#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).
Han and promoting the 'Dundalk FC brand' in Asia is a nice if ambitious and lofty ambition, more directly though is Jurkovskis playing with Latvia today!
Watching their game against the Dutch it was good to hear British coverage commenting on his move to Irish football and playing with Dundalk ('L' heavily pronounced lol). Its a backs to the wall game but Jurkovskis has been no mug playing against top class players. To have any players exposed to playing that sort of quality has to be a benefit coming back to club level. Its important to keep him motivated at club level which is managements job and tbh probably need to be in a successful side too.
It is a market that could and maybe should be dipped in to more by LoI clubs. In relative terms the quality is available for the sort of money our clubs could manage. Bar some of the top few clubs facilities in the Baltic states facilities are not better than LoI generally and average wages are lower. Ok players shouldnt be signed just for the sake of being an international but it has its perks, adds credibility too and some bit of exposure thrown in for club and league.
In this regard I think FG has been pretty decent assuming that he had the connections and knowledge to know Jurkovskis and the others. He may be an excellent judge of potential, which is a big part of his job in New York, and therefore scout if not up to head coach level. In an ideal world somebody of his ilk should be on the books of clubs scouting full-time, utilising contacts that Peak6 might have in football - even one lucky hit and reasonable transfer fee would pay for the role and player. There are bound to be players in lower level continental leagues that would have a go with Irish clubs that will be in Europe hoping to get exposure although this suggestion is nothing new. Cypriot football maybe be awash with (dodgy) money but they have done well from recruiting fringe players from Spain et al.
https://waterfordfc.ie/signed-isaac-...ins-the-blues/
I know the person that wrote this is probably a volunteer so I don't like to criticise too much but this is a very lazy attempt. If I signed for Waterford and this was the level of excitement generated by the clubs website, I wouldn't feel wanted or needed.
Anyhow, anybody know much more about him?
Last played in the regionalised fourth tier of French football with Angiers SCO reserve side. 9 games, averaged 38 minutes per game. Played fifth tier with the same side in 2018/19, not a whole lot more game time then either. That's the only senior football he's played from what I can see.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
That paragraph would have been a great addition to the press release!
Last club he was with was actually KSV Roeselare of Belgium who he signed for last summer
Just looked them up, sadly they went bankrupt and no longer exist
Brian Gartland confirmed as having torn his ACL, probably out for the season, hopefully not a career ender!! it leaves us with 3 centrebacks, considering the obsession with playing 3 at the back were just a bit light in that position. Tom Gaston was on trial so will probably be signed assuming he is still training with the club. I hope the coaching team dont start playing Shield or Sloggett at the back to try and stick with a formation that isnt working for us. If they do and with McEleney out injured again, havent heard any update on Murray, Zahibo will need to be rushed in to the squad as soon as quarantine is done. We'll probably see wide players moved central as tried with Duffy end of last season. For a big squad there could be a good bit of playing players out of position between injuries and deadweight and ridiculously additional signings probably needed in July.
Thats bad news about Gartland, at his age there is a danger that it could be career ending alright which would be a shame for a LOI stalwart.
He played sheilds at centrehalf in the league game in Oriel when Rovers won 4 nil so he sees that as an option.
Yeah since 2012 Sheilds has often dropped in to a centre-half slot and can do a job but then you lose the key impact he has holding in midfield. Whatever about filling a hole in a back 4, I dont think even the central defenders are that comfortable yet never mind dropping a midfielder in to a back 3. Maybe its old fashioned but give me a back 4 all day especially if the keepers form or ability is sketchy. Its grand when attacking but a system that can be exposed and needs a solid keeper to dig you out of a hole like Mannus. Harps showed how easy it was to exploit the space behind the wingbacks when central players are not settled in the formation and then a keeper that fluffs his lines on top.
It would be awful for Garts if injury finishes his career and age is the main issue. But we had the same with O'Donnell and he (with Garts) won a league decider so ye never know.
Never like to see anyone get injured like that. Thats surely the end of his career with Dundalk, no?
If I was a dundalk fan(perish the thought) I'd be livid at the management team for rushing a guy back into the team when he was clearly not fit, and in the process ruining his season.
When it happens 2 mins into his first game back you have to wonder how fit he was.
The point I was making all along was that all the warning signs were there with your off-season activity and the myriad of bizarre goings on off the field in general over the last 12 plus months, yet most Dundalk fans were either cautiously optimistic or outright delusional about your prospects.
It's obvious the 'management team' are completely out of their depth, but poor results are how they ended up getting the job in the first place, and in many ways the poor form has just continued. Since then more proven LOI players have walked out the door, and the jury is still very much out on pretty much every single signing you made to replace them. Many on the Dundalk forum seem very sure that you still have the best squad in the league, but from the outside it looks like there is a lot of deadwood there (as well as a lot of serious talent obviously). The likes of Abibi, Cherrie, Stanton, Sloggett, Kelly, Junior, Perez, Midtskogen and the current version of Andy Boyle just aren't up to the level imo. Others like Leahy, Dummigan, Murray (on the rare occasions he is fit), Cleary, McMillan(at this point in his career) are decent players but I'm not sure they're at the level of the players that went before them. So while there are a lot of good players there, I think the squad is a bit of a mess tbh.
Maybe Zahibo will come in and make an immediate impact. His pedigree seems to suggest he could, and I'm sure he'll be expected to do so considering some of the astronomical figures being thrown around! But imo the problems at Dundalk go way, way beyond the managers.
Its not the first time you have said this but I dont know where you are getting 'most Dundalk fans'! Orielweb is like a civil war and I dont recall many bold statements here. As for the last line well its stating something we have known for a while now - did you miss all the stuff about Chairman Bill?
Twitter collapsed in Asia under the strain!
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