Gartland Signs

[trulan]

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Longford Town manager Alan Matthews has signed Graham Gartland in a 2 year deal. Graham has been capped in U17 & U19 by Ireland. He played with Barnsley for 3 seasons & also played last season with Dundee in the SPL. Graham plays in Midfield, but also can play as a left full & centre half. LTFC Website.
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[Xlex]

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a midfielder, happy days...

[Dodge]

He played for our u21s for a bit (including one game in the League Cup) but he played all them as centre half...

[Xlex]

yeah, just googled him... :(

[max power]

so xlex after your research what are your thoughts on our new signing ?????

[drummer boy]

he plays for dundee united not dundee and you can see his profile if you go to dundeeunitedfc.co.uk and then click on history, on the top of the page just under the main heading click on former players 2002/2003 and the list will come up. it dosent say much, only that he was capped at international level from 14- under 18 and that he played proifessinal for barnsley for 3 years before singing for dundee united but he went on trial first.

[drummer boy]

im after getting on to an unofficial dundee united forum and i got 2 replies so far both said he never played for the first team so they didnt know what he was like. might have more luck tomorrow. heres the address if ya wanna check it out.http://shed-online.co.uk

[Pauro 76]

Got that too, he used to play for the Arabs are they're known by the Dee fans, they dont know much about him, he was a regular in the Dundee Utd. U-21 setup but never made it.

[techs]

looks like matthews signed him for the defence. another defender to add to the collection

[drummer boy]

yeah it said in the star today that he might be starting tonight because alan murphy is suspended. what about sean dillon, hes far better on the right than he is on the left.

[Xlex]

Originally posted by the dj
so xlex after your research what are your thoughts on our new signing ?????

not a lot, remains to be seen if he's any better than what we have at the back, I mean he would want to be a considerate talent if he were to breach the present rearguard... whats the story with Avery John and he other recent signing Paisley??

Were good up front and good at the back, with Digger in the nets... our midfield really needs a player or two...

[Longfordian]

Paisley hasn't put pen to paper yet although its 90% done, he doesn't want to sign beyond the end of the season he feels he'll be back in England after that. Also Avery will be on his way at the end of the season, he picked a mystery injury on his Phileas Fogg type adventures..Gartland signing for two years is probably an indication of that..He can play in midfield too apparently, left side or left centre..

[sorbothegreek]

It could have something to do with the rumours going round as regards Barry Fergusons' future. He apparently has some admirers at supposed bigger clubs in the league.

[Xlex]

Barry's supposedly happy with his lot but he needs a new contract soon, I've heard it would be best to sort this out early rather than leave it till the summer. Rovers are probably his only suiters, I don't think he will go full-time or to Derry/Cork...

[Longfordian]

From what i hear his suitors have made overtures and it would appear to be the supposed Top two..Bear in mind the contract he's on was given to him by Martin Lawlor not exactly the most sensible of managers..

[Xlex]

it would want to be a fair auld contract to bring him into a full-time setup, I don't think we would be able to compete with a players desire to become full-time and I think that's where the problem may lie... ambition and the desire to go full-time... if we managed Europe it might be a different story...

[Longfordian]

If it came to a choice id take the Macca we have at the moment..Lets just hope some of the other clubs dont decide to make Pats a good offer for him that we wouldn't be able to match, if that happens we lose him..they still have him tied to a contract for the next two years although he reckons he never wants to go back..fingers crossed he's let leave so we can sign him quick..

[max power]

registering players in paper work something the board should be invloved with, the offering of contracts is money and paper work, something the board should be involved in ???? strange the two things martin is "said to have done wrong" are both things the board had an involvement with, they are to blame if that "hear say " is true.

i feel martin was the fall guy for someone elses short comings, he was employed to keep us in the premier division and he did it and he was a nice apprichable guy and that is something matthews is not, well not unless he wants to sell you an aib mortgage !!!!

[Xlex]

Originally posted by the dj
registering players in paper work something the board should be invloved with, the offering of contracts is money and paper work, something the board should be involved in ???? strange the two things martin is "said to have done wrong" are both things the board had an involvement with, they are to blame if that "hear say " is true.

I couldn't agree more, but in Longford, the manager is the person who negotiates the contracts... I had the same conversation with someone about it, there are pro's and cons to this.

Martin did a great job doing what he did but as the story goes he didn't get many players to sign for him, and if the rumour mill at the time is to be believed Digger wasn't going to sign for Lawlor and that would have been a sorry mistake... I felt sorry for what happened Lawlor but we have to move on...

We're all Alan Matthews Red and Black army now and I believe we are in good (defensive) hands... It's always hard to know whats going through his head when somebody comes on the market, but someday we are going to have a midfield to do the rest of the team justice and we will be fairly formidable then...

[max power]

as george graham always said, if you don't let in goals you don't lose games, that is true, wenger came in amd kept his back four, then added the attacking midfield and strikers with ian wright.

i think thats what matthews is doing, sort out the back, don't let in goals and then work on the attacking side of our game, which we seem to be doing judging from the highlights on tv3 last night.

we need a strong player to hold the midfield, kirby is fine on the wing and so are either prunty or byrne, pip is doing ok but we need someone with him, they don't need to be pretty, just powerful.

eric, shane and sean are fighting for places up front, eric looked good on sat, but he needs to put away some of those chances or sean will steal his place.

with digger between the posts, barry and brian in the middle ans sean and murph at the back too, the lads in midfield should have the confidence to go at teams and make flancare into one of the most hated grounds in the land.

the squad is there to do it and with shane on top form up front, the time has come for de town to step up to the plate and stake their position as one of the top teams in the country .

to do that we need silver wear and the league cup is a stepping stone to greater things. then we focus on europa and not on staying in the division, we are better than a team that struggles, i'm behind matthews all the way once we keep playing football and don't revert to the long ball game.

i hope no one disagrees with what i've said.

[Xlex]

Originally posted by the dj
i hope no one disagrees with what i've said.

not a chance, spot on... we can gloss it up but that's the crux of the situation...

[joeSoap]

The current team with Stuey in the middle would be seriously challenging for the title...

Is this famous Stuey now plying his trade with Shels (whenever he gets picked) or is there another infamous man out there unfortunate enough to be called Stuey? If its the former, then you must have rocks in your head saying that ye'd be top if he was in ye're team this season. I've seen him a few times..he's a nice player, good, strong and industrious, but he's no Eoin Keating or Brendan Sweeney...Who?? I hear you laugh..well wait till Saturday night when ye get ye're cosmopolitan asses kicked by a young bunch of young Limerick lads....fairly and squarely of course, on the pitch!!:p ;) .
Seriously, what kind of crowd ye expecting?? We'll be lucky to have 25 there...1-1 draw..back to the Pike...Bye Bye Longford. At least it won't be the worst team in the country (Kilkenny) that do ye this season!!
COME ON THE BLUES!!!! ;) :ball:

[max power]

limerick should really go for it this year seeing as it will be their last year in existance.

[joeSoap]

limerick should really go for it this year seeing as it will be their last year in existance.
Maybe it will be, but thers no need to gloat about it. Gloat when ye've won league titles, FAI Cups and League Cups. Gloat about it when ye play Real Madrid in the Bernebau in the European Cup. Have a little respect, it costs nothing

[joeSoap]

.
Club name: Limerick FC
Founded: 1983, originally formed 1937 (Elected to League in 1937)

Home ground: Pike Rovers

How to get there: Pike Rovers SG

Phone/Fax: 061 340264

Website: None

E-mail: noelchanley@eircom.net

Club colours: Home: Blue jersey, blue shorts, blue socks
Away: Green jerseys, white shorts, Green socks

Nickname: Blues

Sponsor: Charlotte Quay Pharmacy

Manager: Mike Kerley

Secretary: Noel Hanley

Honours: League titles (2)
1959-60, 1979-80

FAI Cups (2)
1971, 1982

League Cups (3)
1975-76, 1992-93, 2001-

[max power]

joe thanks for all that useless info, major city with a club just about there, with all your cups and leagues abd history blah blah blah what happened, there are probably more people in one housing estate in limerick than in the whole of county longford so why are yee soooooooooooo bad at the mo ???? respect, respect what ???

prepare for a kickin on saturday, yes i am cocky and with the way the team are playing at the mo i have every right to be, modest my a**e, we are doing well and its only just the start, as the saying goes - just another victim, you should know what that means being from limerick.

[Macy]

Respect given an all (that comment was out of order), but technically Limerick FC have won 2 League Cups, and have never played Madrid.... :p

[max power]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Macy
[B]Respect given an all (that comment was out of order)


???????????

[joeSoap]

but technically Limerick FC have won 2 League Cups, and have never played Madrid....

Fair point...but we consider Limerick senior football to date back to 1937 and since there has always only been one team playing senior soccer from Limerick at any one time then thats who we support.
I hope the grass stays green for ye up there in Longford, and hope ye never encounter the problems we have because they're not at all nice!! If ye do then God help ye, and I hope more people lend ye support than we've received.

its only just the start, as the saying goes - just another victim, you should know what that means being from limerick.
very tasteful...longford has had its 'victims' too over the past few years has it not, but you don't hear us blowing off about it, so unless you know what you're going on about, do the decent thing and shut up!!

[Macy]

Is DJ Silvio Dante in disguise???

Far to say I think a lot of Longford fans think there but for the grace of god regards the financial situation.... I know some of us wonder where the money is coming from now, considering the size of our squad, and relegation would be a financial disaster....

[joeSoap]

We got relegated in the 1993/94 season and have been totally on a downward spiral ever since. Our main problem was that we lost the core of our fan base when we left the Markets Field, and the glamour of playing the likes of Kilkenny, Cobh, Monaghan etc instead of Pats Rovers and Cork on a weekly basis didn't appeal to our more fickle fan.
Be thankful for, and protective of what ye've got lads.

[Macy]

Thats the one thing we have got is our own decent ground, and the facilities are coming around that to provide the off field income streams.... The astro pitches are up and running and doing well apparently, and the last push for the bar is coming on.... There was talk of a gym in the stand as well, but that seems to have died a death....