A left back

[Demoshield]

As per transfer thread we have signed Marc McCulloch from Shels.
From Wikipedia,
Marc McCulloch
Personal information
Full name Marc McCulloch
Date of birth March 14, 1980 (1980-03-14) (age 27)
Place of birth Edinburgh, Scotland
Playing position Defender
Marc McCulloch (born March 14, 1980 in Edinburgh, Scotland), is a Scottish footballer who is currently playing for Shelbourne in the Eircom League of Ireland First Division. Marc is an experienced left sided defender.
Career
Marc began his career at St. Johnstone in 1998 spending 5 years at the club before joining Brechin City in the summer of 2003. First team opportunities were limited for McCulloch in his first season at the struggling First Division outfit and he departed the club to join Second Division side Morton after just one season at Glebe Park. Marc made a quick impression at Morton but his career there was shortlived after just 6 months when he joined Arbroath. Marc never looked back at Arbroath as he became a regular in the side and he was eventually rewarded for his excellent performances and commitment with the club's captaincy.
After 2 and a half years at Arbroath, Marc announced that he would be leaving the club to make a move to Irish football by signing for Eircom League of Ireland First Division club Shelbourne[1]. Marc officially became a Shelbourne player on July 1, 2007 and made his Shels debut on July 6, 2007 against Wexford Youths at Tolka Park while providing the cross for winning header by Mark Leech in a 1-0 win for his new team[2]. Marc's experience and ability at left-back will be happily welcomed by the Shelbourne faithful in their push up the table.

According to Shels forum Striker Mark Leech has been offered a contract by GUFC & is thinking about it.

[eamo1]

we are getting a player who couldnt get into the Brechin city side and a striker from a mid table div 1 team,hhmmm.is that leech the same guy who was at drogheda once?yer thoughts?

[gilberto_eire]

mother of god...we're meant to challenge for a top 4 position with these ''quality signings'':rolleyes:

my confidance in our manager is fading fast this pre-season window (and GUFCT i can see something smart coming from you...but) we seem to be looking at/signing mickey mouse players worse then last season!

i never even heard of a few of those scottish teams he played for!... even Fagen played at better ones then them :D

on Leech?.... i dont know could be a DECENT player but lets remind ourselves where he went last season and how mnay goals he got there...i can see him getting no more then 4/5 goals in the prem , not like we're blessed with top quality strikers as it is!!....

having said all this TC has proved he signs one very good player for every 3/4 so the next one might be worth keeping!! :P

[Paddyfield]

Left back? Bring back Mike Quirke. He's only around 30.

He was probably the most reliable playe we had this century!!!

[JC_GUFC]

Mark Leech is a quality player. I was hoping we'd sign him at the start of this season with Tony's contacts but at the time he'd "retired" from football so he could get out of his Drogheda contract.

I haven't seen Shels play this season but their fans seem to think Marc McCulloch is very good and the fact that he started every match since he signed for them and was never substituted looks good. He's not going to be any worse than Reilly/Wes at left back anyway.

Of course Gilberto you must have seen Shels a few times this season to know that these 2 signings are rubbish. :rolleyes:

How about suggesting some players that we should sign? Preferably ones that we'd have a chance of signing and not players like Dave Mooney who would never sign for us.

[Patrick Dunne]

Considering that McCulloch only joined Shels in July and is already the favourite for their POTY, he must have done very well there. Shels have been in relatively good form since mid-season after a poor start to to the First Division campaign.

Leech and McCulloch sound like decent enough signings. We can't break the wage structure to bring in E1,000 per week + players, many of whom are paid that amount on reputation only.

One player who I would love to see back in Terryland is Bobby Ryan, who is
having little impact at Dunfermline.

[GuisaSaigon]

One player who I would love to see back in Terryland is Bobby Ryan, who is
having little impact at Dunfermline.

Yeah, bring back Physco Eyes!

[gufct]

"TC has proved he signs one very good player for every 3/4 so the next one might be worth keeping"

Gilberto have you ever anything positive to say.Tonys record in signing good players is way ahead of some of his counterparts who have far greater resources. Slagging off players before we see what they are like is typical of your usual rants. How many BOHS Fans had heard of Kevin Hunt before he signed for them after coming back from Hong Kong.

Tony knows Mark Leech inside out from his time in Drogheda and he would have had McCulloch checked out many times by his scout in Dublin.We all have said our top priority was to sign a left back,at least 2 strikers and a reserve keeper and if rumours are proved to be correct we have 3 of those sorted.

[Claret Murph]

Mark Leech is a quality player. I was hoping we'd sign him at the start of this season with Tony's contacts but at the time he'd "retired" from football so he could get out of his Drogheda contract.

I haven't seen Shels play this season but their fans seem to think Marc McCulloch is very good and the fact that he started every match since he signed for them and was never substituted looks good. He's not going to be any worse than Reilly/Wes at left back anyway.

Of course Gilberto you must have seen Shels a few times this season to know that these 2 signings are rubbish. :rolleyes:

How about suggesting some players that we should sign? Preferably ones that we'd have a chance of signing and not players like Dave Mooney who would never sign for us.


HOG WASH
I am with Gilberto all the way on this one if we sign second rate players we end up with a second rate team as simple as that . And the management aim for a top four finish ? sorry it's not going to happen . We need to sign at least two top class players if not we all know where we are going to end up at the end of next season .......

[JC_GUFC]

Yeah I think Bobby would be a great signing and could well become available when Stephen Kenny gets the boot!

Other players that could be worth looking at are Alan Cawley at Bray, he's originally from Sligo so probably wouldn't mind moving West and Andrei Georgescu also at Bray.

Cawley plays on the right and Georgescu can too but plays up front more, though seems to have fallen out of favour this season.

[JC_GUFC]

HOG WASH
I am with Gilberto all the on this one if we sign second rate players we end up with a second rate team as simple as that . And the management aim for a top four finish ? sorry it's not going to happen . We need to sign at least two top class players if not we all know where we are going to end up at the end of next season .......

Mark Leech is a quality player but I'd guess has a bad attitude.

I don't think any of us have seen Marc McCulloch playing so I can't really comment on that, maybe he's only going to be cover for Ashley Cole when we sign him.

What quality players do you want us to sign? Do you honestly think any 1st team regular from the top 4 clubs this season will join us?

How can you criticise signings you've never seen play? It makes no sense. I wasn't even critical of our signing of Bobby Byrne, though I was of Paddy Doyle but he never joined us in the end!

[Patrick Dunne]

These two from Bray would be good signings. We are more likely to get upcoming young EL players and cross channel targets than established EL "stars".

[Patrick Dunne]

A very good job in a bookies !

[Patrick Dunne]

Hes probably just sitting in some office, making up odds, and spending
his time posting on EL forums.

What a waster !

[JC_GUFC]

Same bookies as I work in!!

I'll drop him an email when I'm in work later to see what the story is anyway! I don't think he'd have a problem quitting his job to become a pro footballer.

Agreed on Georgescu but he played on the right quite a bit 2 seasons ago and did very well there.

I'd say Bobby would come back to us, he only left because he wanted to play fulltime. He didn't do particularly well at Shels so I don't think Dublin clubs would be falling over themselves to sign him.

[gufct]

HOG WASH
I am with Gilberto all the way on this one if we sign second rate players we end up with a second rate team as simple as that . And the management aim for a top four finish ? sorry it's not going to happen . We need to sign at least two top class players if not we all know where we are going to end up at the end of next season .......

Claret this is typical of some of the fans in the club slam players before they have even signed (these are only rumours at the moment) or people have seen them play. The whole world knows we need a left back and if you check out the shels fans reaction to McCulloch leaving it seems like he is a good one.

There are going to be dozens of rumours between now and next march so keep calm as the most important thing is that we have a squad of 17 players tied up already who are 100% better than the squad we had at the end of last season. Keep the faith and lets see some positivity for once.

[GuisaSaigon]

Had a look on Shels message board and they all rate McCulloch very highly. Sounds like a decent signing to me.

[Tir Oilean]

I just want to say that it is great that the ball is rolling on new signings the earlier these things are done the better.

Alan Cawley was top scorer from midfield this season and would be a good addition. Dont know much about McCulloch and Leech is o.k.
Might I remind you that we were up in arms last year about signings and there ended up being more than 1 in 4 of them good ones. We are right not to get the "EL Stars" in as Pa says as these guys will be picking up a hefty cheque draining our resources. They are mostly based in Dublin anyway where the wages im sure are a bit higher too.

[MyTown]

I can understand the view of the lads who have already bemoaned the quality of our supposed signings. Will we ever live Mr. Brinias down?

However IMO unless you

- Provide your own list of potential signings
- Show that they're available
- Know that we can afford them

you should get behind the people and the club doing the signing, or consider how realistic your expectations for next season are.

[gilberto_eire]

Mark Leech is a quality player. I was hoping we'd sign him at the start of this season with Tony's contacts but at the time he'd "retired" from football so he could get out of his Drogheda contract.

I haven't seen Shels play this season but their fans seem to think Marc McCulloch is very good and the fact that he started every match since he signed for them and was never substituted looks good. He's not going to be any worse than Reilly/Wes at left back anyway.

Of course Gilberto you must have seen Shels a few times this season to know that these 2 signings are rubbish. :rolleyes:

How about suggesting some players that we should sign? Preferably ones that we'd have a chance of signing and not players like Dave Mooney who would never sign for us.

no i havent but ive seen where the finished this year and we're talking about 2 of that team. considering there careers took this path shows there on the way down...think back to fagen for quick referance

Cop on will ya ''who would i sign'' im not the one who is getting paid as a job to look into this.... i cant ask the club to fund me to travek toengland to check out players...and im not the ones sending our scout on various scouting missions ffs!!... cop on with the petty statements



"TC has proved he signs one very good player for every 3/4 so the next one might be worth keeping"

Gilberto have you ever anything positive to say.Tonys record in signing good players is way ahead of some of his counterparts who have far greater resources. Slagging off players before we see what they are like is typical of your usual rants. How many BOHS Fans had heard of Kevin Hunt before he signed for them after coming back from Hong Kong.

Tony knows Mark Leech inside out from his time in Drogheda and he would have had McCulloch checked out many times by his scout in Dublin.We all have said our top priority was to sign a left back,at least 2 strikers and a reserve keeper and if rumours are proved to be correct we have 3 of those sorted.


GUFCT you'll never change, wouldnt be surprised had you poems wrote on TC at this stage you love him so much.

last year is over and it was utter crap really tonnes of stuff not just the results.....

now we start this season a fresh(albeit a day or 2 after the last) and we're told Top 4 finish...Great!

so we start signing a Monaghan goalie(prone to errors), a left back whos been dropping divisions sice St.Johnston and a former Drogs striker who might get a few but not what we need to push on from last year!.

complete and utter tripe if you think these lads are going to be challenging at the top come october!

and YES TC does sign a lot of crap to get one good player dont dare make me to start naming them!!.

you always accuse ppl of slagging off players btw... do you know what that word means?....questioning there abilty based on there career isnt slaggin...calling them names is!!:rolleyes:

[gilberto_eire]

Had a look on Shels message board and they all rate McCulloch very highly. Sounds like a decent signing to me.

yes Saigon maybe he is but we're talking about a differant division here.... cookie was a great 1st division player but look how he coped in the prem. we're meant to be challenging higher this year so that means a better standard of player is required.... players that are proven at this level or a level similiar!

[Patrick Dunne]

A poem for Tony

(by gufct)

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Only for your great management skills
We'd probably be in Division Two !

[Claret Murph]

Lads you must see where Gilberto is coming from , we need to improve from last season ( and a good bit aswell ) and we need to bring in better players than what we released , it's very simple really .
If the club are going to finish in the top 4 do you think that buying a first division player and a player who has had a run in with his club and wanted to quit football is the way forward ?

And whoever said we will never get Mooney maybe right but if we don't aim high our targets will only become lower and lower .

Bottom line is that I am happy to pay 250 euro next season and I want to see one hell of a lot better than what we were all treated to last season .

[gufct]

Thanks Pa maybe you could pen one for Gilberto about the chip on his shoulder ;).

Sorry lads seems like were all tossers now that the great man has spoken!!!!

[JC_GUFC]

no i havent but ive seen where the finished this year and we're talking about 2 of that team. considering there careers took this path shows there on the way down...think back to fagen for quick referance

Cop on will ya ''who would i sign'' im not the one who is getting paid as a job to look into this.... i cant ask the club to fund me to travek toengland to check out players...and im not the ones sending our scout on various scouting missions ffs!!... cop on with the petty statements



Did you pay any attention to how Shels did throughout the season? They were below Wexford for most of the first half until they signed a few players in the transfer window and were the 3rd best team in the second half of the season. Just because they were with Shels doesn't mean they're no good.

Also I'd like to know who you expect us to sign players from? No club in the world signs players from any "better" club than them unless they're cast-offs.
What you're suggesting is that we sign first team players from a choice of: Any of the 7 eL clubs who finished above us, any English Premier League or Championship team or any SPL team.
Do you honestly believe any regular started in any of those listed teams would join United?

On your last point I was hoping you'd give me an idea of what kind of players you'd like us to sign rather than you go out to sign them for the club yourself...

I've suggested Alan Cawley and Andrei Georgescu (Bray finished below us), Pa has suggested Bobby Ryan (Dunfermline second bottom in Scots Div 1 and he originally joined us from Limerick anyway) would you like to suggest anyone? And maybe we can actually get a decent thread going on this site for once!

[Trainee]

Lads a top 4 finish is relistic

If tony and current squad we have now, along the new players can start the season like we finished the last we have a great chance of pushing for a place in the top 4

cork only finished 20 points ahead of us this year,if u take in account our 14 draws (7-8 of those are games we should have won) we could have been a lot higher

so if we these draws into wins (ie get a goal scorer than will get 10+ goals, and not concede late goals) we should finish a lot higher

[Napoleon]

Is Ian Bermingham from ucd a left back? Hard to get jackeens to come down the "coun'ry" but it's only a suggestion.

[WoodquayBoy]

Jamie Duffy has been released by Shamrock Rovers, would he be worth a look? Ian Ryan was with Longford on loan from Hoops, he might be worth a look. Would JohN Reilly from Longford be a good option on the right?

[corbyeire]

cork only finished 20 points ahead of us this year,if u take in account our 14 draws (7-8 of those are games we should have won) we could have been a lot higher

so if we these draws into wins (ie get a goal scorer than will get 10+ goals, and not concede late goals) we should finish a lot higher

how could we ever break our fine draw tradition :rolleyes:

[gilberto_eire]

Did you pay any attention to how Shels did throughout the season? They were below Wexford for most of the first half until they signed a few players in the transfer window and were the 3rd best team in the second half of the season. Just because they were with Shels doesn't mean they're no good.

Also I'd like to know who you expect us to sign players from? No club in the world signs players from any "better" club than them unless they're cast-offs.
What you're suggesting is that we sign first team players from a choice of: Any of the 7 eL clubs who finished above us, any English Premier League or Championship team or any SPL team.
Do you honestly believe any regular started in any of those listed teams would join United?

On your last point I was hoping you'd give me an idea of what kind of players you'd like us to sign rather than you go out to sign them for the club yourself...

I've suggested Alan Cawley and Andrei Georgescu (Bray finished below us), Pa has suggested Bobby Ryan (Dunfermline second bottom in Scots Div 1 and he originally joined us from Limerick anyway) would you like to suggest anyone? And maybe we can actually get a decent thread going on this site for once!

did i say 1st team players?.... they have subs you know!.... well buying from clubs in a mickey mouse division is hardly breath-taking..... the club want an extra 80 odd euro for season tickets...thats grand but if we're buying these kind of lads then where is the money going?

why you just naming the premiership and championship?... there is league 1 and 2 who have decent players ya know!

im so sorry GUFCT how dare i be un-happy about these potential ''top quality signings'' that are great manager has signed. when he shows a bit of class then ill give him credit, but its just one joke after another with him!!:mad:

Trainee its very easy to say that about the draws but just remember they could very easily have been losses, same theroy for our wins...they could have been draws, and our losses could have been draws instaed too :D

[Patrick Dunne]

If we had lost all our games we would have been relegated in September :mad:

Cousins must go !

[gufct]

Gilberto your unhappy with everything always have been since you started posting on here but ill refrain from abuse its futile arguing with you.

Just one player ill mention Kevin Hunt was going nowhere fast 10 years ago and Bohs took a chance on him same with Derek Glynn for us last year and he ended up getting 10 goals in 18 starts. Because we cant pay top dollar in wages it means we have to search around for players who will fit into our wage structure and are better than what we already have. I dont think we have done too badly in the last couple of seasons on that score.

[gufct]

If we had lost all our games we would have been relegated in September :mad:

Cousins must go !

Pa watch out he might think your serious.

[gufct]

To break away from the subject here .Good job the UCD Lads have gone away some of the spelling and grammar is shocking :eek:;):cool:

[gilberto_eire]

Gilberto your unhappy with everything always have been since you started posting on here but ill refrain from abuse its futile arguing with you.

Just one player ill mention Kevin Hunt was going nowhere fast 10 years ago and Bohs took a chance on him same with Derek Glynn for us last year and he ended up getting 10 goals in 18 starts. Because we cant pay top dollar in wages it means we have to search around for players who will fit into our wage structure and are better than what we already have. I dont think we have done too badly in the last couple of seasons on that score.

boo hoo GUFCT the day i care what you think of me will be a very depressing day... maybe because i only started posting on here when the shambles of last year started..... we had a vote and the people spoke... cousins to go

im sure theres a few who voted(yes-to stay) are thinking differantly after seeing our potential signings!!.... will ya stop with these comparisons all the time.... you went on about Drogheda before and how they climbed the tabel its a completly differant scenario and comparisions dont work in these situations...now Hunt, sure just because he worked your trying to say these lads could..... the players we let go were all good 1st division players... we all know how they faired this year so the odds of the new signings setting the league alight are slim..... id be happy to see proven players at this level or of the calibre of Robson(young promising player not a 27 yr old journey men...whos careers have gone downhill every club..see Fgen for quick referance) coming frm a strong premiership clubs you system to show some intent for next yr.....

[DRDoc]

Lots of heated debate on this thread :)

MCCulloch is a good buy for you in my opinion - seen a good bit of Shels this year and he always stood out - likes to get forward, very comfortable on the ball and pretty nippy - ye should be happy to have him i reckon

Im not so sure about Leech - he is well able to receive the ball with his back to goal and lay it off etc - and is quite good at that - but I wouldnt see him scoring many goals - has a habit of running across defenders as opposed to in behind him - ok player but its a surprising one

Whats the story with Mensa and Armstrong? I didnt see their names listed on as players who had signed or released -they gone already and I didnt hear about it?

TC was after Shaun Williams from the Drogs last season also but he didnt fancy a move west - he is going to be a big player in my opinion in years to come - a classy player with a great eye for a pass and well able to forward from midfield and get a few goals

[GuisaSaigon]

Mensa and Armstrong were released a few months back, They had long term injuries and came to an agreement with the club about the termination of their contracts afaik.

[gufct]

both players suffered serious injuries Armstrong (Ruptured Achilles) and Mensah (Cruciate 63 mins into his first game) so the club agreed a settlement with both.

[galwayhoop]

won't pass judgement on the new players but tbh i would hope they are BETTER than what we currently have.

with the players that were kept on we have a decent nucleus, i would not like to think we are signing players who are of similar ability to what we currently have. i mean we have about 17 players (i think) including the 2 u21s who are signed. a squad of 22 is loads as it can be supplemented, in the event of a load of injurioes/suspensions, with the u21s and reserve team (if this A league goes ahead). so i had hoped for 4 or 5 quality players to bring us up a level. maybe these signings will be but i can't say untill we see them playing.

btw i think it is good that they are signed sooner rather than later as it will mean (hopefully) the full squad will all start pre-season together. the second transfer window shouldn't see a raft of new signings but if history tells us anything........

[micls]

Just about ye're top 4 aspirations.

Is it us ye expect to overtake? I presume a lot of money will go into signings to make up the 20 point gap(we also drew a lot of games) but we're also hoping to hugely improve as it was a very poor season for us.

How many of ye think it's realistic?

[micls]

How many people thought Scully was realistic at the start of the season? aim low and you will be low.

And he couldnt break into the top 4. Dont get me wrong, he did really well but imo there is a big gap between the top four and below.

The club having ambition is great but Im asking for the fans realistic opinion here

[Tir Oilean]

Gilberto your unhappy with everything always

Remind me somewhat of Kevin and Perry! SO UNFAIR!!!:D

[gufct]

I would expect us to break into the top 6.Weve improved throughout the season and have retained the nucleus of last years squad plus 2 very good U21s and I would trust Tony to sign at least 5 more good players to bolster our squad.

The fans that expect us to be challenging for honours ( which we could do) are the younger generation of United supporters. Our defence and midfield were very strong in the last 15 games but we lacked a cutting edge which meant we drew games we should have won with the chances created so a goalscorer and a left back would be the two main priorities for tony.

[micls]

I would expect us to break into the top 6.Weve improved throughout the season and have retained the nucleus of last years squad plus 2 very good U21s and I would trust Tony to sign at least 5 more good signings to bolster our squad.

The fans that expect us to be challenging for honours ( which we could do) are the younger generation of United supporters. Our defence and midfield were very strong in the last 15 games but we lacked a cutting edge which meant we drew games we should have won with the chances created.

Fair enough response and I think its where ye should certainly be aiming as a full time team. The top 4 this year +Derry, Rovers, Yerselves and Sligo should be the ones aiming for the top 6 spots given full time status and Rovers attraction as the top part-time Dublin team

That means one fo the 7 will lose out and be drawn into the relegation battle, given 3 teams are going down next year.

Rovers seem to be strengthening considerably, all the top 4 will strengthen, but I wouldnt be sure of Derry yourselves or Sligo.

Who do you think will be the one to lose out?

[Tir Oilean]

I dont know who came up with the top four thingy at all. TC said in his interview in the last programme that he wanted to consolidate our position in the Premier. If we finish in the middle (5th, 6th, 7th) I will be happy as it our second season back up. I fully understand the point made as regards aim high etc but in reality for us to break Pat's Bohs Drogs and Cork at this stage is complete fantasy. No harm dreaming of it though!

[WoodquayBoy]

Leeson came up with the top four thing, it is on the flyer about the new season tickets.
I think we have the bones of a good squad, a jump of two places next year would be quite acceptable, along with a decent run in the cups. Can't see anyone breaking through the existing top 4, think we will join Sligo in the top 6, with Derry and Rovers next. NOt convinced about Robertson, and would reckon the part-time thing will catch up with Rovers again as it did this year. While it is lovely to hear of top 4 aspirations, a reality check is needed.

[Square Heir]

Guys I'm pretty sure the 'top four' line that appeared in the season ticket flyer is there so plenty of people will want to buy season tickets for 2008, and it's a good tactic by Nick Leeson (which hopefully won't backfire!).

People are being unfair as regards signings, TC still has to work to a budget, I'm sure he will get the best he can given the resources, and I don't accept that the club have huge resources now because of increasing season ticket prices by €80.

[Patrick Dunne]

Presuming 700 season ticket holders renew this season, the increased financial return will be E56,000, as Square Hehir points out, its not exactly a windfall.

[geezer]

But would be happy with a sixth/seventh finish and hope the football improves, Maybe TC might have gained a bit more confidence in his ability and will be a bit more positive at home against the lower teams. Need a midfielder of stature, a decent striker with Glynn and a left full. At least there is a tight defence to build on and thats always a good starting point

[gufct]

At last some realism in the debate id go with geezer here anything above 7th will be a bonus as long as we avoid relegation and push on again in 2009.

We need at least 5 players looks like we have 2 of them already if the rumours are true which leaves an attacking midfielder, a right sided player and a Goalscorer. Who knows Tony might want 2 more just to bolster the squad further but I cant wait for march.