2022 Season, Arrivals and Departures

[placid casual]

Enough about that opportunist looking to keep him and his irrelevant club in people's minds, what about Barry Cotter joining pats.. That's a bit of a mad one no? Aul baz doesn't look too happy in the announcement photo😁.
He's a decent squad player who initially looked like he was gonna thrive at Rovers, but had a poor couple of games at the start of the season and fell out of favour. He's not the worst signing for Pats and can still do well, imo.

[sbgawa]

Fantastic turn of pace i think he will thrive at Pats but with Kavanagh, Lyons , and Farruguia coming back he is well down the queue for a starting place.
Hopefully he gets to show what he is capable of. Exciting player.
Either Lyons isnt of to Blackpool or Rovers have someone coming in youd have to think

[Glen Of Aherlow]

Are you deluded ? no professional club is going to want someone who spouts Palestinian and every right on cause under the sun. that plays well with the hipsters but not professional set ups. When was the last time you saw Dortmund playing in a bob marley shirt or a bus seat;)

He'll probably get a good gig when Sinn Fein get into power , after all he's practically turned Bohs into the sporting wing of the party

[RealJohn91]

Are you deluded ? no professional club is going to want someone who spouts Palestinian and every right on cause under the sun. that plays well with the hipsters but not professional set ups. When was the last time you saw Dortmund playing in a bob marley shirt or a bus seat;)
You're the only one deluded here

[RealJohn91]

He'll probably get a good gig when Sinn Fein get into power , after all he's practically turned Bohs into the sporting wing of the party
More absolute nonsense, this board is something else.

[Kiki Balboa]

I actually think its a good idea. Lots of top leagues work together to enhance the league. EPL and Bundesliga for example. If the clubs here dont protect their interests, the only winner is going to be English teams, who can pick up well developed players for nominal fees. The league has to look to the long term to make sure they are receiving the proper transfer fees for their players.

This will also be good for all of the players in the league (not just the ones who are able to go to England), as more money brought in for higher fees (and maybe even more money from Europe) will normally always trickle down to the players in more longer and stable contracts and maybe higher payments.

[Nesta99]

He'll probably get a good gig when Sinn Fein get into power , after all he's practically turned Bohs into the sporting wing of the party

With the Celtic jersey dress code it could be a bit of a dilemma for them.

[Nesta99]

More absolute nonsense, this board is something else.

It is at times! The suggestion that clubs all over Europe are head hunting the Bohs CEO is up there.

[RealJohn91]

It is at times! The suggestion that clubs all over Europe are head hunting the Bohs CEO is up there.
If you don't think clubs aren't noticing the publicity and increase in revenue he's achieved I don't know what to tell you. I'm not saying fecking Man City or Real Madrid are beating down his door but if clubs aren't interested in him doing something similar for them I'd be very surprised.

[Asterix]

Rovers rejected Blackpools second offer of €240,000 for Andy Lyons. Any thing under €600,000 should be rejected in my opinion.

[Glen Of Aherlow]

If you don't think clubs aren't noticing the publicity and increase in revenue he's achieved I don't know what to tell you. I'm not saying fecking Man City or Real Madrid are beating down his door but if clubs aren't interested in him doing something similar for them I'd be very surprised.

Maybe Zenit St Petersburg will headhunt him , he's nearly more anti NATO than Putin at this stage

[Nesta99]

If you don't think clubs aren't noticing the publicity and increase in revenue he's achieved I don't know what to tell you. I'm not saying fecking Man City or Real Madrid are beating down his door but if clubs aren't interested in him doing something similar for them I'd be very surprised.

By any chance does this include the million Euro worth or whatever, of publicity generated by the aborted Bob Marley shirt? More likely to be headhunted by the European Beekeepers Association or a bus enthusiast group. Im sure Cork, Rovers and a few others have increased revenue so by the same logic must be turning heads. If Bohs win the league, with a track record of the CEO keeping the club sustainable, then heads might turn. Otherwise nothing particularly special has been done. Being involved in delivering a stadium development will jump out on a CV also, but thats down the road.

[sbgawa]

If you don't think clubs aren't noticing the publicity and increase in revenue he's achieved I don't know what to tell you. I'm not saying fecking Man City or Real Madrid are beating down his door but if clubs aren't interested in him doing something similar for them I'd be very surprised.


No trophies, Players leaving for free or for buttons, attendances up by less then most of the clubs in the division (appreciate the cap on 4 or 6 fixtures but they arent sold out every week) ......but he has got good publicity out of freakish jerseys with an uptick that would be covered by the money Rovers are about to get for Andy Lyons...........yeah they will be queuing up for him.. The positive noises about bohs from the irish Journos wouldnt register with professional owners of football clubs most of whom dont tend to be RIGHT ON

[ontheotherhand]

If you don't think clubs aren't noticing the publicity and increase in revenue he's achieved I don't know what to tell you. I'm not saying fecking Man City or Real Madrid are beating down his door but if clubs aren't interested in him doing something similar for them I'd be very surprised.

To be fair to you John he's done some good stuff. No getting away from that. He's also made bohs a punchline more than a few times though and it doesn't exactly seem like your fanbase is completely united in appreciation either.

If he's in such high demand around Europe I hope you've got a healthy release clause fee in his contract....

Back on transfers, Cotter to Pats makes sense. I thought he'd be a big player for us this year but he's been a bit scatter brained and probably needs a run of games to settle down. Great pace and attacking threat. Good at getting back and good in the air. Just a tendency to switch off here and there.

[RealJohn91]

You've all made your minds up about him so no point in me trying to make any more reasonable arguments that are only being childishly replied to. I know how much the club has grown over the last ten years, hell that should be pretty obvious to anyone with eyes but I'm sure any chancer could've managed that put in the same position.

[sbgawa]

You've all made your minds up about him so no point in me trying to make any more reasonable arguments that are only being childishly replied to. I know how much the club has grown over the last ten years, hell that should be pretty obvious to anyone with eyes but I'm sure any chancer could've managed that put in the same position.


I might be a little tongue in cheek but i think ive given reasoned arguments.
Other than a few sweetheart leftie journos and maybe 50% of the Bohs fans at best people who look at thinks realistically don't see a lot to be bigging up.

Nigel's attendance thread would show attendance growth since 2016 at bohs as behind Shels, Derry, Rovers and Pats and like i said before you cant really blame the ground size as it doesn't fill completely that often.
Players are leaving for little or nothing and under his watch Bohs have won nothing (CEO has to take some responsibility surely).
Also the much vaunted commercial side you talk about , where is the evidence for this? i dont see any big sponsors more than any other club and shirt sales are not going to add up to a lot of actual profit....im sure i remember seeing a figure of 500k for merchandise sales for Bohs (honestly cant remember where so am open to corection) which after royalties to Bob Marley, and shirt costs would be lucky to net 100k for the club..

Again even without all the right on socialist stuff which would put off most professional club boards where is the success story ?
The press narrative is all about the "work in the community" but i dont see it much different to most clubs.
Where Bohs are good is at spin and creating a narrative even i have to give them that.

[joey B]

Bohs sign GK Jon McCracken on loan from Norwich City until the end of the season….

[ontheotherhand]

Bohs sign GK Jon McCracken on loan from Norwich City until the end of the season….

His father Phil was....you know what? I'm not going to do it. It's not good enough and I'm marginally better than that.

[oriel]

Thinking back on the Kenny era at DFC, I think the only player we made money from was Dylan Connolly, and he only had one trick, speed. Also pretty sure we only got in the transfer to AFC Wimbledon what we paid Bray for, 40k.

Almost sure every other player who left during that era was out of contract, Horgan and Boyle to PNE and Towell to Brighton def were, later on McGrath to St Mirren was another, all contracts running down. Shields maybe had 6 months to go when he went to Linfield, probably got 30k or so, but that was during 2021 The Madness of King Bill, game for a laugh season.

[ontheotherhand]

Thinking back on the Kenny era at DFC, I think the only player we made money from was Dylan Connolly, and he only had one trick, speed. Also pretty sure we only got in the transfer to AFC Wimbledon what we paid Bray for, 40k.

Almost sure every other player who left during that era was out of contract, Horgan and Boyle to PNE and Towell to Brighton def were, later on McGrath to St Mirren was another, all contracts running down. Shields maybe had 6 months to go when he went to Linfield, probably got 30k or so, but that was during 2021 The Madness of King Bill, game for a laugh season.

I think Enda was the only one to go from our O'Neill era team although Sean O'Connor was wanted by Barcelona for torturing Marcelo of course. Don't know if we got a fee for Enda.

I actually think we are doing far better these days. Getting any fee at all is a start. Keeping these players with us past 18 so we can have a chance at a fee is progress as well.

It will improve. Maybe a bit of cooperation is needed but I just think clubs will have to continue to build towards better deals for players which will in turn mean better deals for clubs. It won't happen overnight. Lambert is saying we need the fees to fund the academies but it's the other way around. You need to show clubs what you've put in to these players and you need to put in enough to build loyalty with the players as well.

[SeanDrog]

Drogs signed keeper Lee Stacey from Longford.

[Martinho II]

Drogs signed keeper Lee Stacey from Longford.

No surprise. Lee has barely played for us this season. Ex town manager Daire Doyle is a great fan of Lee. I think Lee should have being in goal again for us after dennisons shaky period for us lately.

[Longfordian]

He served us well. Good luck to him.

[SeanDrog]

No surprise. Lee has barely played for us this season. Ex town manager Daire Doyle is a great fan of Lee. I think Lee should have being in goal again for us after dennisons shaky period for us lately.

Thx for the background - I was wondering why he wasnt first choice this year - good chance he will be our number 1.

[Depps]

Barry Cotter was class for Pats tonight. Why didn’t things work out for him at Rovers?

[Longfordian]

It's a bit odd. Dennison has done ok, some really good games, but I would have expected Steacy to be the first choice at the start of the season. I don't know if there's any issue between he and Cronin.

[ger121]

I might be a little tongue in cheek but i think ive given reasoned arguments.
Other than a few sweetheart leftie journos and maybe 50% of the Bohs fans at best people who look at thinks realistically don't see a lot to be bigging up.

Nigel's attendance thread would show attendance growth since 2016 at bohs as behind Shels, Derry, Rovers and Pats and like i said before you cant really blame the ground size as it doesn't fill completely that often.
Players are leaving for little or nothing and under his watch Bohs have won nothing (CEO has to take some responsibility surely).
Also the much vaunted commercial side you talk about , where is the evidence for this? i dont see any big sponsors more than any other club and shirt sales are not going to add up to a lot of actual profit....im sure i remember seeing a figure of 500k for merchandise sales for Bohs (honestly cant remember where so am open to corection) which after royalties to Bob Marley, and shirt costs would be lucky to net 100k for the club..

Again even without all the right on socialist stuff which would put off most professional club boards where is the success story ?
The press narrative is all about the "work in the community" but i dont see it much different to most clubs.
Where Bohs are good is at spin and creating a narrative even i have to give them that.

You haven’t a clue about attendances at Dalymount. Have not been able to bring family or friends to games for 2 seasons due to a lack of tickets for general sale. Anyone who is a Bohs supporter will tell you that our crowds would be even higher if we had a ground with additional capacity and did not have to control ticket sales based on those that are members or season ticket holders.

[sbgawa]

You haven’t a clue about attendances at Dalymount. Have not been able to bring family or friends to games for 2 seasons due to a lack of tickets for general sale. Anyone who is a Bohs supporter will tell you that our crowds would be even higher if we had a ground with additional capacity and did not have to control ticket sales based on those that are members or season ticket holders.

Are you telling me you were sold out against UCD and Harps?
Even if we accept that your attendances could be a bit higher so could Pats , Derry who regularly sell out as well as ourselves who have sold out a few times, all other points stand as said, hype and spin with a bit of deflection. Long may it last 008 and Lambo

[pineapple stu]

They weren't far off sold out against us in fairness.

[sbgawa]

They weren't far off sold out against us in fairness.

Fair enough but i don't think they are turning away thousands if they cant sell out against everyone.
Pats in fairness have gone from 1088 average in 2016 to 3565 this season and have had sell outs that could have increased that but i have hardly seen it mentioned, ditto Rovers 2041 to 5740 Derry 1563 to 3399 (and selling out all the time) Shels 554 to 3031 (admittedly div 1 in 2016) attendances are way up so credit is due everywhere. (all credit for figs to Nigel)

[De Town]

Drogs signed keeper Lee Stacey from Longford.

Word is himself and Cronin had a falling out in pre-season so Dennison started the season ahead of him. Dennison has done ok to be fair to him, but has had a few brutal errors that have lead to goals conceded too, which is standard for a run of the mill FD keeper I suppose. Steacy probably better than him but obviously wasn't going to get back in if himself and the manager don't see eye to eye.

Not surprised Drogs have come in for him because McCabe looks like an accident waiting to happen every time I watch Drogs' match highlights. Never thought much of him myself, even during his Shels days, so it wouldn't be a shock to me to see Steacy start ahead of him for the rest of the season.

[sbgawa]

People on social media saying selling Lyons for 350k (plus i assume add ons and sell ons) is bad business.
Are we losing the run of ourselves or am i out of step in thinking that's not bad.
350k or thereabouts for someone who cost virtually nothing would be in the top 5 or 6 transfers out of the league.

While we hope things are changing for the better on transfers we need more of the players that go over to do better to start justifying bigger fees for our league.
I don't think Rovers are appreciably weaker with either Kavanagh of Farrugia (who i expect to see playing against Drogs tomorrow) at wingback so id be tempted to take the money and hope for a big sell on or he achieves whatever add ons are in there.

Delighted to see the club turning down several lower bids though if he had gone for 100 or 200 id have seen that as poor enough considering we have got that kind of money (lower end) for some kids leaving directly from the academy.

[Kiki Balboa]

People on social media saying selling Lyons for 350k (plus i assume add ons and sell ons) is bad business.
Are we losing the run of ourselves or am i out of step in thinking that's not bad.
350k or thereabouts for someone who cost virtually nothing would be in the top 5 or 6 transfers out of the league.

While we hope things are changing for the better on transfers we need more of the players that go over to do better to start justifying bigger fees for our league.
I don't think Rovers are appreciably weaker with either Kavanagh of Farrugia (who i expect to see playing against Drogs tomorrow) at wingback so id be tempted to take the money and hope for a big sell on or he achieves whatever add ons are in there.

Delighted to see the club turning down several lower bids though if he had gone for 100 or 200 id have seen that as poor enough considering we have got that kind of money (lower end) for some kids leaving directly from the academy.

Both are a bit injury prone- can you rely on either to play for two seasons straight?


As an outsider, I would say Rovers are in a place they actually really need to fight to keep Lyons. They did well to replace Scales with him... can they keep finding replacements? Not only that, he is only 21... 4 years younger than Watts (the other youngest player on the pitch vs Ludo). There will be a time when they have to replace their older players (Haven't found a replacement for Finn yet)... a need to find a replacement for Lyons is really adding work.


How long is his contract? Lyons is up there for the signing of the season. Cracking player.

[WeAreRovers]

Lyons is the replacement for Finn at RWB. Looks increasingly likely that he was too successful a replacement but that’s football as Bradley points out in this piece below.

He’s bang on too, all part of the game worldwide despite the pearl clutching in some quarters-
https://www.thesun.ie/sport/football...ers-blackpool/

[total hoofball]

Word is himself and Cronin had a falling out in pre-season so Dennison started the season ahead of him. Dennison has done ok to be fair to him, but has had a few brutal errors that have lead to goals conceded too, which is standard for a run of the mill FD keeper I suppose. Steacy probably better than him but obviously wasn't going to get back in if himself and the manager don't see eye to eye.

Not surprised Drogs have come in for him because McCabe looks like an accident waiting to happen every time I watch Drogs' match highlights. Never thought much of him myself, even during his Shels days, so it wouldn't be a shock to me to see Steacy start ahead of him for the rest of the season.
I think Steacy will win the no. 1 spot eventually. Steacy made a few appearances for Shels in 2018 as a relatively unknown backup to Dean Delany he really impressed in his limited appearances but moved to Longford to become a no. 1 keeper
McCabe then replaced Steacy as backup to Delany for 2019 but then Delany's form dropped early in the season McCabe then became Shels no. 1 keeper, Collie did ok he's a brilliant lad but struggled in the Premier Division in 2020. I wonder if Steacy stuck it out with Shels for 2019 if he would still be with us

[ontheotherhand]

350k is what I think we should be getting for Lyons and would represent good business. I can understand why some Rovers fans think 500k would be more accurate given that's what we got for Scales but it's more than we got for McEneff. Anyone thinking he's worth closer to a million isn't being realistic. I do think we will get closer to that mark in the next 5 or so years but not yet and not if the player isn't also a regular starter at u21 level which Lyons isnt.

It's also a nice case study for lambert and bohs to look at and sort of proves my points above. They really should have been the ones selling Lyons. The interest was already there. That'd have them at over 500k in fees this window and I'd imagine it's driving some of the frustration.

[Philosophizer]

350K, with a few add ons thrown in is a very fair price for Lyons. I think that would be sensible business. But if they can squeeze out more for him, then even better. As you said though, the guys who go over need to perform before we can realistically start asking regularly for 500k+.

[ontheotherhand]

Graham Gartland just made the fairly obvious but overlooked (by me anyway) point that players are also leaving due to the high cost of living at home. So we pay less than league 1/2 and they can't get close to a mortgage or even car insurance....no brainer for them.

Sometimes I forget to look at the whole picture. Although I'm not sure Lake Como is going to be much better for Kerrigan.....

[nigel-harps1954]

Mortgage is a huge one for players here. Mortgage lenders in Ireland don't class a professional footballer as a full time permanent income.

[ontheotherhand]

Mortgage is a huge one for players here. Mortgage lenders in Ireland don't class a professional footballer as a full time permanent income.

Is that in every case Nigel or because we haven't traditionally paid them full-time annual contracts?

[joey B]

https://www.dundalkfc.com/connolly-recalled-by-dundee-united/

Mark Connolly recalled by Dundee United,Dundalk trying to get him back but that’ll be a big loss if they can’t….

[TonyD]

Graham Gartland just made the fairly obvious but overlooked (by me anyway) point that players are also leaving due to the high cost of living at home. So we pay less than league 1/2 and they can't get close to a mortgage or even car insurance....no brainer for them.

Sometimes I forget to look at the whole picture. Although I'm not sure Lake Como is going to be much better for Kerrigan.....

To be honest I’m not sure that’s a big factor. There has always been a huge lure for players to go to England, even if it’s not to the top level over there. Especially for younger players here. They see it as a chance to break into the game over there, and hopefully move up the ladder if they do well. Slightly older players, who may have more of an eye on families and mortgages etc, don’t generally tend to be the ones in demand from England and Scotland anyway.

[nigel-harps1954]

Is that in every case Nigel or because we haven't traditionally paid them full-time annual contracts?

A lot will depend on the club and the length of contract presumably. But have been told by a player who played at several clubs in Ireland that he found it impossible to get a mortgage here for this reason.

[ontheotherhand]

To be honest I’m not sure that’s a big factor. There has always been a huge lure for players to go to England, even if it’s not to the top level over there. Especially for younger players here. They see it as a chance to break into the game over there, and hopefully move up the ladder if they do well. Slightly older players, who may have more of an eye on families and mortgages etc, don’t generally tend to be the ones in demand from England and Scotland anyway.

Oh absolutely. There's the pure lure of "making it" which you aren't seen to have to if you stay here. Which is true in a compensation sense to be fair.....

But cost of living has to factor in as well. If we aren't paying as much and they can stretch more money further elsewhere they are going to leave in greater numbers....just as with any career.

[SeanDrog]

Drogs signed Darragh Noone

[SeanDrog]

Drogs signed Darragh Noone

Found this background piece on him - an interesting signing

https://www.thesun.ie/sport/football/9111421/darragh-noone-open-league-of-ireland-return-european-excursion/amp/

[Bunny Kelly]

People on social media saying selling Lyons for 350k (plus i assume add ons and sell ons) is bad business.
Are we losing the run of ourselves or am i out of step in thinking that's not bad.
350k or thereabouts for someone who cost virtually nothing would be in the top 5 or 6 transfers out of the league.

While we hope things are changing for the better on transfers we need more of the players that go over to do better to start justifying bigger fees for our league.
I don't think Rovers are appreciably weaker with either Kavanagh of Farrugia (who i expect to see playing against Drogs tomorrow) at wingback so id be tempted to take the money and hope for a big sell on or he achieves whatever add ons are in there.

Delighted to see the club turning down several lower bids though if he had gone for 100 or 200 id have seen that as poor enough considering we have got that kind of money (lower end) for some kids leaving directly from the academy.


I think 350k is great money for Lyons, these clubs could have signed him for nothing 6 months ago & no one bit so you have to be realistic, also it is a nice turnaround in 6 months for Rovers too financially. Finally a nice move for the lad too, going to a good level but a team where he has a real chance of cracking the side

[Big Ears]

I think 350k is great money for Lyons, these clubs could have signed him for nothing 6 months ago & no one bit so you have to be realistic, also it is a nice turnaround in 6 months for Rovers too financially. Finally a nice move for the lad too, going to a good level but a team where he has a real chance of cracking the side

At Lyons' age there'd have been compensation due if a side had tried to sign him before he turns 23.
I could be off with my calculations here, but I think we'd have been looking at ~€300,000 had that been the case, so you can see why they wouldn't want to let.him go for a figure below that level.

€350,000 + a decent sell on clause, plus additional fees for International caps would be a fair agreement for a player of his calibre.

[Bunny Kelly]

Rovers did pay a development fee & I thought it was around 30k as he was out of contract, why would an english club be expected to pay 10 times the amount?

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Rovers did pay a development fee & I thought it was around 30k as he was out of contract, why would an english club be expected to pay 10 times the amount?

He’s under contract and had a great season for the team last walking the league