2022 Season, Arrivals and Departures

[pineapple stu]

It gives €125k as the transfer fee here (https://www.transfermarkt.com/milton-keynes-dons/transferrekorde/verein/991/saison_id/2022).

I've no idea how accurate those figures are (it's the same source as the €1.6m Riga paid this month for the former Croatian U18 international)

[joey B]

Derry sign Sadou Diallo ,midfielder from Forest Green Rovers….

[D24Saint]

Saints sign Serge Atakayi ??? A finish striker. I just hope he can finish.

[Martinho II]

We have signed ? McCann from Athlone town ex bray and Shels Under 19 player. Any opinion lads?

[Nesta99]

Saints sign Serge Atakayi ??? A finish striker. I just hope he can finish.

Another possible bag of fun puns for media! Classic Finnish as Pats Serge ahead...

[pineapple stu]

Looks like UCD centre back Eric Yoro is leaving UCD for Bolton.Hope it works out for him. Also it's time for me to officially retire from having any views on football. Based on everything I saw, you would struggle to put together a 30 seconds highlights reel for the lad. Best of luck to him.
Confirmed on Bolton's Twitter.

I don't really know what to make of that tbh. There may be hope for me yet!

1547861040213331973

[joey B]

Eoin Toal headed to Bolton for a medical tomorrow

https://www.derrynow.com/news/derry-sport/862554/toal-set-to-travel-to-bolton-wanderers-for-medical-ahead-of-move.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

[D24Saint]

Omochere could be off to fleetwood.

https://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/bohemians-boss-keith-long-hopeful-of-keeping-striker-promise-omochere-amid-interest-from-england-41846450.html

[culloty82]

Somewhat baffling, given they barely avoided League Two last season!

[SeanDrog]

Omochere could be off to fleetwood.

https://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/bohemians-boss-keith-long-hopeful-of-keeping-striker-promise-omochere-amid-interest-from-england-41846450.html

Can’t believe he’s only 21 - the size of him !!! Really stood out in Utd Park - wasn’t his night but he made himself a real pain to defend against.

[RealJohn91]

Can’t believe he’s only 21 - the size of him !!! Really stood out in Utd Park - wasn’t his night but he made himself a real pain to defend against.
He was only 5'7 until a few years back, was a tricky winger when he first broke through. Growth spurt held back his development but on his day he's unstoppable. Be a real shame to see him leave.

[pineapple stu]

Derry sign Sadou Diallo ,midfielder from Forest Green Rovers….


Saints sign Serge Atakayi ??? A finish striker. I just hope he can finish.
Have to say, looking at the guys' wiki pages, they do look like the kind of transfer we've seen before where they vanish after a few months and you wonder what was the point.

Football is fascinating in a way in how these sort of transfers come about

[D24Saint]

Have to say, looking at the guys' wiki pages, they do look like the kind of transfer we've seen before where they vanish after a few months and you wonder what was the point.

Football is fascinating in a way in how these sort of transfers come about

On a positive note the new right back Harry Brockbank looks just what we need in that position. He seemed to have a good positional sense and reading of the game, the opposite to Jack Scott.

[Longfordian]

McGinty off to Oxford from Sligo. A five figure fee apparently.

[D24Saint]

McGinty off to Oxford from Sligo. A five figure fee apparently.

Something afoot with the interest from the English lower leagues. It’s either a certain agency is scouting the league or the bang for buck the brits get is making waves.

[Longfordian]

Post Brexit immigration rules probably playing a part at that level too.

[pineapple stu]

That'd cost them any chance of beating Motherwell anyway. And a five-figure fee would be disappointing for a 21s international

[ontheotherhand]

Something afoot with the interest from the English lower leagues. It’s either a certain agency is scouting the league or the bang for buck the brits get is making waves.

Lots of talk about it on the recent Between the Stripes podcast. They had Andy Burton, formerly of Dundalk/Peak6 and now an agent, talking about it. Said he looked at data that said a top league of Ireland team would be about mid table League 1 so any standout player is worth a punt for them. Mentioned lots of agents involved in the game here now.

[placid casual]

McGinty off to Oxford from Sligo. A five figure fee apparently.
That's bad news for Rovers alright. Where are we going to find a replacement for the ageing Mannus.. 😳

[Philosophizer]

Very disappointing fee for McGinty. Hopefully it's near the top end of the 5 figure scale.
If Burton thinks our best are mid table in League one, what are the average transfer fees between mid table League one sides?? That should give us some idea as to what the true value of a top LOI player should be...

[Nesta99]

That's bad news for Rovers alright. Where are we going to find a replacement for the ageing Mannus.. 

There is a quality Italian-Albanian keeper with LoI experience that would be available, He is show stopper but covid made it hard to settle in Dundalk. He be a super keeper to replace Mannus, tall, command his area and is a shot stopper. A perfect long term match for Rovers if they could sort a few weakness.

[Jack B]

Atakayi is a winger rather than a striker for what it's worth in regards to his stats, so it's not as eyebrow-raising in that sense. Looked a handful when he came on Friday but we'll see how it plays out, not often you pay a fee for a player in this league so that combined with replacing Burns will heap expectation on him.

Shame for Sligo to lose McGinty but it really did only feel like a matter of time.

[pineapple stu]

Atakayi is a winger rather than a striker for what it's worth in regards to his stats, so it's not as eyebrow-raising in that sense.
Well I suppose it's more that he was struggling to get his game in the Finnish top flight and dropped down to the second tier on loan last season.

Though wiki suggests he was booted out on loan because of "attitude problems", so I guess if that can be fixed (and sometimes a change of scenery will do it), maybe there's a decent player underneath.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

McGinty out of contract in November so hardly going to get a fortune for him. He’s owes us nothing. McNicholas is a good replacement.

[2 Year Contract]

Football is fascinating in a way in how these sort of transfers come about

Im always interested in how these moves come about also as some of them are fantastically random.

The Atakayi to Pats move is less so though. Our assistant manager Jon Daly was assistant of TPS last season, the team that Atakayi was on loan with. Daly mentioned he also knew him from as far back as his time in Scotland, presumably he would’ve faced him when managing Hearts U20s against Rangers. With that in mind he does seem to be more of a known entity to the coaching staff so that hopefully bodes well although in the past Pat Cregg did play with Martin Rennie and somehow managed to convince the club to pay a transfer fee for him despite being one of the worst players I’ve seen play football. Early doors but Serge looked like he could be a danger for teams based on his debut. Looking forward to seeing more of him

[2 Year Contract]

Como have finally announced Liam Kerrigan. Contract until June 2025, great deal for him!

[Bunny Kelly]

Not quite LOI but Aaron McEneff left Hearts for Australia, really expected him to show more in Scottish football

[oriel]

McGinty out of contract in November so hardly going to get a fortune for him. He’s owes us nothing. McNicholas is a good replacement.

I think Dundalk were sniffing after him in early 2020, which probably saw an improved contract offered for him to stay, almost sure they went back again in 2021 but of course P6 knew all about LOI football and got Abbi instead, even typing those words gives me nightmares, what an absolute fraud he was.

Would surprise me if McGinty had a release clause for a small fig to ensure he got a move, seems a good few players doing this these days to speed up a UK move.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Don’t believe he had a low release fee in his contract

[Nesta99]

Not quite LOI but Aaron McEneff left Hearts for Australia, really expected him to show more in Scottish football

Wonder whether Hearts will bemoan a McEneff shaped hole in their side? A player that should be tracked by LoI clubs as with his ability Oz wont be a long term and content destination.

[joey B]

Blackpool put in a 200k bid for Andy Lyons,decent money for a player only there for half a season ….

[sbgawa]

Blackpool put in a 200k bid for Andy Lyons,decent money for a player only there for half a season ….


Or crap money for a LWB who has scored 7 goals this season and been man of the match several times........
I hope we say no.

[joey B]

Or crap money for a LWB who has scored 7 goals this season and been man of the match several times........
I hope we say no.

I Suppose I was comparing it to the fees that other players are going for but I take your point….

[ontheotherhand]

Very disappointing fee for McGinty. Hopefully it's near the top end of the 5 figure scale.
If Burton thinks our best are mid table in League one, what are the average transfer fees between mid table League one sides?? That should give us some idea as to what the true value of a top LOI player should be...

https://www.transfermarkt.us/league-one/transfers/wettbewerb/GB3

We get well more than the average by the looks of it.......the average being "free transfer" or about 3k if you want the average from what was actually spent. MK Dons have spent more than others and all on LoI players.

Not sure if that site is completely accurate mind you.

[pineapple stu]

You'd wonder where it gets its info from in an era when every transfer seems to be "Undisclosed" (because clubs don't want rival clubs to know how much cash they've just made on a transfer, and so how much is available for the replacement)

[ontheotherhand]

You'd wonder where it gets its info from in an era when every transfer seems to be "Undisclosed" (because clubs don't want rival clubs to know how much cash they've just made on a transfer, and so how much is available for the replacement)

Not sure but it seems reasonably accurate for the LoI ones I think? Although even those you wouldn't know. I've heard one thing from fans of the selling clubs and another from elsewhere in most cases.

[sbgawa]

You'd wonder where it gets its info from in an era when every transfer seems to be "Undisclosed" (because clubs don't want rival clubs to know how much cash they've just made on a transfer, and so how much is available for the replacement)

Wets finger sticks in the air and ponders for a moment................200k ;)

[ontheotherhand]

Not quite LOI but Aaron McEneff left Hearts for Australia, really expected him to show more in Scottish football

Not sure they ever used him properly. Hearts fans seem to either think he wasn't up to the standard or that he didn't fit the system and wasn't really given enough game time. Liked for his effort and a few important goals but they aren't too disappointed to see him gone. When I watched they were using him as an attacking midfielder and even on the right. He's a box to box midfielder so maybe he never got a chance to show what he was about. Either way, I'm just happy he isn't coming home to sign for Derry...

[El-Pietro]

Wonder whether Hearts will bemoan a McEneff shaped hole in their side? A player that should be tracked by LoI clubs as with his ability Oz wont be a long term and content destination.

We've been saying the same thing about Roy O'Donovan since 2015.

[ger121]

Or crap money for a LWB who has scored 7 goals this season and been man of the match several times........
I hope we say no.

Would the club let him go for €200,000 when there is a real chance now of group stage football after today’s draw. Obviously you are stronger with him than without him.

[outspoken]

https://www.transfermarkt.us/league-one/transfers/wettbewerb/GB3

We get well more than the average by the looks of it.......the average being "free transfer" or about 3k if you want the average from what was actually spent. MK Dons have spent more than others and all on LoI players.

Not sure if that site is completely accurate mind you.

Actually read a really interesting article about the player values on transfermartket. It's just a team of volunteers, they had to come out and tell clubs not to use their figures in transfer negotiations. Mad stuff.

[sbgawa]

Would the club let him go for €200,000 when there is a real chance now of group stage football after today’s draw. Obviously you are stronger with him than without him.

200 seems low but if it was increased a bit more and the add ons and a sell on clause were decent it might make sense.
If he does well at Blackpool and scores goals at that level he will for sure be sold on for a lot more than 200k

If we won this round we would be guaranteed group stages so on the one hand you could let him go but on the other we are only 8 points clear and if we are in group stages we will have 11 more midweeks to deal with this season.
Winning the league is still the number 1 objective for me

[ontheotherhand]

Actually read a really interesting article about the player values on transfermartket. It's just a team of volunteers, they had to come out and tell clubs not to use their figures in transfer negotiations. Mad stuff.

Did Burton mention anything about fees while you had him? I don't remember him doing so. Found another site showing every league 1 clubs record transfer going back to the 90s and a fair few are under the 200k mark. Even the more recent ones aren't huge. It's click bait central though so I won't share it here.

[Nesta99]

We've been saying the same thing about Roy O'Donovan since 2015.

Yeah but under Caulfield he'd have been coping with ongoing neck injuries, so can understand his stance.

[Jd2793]

Wonder whether Hearts will bemoan a McEneff shaped hole in their side? A player that should be tracked by LoI clubs as with his ability Oz wont be a long term and content destination.

wasnt played in his strongest position according to fans. why wont oz be a content destination? lifestyle over the is a massive draw.

[outspoken]

Did Burton mention anything about fees while you had him? I don't remember him doing so. Found another site showing every league 1 clubs record transfer going back to the 90s and a fair few are under the 200k mark. Even the more recent ones aren't huge. It's click bait central though so I won't share it here.
I'd have to listen back but I think he pointed towards the usual sticking points for clubs here ie not being able to offer longer contracts, even the club's that are players don't want to sign them without release clauses now etc

[RealJohn91]

I think all the clubs here are going to have to come together and forcibly get rid of release clause stuff. It might be rough going for a while with players just running down their contracts instead but a precedent has to be set that they're not an option here.

[ontheotherhand]

Was it not only Mandroiu of the recent transfers who had one? Is it that big of an issue? Happens all over the world and we need to be able to offer players attractive packages. Sometimes that will mean release clauses. I would agree that those clauses should be closer to market value for the club and players benefit after seeing 30k for Danny being laughed at by a Bundesliga club to his own detriment.

[RealJohn91]

Was it not only Mandroiu of the recent transfers who had one? Is it that big of an issue? Happens all over the world and we need to be able to offer players attractive packages. Sometimes that will mean release clauses. I would agree that those clauses should be closer to market value for the club and players benefit after seeing 30k for Danny being laughed at by a Bundesliga club to his own detriment.
Devoy had one as well. There was a lot of them involved in moves during the winter window too.

[RealJohn91]

Promise off to Fleetwood looks done. Another release clause deal apparently.