Ben Kelly has signed for us from Dundalk to replace Jack Brady.. based on what I saw last night we got the raw end Im afraid!
Ben Kelly has signed for us from Dundalk to replace Jack Brady.. based on what I saw last night we got the raw end Im afraid!
Gary Cronin is he the right man to manage Longford Town?
Michael O Connor has signed for Linfield
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
Shane Keegan piece on transfers in the times.
Patrick McEleney to Dundalk. Mikey Drennan to Sligo. Jacob Borg to Finn Harps. Signings in the League of Ireland come in all shapes and sizes. But how do these moves happen? Far from the glitz of the Premier League, transfer dealings here are different entirely. In our league the manager still does most of the wheeling and dealing rather than a board of directors. You go through all kinds of situations to get deals done.
Hammering out a contract with a player can be a painstaking and unpredictable process. I’ve met players in hotels, car parks, pubs and even McDonald’s to get deals done. I sat with one of my top targets last season, determined to get him signed there and then as I knew he had strong interest from elsewhere.
The basic wage is just the starting point of the conversation. I offer him x amount but he tells me he has been offered €150 a week more elsewhere. I can’t afford that and I know he is probably having me on but we agree to split the difference and up the basic by €75. He’s then looking for an appearance and goal bonus. They are fairly common place but now I’m doing the maths and I’m over the budget I had set to get him in. I tell him I will ring the chairman to get agreement to go the extra on it if he will he sign on the spot. He agrees. I go for a walk to make my call and I get the thumbs-up, but when I come back he’s getting off a call from his girlfriend. Does his bedroom have a double bed? Not at the moment. That’s a problem because she’ll be staying up a good bit. I promise him I’ll get my hands on a double bed for him — now sign the bloody form. An hour and a half after I walked in and I’m finally walking away with his signature.
Who you target depends largely on where you are on the food chain within the league. For example, if you are in the bottom half of the Premier or are a top First Division side then you are probably having a look at the top four clubs to see if there’s a good player getting limited playing time. Would the manager let them out? Would the player be interested in a move? You usually go about trying to answer both questions simultaneously. The first is easy, pick up the phone and give the manager a call. The latter is more of a grey area because you cannot speak directly to a contracted player. But there is a very good chance that there is someone in your squad who has played with him elsewhere. Could he give him a buzz and see where his head is at? It is not supposed to happen but of course it does.
You will always be keeping a watch to see what might be coming back from the UK. For the top few clubs, the agents will call to give you the heads up but the other clubs need to be sharp. Keeping an eye on the internet and social media to see who is stirring is vital.
A quick Google search at this time of the year will throw up a list of released players, which you can trawl through in the hope of finding an Irish name you recognise. If you are managing a team outside Dublin, then you may be lucky enough that a player might be coming home to your area. It is then a case of how quickly can you get in contact and get a deal done before he comes on to the radar of bigger clubs. That was how it played out at Galway when we managed to sign Ronan Murray, who had landed back in Mayo after leaving Notts County.
Rory Hale was another one we picked up coming back from England. I got a heads-up from a contact at Aston Villa that he had been released, was on the lookout for a new club and would consider options over here. I spoke to some people to get an idea of his character and watched some video and really liked the look of him. I talked with Rory, his dad and his agent over the course of a week to hammer out terms and by the Thursday we had pretty much come to an agreement. Then out of nowhere an English Conference North team asked him to play in a trial game that weekend. I knew his preference was to stay in England so I sat there on game day refreshing updates every five minutes, praying he would not do anything to warrant him being offered a deal. Thankfully they gave him little playing time and he texted me that evening to say he would see me on Monday.
Some of the names that agents come at you with can raise an eyebrow. During the summer window last season, I got a phone call from an agent to let me know that Lomanu Lualua was interested in a move to our league. Lomanu, I was told, was a very religious man and the best church in Ireland for practising his particular faith happened to be in Galway — and that is why we were his first port of call. I did a bit of research, which included a look at his Instagram page, and decided that his best days appeared to be behind him.
Holding on to players is as important as signing new ones. You have to do everything you can to keep your main men no matter what level you are managing at. When I was at Wexford Youths, one of my centre backs texted me on a Thursday to say he had an offer from Waterford and was probably going to take it. I asked him not to sign anything until we had a chance to meet up and we arranged a time on the Saturday.
In between I had the small matter of my wedding on the Friday. The following morning, I got up and had breakfast with my wife, then said goodbye to her and hopped into the car and headed for Wexford. It counted for nothing, he still ended up at Waterford. The joys of management during transfer season.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/p...187aa83a8add6c
Playing the stage Irishman a bit too much for my taste.
Ben Kelly was playing with Malahide United in 2018
The Leinster Senior League needs a strong Bohemians
#DundalkFC - First Irish club to win an away game in Europe (1963), first Irish club to win points in a group stage in Europe (2016).
Pretty pointless poorly written article by Keegan and the mere fact he mentions meeting a player in Mcdonalds sums him up.
It gives a poor impression of the league in England. I'd expect this to get a mention at forthcoming press conferences as a matter of consistancy!
Craig Walsh has left us after one game due to work commitments. Ordinarily I’d be wondering what’s changed since he signed but I guess he was just desperate to get out of Bray at the time. I don’t think he’ll be able to play for another LOI club until next year now, though I’m not sure if he could in theory go back to Bray.
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
extratime.ie reporting that Tomer Chencinski has left Rovers.
was he still there
Long Live King Kenny
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