from the UK and gone back to a higher level in the UK?

Not many. He's here because no-one else wants him.

He might be a terrific signing for Dundalk though.

Pico Lopes with a win and clean sheet for Cape Verde against Ethiopia at AFCON. Brilliant to see

The only defender signed by Pats from Drogheda is Joe Redmond. He looks a really good player though. They have also signed Mark Doyle who is a winger/striker.

We (Drogheda) have lost all of our back 5 now. Redmond to Pats, Conor Kane to Shels, Browne to Blackburn, O'Reilly to Hamilton and the keeper, Odumosu, looks to have offers in England.

In my 45 years supporting LoI , I've never seen a team lose their entire first choice back 5!

Kevin Doherty will do very well to keep us up after losing so many players.

Absolutely. Cillian has a real chance.

I think that he will be a CB eventually and I wouldn't be surprised to see him play for Ireland some day. He is going to be a belter.

I would assume he saw what Doyle got at Pats and tried to milk it off the back of that. Id still have him on a 2 year deal with clauses. Very little attacking talent in the league. Going foreign is a pick n mix. More likely to end up with a Zahibo as a Parkes.