Lee O'Connor D/M Tranmere b.2000

[Eirambler]

Reportedly heading to League 2 Tranmere Rovers on loan this season.

Better than the Scottish Championship anyway.

[Bielsa´s irish]

he is the best irish youngster. he should play for a grass footie team. luton bournemouth. etc

[Diggs246]

Reportedly heading to League 2 Tranmere Rovers on loan this season.

Better than the Scottish Championship anyway.

Hes too good for that tbh. His agent is awful. I really hope he has a proper agent and not his dad/brother or uncle
He is an Irish international and also a very good player. He should be loaned out to west brom( no I'm not drunk) they have a shortage of full backs and he could play every cup game and who knows. If he wants football everyweek which is probably smarter as I write....the championship must have a club that need a young player like him

[dynamo kerry]

Hes too good for that tbh. His agent is awful. I really hope he has a proper agent and not his dad/brother or uncle
He is an Irish international and also a very good player. He should be loaned out to west brom( no I'm not drunk) they have a shortage of full backs and he could play every cup game and who knows. If he wants football everyweek which is probably smarter as I write....the championship must have a club that need a young player like him

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/plgtm/beraterfirma/berater/5488

Seems he has the same agency looking after him as molumby TAA and Parrott. That said he probably has one of the junior agents
Or someone busy with a big player looking after him. Either way he could do with a change

[Olé Olé]

I wonder if it is for half a season or a full season. Half a season would make some sense because he could move up a rung or two for the second half, assuming he shows his worth.

[Eirambler]

Year long loan apparently.

It's not ideal, League 1 would have been better, but I feared he'd end up in the Scottish Championship again. He's not a known name in Scotland at all, so difficult to get an SPL team to take a punt on him as they know nothing about him.

Tranmere should be strong in League 2 and be pushing for promotion. If he's playing regularly in a winning attacking team and continuing with the Ireland under 21s at the same time it might work out OK for him.

[Olé Olé]

Okay. It's actually not that bad. He only turned 20 a couple of weeks ago. A good season at League Two level under the belt of a 21 year old wouldn't be the end of the world, especially for someone with his talent. Danny McNamara, for example, is 22 in December so he was older than O'Connor is now when he started his loan at Newport County. Given how good O'Connor has been for Ireland I think we are just all expecting him to be at a higher grade.

[irishfan86]

Given the talk here about him being loaned to a lower Scottish side I think we have to be pleased enough with this, especially with the worries about potentially rotting with Celtic reserves/underage teams. It’s all about getting matches and if he does well with Rovers maybe he’ll be in a better position to compete for a first team spot with Celtic next season.

[kennedmc]

If he was good enough for the championship or league 1, at the moment, he would have gone there. Meaningless Irish friendly aside and good U21 performances (It is still underage level) he's obviously not at the level that some on here think he is. Blaming his agent? Come on! Wasn't he on the bench for Patrick last year?!

As said above it is good he will get senior experience at league 2 - assuming he will get his place in the side that is. Still young so no need to panic yet but lets be realistic at where's he at.

[zero]

Tranmere were very unlucky to be relegated from league 1 - it was done on a points per game basis. I think they missed out by 0.04 points or something. They had won 3 in a row before the league was suspended.

You'd think they'll be challenging for promotion.

Perhaps worth noting Enda Stevens dropped down to league 2 with Portsmouth (admittedly a bigger club) and rose to the top.

[CraftyToePoke]

Perhaps worth noting Enda Stevens dropped down to league 2 with Portsmouth (admittedly a bigger club) and rose to the top.

So did Hourihane of our present squad and he might have been a bit older when he ended up there even. Its not the news we wanted re O'Connor especially as he has a cap but its a chance to show he doesn't belong down there and a chance to play first team games at least and build from there.

[Diggs246]

yeah, it was a friendly and against poor opposition but an international game no less. I thought he was the 2nd best player on the pitch behind Cullen

[passinginterest]

Tranmere looks a decent move for him. My worry for him is that he's not particularly fast, or particularly physical, or particularly big, or particularly skillful. He's a really steady allrounder and technically good, but I'd worry he doesn't have the standout single quality or two that can push a player to the next level. If the loan is a huge success it should see him either in the Celtic first team in a year or earning a move to a Championship side which would see him well placed at 22 years old. A lot of out players don't seem to really flourish until they hit 26/27.

[Diggs246]

Tranmere looks a decent move for him. My worry for him is that he's not particularly fast, or particularly physical, or particularly big, or particularly skillful. He's a really steady allrounder and technically good, but I'd worry he doesn't have the standout single quality or two that can push a player to the next level. If the loan is a huge success it should see him either in the Celtic first team in a year or earning a move to a Championship side which would see him well placed at 22 years old. A lot of out players don't seem to really flourish until they hit 26/27.

would you not say he is fast and skillful? i would agree with he is a light weight but that can be fixed

[tommy_c12000]

Source not overly credible on Tranmere link. Also, now linked to Luton via another random Twitter report. Nothing official yet. Let’s see how it plays out

[tommy_c12000]

And just as I post that, Tranmere officially announce Lee has signed on season long loan. Hoped for better, but still not bad, best of luck Lee! https://www.tranmererovers.co.uk/news/2020/august/lee-oconnor-and-paul-lewis-join-tranmere-rovers/

[Bielsa´s irish]

Tranmere looks a decent move for him. My worry for him is that he's not particularly fast, or particularly physical, or particularly big, or particularly skillful. He's a really steady allrounder and technically good, but I'd worry he doesn't have the standout single quality or two that can push a player to the next level. If the loan is a huge success it should see him either in the Celtic first team in a year or earning a move to a Championship side which would see him well placed at 22 years old. A lot of out players don't seem to really flourish until they hit 26/27.

Nor was Dennis Irwin or any other international right back of Ireland. Carr, Kenna, Curtis Fleming, Stephen Kelly, Morris, K.Foley etc. Oshea played right back or left back, he had long legs though.

Maybe a younger Gary Kelly...

O´Connor is an attacking right back, a very pacy player and very skillful from what i saw in Toulon, and physically very similar to Seamus Coleman.

[Eirambler]

Overall I'm reasonably satisfied with this outcome and the coming season will tell us a lot about Lee's longer term prospects.

The reality is that he has made some poor career decisions up to now - going to United, then to Celtic is probably about the worst route you could take to becoming a successful professional footballer, unless you're an absolute stand out youth player at either club you're not going to get a fair chance.

So, as a result, he has had to drop at least one division lower than he might otherwise have needed to in order to kick-start his career. But I'd rather this than see him going to another club where game time would be hard to get, at this level - unless he really disappoints or gets injured - he should get a full season of first team football under his belt.

[youngirish]

A loan to Exeter at the same age hasn't seem to have done Dara O'Shea any harm. I'd argue that if he doesn't look a cut above most of the defenders in League 2 even at 20 then he probably wasn't going to amount to anything other than a lower league journeyman anyway.

If he has a really good year he should attract interest from the higher divisions in England and hopefully get out of the SPL as fast as possible.

https://twitter.com/TranmereRovers/status/1295404949636030466?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcam p%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

[passinginterest]

would you not say he is fast and skillful? i would agree with he is a light weight but that can be fixed

He’s quick but nothing special by today’s standards. And I think he’s technically good but not exceptionally skilful. The likes of Coleman was lightning fast and tough, Irwin was a different era but was a brilliant defender with absolutely flawless set piece delivery.

I think a top class full back or wing back now has to be outstanding at either speed, skill, physicality or delivery and I’m not convinced O’Connor has enough of any of those to go beyond ‘good pro’ level. I’d absolutely love to be completely wrong, but there’s a lot of players like that scattered around lower leagues and league of Ireland. The modern game is ruthless.

[elatedscum]

I think he’s probably someone where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. There are no real standout attributes but he’s quick enough to have never seen him burnt for pace, there’s defensive flaws in his game but less than you’d imagine for a player his age. He’s a comfortable dribbler without it being a particular strong point of his. He’s a more technically smooth footballer than Coleman or Doherty I’d say. He’s also plenty gritty and tough too. Doesn’t shirk a 50-50 and can tackle. Crossing is good without being a Trent or a Finnan. There’s enough self confidence and determination and focus and drive.

He’s far and away the best young right back we have coming through. And that’s probably the only position you could really say that about any player with certainty.

There are plenty of fullbacks similar who tick all the boxes without standing out but I think, say compared to a Corey Whelan for example, everything is just that little bit better than most of them. Everything is a 7/10 or 8/10 rather than a 6/10 or 7/10 if you know what I mean.

PI - out of curiosity, what outstanding attribute do you think Enda Stevens has of those?

[DeLorean]

Regardless of its low key nature too, he was exceptionally good in that friendly against Bulgaria.

[jbyrne]

he's obviously not at the level that some on here think he is. Blaming his agent? Come on! Wasn't he on the bench for Patrick last year

to be fair he wasn't at Partick for that long. wasnt it 5 appearances in less than 8 weeks?

[Eirambler]

And Partick were in free fall at the time. Certainly not fair to judge him on that spell, he should never have been put in that position by Celtic.

A full year at Tranmere will give us a much better idea of where he is at.

[passinginterest]

I think he’s probably someone where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. There are no real standout attributes but he’s quick enough to have never seen him burnt for pace, there’s defensive flaws in his game but less than you’d imagine for a player his age. He’s a comfortable dribbler without it being a particular strong point of his. He’s a more technically smooth footballer than Coleman or Doherty I’d say. He’s also plenty gritty and tough too. Doesn’t shirk a 50-50 and can tackle. Crossing is good without being a Trent or a Finnan. There’s enough self confidence and determination and focus and drive.

He’s far and away the best young right back we have coming through. And that’s probably the only position you could really say that about any player with certainty.

There are plenty of fullbacks similar who tick all the boxes without standing out but I think, say compared to a Corey Whelan for example, everything is just that little bit better than most of them. Everything is a 7/10 or 8/10 rather than a 6/10 or 7/10 if you know what I mean.

PI - out of curiosity, what outstanding attribute do you think Enda Stevens has of those?

I agree on a that really. I've seen him live for the 21s and watched other games on TV and there's no doubting he's good, I'm just trying to reason why he didn't seem to make an impact at Celtic and the loan spell wasn't great. In fairness, I remember seeing Coleman for the 21's a few times and he was a liability (I think there's probably quote on here somewhere from me on that) despite the fact he was excellent every time I saw him in league of Ireland. Never easy to judge at that age. Stevens is an interesting one, wouldn't have been as good at that age, and technically probably isn't as good, but he's quicker I think and he's gone and developed himself into a physically strong player with an unbelievable engine. The fact he was a slow developer makes him a good comparison I think, O'Connor could well develop similar physicality, stamina and maybe even get quicker. Stevens delivery has gotten much better over the years too.

[Razors left peg]

In his situation any move was a good move. I feared for his career if he had another year of reserves at Celtic. Big year for him though, he needs to show hes capable of playing mens football

[Charlie Darwin]

I agree on a that really. I've seen him live for the 21s and watched other games on TV and there's no doubting he's good, I'm just trying to reason why he didn't seem to make an impact at Celtic and the loan spell wasn't great. In fairness, I remember seeing Coleman for the 21's a few times and he was a liability (I think there's probably quote on here somewhere from me on that) despite the fact he was excellent every time I saw him in league of Ireland. Never easy to judge at that age. Stevens is an interesting one, wouldn't have been as good at that age, and technically probably isn't as good, but he's quicker I think and he's gone and developed himself into a physically strong player with an unbelievable engine. The fact he was a slow developer makes him a good comparison I think, O'Connor could well develop similar physicality, stamina and maybe even get quicker. Stevens delivery has gotten much better over the years too.
I think, generally, basing a player's career prospects on this plain of talent on where they are when they're 20 is a fool's errand. These are the critical years in a player's career and they've a lot of development paths they can take. Doherty and Stevens are two contrasting examples of where you can go and end up in the same place.

[tetsujin1979]

Played for Tranmere in a friendly against Warrington on Saturday: https://www.tranmererovers.co.uk/news/2020/august/tranmere-vs-warrington-match-report/
Tranmere lost 3-0, O'Connor was taken off before the end

[Olé Olé]

I think, generally, basing a player's career prospects on this plain of talent on where they are when they're 20 is a fool's errand. These are the critical years in a player's career and they've a lot of development paths they can take. Doherty and Stevens are two contrasting examples of where you can go and end up in the same place.

I don't necessarily disagree with you but I would highlight the fact that Doherty and Stevens weren't coached in a full-time system until they were both 18 or maybe 19. O'Connor was in the United set up at 16. Might not make a huge pile of difference but a lot of our LOI alumni in the Ireland squad have been slightly older when establishing themselves at that level. That said, one could counter that by referring to John Egan having a PL schooling yet the same amount of caps as Doherty and is a similar age.

I'm probably talking myself up in knots there.

Anyway, I saw a furore on YBIG over O'Connor with Celtic fans writing him off and claiming others were over-hyping him and other lads castigating Lennon for not giving our young lads a chance. It might be too early to say O'Connor made the wrong decision going there. Let's see how this season goes. At 20, he has a lot of time on his side. And he has plenty talent too. We have seen how Obafemi, Idah and Connolly have almost spurned eachother on and now Parrott has taken the plunge for senior football. Hopefully O'Connor sees his old pal from the Déise, Molumby, make his senior international and PL bows soon and he pushes on too.

[Exgrad]

Doesn't seem to be near Tranmere squad at moment, is he injured? Thought he'd appeared in a number of their friendlies.

[tetsujin1979]

Started at the weekend, kept a clean sheet: https://www.tranmererovers.co.uk/news/2020/september/report-mansfield-town/

[Exgrad]

Ah ok, good stuff, looked their match up on google and the full back is down as C. Lee!! Wierd. He's been in team for last while so, which is great, a player who needs games.

[Eirambler]

Overall I'm reasonably satisfied with this outcome and the coming season will tell us a lot about Lee's longer term prospects.

The reality is that he has made some poor career decisions up to now - going to United, then to Celtic is probably about the worst route you could take to becoming a successful professional footballer, unless you're an absolute stand out youth player at either club you're not going to get a fair chance.

So, as a result, he has had to drop at least one division lower than he might otherwise have needed to in order to kick-start his career. But I'd rather this than see him going to another club where game time would be hard to get, at this level - unless he really disappoints or gets injured - he should get a full season of first team football under his belt.

Two and a half months on from this post and it isn't going too great for O'Connor at Tranmere. The team were expected to challenge for promotion but are looking more likely to be in a relegation battle as things stand.

Reports on O'Connor seem to match what has been previously said here, he's a tidy and consistent player but is lightweight for the division which leads to him getting pushed around. He doesn't seem to be a standout player for them by any stretch, which might have been hoped given the relatively low standard of the division. He has mostly been in the team but was dropped last night, only to come on again during the game, although Tranmere were already 3-0 down when he came on.

It's starting to look like another poor loan move unfortunately, a bit like Partick last season he finds himself in a team playing poorly and falling below expectations, which is not ideal when you're a younger player trying to develop. Probably the best hope here is that the season of men's football stands to him in the long run, but there's definitely a danger that his career falls away from this point - it doesn't look like he's as good as his under 21 appearances and senior debut suggested.

He's under 21 for us again in the next campaign so he'll be involved in the Ireland setup for the next few years nonetheless you'd imagine, although he may find himself under pressure for his place as other players like Ebosele come through from the lower age groups.

[tommy_c12000]

Back starting today after the experiment of dropping him didn’t work out. Here’s hoping for a nice Tranmere home win to steady the ship!

[Eirambler]

Unfortunately Tranmere lost again and the manager was sacked straight after the game. Not a good situation for O'Connor to find himself in, he has been really unlucky with his two loans, although the big mistake really was going to Celtic in the first place. Comments from their support not too flattering about him today. Tough situation for him though. Hopefully the new manager has faith in him.

[seanfhear]

Unfortunately Tranmere lost again and the manager was sacked straight after the game. Not a good situation for O'Connor to find himself in, he has been really unlucky with his two loans, although the big mistake really was going to Celtic in the first place. Comments from their support not too flattering about him today. Tough situation for him though. Hopefully the new manager has faith in him.
A new manager should always give everyone a chance. If he is good enough he takes it !

[Bielsa´s irish]

great pass today for the equalizer,,, great assist

[tommy_c12000]

Things looking up for Lee. Another win for tranmere and now in top half of table just off playoffs. New manager still to be confirmed

[tommy_c12000]

I have been a bit concerned at Lee being frozen out at Tranmere. From their forums looks like they had a left back covering right back instead of him over past few league games.

I watched the FA Cup game against Barnsley today. He did solid defensively including one excellent block. Little or nothing going forward. Hopefully, he did enough to regain his place, especially considering they’ve no other natural right back apparently

[Eirambler]

Was playing as a very defensive full back today, almost an extra centre back at times. Probably unsurprising as they were playing away to a team two divisions above them and going well.

He actually played reasonably OK today. Was turned a few times but made some good blocks and worked hard. Had no opportunity to get forward as there was effectively a right wing back playing outside him.

The worry for me is that he doesn't seem to have developed at all physically in the last couple of years. He looks like a boy playing men's football. I'd be concerned that he's not good enough to play at a high level and at the same time not physical enough to succeed in the lower leagues.

That a right back is the number one transfer priority for Tranmere this month says a lot I think. They have been linked to a right back from Birmingham City - 24 years old with a fair amount of Championship experience. If they bring him in O'Connor won't play much more for them I'd fear.

I think he'll either be a later developer or it just won't happen for him. Won his senior cap far ahead of time anyway.

Has the security of another two years contracted at Celtic. But I'm not sure where he goes next for first team football after uninspiring loan spells in the Scottish Championship and League 2.

[Olé Olé]

https://www.the42.ie/lee-oconnor-on-the-cusp-of-wembley-date-after-man-of-the-match-display-5343894-Feb2021/

Positive words on Lee O'Connor here. Maybe he can kick on for the second half of the season and prove a few of the doubters on here wrong.

https://www.thefootballnetwork.net/boards/read/s383.htm?730,16902620

This thread has a few comments from earlier in the month of January which shows contentment with O'Connor at right back too.

Not 21 until July.

[irishfan86]

Amazing what a bit of actual information can tell you about a player’s prospects. Based on the fact he’d been dropped and this forum, I was under the impression O’Connor was on the brink of falling out of professional football.

Then that article in the 42! It turns out he was out due to COVID, not being dropped — and gets man of the match playing in defensive midfield upon his return, and is now off to Wembley. Too funny.

[Eirambler]

O'Connor has definitely struggled with the physical side of senior football though, and took a lot of flak from Tranmere fans earlier in the season. He also hasn't played a league game since before Christmas - while Covid may account for part of that time it won't cover the whole period, he was definitely dropped before Christmas.

Possibly the main issue though might turn out to be that he isn't actually suited to being a right back at all - it may turn out that he's actually a sitting midfielder. Will be interesting to see if he plays more in that position from now on for Tranmere, a change like that could end up being the making of him, who knows.

[Charlie Darwin]

Amazing what a bit of actual information can tell you about a player’s prospects. Based on the fact he’d been dropped and this forum, I was under the impression O’Connor was on the brink of falling out of professional football.

Then that article in the 42! It turns out he was out due to COVID, not being dropped — and gets man of the match playing in defensive midfield upon his return, and is now off to Wembley. Too funny.
Tranmere are in the semis afaik so they're one game away from Wembley still.

[Exgrad]

So makes it to the final. Played defensive mid last night, and was v solid from what i saw. Think he moved to right back towards end but wasn't watching at that stage. His loan has had its ups and downs, like any loan spell will, but no doubt it has been an excellent one for him. Played lots of minutes, in different positions, with a reasonably high profile club and likely to play at Wembley. Shodipo looked a constant threat for Oxford.

[Exgrad]

Should get the start against Sunderland at Wembley on Sunday (3pm sky sports), has been pretty much an ever present in the side the last while. Good chance he'll be up against McGeady who is flying it at moment.

[Olé Olé]

Praise for 'excellent' Lee O'Connor as Ireland youngster prepares for Wembley https://the42.ie/5379588

[DeLorean]

Should get the start against Sunderland at Wembley on Sunday (3pm sky sports), has been pretty much an ever present in the side the last while. Good chance he'll be up against McGeady who is flying it at moment.

Not in the squad at all, presumably injured?

[tetsujin1979]

Ankle injury in training
1371113832098234372

[Olé Olé]

Not in the squad at all, presumably injured?

https://m.thefootballnetwork.net/boards/read/s383.htm?730,16946923

Poster here reckons he was victim of an awful challenge in training. Not sure the nature of the injury. Hopefully it doesn't keep him out for long.