2023 Season, Arrivals and Departures

[Bunny Kelly]

Cotter was great for us, but at the same time he perfectly fit what we needed at the time at right wing back, which I'd say is definitely his position. He has quite unique attributes in this league in terms of his dribbling and pace/general athleticism from that position and basically offered a completely new dimension to our play. Probably Pats' most effective player maybe outside of Forrester towards the back end of the season.

Can see why he didn't fit Rovers though as while the formation is largely the same they play a much more considered, possession-based style that isn't suited to him. Would be surprised to see him make a big success of things at a club like Barnsley where they could feasibly be back in the Championship soon, as his physical advantages will be lessened over there and he'll have more of a spotlight on the defensive side to his game. Who knows though, silver lining can be that he just comes back to us if so.;)


Sobowele from Waterford would a great replacement if sticking with wing backs, great for attacking from deep giving pace & energy, unfortunately though only has a marginal more interest in defending than Cotter.

I wasn't particularly a fan of Atakayi or Cotter individually last season but the Pats side was so much better in the second half of the season with the injection of their pace

[Jack B]

Sobowele from Waterford would a great replacement if sticking with wing backs, great for attacking from deep giving pace & energy, unfortunately though only has a marginal more interest in defending than Cotter.

I wasn't particularly a fan of Atakayi or Cotter individually last season but the Pats side was so much better in the second half of the season with the injection of their pace

From the small sample size of them beating Pats in the cup I liked the look of quite a few Waterford players but they seem to have done a good job on holding on to most of them. We have a right back on trial that played against Drogheda anyway but I know nothing of him.

Agree on the latter point, Atakayi in particular doesn't look anything special in general play but he's quick and actually has a great knack of popping up in dangerous areas. None of his goals were particularly pretty but he got 5 in something like 10.5 games worth of minutes, so think he'll still be a handy player next season.

[Jd2793]

sobowale is a lot worse than cotter imo. leaves a lot to be desired in his positioning and defensive stuff. hes a great ball carrier though but again once you need him to deliver the ball hes worse than cotter.

[nigel-harps1954]

Sobowale was very poor at Harps. Didn't see a huge amount of game time, but was fairly well off the pace and wasn't kept on as we got promoted.

Handy enough in that wing back role for Waterford with pace and power, but lacks that bit of extra quality on the ball that would be needed for a side like Pats.

[patsdad]

Jake Mulraney confirmed at Pats. He’s an out and out winger so I guess we’re moving away from the wing-back set up. Makes sense as we adopted that to work with Cotter’s strengths and weaknesses.

We had a good second half to the season and I’d expect the starting 11 will be much the same with the exception of Mulraney for Cotter and Kreita for O’Reilly. Quite a few that were just outside the first 11 have moved on (Barrett, King, Coughlan, Owalabi and Bermo) so there’s still a few new faces needed in addition to Lonergan.

[Glen Of Aherlow]

Jake Mulraney confirmed at Pats. He’s an out and out winger so I guess we’re moving away from the wing-back set up. Makes sense as we adopted that to work with Cotter’s strengths and weaknesses.

We had a good second half to the season and I’d expect the starting 11 will be much the same with the exception of Mulraney for Cotter and Kreita for O’Reilly. Quite a few that were just outside the first 11 have moved on (Barrett, King, Coughlan, Owalabi and Bermo) so there’s still a few new faces needed in addition to Lonergan.

One thing that would worry me about Mulraney is his goalscoring record , which for an attacking player seems poor .

I reckon we could do with another defender coming in and maybe another forward player.

[Jd2793]

Jake Mulraney confirmed at Pats. He’s an out and out winger so I guess we’re moving away from the wing-back set up. Makes sense as we adopted that to work with Cotter’s strengths and weaknesses.

We had a good second half to the season and I’d expect the starting 11 will be much the same with the exception of Mulraney for Cotter and Kreita for O’Reilly. Quite a few that were just outside the first 11 have moved on (Barrett, King, Coughlan, Owalabi and Bermo) so there’s still a few new faces needed in addition to Lonergan.

where has coughlan gone?

[patsdad]

where has coughlan gone? Dunno if he’s signed anywhere but he wasn’t offered a new contract at Pats. Didn’t really feature in 2022.

[D24Saint]

Dunno if he’s signed anywhere but he wasn’t offered a new contract at Pats. Didn’t really feature in 2022.

Bit of a fruit cake apparently. He has potential to be a decent player but spent most of last season injured or warming the bench.

[sbgawa]

One thing that would worry me about Mulraney is his goalscoring record , which for an attacking player seems poor .

I reckon we could do with another defender coming in and maybe another forward player.

It's a fair point but playing at a higher standard is different. when I look at Hoooooobans or burkes scoring rate in the UK compared to loi its a different league

[Longfordian]

Town have signed Ross Fay from Pats, and Jack Harrington from Dundalk. 19 and 18 respectively. We'll have a very young squad.

[ontheotherhand]

Cotter looked really exciting when he first joined Rovers. Brought us the pace and energy we lacked. Had a similar impact as he did last season with Pats. Got exposed in his second season though and we have better options now, particularly with Farrugia looking healthy. I wasn't sure he'd ever get a run of games but he looked excellent in the last 20 or so of last season and it was his longest run of games since joining the club.

As said above Cotter is an athlete with a bag of tricks but an occasional liability on and off the field by the sounds of it. I think he would have ended up costing Pats. To get 20k for him is grand. Interesting to hear we rejected a larger bid from Pats though. Can't have happened that often here.

[2 Year Contract]

Town have signed Ross Fay from Pats, and Jack Harrington from Dundalk. 19 and 18 respectively. We'll have a very young squad.

Decent player at 19s level, hope he does well in the first division. He was captain of the league winning 19s team but never got a pro contract offer from pats or a first team appearance, making the bench on a number of occasions was as close as he got. He has an eye for goal from centre mid and scored in a good few of the 19s games I was at last season.

[Shearer]

where has coughlan gone?
Rumoured to be moving to England, think his partner is English

[outspoken]

Jake Mulraney confirmed at Pats. He’s an out and out winger so I guess we’re moving away from the wing-back set up. Makes sense as we adopted that to work with Cotter’s strengths and weaknesses.

We had a good second half to the season and I’d expect the starting 11 will be much the same with the exception of Mulraney for Cotter and Kreita for O’Reilly. Quite a few that were just outside the first 11 have moved on (Barrett, King, Coughlan, Owalabi and Bermo) so there’s still a few new faces needed in addition to Lonergan.

Where's King gone? Always liked him.

[2 Year Contract]

Where's King gone? Always liked him.
Nowhere yet, rumoured to be going back to scotland

[joey B]

Emmanuel Adegboyega signs for Drogheda Utd from Dundalk.

[trevy]

Barry Baggley signs for Waterford on a season long loan from Fleetwood Town. He's a midfielder from Belfast who's been capped at u 21 level for Northern Ireland and has a handful of starts for Fleetwood.

[total hoofball]

Colm Horgan has signed for Galway

[Bunny Kelly]

Cork have signed a midfielder that was playing in the top flight in Sweden & Norway last season, I feel like these are the level we should be targetting players from, not the Estonia leagues or in Sligo's case this year the bottom half of the Swedish 2nd tier.

LOI sides maybe below the top sides in Scandinavia, but should be no worse than a bottom half of those leagues.

It often seems like to me as a league we are excited by any foreigner without asking the level they are coming from

[total hoofball]

Still doesn't mean the guy from the Swedish top division is going to be any good and why would he becoming here if he is decent and there is better salaries available in Sweden?

The evidence in the LOI over the years signing UK or foreign players from whatever European league top division/2nd division/Estonia etc. is that it's a total crapshoot, the increased dependency for some LOI clubs is getting risky if these guys don't work out

[Jd2793]

well its either bring in foreign lads or have your 19s fill in. the better irish lads that hand around the league are all on "multi" year deals now. its worth it to be taking a gamble on overseas players to fill the squad out.

horgan going to galway in other news, excellent signing for a firstdivision club. not a great defender in the PD imo but strong going forward, will have a field day in FD.

[Bunny Kelly]

Still doesn't mean the guy from the Swedish top division is going to be any good and why would he becoming here if he is decent and there is better salaries available in Sweden?

The evidence in the LOI over the years signing UK or foreign players from whatever European league top division/2nd division/Estonia etc. is that it's a total crapshoot, the increased dependency for some LOI clubs is getting risky if these guys don't work out


I totally agree it doesn't mean he will be any good but he has been operating at a higher level than a lot of these guys we bring over so has a much better chance of being decent.

Sandefjord & Varbergs crowds wouldn't be that dissimilar to Corks so the wage demands shouldn't be that excessive

[joey B]

Cork City, Shamrock Rovers, Derry City, St Patrick’s Athletic, and Dundalk intrested in signing Adam O'Reilly......

https://www.echolive.ie/corksport/arid-41056322.html?s=09&fbclid=IwAR2creOiZWWBBb9hES9dja_3Xg1sTvMwJ2NyighgR Ll7AkUJc2503FmOaJ4

[Jd2793]

Cork City, Shamrock Rovers, Derry City, St Patrick’s Athletic, and Dundalk intrested in signing Adam O'Reilly......

https://www.echolive.ie/corksport/arid-41056322.html?s=09&fbclid=IwAR2creOiZWWBBb9hES9dja_3Xg1sTvMwJ2NyighgR Ll7AkUJc2503FmOaJ4


may aswell have listed off the rest of the teams in the league. more guessing from the echo. "very good player wanted by every club"

[Tribalwarrior19]

Colm Horgan a very good signing for Galway. Surprised Mikey Fox of Salthill Devon did not sign for GUFC

[Jack B]

I don't think O'Reilly is anywhere near good enough on the ball to play for Rovers. Would like him back at Pats but thought he was overrated quite a bit by the fan base at times last season.

[elatedscum]

Still doesn't mean the guy from the Swedish top division is going to be any good and why would he becoming here if he is decent and there is better salaries available in Sweden?

The evidence in the LOI over the years signing UK or foreign players from whatever European league top division/2nd division/Estonia etc. is that it's a total crapshoot, the increased dependency for some LOI clubs is getting risky if these guys don't work out

I think wages must be mental in sweden. A mate of mine was playing in the third division in Sweden and he signed a 3 or 4 year contract back in 2020 (not sure if he's back this season). He was getting money that I imagine only the european clubs here could pay here and he had a free apartment and car with it. a town of 100k just an hour outside Stockholm

he was in dublin during lockdown when all the football was cancelled and his season was cancelled and he tried to explore the idea of signing for a LOI side. i fully believe he has the ability to. but it didn't really make much sense - he was hoping a side like Shels or Pats would be able to match what he was on there as a trialist.

[placid casual]

I don't think O'Reilly is anywhere near good enough on the ball to play for Rovers. Would like him back at Pats but thought he was overrated quite a bit by the fan base at times last season.

He was your most effective player last season, in the games I saw him play anyway (Rovers games and a couple of Europe games).
Don't think he'd get into the Rovers team but he's a fine player with plenty of potential

[Jack B]

He was your most effective player last season, in the games I saw him play anyway (Rovers games and a couple of Europe games).
Don't think he'd get into the Rovers team but he's a fine player with plenty of potential

He's quick and has absolutely phenomenal energy about him but for a midfielder is lacking in possession for me. Some incredibly careless and costly moments against Dundalk, Derry and others being cases in point last season.

As I said I'd have him back in a heartbeat as he's a good player with scope to get better, just has his limitations is all.

[D24Saint]

I don't think O'Reilly is anywhere near good enough on the ball to play for Rovers. Would like him back at Pats but thought he was overrated quite a bit by the fan base at times last season.

I think the balance we had in midfield work well last season. He isn't the most technical of players and relies on his high work rate.

[2 Year Contract]

Pats have signed Dutch centre back Noah Lewis who came through Feyenoord's academy (with a loan spell at Dordrecht in the second tier) before moving to Eredivisie side Willem II last season without making a first team appearance, he would’ve played a lot of the season at their reserve side Willem II II presumably which is a fantastic name for a team :)

[joey B]

Right-back Archie Davies to Dundalk from Aldershot Town.

[DCWA]

Derry to sign Adam O’Reilly

[TonyD]

Derry to sign Adam O’Reilly

Disappointing, but not entirely surprising. €€€€€.

Derry might do well to remember Matty Smith though, who they outbid Pats for this time last year. Didn’t exactly turn out to be a roaring success. !

Thought Adam was only behind Joe Redmond as Pats player of the season last year. I also think some of the comments about his lack of ability on the ball have been harsh.

[Glen Of Aherlow]

Disappointing, but not entirely surprising. €€€€€.

Derry might do well to remember Matty Smith though, who they outbid Pats for this time last year. Didn’t exactly turn out to be a roaring success. !

Thought Adam was only behind Joe Redmond as Pats player of the season last year. I also think some of the comments about his lack of ability on the ball have been harsh.

Yeah , would have been a bit easier to take if he'd gone to a club in England or Scotland . I think we'll be ok , we've got plenty in midfield and it's a good time for the likes of McCormack and Murphy to take their chance.

[Dermobohs]

Thought McCormack looked a good lad, on O Reilly , I don’t know, busy and a hard worker but he’s no git Forrester and pats have a decent enough midfield strength.

[Jd2793]

pats have great prospects in midfield, ive not seen a lot of murphy but if he can stay fit he sounds like a big prospect. im a massive fan of mccormack but he never really kicked on last year. this season is huge for him. think pats will be fine without o'reilly tbh

[gufct]

https://galwayunitedfc.ie/news/

https://galwayunitedfc.ie/alex-rutter-signs-for-2023/

[Elfman]

https://galwayunitedfc.ie/news/

I see from this link Wilson Waweru has left Galway on loan to Cobh. Anyone have thoughts on that?

I suppose he's third in the pecking order behind Walsh and Manley but still a surprise for me to lose him in case one of the above two is injured/out of form.

[David BOHie]

Would have thought Derry would have spent a bit more this year to really push Rovers tbh. Rovers have strengthened way more

[culloty82]

Bastian Hery continues his Discover Ireland tour, coming on as a trialist for Wexford today.

[gufct]

David Tarmey and Francely Lombot would be ahead of him too. Wilson had a very bad season after promising so much in 2021.

Loan might be just what he needs.

[joey B]

Danny Furlong signed back at Wexford…

[placid casual]

Would have thought Derry would have spent a bit more this year to really push Rovers tbh. Rovers have strengthened way more
In fairness, Rovers were interested in both O'Reilly & Whelan, and they both went to derry. By the sounds of it I think the next major investment for derry will be in their playing surface - It really hinders them imo.

Of the signings Rovers have made I'm most excited by Kenny and the Estonian Poom. Hopefully both will hit the ground running and Rovers can establish their position early.
Other than the 2 guys to derry mentioned I must confess I don't see a hell of a lot of quality moving into LOI teams this season - the young quality players continues to drain away to england.

[nigel-harps1954]

Awful lot of unknowns into the league this year. Interesting to see how they manage the move here.
I'd say there'll be a few more from outside Ireland moving in yet with the English transfer window closing this weekend.

[gufct]

Aidan Keena reported to be signing for Cheltenham Town . Massive blow for Sligo if true

[D24Saint]

Awful lot of unknowns into the league this year. Interesting to see how they manage the move here.
I'd say there'll be a few more from outside Ireland moving in yet with the English transfer window closing this weekend.

We have a few lads that fit into they category. It’s a strange league in many ways , unknowns can flourish and the players you expect to do well can flop. I expected more from Doyle last season for instance and it turned out Cotter was our star player. I expect Mulraney to be our best signing this season but you never know.

[Bunny Kelly]

Aidan Keena reported to be signing for Cheltenham Town . Massive blow for Sligo if true


Any word what kind of fee they are getting?

[culloty82]

£70k now being reported.