Contract Renewals & Squad Lists 2016

[disgruntled]

I think he realises that he needs to set his team up differently and be less cautious away from home. My question is whether he knows how to achieve this. Has any of his teams in junior football played a more expansive game?

Don't know whether his teams have been expansive or not but he's been very successful at any level he's managed at.
He's won trophies all over the place so he obviously has something about him. So far he's had 2 League runners up & a Cup runners up in two seasons at LOI level. He's just been unfortunate to have come up against a very talented & well drilled Dundalk squad.

[disgruntled]

I think Caulfield did a great job on 10%* of the budget Dundalk had. (*Copyright, J Caulfield)

It would be interesting to see what he could do if he had Dundalk's budget.

[Philosophizer]

What you say about the support numbers is correct but a city the size of Cork should have a much bigger support.

Declan McGrath produced an brilliant piece earlier this year about the 'impact' LOI clubs have on their community, i.e. what percentage of the locality attend the games. On average it was 3.8%, which is decent compared to foreign leagues. Cork was slightly below this at 2.84%. In fact most clubs were slightly below the average, while Dundalk (5.86%), Longford (6.8%) and Sligo (11.5%) were well ahead. (Sligo seem to have the biggest impact on their community by a mile, probably because of all the excellent community work they do and investment in facilities over recent years etc).

It's a bit of a read, but it's v informative. I recommend it to anyone interested in LOI attendances. Here's the piece on extratime.ie - http://extratime.ie/newsdesk/articles/14182/the-hidden-world-of-airtricity-league-attendances/

[GCdfc]

It would be interesting to see what he could do if he had Dundalk's budget.

What's Dundalks budget? How much higher than Corks if at all?

Stephen Kenny took a squad of players that no one wanted and made a league winning team. Do you think he did that with a huge budget? Even with winning the league do you really think his budget increased dramatically?

[mcgonigle]

It would be interesting to see what he could do if he had Dundalk's budget.

They could sign every defensive player in the country for a start.

Anyway if Towell goes we will have the lowest budget in the league when you factor in that the rest of the squad pay subs.

[Ezeikial]

It would be interesting to see what he could do if he had Dundalk's budget.

Give Dan Murray a 5 year full time contract?

[disgruntled]

What's Dundalks budget? How much higher than Corks if at all?

Stephen Kenny took a squad of players that no one wanted and made a league winning team. Do you think he did that with a huge budget? Even with winning the league do you really think his budget increased dramatically?

Isn't that what he's done at every club he's been.
I don't know what Dundalk's budget is but they must be spending the money on something because it's certainly not the stadium.
If Dundalk lose Towell & Horgan then we'll see what he can do next season on the low budget that some seem to think he has.
I've no doubt at all that Kenny is a very talented manager & coach but he's not doing it on buttons.

[disgruntled]

Declan McGrath produced an brilliant piece earlier this year about the 'impact' LOI clubs have on their community, i.e. what percentage of the locality attend the games. On average it was 3.8%, which is decent compared to foreign leagues. Cork was slightly below this at 2.84%. In fact most clubs were slightly below the average, while Dundalk (5.86%), Longford (6.8%) and Sligo (11.5%) were well ahead. (Sligo seem to have the biggest impact on their community by a mile, probably because of all the excellent community work they do and investment in facilities over recent years etc).

It's a bit of a read, but it's v informative. I recommend it to anyone interested in LOI attendances. Here's the piece on extratime.ie - http://extratime.ie/newsdesk/articles/14182/the-hidden-world-of-airtricity-league-attendances/


Thanks for that. It's a big piece of work by McGrath.
I've got it opened here & will read it later.

[GCdfc]

Isn't that what he's done at every club he's been.
I don't know what Dundalk's budget is but they must be spending the money on something because it's certainly not the stadium.
If Dundalk lose Towell & Horgan then we'll see what he can do next season on the low budget that some seem to think he has.
I've no doubt at all that Kenny is a very talented manager & coach but he's not doing it on buttons.

No one said he is doing it on buttons but look closer to home at the players your team has. A number of them ain't cheap either.

[Nesta99]

Isn't that what he's done at every club he's been.
I don't know what Dundalk's budget is but they must be spending the money on something because it's certainly not the stadium.
If Dundalk lose Towell & Horgan then we'll see what he can do next season on the low budget that some seem to think he has.
I've no doubt at all that Kenny is a very talented manager & coach but he's not doing it on buttons.

This is done to death but there are extenuating circumstances currently that is preventing ground investment. When these issues are sorted we will start to see progress in this area. One thing that is currently developing is the Dundalk FC savings a/c. In the past when grants were awarded they were tough to get drown down when 20% had to be raised by the club. Currently having the finances in place to draw down any allocated grants will mean that improvements wont be so protracted (unless planning objections happen). It is true though that keeping a winning squad together gets more expensive as players want a slice of the pie. This time we may see the players budget drop if Towell and Horgan leave and stopping the 3 and bust scenario that has blighted clubs in the past (assuming of course that we are on for a 3 in a row which is in no doubt really).

[disgruntled]

No one said he is doing it on buttons but look closer to home at the players your team has. A number of them ain't cheap either.

Who did you have in mind ?

[mcgonigle]

Who did you have in mind ?

I would guess that the following Cork players wages would be on par with their Dundalk peers (bar Towell):

Miller, Healy, McNulty, Bennett, Murray, Gaynor, Dunleavy, B Dennehy, Shepard, O'Suillivan...

Players would not be resigning with a club if the wages were poor.

[El-Pietro]

I don't know about the rest but Dan Murray has had a full time job for the past few years. Don't think hes earning all that much.

[GCdfc]

I would guess that the following Cork players wages would be on par with their Dundalk peers (bar Towell):

Miller, Healy, McNulty, Bennett, Murray, Gaynor, Dunleavy, B Dennehy, Shepard, O'Suillivan...

Players would not be resigning with a club if the wages were poor.

Thanks for replying for me :D

[disgruntled]

I would guess that the following Cork players wages would be on par with their Dundalk peers (bar Towell):

Miller, Healy, McNulty, Bennett, Murray, Gaynor, Dunleavy, B Dennehy, Shepard, O'Suillivan...

Players would not be resigning with a club if the wages were poor.

Ok lets go through them.
Miller, Healy, McNulty, Bennett, Murray are all local & all in their mid thirties.
Miller, Healy & Bennett returned home to Cork having exhausted any possibility of a contract elsewhere.
Murray first came to Cork in 2002 aged 20.
McNulty is local & has never played with anyone else except Cork.
Gaynor is a wanderer having has about 7 different clubs. He actually from Louth.
Dunleavy came back from the UK aged 20 at the end of the 2011 season having gone over as a kid & not done much over there.
O'Sullivan came from the Munster Senior League & played under JC at Avondale Utd.He was 30 before he even made his LOI debut.

Miller. Healy & Bennett would have decent LOI wages I suppose but they wouldn't be big considering they're at the end of their careers & wanted to come home anyway. The rest wouldn't be on great money. I don't know about Shepperd but he was mostly a bench player with Rovers.
The Dennehy brothers are from just down the road in Tralee although Billy was released at the end of the season.

We couldn't hold on to Horgan because we couldn't give him what he's got from Dundalk & we certainly couldn't match what Towell is getting.
I think a lot of the players resigned because they're happy here & there isn't much money in the LOI now in any case.I presume our budget has improved this year to be able to sign Beattie & Bolger + hopefully a couple more if what we offer is acceptable to them.

We're hopeful of a more attacking style next season but that depends on who we can get in. The main thing is that we want to improve rather than Dundalk going backwards.

[Nesta99]

.
Gaynor is a wanderer having has about 7 different clubs. He actually from Louth.
.

He's probably more of a Rambler than a Wanderer!

[White Horse]

Gaynor is a wanderer having has about 7 different clubs. He actually from Louth.

The word up here is that he desperate to start playing football again. Missed it over the last two years apparently.

[strikeforce]

I think some folk on here are getting worried about the rebel rising.some might regret trying to **** against the wind. Could be a potential Banana skin for some.:monkey2::monkey2:

[disgruntled]

The word up here is that he desperate to start playing football again. Missed it over the last two years apparently.

At least in Cork he doesn't have to play of recycled tyres :p

[Charlie Darwin]

Gary Buckley signed a two-year deal with Cork.

[mcgonigle]

Ok lets go through them.
Miller, Healy, McNulty, Bennett, Murray are all local & all in their mid thirties.
Miller, Healy & Bennett returned home to Cork having exhausted any possibility of a contract elsewhere.
Murray first came to Cork in 2002 aged 20.
McNulty is local & has never played with anyone else except Cork.
Gaynor is a wanderer having has about 7 different clubs. He actually from Louth.
Dunleavy came back from the UK aged 20 at the end of the 2011 season having gone over as a kid & not done much over there.
O'Sullivan came from the Munster Senior League & played under JC at Avondale Utd.He was 30 before he even made his LOI debut.

Miller. Healy & Bennett would have decent LOI wages I suppose but they wouldn't be big considering they're at the end of their careers & wanted to come home anyway. The rest wouldn't be on great money. I don't know about Shepperd but he was mostly a bench player with Rovers.
The Dennehy brothers are from just down the road in Tralee although Billy was released at the end of the season.

We couldn't hold on to Horgan because we couldn't give him what he's got from Dundalk & we certainly couldn't match what Towell is getting.
I think a lot of the players resigned because they're happy here & there isn't much money in the LOI now in any case.I presume our budget has improved this year to be able to sign Beattie & Bolger + hopefully a couple more if what we offer is acceptable to them.

We're hopeful of a more attacking style next season but that depends on who we can get in. The main thing is that we want to improve rather than Dundalk going backwards.

I'm not sure the point you're trying to make in this post, are you suggesting that because some players are local, have been around a while or failed in the UK they are on small wages? I can make the same argument about Dundalk players but I'd be talking out my ass because like everyone else on here I don't know for sure.

Did Horgan join Dundalk for shed loads more money or did he leave for ambition? Who knows for sure, but either way it has been justified.

Without having any figures my guess is that there is not much between Dundalk, Rovers and Cork playing budgets and until players start showing off their wage slips I'm sticking to that opinion. I base it on the players and size of squads at these clubs.

[disgruntled]

I'm not sure the point you're trying to make in this post, are you suggesting that because some players are local, have been around a while or failed in the UK they are on small wages? I can make the same argument about Dundalk players but I'd be talking out my ass because like everyone else on here I don't know for sure.

Did Horgan join Dundalk for shed loads more money or did he leave for ambition? Who knows for sure, but either way it has been justified.

Without having any figures my guess is that there is not much between Dundalk, Rovers and Cork playing budgets and until players start showing off their wage slips I'm sticking to that opinion. I base it on the players and size of squads at these clubs.


You already did in post 105 "Anyway if Towell goes we will have the lowest budget in the league when you factor in that the rest of the squad pay subs."
I'm not calling you names or anything like that, just quoting what you said.This is just disscussion.

I'm just trying to explain why we don't have a huge wage bill compared to others.I don't know each persons wages exactly but I have a very good idea of what we spent on wages last year & when you consider our position in the league it's a lot less than what some might think.
The average wage in the Premier div is about 16k for a 40 week season which works out about 400pw.
There are of course a few who would earn above that but they are few & far between. There are also a lot who earn a lot less. The highest earner is on 40k+ & he doesn't play for us :)

Wages are starting to creep up again but nowhere near what they were some years ago in the crazy times. A lot depends on sponsorship & the amount sponsors are willing to put in.
Of course there are still a few white knights about but we don't have any of those down out way any more, thankfully.

[Ezeikial]

The average wage in the Premier div is about 16k for a 40 week season which works out about 400pw.
There are of course a few who would earn above that but they are few & far between. There are also a lot who earn a lot less.

In today's news......

Some players earn above the average wage - but there are not many of them.
Some players earn less then the average - a lot of these earn well below average.

The rest of your post was too highbrow for me

[Nesta99]

You already did in post 105 "Anyway if Towell goes we will have the lowest budget in the league when you factor in that the rest of the squad pay subs."


Eh...ah never mind!

[disgruntled]

In today's news......

Some players earn above the average wage - but there are not many of them.
Some players earn less then the average - a lot of these earn well below average.

The rest of your post was too highbrow for me

That's ok. We'll explain it to ye the next time ye come down.
In any case I suppose having sponsors paying players wages ye wouldn't know much about the what players earn ;)

[Dunny]

Sean Thornton re-signs for the Drogs:star::moon:
http://www.goal.com/en-ie/news/3942/ireland/2015/11/26/17744782/sean-thornton-signs-new-drogheda-united-deal

[White Horse]

Sean Thornton re-signs for the Drogs:star::moon:
http://www.goal.com/en-ie/news/3942/ireland/2015/11/26/17744782/sean-thornton-signs-new-drogheda-united-deal

Good signing, and only costing them 100 fags per week.

[mcgonigle]

Eh...ah never mind!

Yeah I'm not gonna bother either

[Mr A]

McNamee, McHugh, Coll and Harkin have resigned for Harps. Ryan McConnell has signed also, ex Man United youth.

[nigel-harps1954]

Great signing by Harps to get in Ryan McConnell. Given time, this kid could be the real deal. Was very unfortunate with injuries and similar type of player to John Dunleavy. Was Man Utd development squad captain before he left there too last summer.

[Longfordian]

Saw him play once or twice on MUTV as my Dad has it at home. He's a decent enough player alright should be well able for LOI.

[Martinho II]

Sean Thornton re-signs for the Drogs:star::moon:
http://www.goal.com/en-ie/news/3942/ireland/2015/11/26/17744782/sean-thornton-signs-new-drogheda-united-deal

very surprised that he stayed considering David Healy was after him at Linfield!

[Redzer]

Great signing by Harps to get in Ryan McConnell. Given time, this kid could be the real deal. Was very unfortunate with injuries and similar type of player to John Dunleavy. Was Man Utd development squad captain before he left there too last summer.
It works Nidge, we know all about it.
Signing players injured in the hope a miracle will happen. Good luck with that policy

[nigel-harps1954]

It works Nidge, we know all about it.
Signing players injured in the hope a miracle will happen. Good luck with that policy

He's not injured. He done pre-season with Man United over the summer and came through unscathed. He's been home since August.

I can understand a Sligo fans disappointment with him turning them down however.

[Olander]

He's not injured. He done pre-season with Man United over the summer and came through unscathed. He's been home since August.

I can understand a Sligo fans disappointment with him turning them down however.
But Harps are offering their players €20 a week lest we forget. The entire Harps squad combined were apparently on less money than Freddy Hall.......

How could Ryan McConnell turn down the massive wages on offer at the Showgrounds to sign as an amateur for Harps? Love of the game perhaps.

[Pablo Escobar]

Declan McGrath produced an brilliant piece earlier this year about the 'impact' LOI clubs have on their community, i.e. what percentage of the locality attend the games. On average it was 3.8%, which is decent compared to foreign leagues. Cork was slightly below this at 2.84%. In fact most clubs were slightly below the average, while Dundalk (5.86%), Longford (6.8%) and Sligo (11.5%) were well ahead. (Sligo seem to have the biggest impact on their community by a mile, probably because of all the excellent community work they do and investment in facilities over recent years etc).

It's a bit of a read, but it's v informative. I recommend it to anyone interested in LOI attendances. Here's the piece on extratime.ie - http://extratime.ie/newsdesk/articles/14182/the-hidden-world-of-airtricity-league-attendances/
It looks like he did a Wiki job with regard to our figures without truly understanding it. The 2.84% figure would be based on a city boundary that exists well within the urban area. If it were based on the immediate urban population, it would be below 1.5%. Basing it on a metro population, which is a much smaller metro area than Dublin, so more of a catchment area, it's below 0.8%. Not great all things considered. This is without factoring in the pulling power of Cobh Ramblers 😀

[nigel-harps1954]

But Harps are offering their players €20 a week lest we forget. The entire Harps squad combined were apparently on less money than Freddy Hall.......

How could Ryan McConnell turn down the massive wages on offer at the Showgrounds to sign as an amateur for Harps? Love of the game perhaps.

Signed on a multi-million Euro contract for five years.

[Olander]

Signed on a multi-million Euro contract for five years.
Some man is our Nidge. All the same, great to see Harps back in the Premier Division.

[cobhlad]

Paul Hunt signs for Cobh from Longford. Decent keeper and another positive signing. Squad building up well

[Martinho II]

Paul Hunt signs for Cobh from Longford. Decent keeper and another positive signing. Squad building up well

massive loss for us imo. I think hes way better than Paul Skinner.. I wish him well in his move. I think Cobh will do well next season especially with Hunty in goals for them!

[strikeforce]

Towell gone to Brighton on a two and half year contract. Loss to our league.

[Yossarian]

Towell gone to Brighton on a two and half year contract. Loss to our league.

From a purely selfish point of view I hate that he has left as he was a fantastic player for us.
I'm delighted for him though as its a great move to a good club and I've no don't but he will slot right in. As long as he hits the ground running and stays injury free I would expect him to be in the squad for the Euros.

[White Horse]

As long as he hits the ground running and stays injury free I would expect him to be in the squad for the Euros.

It is disappointing that a player of Richie's talent and dedication is forced to play for an English club in order to have any chance of playing for Ireland.

Richie was happy at Dundalk and playing outstanding football but the English football fans at the FAI slammed the door in his face.

I hope it goes well for him. He was a terrific player for us.

[Real ale Madrid]

From a purely selfish point of view I hate that he has left as he was a fantastic player for us.
I'm delighted for him though as its a great move to a good club and I've no don't but he will slot right in. As long as he hits the ground running and stays injury free I would expect him to be in the squad for the Euros.

Does he have a thread in the Ireland forum? Be fitting if a Dundalk fan starts it up!

Sad day for the league but with my Cork City hat on this is good news for us. His performance at the Cross at the league game last season was particularly excellent, as good as anything seen at the ground by a visiting player, in my humble opinion.

[osarusan]

Signed for a high-flying championship team...that's as good a transfer as he could have got I think.

It'll be interesting to see how he fares against a better class of opposition.

[Jofspring]

Great to see a player stuck to his guns and has backed himself. Hopefully now he can establish himself over. Going to be tough with Brighton already flying it.

[White Horse]

Great to see a player stuck to his guns and has backed himself. Hopefully now he can establish himself over. Going to be tough with Brighton already flying it.

That is my concern.

A mid season move to a team that is playing well. Possibly promoted at the end of the season. Not an easy team to break into.

[Nesta99]

Does he have a thread in the Ireland forum? Be fitting if a Dundalk fan starts it up!

Sad day for the league but with my Cork City hat on this is good news for us. His performance at the Cross at the league game last season was particularly excellent, as good as anything seen at the ground by a visiting player, in my humble opinion.

Really? I thought the general consensus of Cork fans was that he spent most of the time sitting on his arse or doing a dying swan impersonation...

[disgruntled]

Towell gone to Brighton on a two and half year contract. Loss to our league.

Big loss to the LOI but to have any chance to get near the international squad he had to go. Its sad that a player with such talent wouldn't be considered for inclusion when you see some that make the international team squad.
Good luck to him. I hope he's a great success over there.

[disgruntled]

Really? I thought the general consensus of Cork fans was that he spent most of the time sitting on his arse or doing a dying swan impersonation...

He did spend a lot of time on his arse but he's not the only one.
Its an unfortunate part of the game nowadays.