2024 Season, Arrivals and Departures

[pineapple stu]

He started most games in the first half of 2022 anyway. Would we have scuppered matches to ensure one player got a move to Bolton? I don't really know. I'd like to think not, yet football is strange...

[total hoofball]

I think Yoro legitimately got those starts as UCD were very short at central defence during that 2022 season. Yoro was only 18 then and definitely looked inexperienced but we see so many young players who are signed by UK clubs not because of what they are at the time of signing but for potential what the UK clubs hope they will turn out to be by the time they are 21. I expect alot of UK rebounds back to LOI over next few seasons

[The Bowler]

Eric Yoro who joined Bolton from UCD a couple of years ago signed for Cliftonville on loan….

His transfer to Boltons B team was perhaps the most shocked I've ever been in a lifetime in football. The second most shocked I've ever been was seeing him get a run of games in the UCD first team. His speciality was complete fresh air shots and panicking every time the ball came near him. The word from The Bowl was that they were flabbergasted when Bolton came in for him. However, someone in Bolton was talked into having a punt on him, so who am I to judge. But I can't help thinking Cliftonville are in for a big surprise

[Demesne Lad]

Tommy Lonergan’s moving to Fleetwood for 60k according to Dan McDonnell.

"Fleetwood Town have signed St Patrick's forward Tommy Lonergan for an undisclosed fee on a two-and-a-half-year deal." (BBC Football, 1 Feb)

[Shinkicker]

https://twitter.com/chippie1974/status/1753352570939081060?t=GDU-pvB8ZrAsS-lxzCL4Sg&s=19
Link to a post on twitter or X showing players signed for each club so far. A few are inaccurate but very close.

[2 Year Contract]

https://twitter.com/chippie1974/status/1753352570939081060?t=GDU-pvB8ZrAsS-lxzCL4Sg&s=19
Link to a post on twitter or X showing players signed for each club so far. A few are inaccurate but very close.

Jesus I knew Sligo were light but I didn’t know it was that bad (if accurate). 14 senior outfield players in the squad this late in the day is madness

[Shinkicker]

https://twitter.com/chippie1974/status/1753352570939081060?t=GDU-pvB8ZrAsS-lxzCL4Sg&s=19
Link to a post on twitter or X showing players signed for each club so far. A few are inaccurate but very close.
Take Talbot, bucko and mc manus out of Bohs and we are down to bare bones. Its going to be a long hard slog this year unless we get 3 or 4 more quality players in, Or our youth teams have the next Ferguson and his 2 mates that we don't know about.

[Another Bohemia]

Take Talbot, bucko and mc manus out of Bohs and we are down to bare bones. Its going to be a long hard slog this year unless we get 3 or 4 more quality players in, Or our youth teams have the next Ferguson and his 2 mates that we don't know about.

Having watched the u20's vs Drogheda they are at least a year away from being ready. Passing is far too sloppy and they are very weak on the ball. Need some more signings pronto.

[2 Year Contract]

Take Talbot, bucko and mc manus out of Bohs and we are down to bare bones. Its going to be a long hard slog this year unless we get 3 or 4 more quality players in, Or our youth teams have the next Ferguson and his 2 mates that we don't know about.

Is the McManus deal done? The English transfer window closed yesterday and I haven’t seen confirmation from either Coventry or Bohs on it

[RealJohn91]

He's injured for a while

[joey B]

Dave Webster signed for Drogheda

[Nesta99]

Jesus I knew Sligo were light but I didn’t know it was that bad (if accurate). 14 senior outfield players in the squad this late in the day is madness

Conor Malley will have to step up, as a marquee signing he was seen as a bit work shy by Dundalk supporters. Unless there is a spat of signings in the next couple of weeks he will be covering a lot of ground each game with little opportunity for rotation!

[2 Year Contract]

He's injured for a while
Ah ok, wasn’t aware of that. I presume that may be what scuppered the move then?

[forza rovers]

Jesus I knew Sligo were light but I didn’t know it was that bad (if accurate). 14 senior outfield players in the squad this late in the day is madness a few more young lads there too on the fringes that are not listed, and a few more to be signed in the next few days, I do have to laugh from here that we are all but wrote off, the likes of galway and waterford haven't exactly stacked their squads with premier division players.

[RealJohn91]

Ah ok, wasn’t aware of that. I presume that may be what scuppered the move then?
Apparently they was no truth in that link to Coventry, some fella making things up.

[Bunny Kelly]

Did Lonergan join Waterford on loan in the end? And if not has the deadline now passed?

[2 Year Contract]

Did Lonergan join Waterford on loan in the end? And if not has the deadline now passed?

No not yet. The window for English clubs signing players ended yesterday but Irish clubs can do so until late this month

[oriel]

a few more young lads there too on the fringes that are not listed, and a few more to be signed in the next few days, I do have to laugh from here that we are all but wrote off, the likes of galway and waterford haven't exactly stacked their squads with premier division players.


Very good point, and i think all 3 will struggle, I have these in my bottom 3, Sligo will have a slight advantage of least up against PD opposition, that said I have Sligo as bottom mainly due to no real 'big names' on the books but it wouldn 't surprise me to see any of these 3 finish bottom.

[pineapple stu]

Daniel Babb has joined Ipswich from UCD on a permanent deal. Bit of a blow for us - and another disappointing case of a player leaving the LoI to go into an academy system they'll likely not get out of. OK, UCD are part-time, probably amateur, so I can see the draw there. But we need to get better at retaining these sort of players until they're at least able to move straight into a first team abroad.

[2 Year Contract]

Another body in the door at Sligo. 21 year old defender Charlie Wiggett has joined on a permanent deal from Newcastle U21s

[ontheotherhand]

Apparently they was no truth in that link to Coventry, some fella making things up.


Genuinely thought that was a done deal. Well at least yous have him for another season! Tidy player.

[Shearer]

Valerie Dolia to Kerry is quite a coup.

[Demesne Lad]

Pat's still busy in the transfer market:

Bolton Wanderers' Arran Pettifer joins St Patrick's Athletic | The Bolton News (https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/24094917.bolton-wanderers-arran-pettifer-joins-st-patricks-athletic/)

[Shinkicker]

Genuinely thought that was a done deal. Well at least yous have him for another season! Tidy player.
Same here, thought the deal was done.

[culloty82]

Valerie Dolia to Kerry is quite a coup.

As noted in the announcement, he seemed to score against us every time we met, so the management would have been well aware of his prowess!

[Jack B]

Absolutely no idea if Pettifer is a good signing as there's not much of a track record to go off, but happy to have another midfielder in all the same. More depth there was needed.

[joey B]

Greg Sloggett signed for Cheltenham Town.

[legendz]

Valerie Dolia to Kerry is quite a coup. Should prove to be hopefully.


Conor McCarthy has stated that Kerry have concluded their transfer dealings for the winter - should be more solid defensively again than the second half of last season, but looking very light up top, unless Okwute, Kelliher and Kennedy all chip in with double digits in the league, which seems unlikely.
I think all three can hit double digits. If they can and Dolia does as well, Kerry should have a reasonable improvement from last year, especially if Kerry also improve defensively and stop conceding sloppy goals that let opponents back into the games, and even worse, gifting opponents easy 3 points.

[sulywaterfordfc]

Did Lonergan join Waterford on loan in the end? And if not has the deadline now passed?

LOI deadline is like February 22nd I think. There’s never been any actual link to Fleetwood loaning him to Waterford other than people assuming a loan will happen as Waterford tried and failed to sign him and the two clubs are linked. I’d be surprised if a loan happened in his window anyway Fleetwood milked the signing a bit when they announced him, the Fleetwood manager was even tweeting about the signing.

[culloty82]

And Coughlan's off the mark for Fleetwood this afternoon.

[Another Bohemia]

LOI deadline is like February 22nd I think. There’s never been any actual link to Fleetwood loaning him to Waterford other than people assuming a loan will happen as Waterford tried and failed to sign him and the two clubs are linked. I’d be surprised if a loan happened in his window anyway Fleetwood milked the signing a bit when they announced him, the Fleetwood manager was even tweeting about the signing.

I'd say what more likely to happen in the Fleetwood/ Waterford link up is Waterford sign players that Fleetwood scout in the LOI. Waterford signing the player improves Waterfords squad and gives Fleetwood additional in depth scout reports that you just won't get without day to day contact with the player. If the player lives up to or exceeds what Fleetwoods initial report says the player will be "sold" to Fleetwood. No reason Lonergan wouldn't be loaned to Waterford but I think if Fleetwood sign someone straight up they may as well keep him and see what they have.

[culloty82]

Kerry have now signed a 19-year-old striker called Victor Udeze, if either Galway or Athlone fans can enlighten us about him?

[2 Year Contract]

Former Scotland U21 international Scott High has joined Dundalk on loan from Huddersfield, becoming the 5th Scottish player in their squad. You could say that the squad certainly is Scot high ;)

[oriel]

And another one in tonight for Dundalk, this guy looks decent as Lincoln had just signed him from Ipswich.

https://x.com/DundalkFC/status/1754588200503259169?s=20

[pineapple stu]

Was playing for Woking the first half of last season in the Conference; that's as high as he's ever played.

[outspoken]

Former Scotland U21 international Scott High has joined Dundalk on loan from Huddersfield, becoming the 5th Scottish player in their squad. You could say that the squad certainly is Scot high ;)

A much better CV than usual with these loan signings, 60 Championship appearances, I remember Sean Murray had a similar profile when he arrived.

[2 Year Contract]

Fair play to Dundalk for not bowing to Andy Burton’s ridiculous mid season free transfer clause for such an important position. The man is acting like a massive child in the public domain, presumably in an attempt to cover up how bad he is at his job that he’s failed to secure a club (let alone a #1 spot) for a very talented player up to this point

https://x.com/itsandyburton/status/1754618008222278138?s=20

[oriel]

Was playing for Woking the first half of last season in the Conference; that's as high as he's ever played.

True, but sometimes you can strike gold with players from lower leagues, Archie Davies is one that springs to mind. Scott High albeit on loan is coming from a much higher standard having played 60 games or so in championship over the past few seasons, agreed with Outspoken post there are shades of Sean Murray about him when he arrived.

However these all need to perform at LOI, often it can be hard to adjust plus could take a long time to gel, with so many new intakes this season for Dundalk, def 8 + now they all need to hit the ground running as they say and that won't be easy.

[oriel]

Fair play to Dundalk for not bowing to Andy Burton’s ridiculous mid season free transfer clause for such an important position. The man is acting like a massive child in the public domain, presumably in an attempt to cover up how bad he is at his job that he’s failed to secure a club (let alone a #1 spot) for a very talented player up to this point

https://x.com/itsandyburton/status/1754618008222278138?s=20

Oh it was the agent here who fxxx'd it up, poor old Nathan had even travelled over on the ferry it seems, expecting a deal to be sorted, then the clause was added in last min dot com by all accounts, the club said no, most feel so sorry for Shepperd on how things panned out in the end. Even at our levels here in Ireland football can be tough on young guys trying to earn a living.

[Jack B]

Petty and unprofessional stuff from Burton, saw he was liking tweets as well about the new keeper Munro making an error vs Drogheda. There's only one party being reflected poorly upon in this situation and it isn't Dundalk, Shepperd would be within his rights to be mortified by the carry on.

Will be interesting to see how Dundalk go this season. More than any other side they're going to be relying on a lot of unknown quantities to the league which has always proved a difficult one to gauge.

[total hoofball]

I make that 12 UK/overseas players in that Dundalk squad could be a LOI record?

Unfortunately the track record of UK/overseas imports from recent seasons into the LOI is mostly miss than hit despite some hype I always read about some of these players making appearances for clubs in higher level leagues that the LOI so Dundalk would want to be striking gold with most of these guys otherwise it will mid-table at best for them

[pineapple stu]

Athlone last year would have beaten it, no?

[nigel-harps1954]

Harps had 12 overseas players over the 2022 season. Athlone definitely had more than that last season though, and I would presume they'll be much the same again this coming season.

[Buckett]

Derry seem to have loads every year too

[Nesta99]

Fair play to Dundalk for not bowing to Andy Burton’s ridiculous mid season free transfer clause for such an important position. The man is acting like a massive child in the public domain, presumably in an attempt to cover up how bad he is at his job that he’s failed to secure a club (let alone a #1 spot) for a very talented player up to this point

https://x.com/itsandyburton/status/1754618008222278138?s=20

I hadnt seen this tweet until linked by 2YC and I am genuinely bemused or maybe more amused by Burton on this new episode of spitting the dummy. I doubt anyone agrees his comparison between loan players and permanent signing with a free release clause mid season, never mind in the no1 keeper position. Dundalk would have been rightly laughed at if Sheppard had walked away for free midseason by taking on those terms. It is also very odd behaviour from a person in a role that requires a significant amount of credibility to do his job properly for his clients - If clubs see such obvious lack of insight it affects how the agent's rating of players he is trying to shop, the attempt at publically ridiculing the club for standing firm, exposes that he is willing to bluff so clubs know they could be in future positions to dictate negotiations, surely some discretion is a requirement - negotiations break down, its part and parcel of the world game?! Then there is the impact on the players and how other players may steer clear of the agency. Its a real shame for Shep if he is left without a club until the summer though Im sure some there will be at the very least a non-league offer in the UK as a back up keeper but I think it will stall his development, could see him on reduced terms of the Dunalk offer and weaken his hand for the next transfer window. But, while he is a young lad, he ultimately instructs his agent and will have been offered additional advice so not all his just agent promising alternative options and playing with a hardball bluff. He could learn more in general life terms if he ends up kicking his heels until the summer than a last minute bailout by AB. How much is an agent a friend or sees a players simply as a commodity...

We see such antics from super agents (Id have a differnt term for them) but Jorge Mendes Andy Burton is not! Its like something straight off Football Manager and contract negotiations and 'the agent' getting cranky:rolleyes:

[El-Pietro]

I make that 12 UK/overseas players in that Dundalk squad could be a LOI record?

Unfortunately the track record of UK/overseas imports from recent seasons into the LOI is mostly miss than hit despite some hype I always read about some of these players making appearances for clubs in higher level leagues that the LOI so Dundalk would want to be striking gold with most of these guys otherwise it will mid-table at best for them
With all our keepers last season we must have come close.

[total hoofball]

Is Burton an agent for other LOI players? Sign of the times in the LOI's recent growth that clubs now have now villainous LOI agents to contend with

[El-Pietro]

With all our keepers last season we must have come close.

Depending on how you categorise Tiernan Brooks (Ireland U21 International but born and raised in the UK) we had either 12 or 13 international/non Irish players last season.
Brooks is probably not eligible as he is very literally Irish.
Oliver Byrne - English
Tobi Oluwayemi - English
Ally Gilchrist - Scottish
Kevin ?ustovi? - Swedish
Jonas Hakkinen - Finish/Canadian
Rokas Stanulevi?ius- Lithuanian
Andrii Kravchuk - Ukrainian
Ben Worman - English
Albin Winbo - Swedish
Malik Dijksteel - Dutch
Tunde Owalabi - Belgian
Daniel Krezic - North Macedonian

We had 9 in 2020 when we were relegated, plus Liam Bossin who played underage for Ireland but realistically is Belgian, and we had 3 (plus Stephen Dooley from Northern Ireland in 2017 when we won the Double. Achille Campion, cult hero, Robbie Williams who came in after the title was effectively won and did not play all that well and Rimvydas Sadauskas who played 0 minutes but has gone on to have a decent enough career in Lithuania.

In 2005 we had Danny Murphy, Dan Murray and Phil Harrington, all of whom have settled in the city for the most part since retiring. Danny I think has been in the US/UK coaching in recent years. Neal Horgan is technically a US citizen too.
In 1993 Phil Harrington might have been the only non Irish player, plus Caulfield who is also technically a US citizen.

Causation does not equal correlation, but in our case squads full of non Irish players have not worked out for us, though I think that really says more about how we source those players more than anything else. Lots of lower league English players with very short spells

[Hitman]

We had 9 in 2020 when we were relegated, plus Liam Bossin who played underage for Ireland but realistically is Belgian, and we had 3 (plus Stephen Dooley from Northern Ireland in 2017 when we won the Double. Achille Campion, cult hero, Robbie Williams who came in after the title was effectively won and did not play all that well and Rimvydas Sadauskas who played 0 minutes but has gone on to have a decent enough career in Lithuania.


Italian superstar Christian Nanetti in 2017 as well.

[RealJohn91]

Bohs sign Polish keeper Kacper Chorazka who had been playing in Cyprus on a multi-year deal. Another unknown but at least there's cover for Talbot now. Another centre half and I think that'll be that until the summer.