I wouldn't be surprised by whatever choice he (Rice) makes be it hangs up his boots, moves on or stays.
lets face it guys we would all take survival even finishing 10th out of 12 with a bit of a run in the cups at this stage, it is extremely unlikely Longford will be challenging for the premiership next season, therefore will Rice want to or have the hunger be fighting for survival after all he is used to, as he says himself "being there at the business end of the season challenging for titles"
I am not suggesting or wishing hom to retire, but I have heard his interviews he tought about retiring last year, he was impressed with Cousins and while he praises Ltfc he also says he got a bit of stick for dropping down a division but he didn't care about any of that, because he wanted to be involved challenging for titles again and Ltfc were clearly going to do that. it's unlokely we will be this coming season
I believe we will do ok next season and would be very happy if we finish in the top 7 or 8 and push on from there over the next couple of years,
The reason he considered retiring if you listened to his interview properly was becuase he lost someone close to him so to come back and be involved in a league winning team deserves huge credit to the man and his character. No chance hel retire. According to yourself Mark Salmon was set to retire as well and he's just t signed on the dotted line for next season. I wonder sometimes....
I didn't say Salmon was set to retire I said I thought he would retire, glad I'm wrong, but it remains to be seen wheather his leg will be up to playing in the premiership, we might well find that after a couple of months he is no longer a starter and his appearances are less and less
I was trying to point out the need for new blood, at the end of the day if De Town only resign everyone from last year (except Glen who we know is gone) we will most likely get relegated, Rice with all his experience know this too, he has won everything in Ireland afaik so I was wondering of his desire not to be involved in a title race next season, I believe he will resign but will wait and wait keeping his options open
this is all just what I think which isn't worth a pile of beans but the way some people think you would swear De Town can't play without him
We all know the need for new players but it's entirely logical that the first announcements would be about existing players staying on as they're the easiest deals to do for a lot of reasons. There'll be plenty of players available for months yet.Start worrying about relegation in March if you must.
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
Paul Skinner signed from Athlone.
Decent enough keeper. Competition for Hunt anyway if he has signed.
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
Hate to be the negative **** but Skinner was brutal for athlone last season and as a result lost his place to Coulter. As Longfordian said re: new players, we aren't even at the end of the domestic season yet so to be panicking over players is just silly, TC has always got his business done early and hel be no different this year, one thing I've always trusted him in is building a good squad, he's signed well in the off season every single season he's been here so chill the beans.
Fair enough. My main memories of Skinner are from playing us in the First two years ago and he was decent. I watched feck all of the Premier last season even on TV tbh. Remains to be seen I suppose if he or Hunt will be first choice.
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
Underwhelming, but sure he's probably better than Hunty. I propose we call him Skinny Pete.
I think you have Marty to be honest but it was a bit poorly phrased maybe. I meant Skinner will provide a challenge to Hunt if he (Skinner) has signed
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
A bit underwhelmed by that signing tbh. Saw a few Athlone fans on FB/Twitter calling him a traitor and the like but you can't blame the lad for wanting to treble his money and get a club car. It's great being so loaded.
I read and heard Hunt has signed as well, delighted with that, he is not brilliant but compared to Bennion he is, probably on my own here but he was my player of the year, made a massive difference to the way we played and got results once Bennion was dropped, not all down to Paul I know but I seriously doubt we would have been promoted without him
I'd agree with you in that we played an awful lot better when he came in and he always tried to play out from the back as well. It's hard to know though without talking to the staff whether that was why they put him in. I don't mean to sound like I'm not giving him credit because to be fair his defenders definitely seemed to trust him but it's hard to say whether he benefitted from Sully/Flynn/Jamie getting settled or whether the defence improved because of Hunt replacing Bennion. He's still young by keeper standards too, what is he 23 or so?
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
I'd be happy to take one or two from UCD there.
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