(Very early) Transfer gossip/squad retention

[Charlie Darwin]

genuine question not sniping at all, but how would you judge his record at premier level when resources are not competitive with the top sides?

And whats his temperment like at that level when he simply cannot match wages that Rovers, Pats et al will offer?
Well that was the point I was making - he demands the world and when he doesn't he departs for somebody who can give it to him. The only time he hasn't had big resources were for spells at Bohs, Rovers and Mons and he did as well as could be expected, but his eyes were always trained on a bigger job. With Mons I really think he did get players getting good results, but we all know how that ended financially.



There has to be some reason he doesn't get a chance to hang around anywhere too long in fairness, is it his temperment i.e throwing his toys out of his pram when being asked to live within his means, or is he the unluckiest manager on the island?

Part of the remit of managing Athlone will be to live within his means and if thats a problem then maybe we are better off looking elsewhere?
Roddy is a very good manager, but he wants the absolute best. If he stayed on at Athlone, he'd want to be challenging the top of the league. Athlone can't spend the money required, so he'd get restless. If Athlone had €1 milllion to spend a year, I guarantee Roddy would be challenging for the title, but he doesn't. The difference now is that he's burned so many bridges, he doesn't have many bargaining chips anymore.

[KeepersBall]

There's another way of looking at this.
If Roddy does want the 'absolute best', it' only because he knows that given that he will deliver league titles, his record shows that.
In fact you could argue his record at Bohs,domestically and in Europe, Mons, Athlone, not to mention Carlisle, places hm comfortably ahead of any of his comtemporaries currently or recently managing here.
Put it this way, if you won the lotto and decided to invest in a Airtricity club and aim them for the Champions League group stages, is there any other locally based manager you would employ ahead of him, I honestly think not.

[Charlie Darwin]

There's another way of looking at this.
If Roddy does want the 'absolute best', it' only because he knows that given that he will deliver league titles, his record shows that.
In fact you could argue his record at Bohs,domestically and in Europe, Mons, Athlone, not to mention Carlisle, places hm comfortably ahead of any of his comtemporaries currently or recently managing here.
Put it this way, if you won the lotto and decided to invest in a Airtricity club and aim them for the Champions League group stages, is there any other locally based manager you would employ ahead of him, I honestly think not.
Roddy is the new Drogs manager so. Feel free to quote me on this when it's confirmed.

[KeepersBall]

Only thing that will be confirmed is fans suspicions that Horgan had the job all along

[galwayhoop]

I think Athlone will most likely be relegated or else playoff next season. Big mistake letting Roddy go. He turned ye from a mid table (lower??) side and going nowhere into run away champions in nine months.

I think Drogheda will be down with ye. Letting Mick Cooke go is lunacy too - granted there may be differences but what happens on the pitch has to have some weight too.

That said, in the weird and wonderful world of the League of Ireland it isn't beyond the realms of possibility that Roddy goes to Drogs and Mick Cooke goes to Athlone - despite both managers seemingly leaving due to their ambition and vision being greater than the respective club boards.

[White Horse]

I think Athlone will most likely be relegated or else playoff next season. Big mistake letting Roddy go. He turned ye from a mid table (lower??) side and going nowhere into run away champions in nine months.

I think Drogheda will be down with ye.

If Mick Cooke ends up at Athlone, I would tip them for a top half finish.

Cooke will be desperate to show Drogheda they were wrong to sack him. In addition, he is likely to bring half the Drogheda first team with him.

It's too early to speculate about Drogheda. They appear to be taking the cheap option and promoting their first team coach to be manager. A big and bold move by the Board.

[Fivesilver]

I haven't had a look at the papers for a few days. Have McDonnell or Malone written the article yet about how the Tallaght clearout underlines Croly's credibility and makes Shams clear title favourites?

[MiniMourinho]

appear to be taking the cheap option and promoting their first team coach to be manager. A big and bold move by the Board.


Cheap option /affordable option.

[Frolics]

I've been following Foot.ie for years , but have only recently registered an account. I'm a Drogs fan and have massive respect for LOI Clubs and for the people (Board Members & Fans) whose mammoth voluntary efforts year after year keep the League going.

I'm not here to store the Sh1t ... But I have to take issue with KeepersBall version of the "Mick Cooke Meeting". It is grossly unfair the Keepersball should mention that A "former director" and "Highly Respected Solicitor" was involved in a meeting with cooke behind the backs of the current board.

His description of the man clearly identifies him to 90% of Drogheda fans, all Journalists who cover the league and probably keep an eye on this forum, and to many people involved in the clubs the length and breath of Ireland.

Whatever about the rest of KeepersBalls "Answers in Order" .... I can state with 100% certainty that the "respected solicitor" was not involved in, and had no knowledge of and meeting with Cooke...

These have been difficult times for Drogheda United and it's very unfair that people like "KeepersBall" would give the impression that he knows all the facts ...but gets such a key part of it so wrong.



Answers in order.

I don't know what sort of record they would have on property deals, although as one of them is a highly respected solicitor I would suggest everything is above board on this.

[galwayhoop]

If Mick Cooke ends up at Athlone, I would tip them for a top half finish.


Maybe not top half but certainly wont be relegated.

Sorry I meant to caveat my post by saying if Roddy and Mick Cooke do change positions with each other I think the clubs will be pretty much as they would have been.

Mick Cooke, imho, will be the signing of the close season.

[desaintsno.12]

Roddy Collins is the best Irish manager in the country ? ya's are all mad

[KeepersBall]

Affordable Option? Really
Doubt gate receipts this coming season will show that to be true, and as for the season after in the first division, the mind boggles.
MM you and your cohorts have got it wrong but although deep down youa ctually know that, like many of us I guess, it's hard to admit that publicly.
As for Mick Cooke being the signing of the close season.
Correct.

[Mr A]

Maybe Mick Cooke's attitude was - look what I did with the current budget, give me a bit more and who knows what we can do.

And maybe the board's was- if we can't attract crowds and sponsors with second place or three cup finals increasing our expenditure to chase the dream is likely to lead to disaster.

There's always a chance trying to cut your cloth will lead to trouble as well, but for boards it's often a case of looking for the least worst option.

[MiniMourinho]

Maybe Mick Cooke's attitude was - look what I did with the current budget, give me a bit more and who knows what we can do.

And maybe the board's was- if we can't attract crowds and sponsors with second place or three cup finals increasing our expenditure to chase the dream is likely to lead to disaster.

There's always a chance trying to cut your cloth will lead to trouble as well, but for boards it's often a case of looking for the least worst option.

Why cant other be as enlightened as you Mr A! You are totally right.

[KeepersBall]

Fair comment Mr A, however if it was ONLY about the budget there wouldn't have been a problem.

[wandererfan]

pfai list out, but as usual dont trust it

[Dunny]

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131011130113/psi/images/f/fe/Facepalm-1-.jpg

Ah cmon use the right one!

http://i.stack.imgur.com/jiFfM.jpg

[Aaron]

Is there any chance we could seperate the Cooke fiasco with rumours, cloggin up this thread.

[Mr A]

Fair point.- **Dons Mod Hat** Folks- please keep the Cooke stuff to the already existing thread.

**Dons sombrero, fires rifles wildly into the air.**

[CityRebel]

Darren Murphy signed for City. Great signing!

http://www.corkcityfc.ie/home/2013/11/15/darren-murphy-signs-for-ccfc/

[A face]

Darren Murphy signed for City. Great signing!

http://www.corkcityfc.ie/home/2013/11/15/darren-murphy-signs-for-ccfc/

Confirmed signing though ..... Transfers Thread (http://foot.ie/threads/184698-LOI-Transfers-2014)

[Ezeikial]

Is there any chance we could seperate the Cooke fiasco with rumours, cloggin up this thread.

The indiscipline here is shocking

Next thing we will have is players being released by their clubs being posted in the transfers thread.

[nigel-harps1954]

The indiscipline here is shocking

Next thing we will have is players being released by their clubs being posted in the transfers thread.

Isn't that technically still a transfer?

[oriel]

From orielweb

David McMillan to Dundalk ?

[mcgonigle]

From orielweb

David McMillan to Dundalk ?

Love it :D Someone posted that they seen McMillan having a coffee in the Crowne Plaza and now he's coming to Dundalk. You can't beat a transfer rumour

[Ezeikial]

Isn't that technically still a transfer?

Hardly.

Surely you need two clubs involved!

[bluewhitearmy]

Rumour is Michael Rafter is close to signing for Cork.

[dundalkfc10]

Rumour is Michael Rafter is close to signing for Cork.

Good player but id question his fitness, always seems to be carrying a few extra pound

[Aaron]

The indiscipline here is shocking

Next thing we will have is players being released by their clubs being posted in the transfers thread.

You leave the transfer thread to me ;)

[Acornvilla]

Drunken excited Twitter posts suggest that sully is staying with longford. Dinner dance was tonight

[peterpan]

Anthony Elding confirmed for cork city, impressive statement of intent.

[Jofspring]

Heard we decided not to sign Elding despite having the option there to do so. Hopefully we have something in the pipeline or it could look like a bad loss for us and a very good gain for Cork.

[Longfordian]

Drunken excited Twitter posts suggest that sully is staying with longford. Dinner dance was tonight

Yeah confirmed on the club site and by the man himself when accepting his Player Of The Year award. We appear to have retained most of our best players which is good news.

[adamd164]

Two good signings so far from Caulfield. Think that's the first proper striker we've signed (and not loaned) in a good while!

[IrishRossi]

and all the players last nite were on about staying

[poster]

Anthony Elding confirmed for cork city, impressive statement of intent.

Is it though? Very average player.

[Patrick Dunne]

On average about 19 goals a season !

[Fivesilver]

Elding's a good signing for City. Not without its risks - he's a bit of a disciplinary timebomb and had a loss of form that coincided neatly with the midseason slump that cost us the title - but overall we got pretty good value out of him. His goals total and his last contribution mean he'll be remembered fondly by most.

[CityRebel]

Rafter back to Dundalk?

[bluewhitearmy]

Heard we decided not to sign Elding despite having the option there to do so. Hopefully we have something in the pipeline or it could look like a bad loss for us and a very good gain for Cork.

Ridiculous decision by us tbh.

[Yossarian]

Rafter back to Dundalk?

No thanks.

[donnrua]

On average about 19 goals a season !
not trying to be pedantic but his record on average is 11 goals a season :rolleyes:

[Fivesilver]

I think Patrick was referring to his average for last season.

[poster]

On average about 19 goals a season !

That's true but he did go a total of two full rounds of league games without a goal. Granted Danny North's return and Dave McMillan's arrival limited his chances to an extent but he still had plenty of game time during those 22 games.

Although he managed the haul that he did, he's not the type of player you can rely on in games against meaner defences, especially if you play with only one striker. Considering the wage he was looking for in Sligo to stay on as a back up, it was a good move by Rovers to let him go.

If I was a Cork fan, I'd be praying the new management stick a quicker, lighter and all round more nimble striker beside him.

[CityRebel]

That's true but he did go a total of two full rounds of league games without a goal. Granted Danny North's return and Dave McMillan's arrival limited his chances to an extent but he still had plenty of game time during those 22 games.

Although he managed the haul that he did, he's not the type of player you can rely on in games against meaner defences, especially if you play with only one striker. Considering the wage he was looking for in Sligo to stay on as a back up, it was a good move by Rovers to let him go.

If I was a Cork fan, I'd be praying the new management stick a quicker, lighter and all round more nimble striker beside him.
12 goals in 24 league appearances (18 starts, 6 as a sub).

[avvenalaf]

Hard to know what to make out of Elding. He rarely stays longer than one season with a club and it seems to be fairly easy to get into his head. Cup final showed, however, that he has it in a 4 4 2 and if Cork hold on to Kilduff, they could be on to something. Barraclough spoke last night about the tough decisions he had to make and this was clearly one of them but the money he wanted was not on given that the system has to be played in his favour.

[donnrua]

It seems like people are judging Elding on one above average season on the scoring front. His disciplinary record wasn't the best and neither was his all-round game plus he's on the wrong side of thirty.

[Ezeikial]

It seems like people are judging Elding on one above average season on the scoring front. His disciplinary record wasn't the best and neither was his all-round game plus he's on the wrong side of thirty.

Why would his age (31yrs) be relevant? Its not like he will have a sell-on value, and presumably he is on a one season contract

[donnrua]

Why would his age (31yrs) be relevant? Its not like he will have a sell-on value, and presumably he is on a one season contract
just pointing out that his best years are behind him

[oriel]

If Elding had re-signed back with Sligo, I would seriously doubt the comments from their fans would be as negative towards him. I think this is a cracking signing for Cork, and will offer them much needed firepower.

Assume this means Kliduff will not be re-joining Cork on loan.