2021 Season , Arrivals and departures

[Straightstory]

There is no doubt the SPL is miles better than LOI, but as we have discussed top 2 (not top 4 or 5 that I said before, I take that back) would compete with all bar old firm. The Scot Championship gets much bigger tv revenue hence bigger prize money, not sure that is much better than our PD, would prob be on par for most of our teams.

On euro performances, Pats drew with Celtic** away, Bohs knocked out Aberdeen, but prob 20 years ago now, Shels came close with Kilmarnock in the 90's and also they were 3-0 up 'away' to Rangers, all in the 90's.

I do remember one season not too long ago, when Rangers were on a low, they were beaten by a Lux side, and into r2, there were more LOI teams v SPL in Europe, but all one off's, and overall SPL as I said a far better standard.

** Dundalk v Celtic 1979 (2-3 and 0-0) - that was the one which could have made things tasty, last 16 of old EC. A a 1-0 home win would have done it for Dundalk, when 19k of the 22k at the game claimed to be behind the town goal to see Tommy Mc miss his 'sitter' which on replay in Jimmy McGee's 'once in a lifetime' show was actually not as close as all thought, still it was a good chance.

You forgot Derry's hammering of Gretna. I believe the last two times LOI sides have played Scottish sides in Europe, the Irish side has won. (The other one was Bohs v Aberdeen, as mentioned).

[Nesta99]

Fairy nuff so - UCD would survive in the Premier League cos we only lost 1-0 to Everton over two legs :)

If there was no one there to see it did it actually happen?? Bit like the tree falling in a forest theory ;p

Peak 6 own Dundalk, Dundalk had/have cash assets so yes they have spent their money. If you are talking about bankrolling aspects of the club that hasnt been with money earned directly by the club, nobody really knows but I doubt costs accrued could be covered without P6 adding to the pot and covering the shortfall - similar to Rovers and even Cork with Grovemoor among others tbh. Its not necessarily where fans (especially of other clubs) want to see money go at Oriel ie to a new away section and wider ground improvements. Dundalk fans I think have by and large given up on the possibility and we'd hate to deprive anyone of the stick to beat us with....though it would probably be just a return to pitch bashing if we had a fancy new stand built.

[Dalymountrower]

If there was no one there to see it did it actually happen?? Bit like the tree falling in a forest theory ;p

Peak 6 own Dundalk, Dundalk had/have cash assets so yes they have spent their money. If you are talking about bankrolling aspects of the club that hasnt been with money earned directly by the club, nobody really knows but I doubt costs accrued could be covered without P6 adding to the pot and covering the shortfall - similar to Rovers and even Cork with Grovemoor among others tbh. Its not necessarily where fans (especially of other clubs) want to see money go at Oriel ie to a new away section and wider ground improvements. Dundalk fans I think have by and large given up on the possibility and we'd hate to deprive anyone of the stick to beat us with....though it would probably be just a return to pitch bashing if we had a fancy new stand built.

The question was whether P6 had "put in any money". Other than purchasing the club, and spending what Dundalk FC earn, "who knows?", is the more honest answer.

[Sonny]

The question was whether P6 had "put in any money". Other than purchasing the club, and spending what Dundalk FC earn, "who knows?", is the more honest answer.

I was under the impression the million paid to the two boys for the takeover came out of the existing cash reserves? More than happy to be corrected if that wasn't the case but I don't think P6 even put a penny of their own funds up for the takeover.

[boynemunich]

You forgot Derry's hammering of Gretna. I believe the last two times LOI sides have played Scottish sides in Europe, the Irish side has won. (The other one was Bohs v Aberdeen, as mentioned).

In 2013 Drogheda lost 2-0 on aggregate against Malmo including a 0-0 in Tallaght and a very late goal in Malmo. They went on to beat Hibs 9-0 in the next round.

[Nesta99]

The question was whether P6 had "put in any money". Other than purchasing the club, and spending what Dundalk FC earn, "who knows?", is the more honest answer.

I think suggesting that Dundalk FC dont earn enough o cover all running costs currently and hence P6 needing to pony up to make ends meets is a reasonable supposition - far from lacking in honesty. The net 2016 EL money wasnt a bottomless pit and imo no longer exists and 2020 EL money would have been all but eroded by the financial issues of this season along with paying the likes of Colovic an eyewatering salary. If bank reserves are minimal as I sspect they are then yes P6 are 'putting in money'. I wish it was a lot more with ground work included. Maybe we should have tried selling the club twice....

[Nesta99]

In 2013 Drogheda lost 2-0 on aggregate against Malmo including a 0-0 in Tallaght and a very late goal in Malmo. They went on to beat Hibs 9-0 in the next round.

Well Pat Fenlon was Hibs manager at the time and European management was never his strong point. New Dundalk signing Sam Stanton was in that Hibs team hammered by Malmo.

[2 Year Contract]

Luke McNally has been sold by Pats to Oxford United in League One for an undisclosed fee. It was only a matter of time before he went across the water so no surprise really although disappointed not to have him for this season. Great for the club to get a transfer fee during covid times too.

According to Neil O'Riordan Pats turned down 2 bids of £50k and the one that was accepted in the end was a lot higher than that with performance related bonuses also included

[Dalymountrower]

. Maybe we should have tried selling the club twice....

Open to be corrected, but I thought you had? Matthews bought it then The Kwik Fit crowd and then P6?

[oriel]

Fast Fix ! And yes I think the joint owners got around 1m between them as part of the deal. The thing was, DFC already had 2-3m in their account at that time. P6 came in, debatable if they actually paid anything for the purchase, or rather took on the running of the club, being responsible for all the bills.

They made losses for two years, but should enjoy a nice profit from 2020 figures.

[SeanDrog]

Luke McNally has been sold by Pats to Oxford United in League One for an undisclosed fee. It was only a matter of time before he went across the water so no surprise really although disappointed not to have him for this season. Great for the club to get a transfer fee during covid times too.



Great player - year on loan with Drogs he was a star , hoping he has a great career in uk

[joey B]

Conor McCormack signs for Galway, serious signing for that level.....

[gufct]

https://galwayunitedfc.ie/conor-mccormack-signs-for-galway-united/ Massive statement of intent and great work by all involved. That’s all our work done before pre season starts first time ever in over 35 yrs involved with the club.

The interest is massive county wide and hopefully fans will get in at some stage.

[2 Year Contract]

Good signing for Galway that, must be the first time in a very long time that a First Division club has paid a transfer fee for a player

[El-Pietro]

If there was no one there to see it did it actually happen?? Bit like the tree falling in a forest theory ;p

By that logic we never got relegated.

[joey B]

Mark Russell back at Harps, one of our better players last season, really happy to see him back.....

[Real ale Madrid]

By that logic we never got relegated.

I like that logic.

[Nesta99]

By that logic we never got relegated.


I like that logic.

We all gasp at straws - I often refer to the trauma of almost a decade in the 1st Division, its blanked out of the mind, not sure there were people there to see the Sean McCaffery season either so never actually happened and was just a bad dream!! Just keep the eyes closed at games....

Has a 1st Division team ever paid a transfer fee? JC is fairly splashing the cash at Galway now too but at least the sponsors have deep pockets. Is GUFC fan owned or what is the setup there?

[Martinho II]

Good signing for Galway that, must be the first time in a very long time that a First Division club has paid a transfer fee for a player

Wot was the trf fee in the end 2 year?

[Bucket]

A two year fee??

[Longfordian]

Aaron Bolger has signed for LTFC on loan from Cardiff. Along with Aaron Robinson from Bluebell. To add to our collection of Aarons also featuring Aaron McCabe, Aaron Dobbs and Aaron McNally. Just need to get Aaron Callaghan back as coach now.

[2 Year Contract]

Wot was the trf fee in the end 2 year?

No idea, just saw that Derry announced they had agreed the deal for his transfer to Derry (he was in contract for 2021), haven’t seen any rumours of what the fee was

[Yossarian]

It going to be interesting to see what happens with regards to funding for the coming season. Seems like the government support at the moment isn’t what clubs are looking for. I suppose clubs that have been signing good players on presumably decent contracts over the winter won’t be in a position to cry the poor mouth when it comes to the new season kicking off.

[nigel-harps1954]

Luke McNicholas on loan to Harps from Sligo

Sligo have signed Richard Brush

[Yossarian]

Aaron McEneff looks like he’s going to Hearts. That’s a big loss for Rovers though I presume they’ll get a few quid for him.

[2 Year Contract]

Aaron McEneff looks like he’s going to Hearts. That’s a big loss for Rovers though I presume they’ll get a few quid for him.

McEneff would be a loss to any team in the country but with Gannon signed, rovers can now move Finn back into midfield in his place. Not to mention the abundance of other options in midfield they have it’s probably their strongest area of the pitch

[WeAreRovers]

McEneff best midfielder in the League by a country mile IMO, a box-to-box player too and they are gold dust these days. Tougher to replace than Jack Byrne but the reported €200k fee will soften the blow - especially for a player who could have signed a pre-contract in July leaving Rovers with nowt.

[sbgawa]

Yes id agree on moving Finn back in also Watts was excellent when he got some game time last year so a loss but better there than seeing Scales or Grace / Farrugia going.
Fee in the region of 200k according to Dan McDonnell on twitter.
Not bad business providing others step up but also shows how lowly people rank our league if 200k for probably the best midfielder in the league last year is the best offer

[John83]

Sligo have signed Richard Brush
I guess it says a lot about the league that Sligo aren't in a position to turn up their noses at a 36-year-old Dick Brush. ;)

[joey B]

McEneff is a huge loss to Rovers,that's alot of creativity gone from their midfield with Byrne gone as well......

[placid casual]

Rovers won't sniff at getting 200k, especially since I don't expect to be inside tallaght for most if not all the entire season so revenue is through the floor,,,, but that's a big loss for Rovers chances of retaining the league next year, and also doing well in Europe.
Watts gets his chance to really step up, and mandriou will need to get going quickly. The loss of McEniff is good news for dundalk & boez, but I guess we'll just have to see how it plays out.
Also, Aaron, if your going to join any team in Scotland surely youcan do better than pick those jambo ar€eholes.

[Nesta99]

I hope the deal is loaded with add-ons. The difference here is that there isnt a chance that those money spinning long term add-ons will be cashed in for a nominal amount in a few months time. McEniff has both the ability and some time on his side to build on this move to better (and classier) clubs while providing Rovers with a few paydays. If the initial fee often seems low additional clauses tend to be quite extensive and buying clubs have exploited the financial volatility of LoI clubs, thinking that clauses wont stick- this time round maybe a few extra euro on the initial fee would be cheaper in the long run for Hearts.

[Dalymountrower]

Rovers won't sniff at getting 200k, especially since I don't expect to be inside tallaght for most if not all the entire season so revenue is through the floor,,,, but that's a big loss for Rovers chances of retaining the league next year, and also doing well in Europe.
Watts gets his chance to really step up, and mandriou will need to get going quickly. The loss of McEniff is good news for dundalk & boez, but I guess we'll just have to see how it plays out.
Also, Aaron, if your going to join any team in Scotland surely youcan do better than pick those jambo ar€eholes.

Watts is good enough to step up, and who knows with Mandriou.
Whatever about his Father Damo haircut, Mc Eneff will be badly missed.
Bohs sign former Scottish Under 21 Liam Burt.

[oriel]

I think this is a huge loss for Rovers, and would agree he was probably the best MF in the league after Byrne. Its prob one of those scerarios where holding on to the player is more value than getting the money. They needed to keep him and don't necessarily need the money, but it will soften the blow and I suppose he was out of contract end of 2021. Still a big gap in their central mid now.

Dundalk well used to losing key players at the end of sucesfull years, but usually all went for free, I think the only €€€ transfer was actually Dylan Connolly, around 40k.

[sbgawa]

Lot depending on the new additions now.
Although having Kavanagh back is almost like a new signing he missed almost the whole season

Manus
Gannon.....Grace.....Pico.......Scales........Kava nagh (or Joey O Brien or Hoare)

Finn O Neill Watts Mandriou (or McCann or Farrugia, or Nugent )

Burke
Greene ( Gaffney or Williams)

[Risteard]

Rovers won't sniff at getting 200k, especially since I don't expect to be inside tallaght for most if not all the entire season so revenue is through the floor.
Jeez, I'd hate to see how many burgers you order on match night.

[Calcio Jack]

Huge loss for Rovers ..... IMO we’d have run Dundalk way closer in 2019 if he hadn’t been injured and missed around two months , it was during that period we imploded as was proven by how well we did post his return and of course last year ...... can’t see us recovering from combined loss of him and JB ..... so guess we mightn’t go unbeaten next season 😜

[Sonny]

Fairly disastrous for Rovers. There really is no upside whatsoever. Wasn't inevitable in the way that Jack leaving was, and losing the two of them at the same time is going to leave a massive hole. McEneff matured into a fairly unique player and it really won't be easy to replace what he brought to that team in terms of quality and energy.

It's also the type of move that makes you despair a bit about the league and offers a grim reality check. Having your best players picked off by the likes of Hearts for that sort of money really sticks in the craw. We are where we are, but we don't need to ****ing stay here.

[DCSIL]

Also, Aaron, if your going to join any team in Scotland surely youcan do better than pick those jambo ar€eholes.

Should have gone to Edinburgh’s No.1. He’ll do well over there, anyway.

[2 Year Contract]

Bohs sign former Scottish Under 21 Liam Burt.

One of the few players (possibly only??) to leave Celtic for Rangers and then go back to Celtic. Receives dogs abuse on anything he posts on social media to this day over it

[Calcio Jack]

Should have gone to Edinburgh’s No.1. He’ll do well over there, anyway.

He has

[pineapple stu]

Fairly disastrous for Rovers. There really is no upside whatsoever.
Ah that's not true. The LoI has to aspire to being a selling league, and it's not been that for about a decade now. Rovers get -

> 200k
> Added profile in Ireland as a club to join if you have ambitions to move abroad
> Added profile in Britain if McEneff does well. That's where the LoI has fallen down badly in the past few years and it's led to lower transfer fees. But get a reputation as a club where there's decent players to be had, and transfer prices will go up.

That's the game Rovers are in, ultimately.

[sbgawa]

Ah that's not true. The LoI has to aspire to being a selling league, and it's not been that for about a decade now. Rovers get -

> 200k
> Added profile in Ireland as a club to join if you have ambitions to move abroad
> Added profile in Britain if McEneff does well. That's where the LoI has fallen down badly in the past few years and it's led to lower transfer fees. But get a reputation as a club where there's decent players to be had, and transfer prices will go up.

That's the game Rovers are in, ultimately.

I would assume there was some sell ons added into the deal.
If he does well the sell on could be the best bit of the deal.
In the current economic climate i can see why the club would take the offer, up to bradser to get the performance out of the others now.
Tough ask with Jack B gone as well

[Martinho II]

See with Richard Brush that its his fourth spell with Sligo Rovers now. Doubt he will get much time at Sligo Rovers with Ed McGinty still their GK!

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

See with Richard Brush that its his fourth spell with Sligo Rovers now. Doubt he will get much time at Sligo Rovers with Ed McGinty still their GK!

Signed purely as a backup as McNicholas wants to get games somewhere. Not sure he’ll get in ahead of McGinley at Harps mind but he’s very well thought of.

[Charlie Darwin]

Its prob one of those scerarios where holding on to the player is more value than getting the money.
Everybody needs the money, with the possible exception of Dundalk but even then you need to operate with some restraint. Realistically, we probably knew he was going so the McCann signing makes more sense now. Not a replacement by any means given his age but he will be a good player for a year or two hopefully and let us build again.

It looks like Hearts will walk the Scottish second tier this year so in six months he will be in the top league there, so good move for him. Can't begrudge him taking a bigger opportunity than we can offer in this country. Just a shame the Scottish Championship is a bigger deal than our league.

[Charlie Darwin]

Ah that's not true. The LoI has to aspire to being a selling league, and it's not been that for about a decade now. Rovers get -

> 200k
> Added profile in Ireland as a club to join if you have ambitions to move abroad
> Added profile in Britain if McEneff does well. That's where the LoI has fallen down badly in the past few years and it's led to lower transfer fees. But get a reputation as a club where there's decent players to be had, and transfer prices will go up.

That's the game Rovers are in, ultimately.
I think your last point is important. Derry got a reputation as a platform for players with McClean and Lafferty and others and it did them well for a few years. They got transfer fees other clubs didn't because of their reputation. Ourselves and Bohs seem to be sending players over and the intangible benefits to the club will hopefully improve our position in future.

[DCSIL]

Signed purely as a backup as McNicholas wants to get games somewhere. Not sure he’ll get in ahead of McGinley at Harps mind but he’s very well thought of.

Seemed a strange move as McGinley signed again with them.

[2 Year Contract]

It looks like Hearts will walk the Scottish second tier this year so in six months he will be in the top league there, so good move for him. Can't begrudge him taking a bigger opportunity than we can offer in this country. Just a shame the Scottish Championship is a bigger deal than our league.

I doubt he sees it that way and I’m fairly certain he wouldn’t have left rovers for any other club in the Scottish championship. As you said, Hearts are walking that league and will be back in the SPL in a few months. Playing in the Scottish Championship will be great for him to bed into the team and get settled so he can be a first choice starter in the SPL next season for one of the biggest clubs in Scotland. Once doing that and playing well regularly at that level he'll be in a great position to make the Ireland squad regularly and earns some caps and potentially a move to England/a bigger club than Hearts. Money aside, it’s arguably a better move career wise than say Richie Towell's move to a Brighton side on the brink of promotion to the PL which meant he didn’t really get a look in even before getting injured

[Jack B]

McEneff was always one I was confident would be a success wherever he went. Can imagine him doing well in the SPL once Hearts likely go up, he's been a brilliant all-rounder for a good few years.