Rovers really going for it, Kenny coming back on loan from Celtic looking likely, Mc Eneff now possibly returning and Marcus Poom deal with Flora almost across the line .....
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Rovers really going for it, Kenny coming back on loan from Celtic looking likely, Mc Eneff now possibly returning and Marcus Poom deal with Flora almost across the line .....
Coughlan would have left regardless who the owners are though. He didn’t want to be in Ireland this year, heard a rumour he wanted a move to England this year to be closer to his missus who apparently is English. He was a free agent, turned down a new contract. Not much more Waterford could do tbh, if a player doesn’t want to be here there’s little the club can do.Quote:
Originally Posted by gufct
Would have been million times worse if this whole news about him leaving was because he was moving e to England and then he signed for another LOI club.
Well let's hope he's good enough for League 1 football, we could very well find out tomorrow afternoon if he makes his debut at Fleetwood.
wonder what physical shape mceneff is in now. ye havent been the same team since he left imo. he had an unbelievable engine and work rate. total beast in duels and wasnt half bad at popping up with a goal here and there. great signing if his legs are still there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kingswood Rover
Does it feel similar to Towell? Their drive/athleticism a big part of what they were first time round but at the back end of their career & having a tough time away of the league is there enough left in tank?
Maybe there is still a player there but for the contract you’d prob give out to sign him I’m not sure it would be a smart move
Since he left Rovers in 2020 he’s had 42 appearances and completed 90 minutes only 14 times,he’s only 28 aswell ,I can’t see him having any bother in terms of physical shape,match fitness is a different one but that’ll come in due course….
Not sure it's Towell's drive/athleticism that's changed to be honest. He's still well capable of getting around the pitch. I think the rest of the league may just have improved on that front since Dundalk showed what was possible in terms of conditioning.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bunny Kelly
McEneff would be an amazing signing but I hear you on the risk. He's had a fair amount of injuries since he left and hasn't played much. Bradley takes a few too many risks on players like that for my liking...but we've never replaced McEneff as Jd says. Been crying out for someone who has the engine to get up and down but is also clued in enough to know when to stay disciplined. That's where Towell falls down for me. Bit headless at times.
Waterford have signed Gbemi Arbui who was with Shels last season and in our U19s for a few seasons. He made 8 brief substitute appearances in the league, scored 2 goals in the LSC but other than that not much of a sample seen of him. Duff was quoted last season that he was still on amateur terms and he was over on trial with Lincoln City recently
I don't think he would be a direct replacement for Coughlan so I'd still expect Waterford to sign another forward with more experience probably from UK or abroad
https://waterfordfc.ie/gbemi-arubi-becomes-a-blue/
I'm Not very optimistic either. We let a lot go as well as losing our top goal scorer. We haven't brought in anyone who will add quality and better the squad. Other clubs all seem to be announcing new signings. We need to see some quality announcements soon.Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
We offered LONG TREM contracts to players who didn't perform and now we are rebuilding again.
any truth to Fenlon and Devine not agreeing on multiple signings? not ideal if that's the case. I wouldn't have thought Devine had enough credit in the bank to be rejecting signings for the DoF but I'm not sure what the set up is there.
towell got too big imo. very hard to move that frame around once you get older. was a beast with dundalk tbfQuote:
Originally Posted by ontheotherhand
Shane Griffin joined Bray from Waterford,good signing for them….
Surprised Waterford didn't re sign him, injuries more than anything held him back last season & with Baggley gone back to Fleetwood there would have been a role for himQuote:
Originally Posted by joey B
yeah I'd agree with that as well to be fair. he was always a bit more jacked up than others but he's taken it too far. loves the social media a bit too much.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jd2793
I've seen that so often with young Irish players that go to the UK, they come back over built like ****houses but can't get around the pitch.Quote:
Originally Posted by ontheotherhand
Lot of ill-informed opinions of Towell around. He was fantastic last season, the 3-2 win at home against Pats stands out but he was like a terrier all year.
He’s very mobile and plays a big part of Rovers press. Also scored Rovers goal of the season away against Derry in a team move that he started and finished.
He’s a different animal than he was at Dundalk but that’s what happens to players.
The longer people underrate Rovers players the better. See also Gary O’Neill, Lee Grace, Rory Gaffney, Markus Poom, all best in class and massively underrated.
Those players aren't underrated at all
Absolutely. He might be a bit more mobile without the big arms but his contribution on the pitch was brilliant, particularly at the start and end of the season. He's added a real bite to his game. We've been missing that since Bolger left.Quote:
Originally Posted by WeAreRovers
Towell must be in the top 3/4 paid players at the club as they would have had to give him a nice deal at the time to bring him home, 15 starts last season isn't really the return they would have been expecting from their investment.
My original point comparing McEneff to Towell was not that these players cannot be useful but probably you will overpay for where they are now in their career
Think I heard at the time when he had the choice to re-join DFC (but in P6 part 2 madness, he was right not to go back) and Rovers, the deal at the time with euro bonuses would be just under 500k for the duration of his contract. Big money.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bunny Kelly
I always think of Towell of having almost 4 careers, under the radar at Hibs (after Celtic), but he ran up some serious starts to be fair in a good standard Hibs side in a tough SPL season, then almost 'Blitzkrieg' pace at Dundalk 2013 - 2015, back to UK, did ok then again completely different level of football mainly at Salford, but a totally different role at Rovers last few seasons and to be fair he has been solid albeit pace going a little, I'd still pick him every week.
When he winds down his playing days, I think fair to say he can look back at having a very good career, always liked him as a player, was more than decent to towards kids / photos etc, good luck to him.
Now you know why we like to go out of Europe early doors.Quote:
Originally Posted by oriel
Cork's Gordon Walker has signed for Arbroath in the Scottish championship on an 18 month deal
Quote:
Originally Posted by ontheotherhand
That's not the attitude, keep Towell fit and revved up and you get a better chance of a first ever group stage euro win!
We can't afford to win if he plays!Quote:
Originally Posted by oriel
Callum McNamara returns to Treaty United after a year injured while on the books of Galway United.
In 2022 he would have been Treaty's player of the year only for one Enda Curran scoring 20 goals.
Hitting the point now where it's going to be difficult to gauge certain business done by teams as the players coming in are completely unknown quantities in the league.
Seen Dundalk getting linked to players who have played mostly in the lower end of the Scottish leagues and Bohs have apparently gotten an Estonian defender who has good pedigree on paper, but the likes of Rovers, Pats and Sligo have recruited similar in the last year with extremely varying success on that front. Similarly, keeper was a big position for Pats to get right but the jury will firmly be out on Pitaluga until he gets going despite how highly-rated he seems to be.
For Bohs and Dundalk especially it feels like these signings in the next couple of weeks could make or break their seasons. They could each put out a decent starting eleven with what they have already but the squads are bare beyond that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack B
From DFC perspective, you are spot on with that analysis.
Bohs released a statement on James Talbot and him currently facing mental health issues,missing for an unspecified period of time but it could be quite a while,hopefully he can get the help he needs and is back playing sooner rather than later…..
Best of luck to the chap in his recovery. Who have Bohs got to fill in while he is out ?Quote:
Originally Posted by joey B
Luke Dennison is the back up keeper
I don't agree at all. Towell was indeed superb in the 3-2 win against Pats and scored a great goal up in Derry but I thought he was ordinary for the most part and even outright poor. Coughed up possession stupidly to let Bohs back into it at Dalymount, acted the maggott in Cork and was frequently careless in possession. I think he cost us a goal against Drogs at home too but I can't remember if it was he who it was that gave the ball away. I want more from him. I feel we're keeping him just so someone else doesn't have him.Quote:
Originally Posted by ontheotherhand
Poor when he came on in Dalymount alright but a key part of another title-winning squad. Us 'keeping him' is more to do with being able to afford a larger, more experienced squad - that's how you win multiple leagues.
Lack of depth in other areas, specifically at wing back, hurt us in Europe for instance but Towell is by no means a luxury IMO. Granted, if the rumoured new midfield signing is confirmed it becomes harder to see how he gets much game time.
Joseph Forde versatile defender age 20 joins Waterford from Perth Glory. He's been capped for Australia at under 20 level.
Surprised by that Stutts. I think he was one of our better players, towards the end in particular. Fairly sure he was up for PotM at least once? Has a mistake in him alright. Not sure he's the brightest lad.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
To your other point, I think we signed him because any team in their right mind would sign him budget willing. Nice bonus that he didn't go to Dundalk but Bradley doesn't really make decisions based on what other teams do. Remember we let Cleary go to Dundalk after having him on trial?
Won't even talk about Cork outside of saying Sean Grant only reffed one more time after that.
I think the expectation of Towell from fans (and probably himself) was that he would have the impact returning to the league that he had first time with Dundalk. That was the bar and anything else, no matter how good, was going to cause some grumbling. The league changed as had the player. I dont think Towell was ever a tidy player, could be sloppy, but he had both O'Donnell roaring at him and he he had the tenacity and physicality to work after a sloppy ball. You'd hear him being instructed at times at Dundalk to play it safe, probably give it to a real baller and delay those runs in to the box. Put him beside Byrne and he'd have looked like an Offaly hurler, he'd a big hole to fill in midfield when he arrived and he did try to hard and looked too often caught out of position, was poorly timing his runs. When he reverted to being a spoiler, getting around to put himself in the way, which is what Rovers needed when they werent playing well, he showed his value again imo.
If its anything of a guage, I was obviously very disappointed if unsurprised considering the messing at Oriel, that he didnt sign back. After a while that disappointment had ebbed away. He would have had a bigger impact returning to Dudalk than Rovers in relative terms but I dont think he'd have been the game changer that we needed or that we'd have expected. The context being the Mad Bill era, and that his roll with the leading side in the country wouldnt stand out as much. When he settled in to the side and accepted rotation he was arguably worth his wage in title winning squad. Id have him in a heartbeat now again!!!
Very fair assessment Nesta but, just for context, Towell's second LOI coming has seen him win 3 League medals.
Not sure what that adds other than getting to brag about Rovers winning the league. Johnny Kenny has a league medal from last year but all you see on this forum in regards to him is that he had a poor season other than the odd flash. Winning a league is a team achievement and a bad player or a bit part player can win one in spite of what they achieved personally during a season. The question is have Towells performances deliver on what Rovers staff & Fans expected and likely what he expected?Quote:
Originally Posted by WeAreRovers
Quote:
Originally Posted by WeAreRovers
In fairness Leon Pohls had at least 3 medals having played probably 6 games over the years.
Towell hasnt been a starting 11 player when all are fit. that wouldnt have beem expected i reckon.
Not saying he has been terible or anything but expectations were high
Lecce signed UCD left-back Jesse Dempsey.
Waterford signed 19 year old striker Gbemi Arubi from Shelbourne. He made a few sub appearances for Shels last year.