2024 Season, Arrivals and Departures

[Shearer]

Conor Winn is one of his alumni who I know is highly rated by some. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD9UeT9YJkQ
Funny you should mention him, Conor Winn has joined Mervue United from Treaty United. On his first game with the club he was at fault for a goal as they were knocked out of the FAI Junior Cup by Letterkenny Rovers.

Nicest man alive but must be the worst League of Ireland player I've ever seen.

[2 Year Contract]

Willo has his own Goalkeepers coaching 'school', so could crop up coaching at any club He was coaching Louth GAA keepers though not sure if he has stayed on with the change in that management team. Coached at Dundalk under Stephen Kenny, did sessions at DkIT, few non league and local GAA clubs but more individual sesions rather than a main coach, freelancing if there s such a thing in coaching - as mentioned Shels WSL probably contracted, and Watty GFC. Used to be a bunch of these showcase vids - Conor Winn is one of his alumni who I know is highly rated by some. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD9UeT9YJkQ

That must be the first time I’ve ever seen Conor Winn and the words ‘highly rated’ in the same sentence :)

[Nesta99]

I actually thought he left Dundalk for Rovers but had a look and it was actually the other way round so there goes the Agent Winn jibes :D Think it was Harps fans that rated him as world class!

[2 Year Contract]

I actually thought he left Dundalk for Rovers but had a look and it was actually the other way round so there goes the Agent Winn jibes :D Think it was Harps fans that rated him as world class!

You’d forget just how many absolutely hopeless goalkeepers rovers had at different times between Mannus leaving and coming back. Oscar Jansson, Reyaad Pieterse, Conor Winn, Craig Hyland, Tomer Chensinski. Others that played during that time but weren’t in the hopeless camp are Barry Murphy, Gavin Bazunu, Richard Brush and possibly more. Staggering instability in such an important position when you consider it was only around 6 or 7 seasons. Here’s hoping for more of that now that he’s gone again ;)

[nigel-harps1954]

I actually thought he left Dundalk for Rovers but had a look and it was actually the other way round so there goes the Agent Winn jibes :D Think it was Harps fans that rated him as world class!

I have very few words to adequately describe how bad I think Conor Winn was for Harps. For a lad that's 6'7 or thereabouts, he was regularly getting beaten in the air by lads nearly a foot shorter than him.

[Buckett]

Winn is comically bad, one of the worst I've seen. One of the Horgans played in goals for Rovers during that period too

[joey B]

You’d forget just how many absolutely hopeless goalkeepers rovers had at different times between Mannus leaving and coming back. Oscar Jansson, Reyaad Pieterse, Conor Winn, Craig Hyland, Tomer Chensinski. Others that played during that time but weren’t in the hopeless camp are Barry Murphy, Gavin Bazunu, Richard Brush and possibly more. Staggering instability in such an important position when you consider it was only around 6 or 7 seasons. Here’s hoping for more of that now that he’s gone again ;)

Kevin Horgan also sticks out as been really bad,he’s also according to Transfermarket still only 26 when I thought he looked about 30 when he played for Rovers!

[dundalkfc10]

Willo has his own Goalkeepers coaching 'school', so could crop up coaching at any club He was coaching Louth GAA keepers though not sure if he has stayed on with the change in that management team. Coached at Dundalk under Stephen Kenny, did sessions at DkIT, few non league and local GAA clubs but more individual sesions rather than a main coach, freelancing if there s such a thing in coaching - as mentioned Shels WSL probably contracted, and Watty GFC. Used to be a bunch of these showcase vids - Conor Winn is one of his alumni who I know is highly rated by some. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD9UeT9YJkQ

He's still with Louth under new management. Was on field with keepers during the warm up for the Meath game a few weeks ago

[thebronze14]

I actually thought he left Dundalk for Rovers but had a look and it was actually the other way round so there goes the Agent Winn jibes :D Think it was Harps fans that rated him as world class!

I think you'll find no harps fan ever said that! Up there with the worst keeper I've seen at harps

[Bunny Kelly]

You’d forget just how many absolutely hopeless goalkeepers rovers had at different times between Mannus leaving and coming back. Oscar Jansson, Reyaad Pieterse, Conor Winn, Craig Hyland, Tomer Chensinski. Others that played during that time but weren’t in the hopeless camp are Barry Murphy, Gavin Bazunu, Richard Brush and possibly more. Staggering instability in such an important position when you consider it was only around 6 or 7 seasons. Here’s hoping for more of that now that he’s gone again ;)


Oscar Jansson has gone on to have decent enough career & would currently be as good as any keeper in Ireland but at that time he was obviously a kid out of his depth

[2 Year Contract]

Oscar Jansson has gone on to have decent enough career & would currently be as good as any keeper in Ireland but at that time he was obviously a kid out of his depth

Yeah he’s gone on to have a good career in Sweden, but I wouldn’t say he was crazy young or anything over here, he was 21 and had 3 EFL loans under his belt before playing for Rovers. He had one of the worst goalkeeping performances I can remember in Inchicore when Pats beat them 5-1

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

McGinty back on loan till end of June

[Jack B]

Think the Amond signing and how "good" it id largely depends on the deal he's given. Eoin Doyle often gets cited as an example of a bad signing but that's more so down to the terms of his deal rather than performance, at least in his initial season anyway. Most teams in this league would be delighted with a striker getting them 14 goals, that was still just short of his own expectations and he then proceeded to drop off a cliff physically into last year.

Think some of the media presenting of it is over the top given his age and uninspiring season currently, but at face value if Waterford were signing any striker that had scored around 20 goals in the last season and a half at National League level you'd say on paper that they'd at least be worth a go, particularly given the general dearth of options around the league.

Big for Sligo to get McGinty back, though they still seem to have a bit left to do. I'd say both Bohs and Dundalk were surely in for him also.

[Jd2793]

eoin doyle came from a stronger division at a younger age than amond. this signing is being blown way over the top, i cant see it working out myself. the league has gotten much younger, fitter and stronger over the years. a lot to expect from a 36 year old. only thing in his favour for me is that keith long has proven he can get a lot out of strikers. doubt he'll be asking him to do much off the ball etc. he somehow managed to make andre wright look like a footballer.

[SPXcyan]

Another loan signing for the Blues, a second Kacper joins the club from the Polish top division, a 21 year winger who's comfortable with both feet, this should give Parsons something to think about provided that he can adapt quick enough.

https://waterfordfc.ie/kacper-skwierczynski-becomes-a-blue/?fbclid=IwAR27m_fH_bMtch4VKdJYEasbmrtBL8SeG7EHbMrF qrSjyaBw6mKBGwSzSkY

[cláirseach]

I actually thought he left Dundalk for Rovers but had a look and it was actually the other way round so there goes the Agent Winn jibes :D Think it was Harps fans that rated him as world class!

You can happily scramble the login for any Harps fan that came to that conclusion.

[total hoofball]

eoin doyle came from a stronger division at a younger age than amond. this signing is being blown way over the top, i cant see it working out myself. the league has gotten much younger, fitter and stronger over the years. a lot to expect from a 36 year old. only thing in his favour for me is that keith long has proven he can get a lot out of strikers. doubt he'll be asking him to do much off the ball etc. he somehow managed to make andre wright look like a footballer.
I actually forgot a certain current Shelbourne manager and former two time Premier League winner/ROI capped centurion found the LOI tough going aswell at 36 years of age during his brief spell at Shamrock Rovers in 2015 and that was only 12 or so months after he was still appearing in the Premier League for Fulham

The mid-30s Father Time is brutal at levels of professional football even if you are in pristine shape and have been lucky to dodge any major injuries during your career. Good luck to Amond anyhow he will be one of the most interesting signings of the season to see if he has one last run in the tank or if he is completely finished coming from the basement of the National League

[Knocklyonhoop]

You’d forget just how many absolutely hopeless goalkeepers rovers had at different times between Mannus leaving and coming back. Oscar Jansson, Reyaad Pieterse, Conor Winn, Craig Hyland, Tomer Chensinski. Others that played during that time but weren’t in the hopeless camp are Barry Murphy, Gavin Bazunu, Richard Brush and possibly more. Staggering instability in such an important position when you consider it was only around 6 or 7 seasons. Here’s hoping for more of that now that he’s gone again ;)

id have Bazunu and Murphy as a fair bit better than not hopeless ffs!

[2 Year Contract]

id have Bazunu and Murphy as a fair bit better than not hopeless ffs!

Don’t get the knickers in a twist! The post was about hopeless keepers. Stating that they weren’t hopeless was more so just to differentiate them as other keepers that also featured in that period to show just how many different keepers played in those years. Obviously they’re better than just ‘not hopeless’ but I wasn’t going through a full categorisation/rating of every rovers keeper from 2012-2018 due to a combination of there being simply too many and me not being bothered to do so

[Nesta99]

I think you'll find no harps fan ever said that! Up there with the worst keeper I've seen at harps

Nah! You just caught a dose of the 'Ollies', worst (everything) ever!

God help players that are daft enough to bother looking at message boards!!

[ontheotherhand]

Don’t get the knickers in a twist! The post was about hopeless keepers. Stating that they weren’t hopeless was more so just to differentiate them as other keepers that also featured in that period to show just how many different keepers played in those years. Obviously they’re better than just ‘not hopeless’ but I wasn’t going through a full categorisation/rating of every rovers keeper from 2012-2018 due to a combination of there being simply too many and me not being bothered to do so


You also mentioned third choice keepers who never played a game. It was a bit of a stretch of a post. Jansson started poorly but was a decent keeper. The season we had to play Hyland more than we should have and then the season of Tomer and Horgan in 2016/17 were bad. Not sure the rest were any worse than most clubs have dealt with. Only Tomer really held us back as the rest of the team was on a different level by then. Mannus is so much better than anything bar Brian Murphy that I've seen so anyone else would look poor in comparison.

I still hope we find the stability of a long term option of course but it's tough. Pats resort to loans which has worked out fairly well so far but Id rather someone consistent in that position myself.

[2 Year Contract]

You also mentioned third choice keepers who never played a game.

Incorrect, all of the keepers I mentioned have played first team minutes at your club. Anyways, not too bothered arguing how poor most of them were. I witnessed and enjoyed it until Bazunu's brief few games and then Mannus returning and being as dominant as he was. Hopefully this year Pohls matches Jansson’s rovers form anyways as it seems we’d both enjoy that given our differing opinions

[ontheotherhand]

Incorrect, all of the keepers I mentioned have played first team minutes at your club. Anyways, not too bothered arguing how poor most of them were. I witnessed and enjoyed it until Bazunu's brief few games and then Mannus returning and being as dominant as he was. Hopefully this year Pohls matches Jansson’s rovers form anyways as it seems we’d both enjoy that given our differing opinions

First team minutes doesn't mean they were first choice. Not sure Winn ever even got that far so including him is odd.

https://www.extratime.com/player/1235220/conor_winn/

[2 Year Contract]

First team minutes doesn't mean they were first choice. Not sure Winn ever even got that far so including him is odd.

https://www.extratime.com/player/1235220/conor_winn/

Winn made cup appearances. Also I never said anything about anyone being first choice in my trivial post about goalkeepers that played football in football matches for shamrock rovers between the years two thousand and twelve and two thousand and eighteen

[ontheotherhand]

Winn made cup appearances. Also I never said anything about anyone being first choice in my trivial post about goalkeepers that played football in football matches for shamrock rovers between the years two thousand and twelve and two thousand and eighteen

This is a message board about LoI football. It's all trivial man. Don't get your knickers so twisted up when your points get discussed.

[2 Year Contract]

Moving on…

I see Ali Reghba is now a free agent after playing in Algeria's top flight for the last 2 seasons. He only scored 1 league goal in 21 appearances there but he looked a good prospect when he was with Bohs a number of year back (can’t believe he’s 24 already!). I wonder if any LOI club will take a punt considering the lack of options available up front

[Another Bohemia]

Moving on…

I see Ali Reghba is now a free agent after playing in Algeria's top flight for the last 2 seasons. He only scored 1 league goal in 21 appearances there but he looked a good prospect when he was with Bohs a number of year back (can’t believe he’s 24 already!). I wonder if any LOI club will take a punt considering the lack of options available up front

Bohs could certainly do worse than having him as a back up option the u19's showed they were nowhere near the pace against Drogheda on Monday so a few more senor players will need to be brought in.

[cláirseach]

Bohs could certainly do worse than having him as a back up option the u19's showed they were nowhere near the pace against Drogheda on Monday so a few more senor players will need to be brought in.

I'm not sure how relevant that is. The u20s player who would play in the same role was left on the bench for that match (I think he did get some minutes in the end) as he is involved with the first team's friendlies. A good player too.

[Shinkicker]

Bohs could certainly do worse than having him as a back up option the u19's showed they were nowhere near the pace against Drogheda on Monday so a few more senor players will need to be brought in.
It appears Bohs are letting D McDaid is going on loan to Drogheda. There must be a raft of players on the way in the next week Or else we will barely have 11 to start the league in 4 weeks

[total hoofball]

I thought McDaid was out of contract at Bohs? Just googled and found an article about him in June talking about hoping to earn a new contract

[Another Bohemia]

It appears Bohs are letting D McDaid is going on loan to Drogheda. There must be a raft of players on the way in the next week Or else we will barely have 11 to start the league in 4 weeks

Winger is one of the few areas covered well. You have Grant, Akintunde, Connolly and Rooney if McDaid Leaves. What's more worrying is I've heard rumours the James McManus is off to Coventry so on top of the 3+ defenders, a GK and a striker that's needed you'd need at least 1 cm till Bucko is back realistically probably 2 due to the severity of buckos injury. 6ish players is a lot to bring in and get up to speed for the start of the season

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Anyone care to disclose what the undisclosed international training compensation fee for Sam Curtis was?

[Bunny Kelly]

Winger is one of the few areas covered well. You have Grant, Akintunde, Connolly and Rooney if McDaid Leaves. What's more worrying is I've heard rumours the James McManus is off to Coventry so on top of the 3+ defenders, a GK and a striker that's needed you'd need at least 1 cm till Bucko is back realistically probably 2 due to the severity of buckos injury. 6ish players is a lot to bring in and get up to speed for the start of the season

Optimistic to rely on grant being fit for the season & at this point akintunde will be needed plenty through the season so it seems risky to let McDaid go unless you have someone else coming in

[Another Bohemia]

Optimistic to rely on grant being fit for the season & at this point akintunde will be needed plenty through the season so it seems risky to let McDaid go unless you have someone else coming in

Connolly seems to be reliable in terms of fitness/availability excluding the odd brain fart of getting cards and suspended. Rooney also seems to be reliable in that regard so you can use Grant and Akintunde in rotation which may suit them a bit better because they both have injury concerns. Could argue to bring in another or hold onto McDaid but if it's the last 20 mins of half dozen to a dozen games a year I'd prefer that time to go to an U19 player they have a decent amount of growth to make but there is some promise there and the only way to get used to men's football is to play men's football. My main point is it's one of the areas of lesser concern, still concern of you get some injuries but there's little you can do about that.

[Bunny Kelly]

Connolly seems to be reliable in terms of fitness/availability excluding the odd brain fart of getting cards and suspended. Rooney also seems to be reliable in that regard so you can use Grant and Akintunde in rotation which may suit them a bit better because they both have injury concerns. Could argue to bring in another or hold onto McDaid but if it's the last 20 mins of half dozen to a dozen games a year I'd prefer that time to go to an U19 player they have a decent amount of growth to make but there is some promise there and the only way to get used to men's football is to play men's football. My main point is it's one of the areas of lesser concern, still concern of you get some injuries but there's little you can do about that.


Thats fair enough preferring your 4th choice to be a promising youngster with a chance of game time as opposed to a more experinced player that you don't consider good enough.

As an aside, is the lack of accommodation in Dublin as mentioned by Jon Daly before the reason Waterford have been able to tap into the Polish market that Bohs hit last year?

[2 Year Contract]

Padraig Amond confirmed by Waterford on a 2 year deal. I think they’ll get the season out of him but once he stops playing at the end of the season the legs will catch up with him. Eoin Doyle said the same thing, coming into Pats straight from playing every week in League One was fine and he had a good season with 15 goals, but once the season ended and he had to build up the fitness again in pre season of 2023 the legs began to give up and he was running on empty by mid season before retiring. He was also 35 when he retired too while Amond is turning 36 soon. We'll see how he does, I don’t see him scoring anything near Doyle's 15 in his opening season but I can see why Waterford have signed him and he should score a few this season while also bringing massive experience to the team and almost acting as another coach on the pitch the same way Doyle did with Pats

[SPXcyan]

The experienced head should help the team settle in the Premier league, I do worry about it being a two year deal at nearly 36, but we'll see, maybe they'll be able to get the two years out of him.

[ontheotherhand]

Confused by bohs these days. Thought Fenlon would be a great appt but they seem to be going backwards in terms of football planning. If they'd held on to Long and brought Fenlon and the long term contracts in for him they might be in better shape? Can't understand why they are struggling more than the other Dublin clubs to sign players. Should be a fairly attractive place to play ball if Dublin is a option.

Can't see Devine lasting the season.

[Shinkicker]

Confused by bohs these days. Thought Fenlon would be a great appt but they seem to be going backwards in terms of football planning. If they'd held on to Long and brought Fenlon and the long term contracts in for him they might be in better shape? Can't understand why they are struggling more than the other Dublin clubs to sign players. Should be a fairly attractive place to play ball if Dublin is a option.

Can't see Devine lasting the season.
Just saw the team line up and subs for the Pat's friendly. We are down to the bare bones, unless some of the youngsters are the next mc manus or freguson it will be a grim season.

[sbgawa]

i suspect bohs will sign players from England who didnt get fixed up by the end of the UK window. 31st Jan.
Still gives them 2 weeks before the first game of the season and another month before their first cup final ;)

It is hard to understand though as they have the afolabi money and a full timer in Fenlon to manage the football side.
Given the people and the resources available youd have to think there are incomings and maybe better then people are expecting as well other wise why wait

[ontheotherhand]

Just saw the team line up and subs for the Pat's friendly. We are down to the bare bones, unless some of the youngsters are the next mc manus or freguson it will be a grim season.

Yeah I saw that alright. Still time as sbgawa says but I doubt Fenlon had this in mind when he came in. Are himself and Devine not on the same page?

[Jack B]

No doubt it has been managed poorly in the off-season and they haven't given themselves the best opportunity to start the season as prepared as they should have, but Bohs still have the bones of a strong starting eleven outside of a couple of positions and a few good signings can change perspectives very quickly. The squad depth on the whole would definitely be the main worry.

Easier said than done but it's not unfeasible that once the UK window closes and certain players become available that they add a few known quantities. You'd imagine the budget is there.

[Another Bohemia]

Thats fair enough preferring your 4th choice to be a promising youngster with a chance of game time as opposed to a more experinced player that you don't consider good enough.

As an aside, is the lack of accommodation in Dublin as mentioned by Jon Daly before the reason Waterford have been able to tap into the Polish market that Bohs hit last year?

Well Im pretty sure that Coote and Radkowski both lived in a house rented by Bohs with some others. I imagine their rooms are now available since neither have re-signed. I can't recall all of the leavings but I'd wager there's still a few spaces to spare. But you're right it might play a part and it just makes the decision to let a player like Dean Williams leave even more confusing as he likely was still living at home and covered an area we need cover in.

[Kingdom]

Confused by bohs these days...
Can't see Devine lasting the season.

Can't see Devine lasting the first round of games.

[2 Year Contract]

Darius Lipsiuc has joined Stoke City from Pats for an undisclosed fee. On the bench with the first team but only got a handful of first team appearances. He found it tough to break into the midfield with the senior talent there as well as the likes of Adam Murphy to compete with

[RealJohn91]

Two more Estonians and a keeper who's playing in Cyprus joining Bohs apparently

[Jack B]

Flora Tallinn seem a weird club, the best in the country but they seem all too happy to let lads move over here en masse. Risky one for Bohs, there's been mixed results to say the least when teams have recruited from Estonia.

[ger121]

Flora Tallinn seem a weird club, the best in the country but they seem all too happy to let lads move over here en masse. Risky one for Bohs, there's been mixed results to say the least when teams have recruited from Estonia.

Both Internationals. One of them has 31 caps and played in most if not all of Estonia’s qualifiers. Other guy played recently too for National side. We’ll take them.

How can Flora loan out all of these players and still be competitive in their league. A very odd club. Must be Russian money involved.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

We’ve had a few internationals from there that didn’t work out

[joey B]

Dean Lyness joined Hamilton,there was interest from Bohs supposedly but he’s back in the UK…