Excellent player technically but still work to do on the end product, in fairness maybe needs more game time than he will get at Tallaght. Would be a good signing.
I hope we re-sign him tbh
From Derry City;
We will sign Sam Bone today or tomorrow (I know very little about him)
Conor McDermott will leave permanently very shortly, probably the next few days
Darren McCauley will go (intention is to go to Australia after Christmas , is not really that interested in playing full time football)
Barry McNamee may be leaving (head not in it, not enjoying football and hasn’t been since leaving Derry)
Junior coming back still a possibility. Parkhouse will not be barring a significant change there.
Lee Grace and Jack Byrne linked to Hull City in the Indo.
The lad is a very good player (I would love it if he was playing for Dundalk), but the Dublin media hype is obviously sucking many in.
Over €500,000 for a player who recently failed to impress at Kilmarnock and has gone through Blackburn Rovers, Wigan and Oldham between 2017 and 2018 - I just can't see it
With Grace being 27 in a few weeks its pretty much now or never for him to go across so unfortunatly can't see him turning down a move if he gets an offer.
Can't see Rovers accepting anything under 500k for Byrne until hes into his last year of his contract.
If Byrne does go for a significant fee then it shows merit to the business model being built at Rovers. That would be in the ballpark of €1.3m in a few seasons. Signing back players rejected in England, offer decent contracts, and get them enjoying football and show why they moved in the fist place is a worthwhile gamble. If only we had been able to get Towell, Horgan and Boyle on longer contracts with a few sell-on clauses in the way we managed to get Duffy and Gannon to do it would have softened their loss. Down side is of course losing high calibre players from the league and for Rovers to lose Byrne would be a kick in the teeth considering the teams development and momentum building for next season.
So far, players rumoured to be on the way out of Oriel dont fall in to the irreplacable category. Maybe a fit and interested Benson is a significant loss and not giving Dummigan a go at left back to see how he manages there could be a mistake.
I honestly dont get why Dundalk fans dont rate the league's best player. It's getting stupid.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezeikial
Do the right thing Robbie.
We heard something similar about Michael O'Connor going to Burnley for mega money a few months before Rovers offloaded him to Finn Harps.
I don't doubt that Jack Byrne is likely to head back for another crack at English football, I just doubt that any club will pay that sort of fee for him
He certainly is rated and Dundalk fans would have him at Oriel undoubtedly. It's different from questioning how he would do in England again after chances already had. Valuing him in and around the 500k is based on previous transfers no doubt. The same questions would be asked if Hoban was looking to go back to England, McEleney also. Dundalk fans have been questioning what McGrath has shown this season that would suggest a successful move across the water as is rumoured, that doesnt mean he isnt rated at Dundalk.
Benson is looking to get his off field carrer going so semi-pro football is what he has said would suit him. Money might talk but it would suggest that playing FT at Tallaght wouldnt be on the cards. But who knows, maybe not having any commute will provide the additional time he is looking for.
To talk about Fats, Hoban or McGrath in the same breath is Byrne is ridiculous. Duffy at a push perhaps, but Byrne is streets ahead of most.
If he wasn't breaking people's legs he wouldn't be playing in this league.
i wasnt making a comparison, simply saying that similar questions would be asked about any player who had multiple shots at a career abroad that didnt work out - including Dundalk fans on Dundalk players. Byrne isnt being singled out!
Gartland has apparently poured cold water on links to Pats.
Update on the Lee Grace situation
https://www.independent.ie/sport/soc...le38684869.ece
The answers to your questions are in the link of the thread you quoted
https://www.independent.ie/sport/soc...le38684869.eceQuote:
He was in the army in his youth before signing for Wexford Youths and only turned pro when he penned a deal with Galway United ahead of the 2017 season.
Rovers paid €25,000 to take him from cash strapped Galway before the summer transfer window closed.
Grace would be a big loss to us , he has been terrific over the last two and a half years topped off by making the PFAI team of the year this year.
Seems churlish to hope he doesn't do well on his trial , hopefully they offer him a deal that he doesnt accept :)
He would be a huge loss for you, also not sure where you go for a replacement, NI / UK / Europe ?
In comparison this is a real area of strength for DFC having 4 centre halfs under contract, and possibly only Gartland up next season, all 4 who will expect to start too, but to be fair all got plenty of games in rotation.
Yes forgot about him, he would be a good replacement if Grace moved, but I wouldn't mind him also, if one of ours moved next season / got injured, nice age too.
Elbazoudi who scored for Ireland u21 yesterday was also linked with DFC< but I think he will prob have better options over the water. He's out of contract now with Waterford.
Gartland is under contract to end of 2020, Dundalk were hardly just going to rip up his contract and let him leave, after only extending it during the summer.
I`d still consider Hoare / Boyle to be first choice, but Gartland was excellent v Linfield, trademark goal too, I wouldn’t agree Boyle has been awful, he just looks unfit, or certainly not at the level of the rest, he’s 3 more years left, improvement needed for next season, for sure.
VP on the LOI podcast yesterday said he’s after a number of players in various positions, and indicated these might need to be outside the league, but is in no rush.
Dundalk were previously reported to have had an interest in Liam Scales but since then Brian Gartland signed a contract extension. There is need for improvements in other areas but Gartland, Hoare, Boyle and Cleary are a formidable quarter to pick from. Dane Massey has also covered in that position. On top of all Scales did not advance his reputation with a couple of stinker performances in the 5-0 & 3-0 defeats against Dundalk last August.
He would be a better fit at Rovers
Derek Prendergast signed for Drogs. IMO a great signing bringing in experience to strengthen our back line and bring more “elder” wisdom to our very young squad. I’m delighted as I was gutted when he left us. A few years back.
He was still outstanding for Shels last season at 34 and had no apparent fitness/slowing down issues I think he's the perfect experienced leader to fit into that youthful backline at Drogheda. Was hoping he would stay on with Shels but with our expanded training schedule and extra 9 league games at his age would have put paid to that